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-} -.smcap, -.smmaj { - font-style: normal; - text-transform: uppercase; - letter-spacing: 0.05em; -} -b, -.smmaj { - font-weight: normal; - font-size: 0.72em; -} -.xxpn { - font-size: 0.72em; - font-weight: normal; - color: #865; - text-decoration: none; - position: absolute; - right: 0.5em; - line-height: 1.81; /*assumes lh of container is 1.3*/ -} -.hr33 { - margin: 1em 33%; - height: 0; - border: thin black solid; -} -#hrend { - border: medium black solid; -} -.emoe { - font-weight: bold; - font-style: normal; - letter-spacing: 0.1em; -} -sub, -sup { - font-size: 0.6em; - line-height: 1.3em; -} -sup { - vertical-align: top; -} -sub { - vertical-align: bottom; -} - -/* === handheld === */ -@media handheld { - .xxpn { - position: static; - line-height: inherit; - } - body { - margin: 0.5em; - padding: 0; - font-size: 100%; - } - div, - p { - max-height: none; - } -} -</style> -</head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Essays: Scientific, Political, and -Speculative, Volume III (of 3), by Herbert Spencer - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Essays: Scientific, Political, and Speculative, Volume III (of 3) - Library Edition (1891), Containing Seven Essays not before - Republished, and Various other Additions. - -Author: Herbert Spencer - -Release Date: January 30, 2017 [EBook #54076] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ESSAYS: SCIENTIFIC, POLITICAL, VOL III *** - - - - -Produced by Josep Cols Canals, Adrian Mastronardi, RichardW, -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian -Libraries) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="dctr02"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="600" height="800" alt="" /> -</div> - -<div class="dfront"> -<h1 class="h1thisbook">ESSAYS: -<span class="hsmall">SCIENTIFIC, -POLITICAL, & SPECULATIVE.</span></h1> - -<div class="fsz8">BY</div> -<div class="fsz3">HERBERT SPENCER.</div> - -<div class="padtopa">LIBRARY EDITION,</div> - -<div class="fsz7 padtopc">(otherwise fifth thousand,)</div> - -<div class="fsz7 padtopc"><i>Containing Seven Essays not before Republished, -and various other additions</i>.</div> - -<div class="fsz5 padtopa">VOL. III.</div> - -<div class="fsz5 padtopa">WILLIAMS AND NORGATE,</div> -<div class="fsz6">14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON;</div> -<div class="fsz6"><span class="smmaj">AND</span> 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH.</div> - -<div class="fsz6">1891.</div> -</div><!--dfront--> - -<div class="dfront"> -<div class="fsz8 padtop1">LONDON:</div> -<div class="fsz8">G. NORMAN AND SON, PRINTERS, HART STREET,</div> -<div class="fsz8">COVENT GARDEN.</div> -</div><!--dfront--> - -<div class="dfront"> -<h2 class="h2nobreak" id="idcontents">CONTENTS OF VOL. III.</h2> -<table class="tabw100 fsz6a" summary="contents"> -<tr> - <td></td> - <th class="fsz7">PAGE</th></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">MANNERS AND FASHION</td> - <td class="tdright"><a href="#p001" class="atoc">1</a></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">RAILWAY MORALS AND RAILWAY POLICY</td> - <td class="tdright"><a href="#p052" class="atoc">52</a></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">THE MORALS OF TRADE</td> - <td class="tdright"><a href="#p113" class="atoc">113</a></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">PRISON-ETHICS</td> - <td class="tdright"><a href="#p152" class="atoc">152</a></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">THE ETHICS OF KANT</td> - <td class="tdright"><a href="#p192" class="atoc">192</a></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">ABSOLUTE POLITICAL ETHICS</td> - <td class="tdright"><a href="#p217" class="atoc">217</a></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">OVER-LEGISLATION</td> - <td class="tdright"><a href="#p229" class="atoc">229</a></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT—WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?</td> - <td class="tdright"><a href="#p283" class="atoc">283</a></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">STATE-TAMPERINGS WITH MONEY AND BANKS</td> - <td class="tdright"><a href="#p326" class="atoc">326</a></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">PARLIAMENTARY REFORM: THE DANGERS AND THE SAFEGUARDS</td> - <td class="tdright"><a href="#p358" class="atoc">358</a></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">“THE COLLECTIVE WISDOM”</td> - <td class="tdright"><a href="#p387" class="atoc">387</a></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">POLITICAL FETICHISM</td> - <td class="tdright"><a href="#p393" class="atoc">393</a></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">SPECIALIZED ADMINISTRATION</td> - <td class="tdright"><a href="#p401" class="atoc">401</a></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">FROM FREEDOM TO BONDAGE</td> - <td class="tdright"><a href="#p445" class="atoc">445</a></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">THE AMERICANS</td> - <td class="tdright"><a href="#p471" class="atoc">471</a></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdcenter"><a href="#p493" class="atoc">THE INDEX</a>.</td></tr> -</table></div><!--dfront--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p001">{1}</span></div> - -<h2 class="h2nobreak">MANNERS AND FASHION.</h2></div> - -<div class="dchappre"> -<p class="pfirst">[<i>First -published in</i> The Westminster Review -<i>for April 1854</i>.]</p></div> - -<p>Whoever has studied the physiognomy of political meetings, -cannot fail to have remarked a connexion between -democratic opinions and peculiarities of costume. At a -Chartist demonstration, a lecture on Socialism, or a <i>soirée</i> -of the Friends of Italy, there will be seen many among the -audience, and a still larger ratio among the speakers, who -get themselves up in a style more or less unusual. One -gentleman on the platform divides his hair down the centre, -instead of on one side; another brushes it back off the forehead, -in the fashion known as “bringing out the intellect;” -a third has so long forsworn the scissors, that his locks -sweep his shoulders. A sprinkling of moustaches may be -observed; here and there an imperial; and occasionally -some courageous breaker of conventions exhibits a full-grown -beard.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn1" id="fnanch1">1</a> -This nonconformity in hair is countenanced -by various nonconformities in dress, shown by others of the -assemblage. Bare necks, shirt-collars <i>à la</i> Byron, waistcoats -cut Quaker fashion, wonderfully shaggy great coats, -numerous oddities in form and colour, destroy the monotony -usual in crowds. Even those exhibiting no conspicuous -peculiarity, frequently indicate by something in the pattern -of their clothes, that they pay small regard -to what their <span class="xxpn" id="p002">{2}</span> -tailors tell them about the prevailing taste. And when the -gathering breaks up, the varieties of head gear displayed—the -number of caps, and the abundance of felt hats—suffice -to prove that were the world at large like-minded, -the black cylinders which tyrannize over us would soon -be deposed.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch1" id="fn1">1</a> -This was written before moustaches and beards had become general.</p></div> - -<p>This relationship between political discontent and disregard -of customs exists on the Continent also. Red -republicanism is everywhere distinguished by its hirsuteness. -The authorities of Prussia, Austria, and Italy, alike -recognize certain forms of hat as indicative of disaffection, -and fulminate against them accordingly. In some places -the wearer of a blouse runs a risk of being classed among -the <i>suspects</i>; and in others, he who would avoid the bureau -of police, must beware how he goes out in any but the -ordinary colours. Thus, democracy abroad, as at home, -tends towards personal singularity. Nor is this association -of characteristics peculiar to modern times, or to reformers -of the State. It has always existed; and it has been -manifested as much in religious agitations as in political -ones. The Puritans, disapproving of the long curls of the -Cavaliers, as of their principles, cut their own hair short, -and so gained the name of “Roundheads.” The marked -religious nonconformity of the Quakers was accompanied -by an equally-marked nonconformity of manners—in attire, -in speech, in salutation. The early Moravians not only -believed differently, but at the same time dressed differently, -and lived differently, from their fellow Christians. That -the association between political independence and independence -of personal conduct, is not a phenomenon of -to-day only, we may see alike in the appearance of Franklin -at the French court in plain clothes, and in the white hats -worn by the last generation of radicals. Originality of -nature is sure to show itself in more ways than one. The -mention of George Fox’s suit of leather, or Pestalozzi’s -school name, “Harry Oddity,” will at -once suggest the <span class="xxpn" id="p003">{3}</span> -remembrance that men who have in great things diverged -from the beaten track, have frequently done so in small -things likewise. Minor illustrations may be gathered in -almost every circle. We believe that whoever will number -up his reforming and rationalist acquaintances, will find -among them more than the usual proportion of those who in -dress or behaviour exhibit some degree of what the world -calls eccentricity.</p> - -<p>If it be a fact that men of revolutionary aims in politics -or religion, are commonly revolutionists in custom also, it is -not less a fact that those whose office it is to uphold -established arrangements in State and Church, are also -those who most adhere to the social forms and observances -bequeathed to us by past generations. Practices elsewhere -extinct still linger about the head quarters of government. -The monarch still gives assent to Acts of Parliament in the -old French of the Normans; and Norman French terms are -still used in law. Wigs, such as those we see depicted in -old portraits, may yet be found on the heads of judges and -barristers. The Beefeaters at the Tower wear the costume -of Henry VIIth’s body-guard. The University dress of the -present year varies but little from that worn soon after the -Reformation. The claret-coloured coat, knee-breeches, -lace shirt-frills, white silk stockings, and buckled shoes, -which once formed the usual attire of a gentleman, still -survive as the court-dress. And it need scarcely be said -that at <i>levées</i> and drawing-rooms, the ceremonies are prescribed -with an exactness, and enforced with a rigour, not -elsewhere to be found.</p> - -<p>Can we consider these two series of coincidences as accidental -and unmeaning? Must we not rather conclude that -some necessary relationship obtains between them? Are -there not such things as a constitutional conservatism, and -a constitutional tendency to change? Is there not a class -which clings to the old in all things; and another class so in -love with progress as often to mistake -novelty for <span class="xxpn" id="p004">{4}</span> -improvement? Do we not find some men ready to bow to established -authority of whatever kind; while others demand of every -such authority its reason, and reject it if it fails to justify -itself? And must not the minds thus contrasted tend to -become respectively conformist and nonconformist, not only -in politics and religion, but in other things? Submission, -whether to a government, to the dogmas of ecclesiastics, or -to that code of behaviour which society at large has set up, -is essentially of the same nature; and the sentiment which -induces resistance to the despotism of rulers, civil or -spiritual, likewise induces resistance to the despotism of the -world’s usages. All enactments, alike of the legislature, -the consistory, and the saloon—all regulations, formal or -virtual, have a common character: they are all limitations -of men’s freedom. “Do this—Refrain from that,” are the -blank forms into which they may severally be written; and -throughout the understanding is that obedience will bring -approbation here and paradise hereafter; while disobedience -will entail imprisonment, or sending to Coventry, or eternal -torments, as the case may be. And if restraints, however -named, and through whatever apparatus of means exercised, -are one in their action upon men, it must happen that those -who are patient under one kind of restraint, are likely to be -patient under another; and conversely, that those impatient -of restraint in general, will, on the average, tend to show -their impatience in all directions.</p> - -<p>That Law, Religion, and Manners are thus related, and -that they have in certain contrasted characteristics of men -a common support and a common danger, will, however, be -most clearly seen on discovering that they have a common -origin. Little as from present appearances we should -suppose it, we shall yet find that at first, the control of -religion, the control of laws, and the control of manners, -were all one control. Strange as it now seems, we believe -it to be demonstrable that the rules of etiquette, the -provisions of the statute-book, and the -commands of the <span class="xxpn" id="p005">{5}</span> -decalogue, have grown from the same root. If we go far -enough back into the ages of primeval Fetishism, it becomes -manifest that originally Deity, Chief, and Master of the -Ceremonies were identical. To make good these positions, -and to show their bearing on what is to follow, it will be -necessary here to traverse ground that is in part somewhat -beaten, and at first sight irrelevant to our topic. We -will pass over it as quickly as consists with the exigencies -of the argument.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">That the earliest social aggregations were ruled solely by -the will of the strong man, few dispute.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn2" id="fnanch2">2</a> -That from the -strong man proceeded not only Monarchy, but the conception -of a God, few admit: much as Carlyle and others have -said in evidence of it. If, however, those who are unable -to believe this, will lay aside the ideas of God and man in -which they have been educated, and study the aboriginal -ideas of them, they will at least see some probability in the -hypothesis. Let them remember that before experience -had yet taught men to distinguish between the possible and -the impossible; and while they were ready on the slightest -suggestion to ascribe unknown powers to any object and -make a fetish of it; their conceptions of humanity and its -capacities were necessarily vague, and without specific -limits. The man who by unusual strength, or cunning, -achieved something that others had failed to achieve, or -something which they did not understand, was considered -by them as differing from themselves; and, as we see in -the belief of some Polynesians that only their chiefs have -souls, or in that of the ancient Peruvians that their nobles -were divine by birth, the ascribed difference was apt to be -not one of degree only, but one of kind. Let them -remember next, how gross were the notions -of God, or <span class="xxpn" id="p006">{6}</span> -rather of gods, prevalent during the same era and afterwards—how -concretely gods were conceived as men of -specific aspects dressed in specific ways—how their names -were literally “the strong,” “the destroyer,” “the powerful -one,”—how, according to the Scandinavian mythology, -the “sacred duty of blood-revenge” was acted on by the -gods themselves,—and how they were not only human in -their vindictiveness, their cruelty, and their quarrels with -each other, but were supposed to have amours on earth, -and to consume the viands placed on their altars. Add to -which, that in various mythologies, Greek, Scandinavian, -and others, the oldest beings are giants; that according to -a traditional genealogy the gods, demi-gods, and in some -cases men, are descended from these after the human -fashion; and that while in the East we hear of sons of God -who saw the daughters of men that they were fair, the -Teutonic myths tell of unions between the sons of men and -the daughters of the gods. Let them remember, too, that -at first the idea of death differed widely from that which -we have; that there are still tribes who, on the decease of -one of their number, attempt to make the corpse stand, -and put food into its mouth; that the Peruvians had feasts -at which the mummies of their dead Incas presided, when, -as Prescott says, they paid attention “to these insensible -remains as if they were instinct with life;” that among the -Fijians it is believed that every enemy has to be killed -twice; that the Eastern Pagans give extension and figure -to the soul, and attribute to it all the same members, all -the same substances, both solid and liquid, of which our -bodies are composed; and that it is the custom among most -barbarous races to bury food, weapons, and trinkets along -with the dead body, under the manifest belief that it will -presently need them. Lastly, let them remember that -the other world, as originally conceived, is simply some -distant part of this world—some Elysian fields, some happy -hunting-ground, accessible even to the living, -and to which, <span class="xxpn" id="p007">{7}</span> -after death, men travel in anticipation of a life analogous -in general character to that which they led before. Then, -co-ordinating these general facts—the ascription of unknown -powers to chiefs and medicine men; the belief in -deities having human forms, passions, and behaviour; the -imperfect comprehension of death as distinguished from -life; and the proximity of the future abode to the present, -both in position and character—let them reflect whether -they do not almost unavoidably suggest the conclusion -that the aboriginal god is the dead chief: the chief not -dead in our sense, but gone away, carrying with him food -and weapons to some rumoured region of plenty, some -promised land, whither he had long intended to lead -his followers, and whence he will presently return to -fetch them. This hypothesis once entertained, is seen to -harmonize with all primitive ideas and practices. The -sons of the deified chief reigning after him, it necessarily -happens that all early kings are held descendants of the -gods; and the fact that alike in Assyria, Egypt, among -the Jews, Phœnicians, and ancient Britons, kings’ names -were formed out of the names of the gods, is fully explained. -The genesis of Polytheism out of Fetishism, by -the successive migrations of the race of god-kings to the -other world—a genesis illustrated in the Greek mythology, -alike by the precise genealogy of the deities, and by the -specifically-asserted apotheosis of the later ones—tends -further to bear it out. It explains the fact that in the old -creeds, as in the still extant creed of the Otaheitans, every -family has its guardian spirit, who is supposed to be one of -their departed relatives; and that they sacrifice to these as -minor gods—a practice still pursued by the Chinese and -even by the Russians. It is perfectly congruous with the -Grecian myths concerning the wars of the Gods with the -Titans and their final usurpation; and it similarly agrees -with the fact that among the Teutonic gods proper was one -Freir who came among them by adoption, -“but was born <span class="xxpn" id="p008">{8}</span> -among the <i>Vanes</i>, a somewhat mysterious <i>other</i> dynasty of -gods, who had been conquered and superseded by the -stronger and more warlike Odin dynasty.” It harmonizes, -too, with the belief that there are different gods to different -territories and nations, as there were different chiefs; that -these gods contend for supremacy as chiefs do; and it -gives meaning to the boast of neighbouring tribes—“Our -god is greater than your god.” It is confirmed by the -notion universally current in early times, that the gods -come from this other abode, in which they commonly live, -and appear among men—speak to them, help them, punish -them. And remembering this, it becomes manifest that -the prayers put up by primitive peoples to their gods for -aid in battle, are meant literally—that their gods are -expected to come back from the other kingdom they are -reigning over, and once more fight the old enemies they -had before warred against so implacably; and it needs but -to name the Iliad, to remind every one how thoroughly they -believed the expectation fulfilled.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn3" id="fnanch3">3</a></p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch2" id="fn2">2</a> -The few who disputed it would be right however. There are stages -preceding that in which chiefly power becomes established; and in many -cases it never does become established.</p> - -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch3" id="fn3">3</a> -In this paragraph, which I have purposely left -standing word for word as it did when republished with -other essays in Dec. 1857, will be seen the outline of the -ghost-theory. Though there are references to fetishism -as a primitive form of belief, and though at that time I -had passively accepted the current theory (though never -with satisfaction, for the origin of fetishism as then -conceived seemed incomprehensible) yet the belief that -inanimate objects may possess supernatural powers (which is -what was then understood as fetishism) is not dwelt upon -as a primitive belief. The one thing which is dwelt upon -is the belief in the double of the dead man as continuing -to exist, and as becoming an object of propitiation and -eventually of worship. There are clearly marked out the -rudiments which, when supplied with the mass of facts -collected in the <i>Descriptive Sociology</i> developed into -the doctrine elaborated in Part I. of <i>The Principles of -Sociology</i>.</p></div> - -<p>All government, then, being originally that of the strong -man who has become a fetish by some manifestation of -superiority, there arises, at his death—his supposed departure -on a long-projected expedition, in which he is -accompanied by the slaves and concubines sacrificed at his -tomb—there arises, then, the incipient -division of religious <span class="xxpn" id="p009">{9}</span> -from political control, of spiritual rule from civil. His son -becomes deputed chief during his absence; his authority -is cited as that by which his son acts; his vengeance is -invoked on all who disobey his son; and his commands, as -previously known or as asserted by his son, become the -germ of a moral code: a fact we shall the more clearly -perceive if we remember, that early moral codes inculcate -mainly the virtues of the warrior, and the duty of exterminating -some neighbouring tribe whose existence is an -offence to the deity. From this point onwards, these -two kinds of authority, at first complicated together as -those of principal and agent, become slowly more and -more distinct. As experience accumulates, and ideas of -causation grow more precise, kings lose their supernatural -attributes; and, instead of God-king, become God-descended -king, God-appointed king, the Lord’s anointed, -the vicegerent of Heaven, ruler reigning by Divine right. -The old theory, however, long clings to men in feeling, -after it has disappeared in name; and “such divinity -doth hedge a king,” that even now, many, on first -seeing one, feel a secret surprise at finding him an ordinary -sample of humanity. The sacredness attaching to -royalty attaches afterwards to its appended institutions—to -legislatures, to laws. Legal and illegal are synonymous -with right and wrong; the authority of Parliament is held -unlimited; and a lingering faith in governmental power -continually generates unfounded hopes from its enactments. -Political scepticism, however, having destroyed the divine -<i>prestige</i> of royalty, goes on ever increasing, and promises -ultimately to reduce the State to a purely secular institution, -whose regulations are limited in their sphere, and have no -other authority than the general will. Meanwhile, the -religious control has been little by little separating itself -from the civil, both in its essence and in its forms. While -from the God-king of the barbarian have arisen in one -direction, secular rulers who, age by age, -have been losing <span class="xxpn" id="p010">{10}</span> -the sacred attributes men ascribed to them; there has -arisen in another direction, the conception of a deity, who, -at first human in all things, has been gradually losing -human materiality, human form, human passions, human -modes of action: until now, anthropomorphism has become -a reproach. Along with this wide divergence in men’s -ideas of the divine and civil ruler has been taking place -a corresponding divergence in the codes of conduct -respectively proceeding from them. While the king was a -deputy-god—a governor such as the Jews looked for in the -Messiah—a governor considered, as the Czar still is, “our -God upon earth,”—it, of course, followed that his commands -were the supreme rules. But as men ceased to believe in -his supernatural origin and nature, his commands ceased to -be the highest; and there arose a distinction between the -regulations made by him, and the regulations handed down -from the old god-kings, who were rendered ever more -sacred by time and the accumulation of myths. Hence -came respectively, Law and Morality: the one growing ever -more concrete, the other more abstract; the authority of -the one ever on the decrease, that of the other ever on the -increase; originally the same, but now placed daily in more -marked antagonism. Simultaneously there has been going -on a separation of the institutions administering these two -codes of conduct. While they were yet one, of course -Church and State were one: the king was arch-priest, not -nominally, but really—alike the giver of new commands -and the chief interpreter of the old commands; and the -deputy-priests coming out of his family were thus simply -expounders of the dictates of their ancestry: at first as -recollected, and afterwards as ascertained by professed -interviews with them. This union between sacred and -secular—which still existed practically during the middle -ages, when the authority of kings was mixed up with the -authority of the pope, when there were bishop-rulers having -all the powers of feudal lords, and -when priests punished <span class="xxpn" id="p011">{11}</span> -by penances—has been, step by step, becoming less close. -Though monarchs are still “defenders of the faith,” and -ecclesiastical chiefs, they are but nominally such. Though -bishops still have civil power, it is not what they once had. -Protestantism shook loose the bonds of union; Dissent has -long been busy in organizing a mechanism for religious -control, wholly independent of law; in America, a separate -organization for that purpose already exists; and if anything -is to be hoped from the Anti-State-Church Association—or, -as it has been newly named, “The Society for the -Liberation of Religion from State Patronage and Control”—we -shall presently have a separate organization here also. -Thus, in authority, in essence, and in form, political and -spiritual rule have been ever more widely diverging from -the same root. That increasing division of labour which -marks the progress of society in other things, marks it also -in this separation of government into civil and religious; -and if we observe how the morality which now forms the -substance of religions in general, is beginning to be purified -from the associated creeds, we may anticipate that this -division will be ultimately carried much further.</p> - -<p>Passing now to the third species of control—that of -Manners—we shall find that this, too, while it had a common -genesis with the others, has gradually come to have a -distinct sphere and a special embodiment. Among early -aggregations of men before yet social observances existed, -the sole forms of courtesy known were the signs of submission -to the strong man; as the sole law was his will, and -the sole religion the awe of his supposed supernaturalness. -Originally, ceremonies were modes of behaviour to the god-king. -Our commonest titles have been derived from his -names. And all salutations were primarily worship paid to -him. Let us trace out these truths in detail, beginning -with titles.</p> - -<p>The fact already noticed, that the names of early kings -among divers races are formed by the -addition of certain <span class="xxpn" id="p012">{12}</span> -syllable to the names of their gods—which certain syllables, -like our <i>Mac</i> and <i>Fitz</i>, probably mean “son of,” or -“descended from”—at once gives meaning to the term -<i>Father</i> as a divine title. And when we read, in Selden, -that “the composition out of these names of Deities was -not only proper to Kings: their Grandees and more honorable -Subjects” (no doubt members of the royal race) “had -sometimes the like;” we see how the term <i>Father</i>, properly -used by these also, and by their multiplying descendants, came -to be a title used by the people in general. As bearing -on this point, it is significant that in the least advanced -country of Europe, where belief in the divine nature of the -ruler still lingers, <i>Father</i> in this higher sense, is still a regal -distinction. When, again, we remember how the divinity -at first ascribed to kings was not a complimentary fiction -but a supposed fact; and how, further, the celestial bodies -were believed to be personages who once lived among men; -we see that the appellations of oriental rulers, “Brother to -the Sun,” &c., were probably once expressive of a genuine -belief; and have simply, like many other things, continued -in use after all meaning has gone out of them. We may -infer, too, that the titles God, Lord, Divinity, were given -to primitive rulers literally—that the <i>nostra divinitas</i> -applied to the Roman emperors, and the various sacred -designations that have been borne by monarchs, down to -the still extant phrase, “Our Lord the King,” are the dead -and dying forms of what were once living facts. From -these names, God, Father, Lord, Divinity, originally belonging -to the God-king, and afterwards to God and the -king, the derivation of our commonest titles of respect is -traceable. There is reason to think that these titles were -originally proper names. Not only do we see among the -Egyptians, where Pharaoh was synonymous with king, and -among the Romans, where to be Cæsar, meant to be -Emperor, that the proper names of the greatest men were -transferred to their successors, and -so became class-names; <span class="xxpn" id="p013">{13}</span> -but in the Scandinavian mythology we may trace a human -title of honour up to the proper name of a divine personage. -In Anglo-Saxon <i>bealdor</i>, or <i>baldor</i>, means <i>Lord</i>; and Balder -is the name of the favourite of Odin’s sons. How these -names of honour became general is easily understood. The -relatives of the primitive kings—the grandees described by -Selden as having names formed on those of the gods, and -shown by this to be members of the divine race—necessarily -shared in the epithets descriptive of superhuman -relationships and nature. Their ever-multiplying offspring -inheriting these, gradually rendered them comparatively -common. And then they came to be applied to every man -of power: partly from the fact that, in those early days -when men conceived divinity simply as a stronger kind of -humanity, great persons could be called by divine epithets -with but little exaggeration; partly from the fact that the -unusually potent were apt to be considered as unrecognised -or illegitimate descendants of “the strong, the destroyer, -the powerful one;” and partly, also, from compliment and -the desire to propitiate. As superstition diminished, this last -became the sole cause. And if we remember that it is the -nature of compliment, to attribute more than is due—that -in the ever widening application of “esquire,” in the perpetual -repetition of “your honour” by the fawning Irishman, -and in the use of the name “gentleman” to any coalheaver -or dustman by the lower classes of London, we have current -examples of the depreciation of titles consequent on compliment—and -that in barbarous times, when the wish to -propitiate was stronger than now, this effect must have been -greater; we shall see that there naturally arose from this -cause an extensive misuse of all early distinctions. Hence the -facts that the Jews called Herod a god; that <i>Father</i>, in its -higher sense, was a term used among them by servants to -masters; that <i>Lord</i> was applicable to any person of worth -and power. Hence, too, the fact that, in the later periods -of the Roman Empire, every man saluted -his neighbour as <span class="xxpn" id="p014">{14}</span> -<i>Dominus</i> or <i>Rex</i>. But it is in the titles of the middle ages, -and in the growth of our modern ones out of them, that the -process is most clearly seen. <i>Herr</i>, <i>Don</i>, <i>Signor</i>, <i>Seigneur</i>, -<i>Señor</i>, were all originally descriptive names of rulers. -By the complimentary use of these names to all who could, -on any pretence, be supposed to merit them, and by -successive descents to still lower grades, they have come -to be common forms of address. At first the phrase in which -a serf accosted his despotic chief, <i>mein Herr</i> is now familiarly -applied in Germany to ordinary people. The Spanish title -<i>Don</i>, once proper to noblemen and gentlemen only, is now -accorded to all classes. So, too, is it with <i>Signor</i> in Italy. -<i>Seigneur</i> and <i>Monseigneur</i>, by contraction in <i>Sieur</i> and -<i>Monsieur</i>, have produced the term of respect claimed by -every Frenchman. And whether <i>Sire</i> be or be not a like -contraction of <i>Signor</i>, it is clear that, as it was borne by -sundry of the ancient feudal lords of France, who, as Selden -says, “affected rather to bee stiled by the name of <i>Sire</i> -than Baron, as <i>Le Sire de Montmorencie</i>, <i>Le Sire de Beaujeu</i>, -and the like,” and as it has been commonly used to -monarchs, our word <i>Sir</i>, which is derived from it, originally -meant lord or king. Thus, too, is it with feminine titles. -<i>Lady</i>, which, according to Horne Tooke, means <i>exalted</i>, and -was at first given only to the few, is now given to all women -of education. <i>Dame</i>, once an honourable name to which, -in old books, we find the epithets of “high-born” and -“stately” affixed, has now, by repeated widenings of its -application, become relatively a term of contempt. And -if we trace the compound of this, <i>ma Dame</i>, through its -contractions—<i>Madam</i>, <i>ma’am</i>, <i>mam</i>, <i>mum</i>, we find that the -“Yes’m” of Sally to her mistress is originally equivalent to -“Yes, my exalted,” or “Yes, your highness.” Throughout, -therefore, the genesis of words of honour has been the same. -Just as with the Jews and with the Romans, has it been -with the modern Europeans. Tracing these everyday names -to their primitive significations of <i>lord</i> -and <i>king</i>, and <span class="xxpn" id="p015">{15}</span> -remembering that in aboriginal societies these were applied -only to the gods and their descendants, we arrive at the -conclusion that our familiar <i>Sir</i> and <i>Monsieur</i> are, in their -primary and expanded meanings, terms of adoration.</p> - -<p>Further to illustrate this gradual depreciation of titles, -and to confirm the inference drawn, it may be well to notice -in passing, that the oldest of them have, as might be -expected, been depreciated to the greatest extent. Thus, -<i>Master</i>—a word proved by its derivation, and by the -similarity of the connate words in other languages (Fr., -<i>maître</i> for <i>maistre</i>; Dutch, <i>meester</i>; Dan., <i>mester</i>; Ger., -<i>meister</i>) to have been one of the earliest in use for expressing -lordship—has now become applicable to children only, -and, under the modification of “Mister,” to persons next -above the labourer. Again, knighthood, the oldest kind of -dignity, is also the lowest; and Knight Bachelor, which is -the lowest order of knighthood, is more ancient than any -other of the orders. Similarly, too, with the peerage: -Baron is alike the earliest and least elevated of its divisions. -This continual degradation of all names of honour has, -from time to time, made it requisite to introduce new ones -having the distinguishing effects which the originals had -lost by generality of use; just as our habit of misapplying -superlatives has, by gradually destroying their force, -entailed the need for fresh ones. And if, within the last -thousand years, this process has worked results thus marked, -we may readily conceive how, during previous thousands, -the titles of gods and demi-gods came to be used to all -persons exercising power; as they have since come to be -used to persons of respectability.</p> - -<p>If from names of honour we turn to phrases of honour, -we find similar facts. The oriental styles of address, -applied to ordinary people—“I am your slave,” “All I -have is yours,” “I am your sacrifice”—attribute to the -individual spoken to the same greatness that <i>Monsieur</i> and -<i>My Lord</i> do: they ascribe to him the -character of an <span class="xxpn" id="p016">{16}</span> -all-powerful ruler, so immeasurably superior to the speaker as -to be his owner. So, likewise, with the Polish expressions -of respect—“I throw myself under your feet,” “I kiss -your feet.” In our now meaningless subscription to a -formal letter—“Your most obedient servant”—the same -thing is visible. Nay, even in the familiar signature -“Yours faithfully,” the “yours,” if interpreted as originally -meant, is the expression of a slave to his master. All -these dead forms were once living embodiments of fact; -were primarily the genuine indications of that submission -to authority which they verbally assert; were afterwards -naturally used by the weak and cowardly to propitiate -those above them; gradually grew to be considered the -due of such; and, by a continually wider misuse, have lost -their meanings, as <i>Sir</i> and <i>Master</i> have done. That, like -titles, they were in the beginning used only to the God-king, -is indicated by the fact that, like titles, they were -subsequently used in common to God and the king. -Religious worship has ever largely consisted of professions -of obedience, of being God’s servants, of belonging to him -to do what he will with. Like titles, therefore, these -common phrases of honour had a devotional origin. Perhaps, -however, it is in the use of the word <i>you</i> as a singular -pronoun that the popularizing of what were once supreme -distinctions is most markedly illustrated. This addressing -of a single individual in the plural, was originally an honour -given only to the highest—was the reciprocal of the imperial -“we” assumed by such. Yet now, by being applied to -successively lower and lower classes, it has become all but -universal. Only by one sect of Christians, and in a few -secluded districts, is the primitive <i>thou</i> still used. And the -<i>you</i>, in becoming common to all ranks, has simultaneously -lost every vestige of the distinction once attaching to it.</p> - -<p>But the genesis of Manners out of forms of allegiance and -worship, is above all shown in modes of salutation. Note -first the significance of the word. Among -the Romans, the <span class="xxpn" id="p017">{17}</span> -<i>salutatio</i> was a daily homage paid by clients and inferiors -to their superiors. This was alike the case with civilians -and in the army. The very derivation of our word, therefore, -is suggestive of submission. Passing to particular -forms of obeisance (mark the word again), let us begin with -the Eastern one of baring the feet. This was, primarily, -a mark of reverence, alike to a god and a king. The act -of Moses before the burning bush, and the practice of -Mahometans, who are sworn on the Koran with their shoes -off, exemplify the one employment of it; the custom of the -Persians, who remove their shoes on entering the presence -of their monarch, exemplifies the other. As usual, however, -this homage, paid next to inferior rulers, has descended -from grade to grade. In India it is a common mark of -respect; the lower orders of Turks never enter the presence -of their superiors but in their stockings; and in Japan, this -baring of the feet is an ordinary salutation of man to man. -Take another case. Selden, describing the ceremonies of -the Romans, says:—“For whereas it was usuall either to -kiss the Images of their Gods, or, adoring them, to stand -somewhat off before them, solemnly moving the right hand -to the lips, and then, casting it as if they had cast kisses, to -turne the body on the same hand (which was the right -forme of Adoration), it grew also by custom, first that the -Emperors, being next to Deities, and by some accounted as -Deities, had the like done to them in acknowledgment -of their Greatness.” If, now, we call to mind the awkward -salute of a village school-boy, made by putting his open -hand up to his face and describing a semicircle with his -forearm; and if we remember that the salute thus used as -a form of reverence in country districts, is most likely -a remnant of the feudal times; we shall see reason -for thinking that our common wave of the hand to a -friend across the street, represents what was primarily -a devotional act.</p> - -<p>Similarly have originated all forms -of respect depending <span class="xxpn" id="p018">{18}</span> -upon inclinations of the body. Entire prostration is the -aboriginal sign of submission. The passage of Scripture—“Thou -hast put all under his feet,” and that other one, so -suggestive in its anthropomorphism—“The Lord said unto -my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine -enemies thy footstool,” imply, what the Assyrian sculptures -bear out, that it was the practice of the ancient god-kings -of the East to trample on the conquered. As there are -existing savages who signify submission by placing the -neck under the foot of the person submitted to, it becomes -obvious that all prostration, especially when accompanied -by kissing the foot, expressed a willingness to be trodden -upon—was an attempt to mitigate wrath by saying, in -signs, “Tread on me if you will.” Remembering, too, -that kissing the foot, as of the Pope and of a saint’s statue, -still continues in Europe to be a mark of extreme reverence; -that prostration to feudal lords was once general, -and that its disappearance must have taken place, not -abruptly, but by gradual change into something else; we -have ground for deriving from these deepest of humiliations -all inclinations of respect: especially as the transition -is traceable. The reverence of a Russian serf, who bends -his head to the ground, and the salaam of the Hindoo, are -abridged prostrations; a bow is a short salaam; a nod is -a short bow. Should any hesitate to admit this conclusion, -then perhaps, on being reminded that the lowest of these -obeisances are common where the submission is most -abject; that among ourselves the profundity of the bow -marks the amount of respect; and lastly, that the bow is -even now used devotionally in our churches—by Catholics -to their altars, and by Protestants at the name of Christ—they -will see sufficient reason for thinking that this salutation -also was originally worship.</p> - -<p>The same may be said, too, of the curtsy, or courtesy, as -it is otherwise written. Its derivation from <i>courtoisie</i>, -courteousness, that is, behaviour like that at -court, at once <span class="xxpn" id="p019">{19}</span> -shows that it was primarily the reverence paid to a -monarch. And if we call to mind that falling on the -knees, or on one knee, has been a common obeisance of -subjects to rulers; that in ancient manuscripts and -tapestries, servants are depicted as assuming this attitude -while offering the dishes to their masters at table; and -that this same attitude is assumed towards our own queen -at every presentation; we may infer, what the character of -the curtsy itself suggests, that it is an abridged act of -kneeling. As the word has been contracted from <i>courtoisie</i> -into curtsy; so the motion has been contracted from a -placing of the knee on the floor, to a lowering of the knee -towards the floor. Moreover, when we compare the curtsy -of a lady with the awkward one a peasant girl makes, -which, if continued, would bring her down on both knees, -we may see in this last a remnant of that greater reverence -required of serfs. And when, from considering that simple -kneeling of the West, still represented by the curtsy, we -pass Eastward, and note the attitude of the Mahommedan -worshipper, who not only kneels but bows his head to the -ground, we may infer that the curtsy also, is an evanescent -form of the aboriginal prostration. In further evidence of -this it may be remarked, that there has but recently -disappeared from the salutations of men, an action having -the same proximate derivation with the curtsy. That -backward sweep of the right foot with which the conventional -stage-sailor accompanies his bow—a movement -which prevailed generally in past generations, when “a -bow and a scrape” went together, and which, within the -memory of living persons, was made by boys to their -master when entering school, with the effect of wearing a -hole in the floor—is pretty clearly a preliminary to going -on one knee. A motion so ungainly could never have -been intentionally introduced; even if the artificial introduction -of obeisances were possible. Hence we must -regard it as the remnant of -something antecedent: and <span class="xxpn" id="p020">{20}</span> -that this something antecedent was humiliating may be -inferred from the phrase, “scraping an acquaintance;” -which, being used to denote the gaining of favour by -obsequiousness, implies that the scrape was considered a -mark of servility—that is, of servile position.</p> - -<p>Consider, again, the uncovering of the head. Almost -everywhere this has been a sign of reverence, alike in -temples and before potentates; and it yet preserves among -us some of its original meaning. Whether it rains, hails, -or shines, you must keep your head bare while speaking to -the monarch; and no one may keep his hat on in a place -of worship. As usual, however, this ceremony, at first a -submission to gods and kings, has become in process of -time a common civility. Once an acknowledgment of -another’s unlimited supremacy, the removal of the hat is -now a salute accorded to very ordinary persons; and that -uncovering originally reserved for entrance into “the house -of God” or the residence of the ruler, good manners now -dictates on entrance into a labourer’s cottage.</p> - -<p>Standing, too, as a mark of respect, has undergone like -extensions in its application. Shown, by the practice in -our churches, to be intermediate between the humiliation -signified by kneeling and the self-respect which sitting -implies, and used at courts as a form of homage when -more active demonstrations of it have been made, this -posture is now employed in daily life to show consideration; -as seen alike in the attitude of a servant before -a master, and in that rising which politeness prescribes on -the entrance of a visitor.</p> - -<p>Many other threads of evidence might have been woven -into our argument. As, for example, the significant fact, -that if we trace back our still existing law of primogeniture—if -we consider it as displayed by Scottish clans, in which -not only ownership but government devolved from the -beginning on the eldest son of the eldest—if we look -further back, and observe that the old -titles of lordship, <span class="xxpn" id="p021">{21}</span> -<i>Signor</i>, <i>Seigneur</i>, <i>Señor</i>, <i>Sire</i>, <i>Sieur</i>, all originally mean -senior, or elder—if we go Eastward, and find that <i>Sheick</i> -has a like derivation, and that the Oriental names for -priests, as <i>Pir</i>, for instance, are literally interpreted <i>old -man</i>—if we note in Hebrew records how far back dates -the ascribed superiority of the first-born, how great the -authority of elders, and how sacred the memory of patriarchs—and -if, then, we remember that among divine titles are -“Ancient of Days,” and “Father of Gods and men;”—we -see how completely these facts harmonize with the hypothesis, -that the aboriginal god is the first man sufficiently -great to become a tradition, the earliest whose power and -deeds made him remembered; that hence antiquity unavoidably -became associated with superiority, and age -with nearness in blood to “the powerful one;” that so -there naturally arose that domination of the eldest which -characterizes the history of all the higher races, and that -theory of human degeneracy which even yet survives. We -might further dwell on the facts, that <i>Lord</i> signifies high-born, -or, as the same root gives a word meaning heaven, -possibly heaven-born; that, before it became common, Sir -or <i>Sire</i>, as well as <i>Father</i>, was the distinction of a priest; -that <i>worship</i>, originally worth-ship—a term of respect that -has been used commonly, as well as to magistrates—is -also our term for the act of attributing greatness or worth -to the Deity; so that to ascribe worth-ship to a man is to -worship him. We might make much of the evidence that -all early governments are more or less distinctly theocratic; -and that among ancient Eastern nations even the commonest -forms and customs had religious sanctions. We -might enforce our argument respecting the derivation of -ceremonies, by tracing out the aboriginal obeisance made -by putting dust on the head, which symbolizes putting -the head in the dust; by affiliating the practice found in -certain tribes, of doing another honour by presenting him -with a portion of hair torn from the -head—an act which <span class="xxpn" id="p022">{22}</span> -seems tantamount to saying, “I am your slave;” by -investigating the Oriental custom of giving to a visitor any -object he speaks of admiringly, which is pretty clearly a -carrying out of the compliment, “All I have is yours.”</p> - -<p>Without enlarging, however, on these and minor facts, -we venture to think that the evidence assigned is sufficient. -Had the proofs been few, or of one kind, little -faith could have been placed in the inference. But numerous -as they are, alike in the case of titles, in that of -complimentary phrases, and in that of salutes—similar -and simultaneous, too, as the process of depreciation has -been in all of these; the evidences become strong by -mutual confirmation. And when we recollect, also, that -not only have the results of this process been visible in -various nations and in all times, but that they are occurring -among ourselves at the present moment, and that the -causes assigned for previous depreciations may be seen -daily working out others—when we recollect this, it -becomes scarcely possible to doubt that the process has -been as alleged; and that our ordinary words, acts, and -phrases of civility originally expressed submission to -another’s omnipotence.</p> - -<p>Thus the general doctrine, that all kinds of government -exercised over men were at first one government—that the -political, the religious, and the ceremonial forms of control -are divergent branches of a general and once indivisible -control—begins to look tenable. When, with the above -facts fresh in mind, we read that in Eastern traditions -Nimrod, among others, figures in all the characters of -hero, king, and divinity—when we turn to the sculptures -exhumed by Mr. Layard, and contemplating in them the -effigies of kings driving over enemies, and adored by prostrate -slaves, then observe how their actions correspond to the -primitive names for gods, “the strong,” “the destroyer,” -“the powerful one”—and when, lastly, we discover that -among races of men still living, -there are current <span class="xxpn" id="p023">{23}</span> -superstitions analogous to those which old records and old -buildings indicate; we begin to realize the probability of -the hypothesis that has been set forth. Representing to -ourselves the conquering chief as figured in ancient myths, -and poems, and ruins; we may see that all rules of conduct -spring from his will. Alike legislator and judge, quarrels -among his subjects are decided by him; and his words -become the Law. Awe of him is the incipient Religion; and -his maxims furnish his first precepts. Submission is made -to him in the forms he prescribes; and these give birth to -Manners. From the first, time developes political allegiance -and the administration of justice; from the second, the -worship of a being whose personality becomes ever more -vague, and the inculcation of precepts ever more abstract; -from the third, forms and names of honour and the rules of -etiquette. In conformity with the law of evolution of all -organized bodies, that general functions are gradually -separated into the special functions constituting them, there -have grown up in the social organism for the better performance -of the governmental office, an apparatus of law-courts, -judges, and barristers; a national church, with its -bishops and priests; and a system of caste, titles, and -ceremonies, administered by society at large. By the -first, overt aggressions are cognized and punished; by -the second, the disposition to commit such aggressions -is in some degree checked; by the third, those minor -breaches of good conduct which the others do not notice, -are denounced and chastised. Law and Religion control -behaviour in its essentials; Manners control it in its details. -For regulating those daily actions which are too numerous -and too unimportant to be officially directed there comes -into play this subtler set of restraints. And when we consider -what these restraints are—when we analyze the words, -and phrases, and movements employed, we see that in -origin as in effect, the system is a setting -up of temporary <span class="xxpn" id="p024">{24}</span> -governments between all men who come in contact, for the -purpose of better managing the intercourse between them.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">From the proposition, that these several kinds of -government are essentially one, both in genesis and function, may be -deduced several important corollaries, directly bearing on our special -topic.</p> - -<p>Let us first notice, that there is not only a common origin -and office for all forms of rule, but a common necessity for -them. The aboriginal man, coming fresh from the killing -of bears and from lying in ambush for his enemy, has, by -the necessities of his condition, a nature requiring to be -curbed in its every impulse. Alike in war and in the -chase, his daily discipline has been that of sacrificing other -creatures to his own needs and passions. His character, -bequeathed to him by ancestors who led similar lives, is -moulded by this discipline—is fitted to this existence. The -unlimited selfishness, the love of inflicting pain, the blood-thirstiness, -thus kept active, he brings with him into the -social state. These dispositions put him in constant danger -of conflict with his equally savage neighbour. In small -things as in great, in words as in deeds, he is aggressive; -and is hourly liable to the aggressions of others like natured. -Only, therefore, by rigorous control exercised over all -actions, can the primitive unions of men be maintained. -There must be a ruler strong, remorseless, and of indomitable -will; there must be a creed terrible in its threats to -the disobedient; there must be servile submission of inferiors -to superiors. The law must be cruel; the religion must be -stern; the ceremonies must be strict. The co-ordinate -necessity for these several kinds of restraint might be -largely illustrated from history were there space. Suffice -it to point out that where the civil power has been weak, -the multiplication of thieves, assassins, and banditti, has -indicated the approach of social -dissolution; that when, <span class="xxpn" id="p025">{25}</span> -from the corruptness of its ministry, religion has lost its -influence, as it did just before the Flagellants appeared, the -State has been endangered; and that the disregard of -established social observances has ever been an accompaniment -of political revolutions. Whoever doubts the necessity -for a government of manners proportionate in strength to -the co-existing political and religious governments, will be -convinced on calling to mind that until recently even elaborate -codes of behaviour failed to keep gentlemen from -quarrelling in the streets and fighting duels in taverns; -and on remembering that even now people exhibit at the -doors of a theatre, where there is no ceremonial law to rule -them, an aggressiveness which would produce confusion if -carried into social intercourse.</p> - -<p>As might be expected, we find that, having a common -origin and like general functions, these several controlling -agencies act during each era with similar degrees of vigour. -Under the Chinese despotism, stringent and multitudinous -in its edicts and harsh in the enforcement of them, and -associated with which there is an equally stern domestic -despotism exercised by the eldest surviving male of the -family, there exists a system of observances alike complicated -and rigid. There is a tribunal of ceremonies. -Previous to presentation at court, ambassadors pass many -days in practising the required forms. Social intercourse -is cumbered by endless compliments and obeisances. Class -distinctions are strongly marked by badges. And if there -wants a definite measure of the respect paid to social -ordinances, we have it in the torture to which ladies submit -in having their feet crushed. In India, and indeed throughout -the East, there exists a like connexion between the -pitiless tyranny of rulers, the dread terrors of immemorial -creeds, and the rigid restraint of unchangeable customs. -Caste regulations continue still unalterable; the fashions -of clothes and furniture have remained the same for ages; -suttees are so ancient as to be mentioned -by Strabo and <span class="xxpn" id="p026">{26}</span> -Diodorus Siculus; justice is still administered at the palace-gates -as of old; in short, “every usage is a precept of -religion and a maxim of jurisprudence.” A similar relationship -of phenomena was exhibited in Europe during the -Middle Ages. While its governments, general and local, -were despotic, while the Church was unshorn of its power, -while the criminal code was full of horrors and the hell of -the popular creed full of terrors, the rules of behaviour -were both more numerous and more carefully conformed to -than now. Differences of dress marked divisions of rank. -Men were limited by law to certain widths of shoe-toes; -and no one below a specified degree might wear a cloak -less than so many inches long. The symbols on banners -and shields were carefully attended to. Heraldry was an -important branch of knowledge. Precedence was strictly -insisted on. And those various salutes of which we now -use the abridgments, were gone through in full. Even -during our own last century, with its corrupt House of -Commons and little-curbed monarchs, we may mark a -correspondence of social formalities. Gentlemen were still -distinguished from lower classes by dress; and children -addressed their parents as <i>Sir</i> and <i>Madam</i>.</p> - -<p>A further corollary naturally following this last, and -almost, indeed, forming part of it, is, that these several -kinds of government decrease in stringency at the same -rate. Simultaneously with the decline in the influence of -priesthoods, and in the fear of eternal torments—simultaneously -with the mitigation of political tyranny, the growth -of popular power, and the amelioration of criminal codes; -has taken place that diminution of formalities and that -fading of distinctive marks, now so observable. Looking at -home, we may note that there is less attention to precedence -than there used to be. No one in our day ends an interview -with the phrase “your humble servant.” The employment -of the word <i>Sir</i>, once general in social intercourse, is -at present considered bad breeding; and -on the occasions <span class="xxpn" id="p027">{27}</span> -calling for them, it is held vulgar to use the words “Your -Majesty,” or “Your Royal Highness,” more than once -in a conversation. People no longer formally drink one -another’s healths; and even the taking wine with one -another at dinner has ceased to be fashionable. It is -remarked of us by foreigners, that we take off our hats less -than any other nation in Europe—a remark which should -be coupled with the other, that we are the freest nation in -Europe. As already implied, this association of facts is -not accidental. These modes of address and titles and -obeisances, bearing about them, as they all do, something -of that servility which marks their origin, become distasteful -in proportion as men become more independent themselves, -and sympathize more with the independence of others. -The feeling which makes the modern gentleman tell the -labourer standing bareheaded before him to put on his hat—the -feeling which gives us a dislike to those who cringe -and fawn—the feeling which makes us alike assert our own -dignity and respect that of others—the feeling which thus -leads us more and more to discountenance forms and names -which confess inferiority and submission; is the same feeling -which resists despotic power and inaugurates popular -government, denies the authority of the Church and establishes -the right of private judgment.</p> - -<p>A fourth fact, akin to the foregoing, is, that with -decreasing coerciveness in these several kinds of government, -their respective forms lose their meanings. The -same process which has made our monarch put forth as his -own acts what are the acts of ministers approved by the -people, and has thus changed him from master into agent—the -same process which, making attendance at church very -much a matter of respectability, has done away with the -telling of beads, the calling on saints, and the performance -of penances; is a process by which titles and ceremonies -that once had a meaning and a power have been reduced to -empty forms. Coats of arms which -served to distinguish <span class="xxpn" id="p028">{28}</span> -men in battle, now figure on the carriage panels of retired -merchants. Once a badge of high military rank, the -shoulder-knot has become, on the modern footman, a mark -of servitude. The name Banneret, which originally marked -a partially-created Baron—a Baron who had passed his -military “little go”—is now, under the modification of -Baronet, applicable to any one favoured by wealth or interest -or party feeling. Knighthood has so far ceased to be an -honour, that men honour themselves by declining it. The -military dignity <i>Escuyer</i> has, in the modern Esquire, -become a wholly unmilitary affix.</p> - -<p>But perhaps it is in that class of social observances comprehended -under the term Fashion (which we must here -discuss parenthetically) that this process is seen with the -greatest distinctness. As contrasted with Manners, which -dictate our minor acts in relation to other persons, Fashion -dictates our minor acts in relation to ourselves. While the -one prescribes that part of our deportment which directly -affects our neighbours; the other prescribes that part of -our deportment which is primarily personal, and in which -our neighbours are concerned only as spectators. Thus -distinguished as they are, however, the two have a common -source. For while, as we have shown, Manners originate -by imitation of the behaviour pursued <i>towards</i> the great; -Fashion originates by imitation of the behaviour <i>of</i> the -great. While the one has its derivation in the titles, -phrases, and salutes used <i>to</i> those in power; the other is -derived from the habits and appearances exhibited <i>by</i> those -in power. The Carrib mother who squeezes her child’s -head into a shape like that of the chief; the young savage -who makes marks on himself similar to the scars carried by -the warriors of his tribe; the Highlander who adopts the -plaid worn by the head of his clan; the courtiers who affect -greyness, or limp, or cover their necks, in imitation of their -king, and the people who ape the courtiers; are alike acting -under a kind of government connate with -that of Manners, <span class="xxpn" id="p029">{29}</span> -and, like it too, primarily beneficial. For notwithstanding -the numberless absurdities into which this copying has led -people, from nose-rings to ear-rings, from painted faces to -beauty-spots, from shaven heads to powdered wigs, from -filed teeth and stained nails to bell-girdles, peaked shoes, -and breeches stuffed with bran, it must yet be concluded -that as the men of will, intelligence, and originality, who -have got to the top, are, on the average, more likely to -show judgment in their habits and tastes than the mass, the -imitation of such is advantageous. By and by, however, -Fashion, decaying like these other forms of rule, almost -wholly ceases to be an imitation of the best, and becomes -an imitation of quite other than the best. As those who -take orders are not those having a special fitness for the -priestly office, but those who hope to get livings; as -legislators and public functionaries do not become such by -virtue of their political insight and power to rule, but by -virtue of birth, acreage, and class influence; so, the self-elected -clique who set the fashion, do this, not by force of -nature, by intellect, by higher worth or better taste, but -solely by unchecked assumption. Among the initiated are -to be found neither the noblest in rank, the chief in power, -the best cultured, the most refined, nor those of greatest -genius, wit, or beauty; and their reunions, so far from being -superior to others, are noted for their inanity. Yet, by the -example of these sham great, and not by that of the truly -great, does society at large now regulate its habits, its -dress, its small usages. As a natural consequence, these -have generally little of that suitableness which the theory of -fashion implies they should have. Instead of a progress -towards greater elegance and convenience, which might be -expected to occur did people copy the ways of the really -best, or follow their own ideas of propriety, we have a reign -of mere whim, of unreason, of change for the sake of change, -of wanton oscillations from either extreme to the other. -And so life <i>à la mode</i>, instead of being life -conducted in the <span class="xxpn" id="p030">{30}</span> -most rational manner, is life regulated by spendthrifts and -idlers, milliners and tailors, dandies and silly women.</p> - -<p>To these several corollaries—that the various orders of -control exercised over men have a common origin and a -common function, are called out by co-ordinate necessities -and co-exist in like stringency, decline together and decay -together—it now only remains to add that they simultaneously -become less needful. The social discipline which -has already wrought out great changes in men, must go on -eventually to work out greater ones. That daily curbing -of the lower nature and culture of the higher, which out of -cannibals and devil-worshippers has evolved philanthropists, -lovers of peace, and haters of superstition, may be expected -to evolve out of these, men as much superior to them as -they are to their progenitors. The causes that have -produced past modifications are still in action; must -continue in action as long as there exists any incongruity -between men’s desires and the requirements of the social -state; and must eventually make them organically fit for -the social state. As it is now needless to forbid man-eating, -so will it ultimately become needless to forbid -murder, theft, and the minor offences of our criminal code. -Along with growth of human nature into harmony with the -moral law, there will go decreasing need for judges and -statute-books; when the right course has become the -course spontaneously chosen, prospects of future reward or -punishment will not be wanted as incentives; and when -due regard for others has become instinctive, there will -need no code of ceremonies to say how behaviour shall -be regulated.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Thus, then, may be recognized the meaning of those -eccentricities of reformers which we set out by describing. -They are not accidental; they are not mere personal -caprices. They are inevitable results of the law of relationship -above illustrated. That community -of genesis, function, <span class="xxpn" id="p031">{31}</span> -and decay which all forms of restraint exhibit, is simply -the obverse of the fact at first pointed out, that they have -in two sentiments of human nature a common preserver -and a common destroyer. Awe of power originates and -cherishes them all; love of freedom undermines and -weakens them all. The one defends despotism and asserts -the supremacy of laws, adheres to old creeds and supports -ecclesiastical authority, pays respect to titles and conserves -forms; the other, putting rectitude above legality, achieves -periodical instalments of political liberty, inaugurates Protestantism -and works out its consequences, ignores the -senseless dictates of Fashion and emancipates men from -dead customs. To the true reformer no institution is -sacred, no belief above criticism. Everything shall conform -itself to equity and reason; nothing shall be saved by its -prestige. Conceding to each man liberty to pursue his own -ends and satisfy his own tastes, he demands for himself -like liberty; and consents to no restrictions on this, save -those which other men’s equal claims involve. No matter -whether it be an ordinance of one man, or an ordinance of -all men, if it trenches on his legitimate sphere of action, he -denies its validity. The tyranny that would impose on -him a particular style of dress and a set mode of behaviour, -he resists equally with the tyranny that would limit his -buyings and sellings, or dictate his creed. Whether the -regulation be formally made by a legislature, or informally -made by society at large—whether the penalty for disobedience -be imprisonment, or frowns and social ostracism, -he sees to be a question of no moment. He will utter his -belief notwithstanding the threatened punishment; he will -break conventions spite of the petty persecutions that will -be visited on him. Show him that his actions are inimical -to his fellow-men, and he will pause. Prove that he is -disregarding their legitimate claims, and he will alter his -course. But until you do this—until you demonstrate -that his proceedings are -essentially inconvenient or <span class="xxpn" id="p032">{32}</span> -inelegant, essentially irrational, unjust, or ungenerous, he -will persevere.</p> - -<p>Some, indeed, argue that his conduct <i>is</i> unjust and -ungenerous. They say that he has no right to annoy other -people by his whims; that the gentleman to whom his -letter comes with no “Esq.” appended to the address, and -the lady whose evening party he enters with gloveless -hands, are vexed at what they consider his want of respect -or want of breeding; that thus his eccentricities cannot -be indulged save at the expense of his neighbours’ -feelings; and that hence his nonconformity is in plain -terms selfishness.</p> - -<p>He answers that this position, if logically developed, -would deprive men of all liberty whatever. Each must -conform all his acts to the public taste, and not his own. -The public taste on every point having been once ascertained, -men’s habits must thenceforth remain for ever fixed; -seeing that no man can adopt other habits without sinning -against the public taste, and giving people disagreeable -feelings. Consequently, be it an era of pig-tails or high-heeled -shoes, of starched ruffs or trunk-hose, all must -continue to wear pig-tails, high-heeled shoes, starched -ruffs, or trunk-hose to the crack of doom.</p> - -<p>If it be still urged that he is not justified in breaking -through others’ forms that he may establish his own, and -so sacrificing the wishes of many to the wishes of one, -he replies that all religious and political changes might be -negatived on like grounds. He asks whether Luther’s -sayings and doings were not extremely offensive to the -mass of his cotemporaries; whether the resistance of -Hampden was not disgusting to the time-servers around -him; whether every reformer has not shocked men’s -prejudices and given immense displeasure by the opinions -he uttered. The affirmative answer he follows up by -demanding what right the reformer has, then, to utter -these opinions—whether he is not -sacrificing the feelings <span class="xxpn" id="p033">{33}</span> -of many to the feelings of one; and so he proves -that, to be consistent, his antagonists must condemn not -only all nonconformity in actions, but all nonconformity -in beliefs.</p> - -<p>His antagonists rejoin that <i>his</i> position, too, may be -pushed to an absurdity. They argue that if a man may -offend by the disregard of some forms, he may as legitimately -do so by the disregard of all; and they inquire—Why -should he not go out to dinner in a dirty shirt, and -with an unshorn chin? Why should he not spit on the -drawing-room carpet, and stretch his heels up to the -mantle-shelf?</p> - -<p>The convention-breaker answers, that to ask this, implies -a confounding of two widely-different classes of actions—the -actions which are <i>essentially</i> displeasurable to those -around, with the actions which are but <i>incidentally</i> displeasurable -to them. He whose skin is so unclean as to -offend the nostrils of his neighbours, or he who talks so -loudly as to disturb a whole room, may be justly complained -of, and rightly excluded by society from its assemblies. -But he who presents himself in a surtout in place of a -dress-coat, or in brown trousers instead of black, gives -offence not to men’s senses, or their innate tastes, but -merely to their bigotry of convention. It cannot be said -that his costume is less elegant or less intrinsically appropriate -than the one prescribed; seeing that a few hours -earlier in the day it is admired. It is the implied rebellion, -therefore, which annoys. How little the cause of quarrel -has to do with the dress itself, is seen in the fact that a -century ago black clothes would have been thought preposterous -for hours of recreation, and that a few years -hence some now forbidden style may be nearer the requirements -of Fashion than the present one. Thus the reformer -explains that it is not against the natural restraints, but -against the artificial ones, that he protests; and that -manifestly the fire of angry glances which he -has to bear, <span class="xxpn" id="p034">{34}</span> -is poured upon him because he will not bow down to the -idol which society has set up.</p> - -<p>Should he be asked how we are to distinguish between -conduct which is in itself disagreeable to others, and -conduct which is disagreeable by its implication, he -answers, that they will distinguish themselves, if men will -let them. Actions intrinsically repugnant will ever be -frowned upon, and must ever remain as exceptional as -now. Actions not intrinsically repugnant will establish -themselves as proper. No relaxation of customs will -introduce the practice of going to a party in muddy -boots, and with unwashed hands; for the dislike of dirt -would continue were Fashion abolished to-morrow. That -love of approbation which now makes people solicitous to -be <i>en règle</i> would still exist—would still make them careful -of their personal appearance—would still induce them to -seek admiration by making themselves ornamental—would -still cause them to respect the natural laws of good -behaviour, as they now do the artificial laws. The change -would simply be from a repulsive monotony to a picturesque -variety. And if there be any regulations respecting -which it is uncertain whether they are based on reality -or on convention, experiment will soon decide, if due scope -be allowed.</p> - -<p>When at length the controversy comes round, as -controversies often do, to the point whence it started, and -the “party of order” repeat their charge against the -rebel, that he is sacrificing the feelings of others to -gratify his own wilfulness, he replies once for all that -they cheat themselves by mis-statements. He accuses -them of being so despotic, that, not content with being -masters over their own ways and habits, they would be -masters over his also; and grumble because he will not let -them. He merely asks the same freedom which they -exercise; they, however, propose to regulate his course as -well as their own—to cut and clip his mode -of life into <span class="xxpn" id="p035">{35}</span> -agreement with their approved pattern; and then charge -him with wilfulness and selfishness, because he does not -quietly submit! He warns them that he shall resist, nevertheless; -and that he shall do so, not only for the assertion -of his own independence, but for their good. He tells -them that they are slaves, and know it not; that they are -shackled, and kiss their chains; that they have lived all -their days in prison, and complain because the walls are -being broken down. He says he must persevere, however, -with a view to his own release; and, in spite of -their present expostulations, he prophesies that when -they have recovered from the fright which the prospect -of freedom produces, they will thank him for aiding in -their emancipation.</p> - -<p>Unamiable as seems this find-fault mood, offensive as is -this defiant attitude, we must beware of overlooking the -truths enunciated, in dislike of the advocacy. It is an -unfortunate hindrance to all innovation, that in virtue of -their very function, the innovators stand in a position of -antagonism; and the disagreeable manners, and sayings, -and doings, which this antagonism generates, are commonly -associated with the doctrines promulgated. Quite forgetting -that whether the thing attacked be good or bad, the -combative spirit is necessarily repulsive; and quite forgetting -that the toleration of abuses seems amiable merely -from its passivity; the mass of men contract a bias against -advanced views, and in favour of stationary ones, from -intercourse with their respective adherents. “Conservatism,” -as Emerson says, “is debonnair and social; reform -is individual and imperious.” And this remains true, -however vicious the system conserved, however righteous -the reform to be effected. Nay, the indignation of the -purists is usually extreme in proportion as the evils to -be got rid of are great. The more urgent the required -change, the more intemperate is the vehemence of its -promoters. Let no one, then, confound -with the principles <span class="xxpn" id="p036">{36}</span> -of this social nonconformity the acerbity and the disagreeable -self-assertion of those who first display it.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">The most plausible objection raised against resistance to -conventions, is grounded on its impolicy, considered even -from the progressist’s point of view. It is urged by many -of the more liberal and intelligent—usually those who have -themselves shown some independence of behaviour in -earlier days—that to rebel in these small matters is to -destroy your own power of helping on reform in greater -matters. “If you show yourself eccentric in manners or -dress, the world,” they say, “will not listen to you. You -will be considered as crotchety, and impracticable. The -opinions you express on important subjects, which might -have been treated with respect had you conformed on -minor points, will now inevitably be put down among your -singularities; and thus, by dissenting in trifles, you disable -yourself from spreading dissent in essentials.”</p> - -<p>Only noting, as we pass, that this is one of those anticipations -which bring about their own fulfilment—that it -is because most who disapprove these conventions do not -show their disapproval, that the few who do show it look -eccentric—and that did all act out their convictions, no such -argument as the above would have force;—noting this as -we pass, we go on to reply that these social restraints are -not small evils but among the greatest. Estimate their -sum total, and we doubt whether they would not exceed -most others. Could we add up the trouble, the cost, the -jealousies, vexations, misunderstandings, the loss of time -and the loss of pleasure, which these conventions entail—we -should perhaps come to the conclusion that the tyranny -of Mrs. Grundy is worse than any other tyranny. Let us -look at a few of its hurtful results; beginning with those of -minor importance.</p> - -<p>It produces extravagance. The desire to be <i>comme il -faut</i>, which underlies all conformities, -whether of manners, <span class="xxpn" id="p037">{37}</span> -dress, or styles of entertainment, is the desire which makes -many a spendthrift and many a bankrupt. To “keep up -appearances,” to have a house in an approved quarter -furnished in the latest taste, to give expensive dinners and -crowded <i>soirées</i>, is an ambition forming the natural outcome -of the conformist spirit. It is needless to enlarge on these -follies: they have been satirized by hosts of writers, and -in every drawing-room. All which here concerns us, is to -point out that the respect for social observances, which -men think so praiseworthy, has the same root with this -effort to be fashionable in mode of living; and that, other -things equal, the last cannot be diminished without the -first being diminished also. If, now, we consider what -this extravagance entails—if we count up the robbed -tradesmen, the stinted governesses, the ill-educated children, -the fleeced relatives, who have to suffer from it—if we mark -the anxiety and the many moral delinquencies which its -perpetrators involve themselves in; we shall see that this -regard for conventions is not quite so innocent as it looks.</p> - -<p>Again, it decreases the amount of social intercourse. -Passing over the reckless, and those who make a great -display on speculation with the occasional result of getting -on in the world to the exclusion of better men, we come to -the far larger class who, being prudent and honest enough -not to exceed their means, and yet wishing to be “respectable,” -are obliged to limit their entertainments to the -smallest possible number; and that each of these may be -turned to the greatest advantage in meeting the claims on -their hospitality, issue their invitations with little or no -regard to the comfort or mutual fitness of their guests. A -few inconveniently-large assemblies, made up of people -mostly strange to each other or but distantly acquainted, -are made to serve in place of many small parties of friends -intimate enough to have some bond of sympathy. Thus -the quantity of intercourse is diminished, and the quality -deteriorated. Because it is the custom -to make costly <span class="xxpn" id="p038">{38}</span> -preparations and provide costly refreshments; and because -it entails both less expense and less trouble to do this for -many persons on few occasions than for few persons on -many occasions; the reunions of our less wealthy classes -are rendered alike infrequent and tedious.</p> - -<p>Let it be further observed, that the existing formalities -of social intercourse drive away many who most need its -refining influence; and drive them into injurious habits -and associations. Not a few men, and not the least sensible -men either, give up in disgust this going out to stately -dinners and stiff evening-parties; and instead, seek society -in clubs, and cigar-divans, and taverns. “I’m sick of this -standing about in drawing-rooms, talking nonsense, and -trying to look happy,” will answer one of them when taxed -with his desertion. “Why should I any longer waste time -and money, and temper? Once I was ready enough to -rush home from the office to dress; I sported embroidered -shirts, submitted to tight boots, and cared nothing for -tailors’ and haberdashers’ bills. I know better now. My -patience lasted a good while; for though I found each night -pass stupidly, I always hoped the next would make amends. -But I’m undeceived. Cab-hire and kid gloves cost more -than any evening party pays for; or rather—it is worth the -cost of them to avoid the party. No, no; I’ll no more of -it. Why should I pay five shillings a time for the privilege -of being bored?” If, now, we consider that this very -common mood tends towards billiard-rooms, towards long -sittings over cigars and brandy-and-water, towards Evans’s -and the Coal Hole; it becomes a question whether these -precise observances which hamper our set meetings, have -not to answer for much of the prevalent dissoluteness. -Men must have excitements of some kind or other; and if -debarred from higher ones will fall back upon lower. It -is not that those who thus take to irregular habits are -essentially those of low tastes. Often it is quite the reverse. -Among half a dozen -intimate friends, abandoning <span class="xxpn" id="p039">{39}</span> -formalities and sitting at ease round the fire, none will enter -with greater enjoyment into the highest kind of social -intercourse—the genuine communion of thought and feeling; -and if the circle includes women of intelligence and -refinement, so much the greater is their pleasure. It is -because they will no longer be choked with the mere dry -husks of conversation which society offers them, that they -fly its assemblies, and seek those with whom they may have -discourse that is at least real, though unpolished. The men -who thus long for substantial mental sympathy, and will go -where they can get it, are often, indeed, much better at the -core than the men who are content with the inanities of -gloved and scented party-goers—men who feel no need to -come morally nearer to their fellow-creatures than they can -come while standing, tea-cup in hand, answering trifles -with trifles; and who, by feeling no such need, prove -themselves shallow-thoughted and cold-hearted. It is true, -that some who shun drawing-rooms do so from inability to -bear the restraints prescribed by a genuine refinement, and -that they would be greatly improved by being kept under -these restraints. But it is not less true that, by adding to -the legitimate restraints, which are based on convenience -and a regard for others, a host of factitious restraints based -only on convention, the refining discipline, which would -else have been borne with benefit, is rendered unbearable, -and so misses its end. Excess of government defeats itself -by driving away those to be governed. And if over all who -desert its entertainments in disgust either at their emptiness -or their formality, society thus loses its salutary influence—if -such not only fail to receive that moral culture which the -company of ladies, when rationally regulated, would give -them, but, in default of other relaxation, are driven into -habits and companionships which often end in gambling -and drunkenness; must we not say that here, too, is an evil -not to be passed over as insignificant?</p> - -<p>Then consider what a -blighting effect these <span class="xxpn" id="p040">{40}</span> -multitudinous preparations and ceremonies have upon the -pleasures they profess to subserve. Who, on calling to -mind the occasions of his highest social enjoyments, does -not find them to have been wholly informal, perhaps -impromptu? How delightful a pic-nic of friends, who -forget all observances save those dictated by good nature! -How pleasant the unpretending gatherings of small book-societies, -and the like; or those purely accidental meetings -of a few people well known to each other! Then, indeed, -we may see that “a man sharpeneth the countenance of -his friend.” Cheeks flush, and eyes sparkle. The witty -grow brilliant, and even the dull are excited into saying -good things. There is an overflow of topics; and the -right thought, and the right words to put it in, spring -up unsought. Grave alternates with gay: now serious -converse, and now jokes, anecdotes, and playful raillery. -Everyone’s best nature is shown; everyone’s best feelings -are in pleasurable activity; and, for the time, life seems -well worth having. Go now and dress for some half-past -eight dinner, or some ten o’clock “at home;” and present -yourself in spotless attire, with every hair arranged to perfection. -How great the difference! The enjoyment seems -in the inverse ratio of the preparation. These figures, got -up with such finish and precision, appear but half alive. -They have frozen each other by their primness; and your -faculties feel the numbing effects of the atmosphere the -moment you enter it. All those thoughts, so nimble and -so apt awhile since, have disappeared—have suddenly -acquired a preternatural power of eluding you. If you -venture a remark to your neighbour, there comes a trite -rejoinder, and there it ends. No subject you can hit upon -outlives half a dozen sentences. Nothing that is said -excites any real interest in you; and you feel that all you -say is listened to with apathy. By some strange magic, -things that usually give pleasure seem to have lost all -charm. You have a taste for art. -Weary of frivolous <span class="xxpn" id="p041">{41}</span> -talk, you turn to the table, and find that the book of -engravings and the portfolio of photographs are as flat as -the conversation. You are fond of music. Yet the singing, -good as it is, you hear with utter indifference; and say -“Thank you” with a sense of being a profound hypocrite. -Wholly at ease though you could be, for your own part, -you find that your sympathies will not let you. You see -young gentlemen feeling whether their ties are properly -adjusted, looking vacantly round, and considering what -they shall do next. You see ladies sitting disconsolately, -waiting for some one to speak to them, and wishing they -had the wherewith to occupy their fingers. You see the -hostess standing about the doorway, keeping a factitious -smile on her face, and racking her brain to find the requisite -nothings with which to greet her guests as they enter. -You see numberless traits of weariness and embarrassment; -and, if you have any fellow feeling, these cannot fail to -produce a sense of discomfort. The disorder is catching; -and do what you will, you cannot resist the general -infection. You struggle against it; you make spasmodic -efforts to be lively; but none of your sallies or your good -stories do more than raise a simper or a forced laugh: -intellect and feeling are alike asphyxiated. And when, at -length, yielding to your disgust, you rush away, how great -is the relief when you get into the fresh air, and see the -stars! How you “Thank God, that’s over!” and half -resolve to avoid all such boredom for the future! What, -now, is the secret of this perpetual miscarriage and disappointment? -Does not the fault lie with these needless -adjuncts—these elaborate dressings, these set forms, these -expensive preparations, these many devices and arrangements -that imply trouble and raise expectation? Who -that has lived thirty years in the world has not discovered -that Pleasure is coy; and must not be too directly pursued, -but must be caught unawares? An air from a street-piano, -heard while at work, will often gratify -more than the <span class="xxpn" id="p042">{42}</span> -choicest music played at a concert by the most accomplished -musicians. A single good picture seen in a dealer’s -window, may give keener enjoyment than a whole exhibition -gone through with catalogue and pencil. By the -time we have got ready our elaborate apparatus by which -to secure happiness, the happiness is gone. It is too subtle -to be contained in these receivers, garnished with compliments, -and fenced round with etiquette. The more we -multiply and complicate appliances, the more certain are -we to drive it away. The reason is patent enough. These -higher emotions to which social intercourse ministers, are -of extremely complex nature; they consequently depend -for their production upon very numerous conditions; the -more numerous the conditions, the greater the liability that -one or other of them will not be fulfilled. It takes a -considerable misfortune to destroy appetite; but cordial -sympathy with those around may be extinguished by a look -or a word. Hence it follows, that the more multiplied the -<i>unnecessary</i> requirements with which social intercourse is -surrounded, the less likely are its pleasures to be achieved. -It is difficult enough to fulfil continuously all the <i>essentials</i> -to a pleasurable communion with others: how much more -difficult, then, must it be continuously to fulfil a host of -<i>non-essentials</i> also! What chance is there of getting any -genuine response from the lady who is thinking of your -stupidity in taking her in to dinner on the wrong arm? -How are you likely to have agreeable converse with the -gentleman who is fuming internally because he is not -placed next to the hostess? Formalities, familiar as they -may become, necessarily occupy attention—necessarily -multiply the occasions for mistake, misunderstanding, and -jealousy, on the part of one or other—necessarily distract -all minds from the thoughts and feelings which should -occupy them—necessarily, therefore, subvert those conditions -under which only any sterling intercourse is to be had.</p> - -<p>And this, indeed, is the fatal -mischief which these <span class="xxpn" id="p043">{43}</span> -conventions entail—a mischief to which every other is -secondary. They destroy those pleasures which they profess -to subserve. All institutions are alike in this, that -however useful, and needful even, they originally were, they -in the end cease to be so, but often become detrimental. -While humanity is growing, they continue fixed; daily get -more mechanical and unvital; and by and by tend to -strangle what they before preserved. Old forms of government -finally grow so oppressive, that they must be thrown -off even at the risk of reigns of terror. Old creeds end -in being dead formulas, which no longer aid but distort -and arrest the general mind; while the State-churches -administering them, come to be instruments for subsidizing -conservatism and repressing progress. Old schemes of -education, incarnated in public schools and colleges, continue -filling the heads of new generations with what has -become relatively useless knowledge, and, by consequence, -excluding knowledge which is useful. Not an organization -of any kind—political, religious, literary, philanthropic—but -what, by its ever-multiplying regulations, its accumulating -wealth, its yearly addition of officers, and the -creeping into it of patronage and party feeling, eventually -loses its original spirit, and sinks into a lifeless mechanism, -worked with a view to private ends—a mechanism which -not merely fails of its first purpose, but is a positive hindrance -to it. Thus is it, too, with social usages. We read -of the Chinese that they have “ponderous ceremonies -transmitted from time immemorial,” which make social -intercourse a burden. The court forms prescribed by -monarchs for their own exaltation, have, in all times and -places, ended in consuming the comfort of their lives. -And so the artificial observances of the dining-room and -saloon, in proportion as they are many and strict, extinguish -that agreeable communion which they were intended to -secure. The dislike with which people commonly speak of -society that is “formal,” and -“stiff,” and “ceremonious,” <span class="xxpn" id="p044">{44}</span> -implies a general recognition of this fact; and this recognition -involves the inference that all usages of behaviour -which are not based on natural requirements, are injurious. -That these conventions defeat their own ends is no new -assertion. Swift, criticising the manners of his day, says—“Wise -men are often more uneasy at the over-civility of -these refiners than they could possibly be in the conversation -of peasants and mechanics.”</p> - -<p>But it is not only in these details that the self-defeating -action of our arrangements is traceable; it is traceable in -the very substance and nature of them. Our social intercourse, -as commonly managed, is a mere semblance of the -reality sought. What is it that we want? Some sympathetic -converse with our fellow-creatures:—some converse that -shall not be mere dead words, but the vehicle of living -thoughts and feelings—converse in which the eyes and the -face shall speak, and the tones of the voice be full of meaning—converse -which shall make us feel no longer alone, -but shall draw us closer to others, and double our own -emotions by adding their’s to them. Who is there that -has not, from time to time, felt how cold and flat is all this -talk about politics and science, and the new books and the -new men, and how a genuine utterance of fellow-feeling -outweighs the whole of it? Mark the words of Bacon:—“For -a crowd is not company, and faces are but a gallery -of pictures, and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is -no love.” If this be true, then it is only after acquaintance -has grown into intimacy, and intimacy has ripened into -friendship, that the real communion which men need -becomes possible. A rationally-formed circle must consist -almost wholly of those on terms of familiarity and regard, -with but one or two strangers. What folly, then, underlies -the whole system of our grand dinners, our “at homes,” our -evening parties—crowds made up of many who never met -before, many who just bow to one another, many who -though well known feel mutual indifference, with -just a few <span class="xxpn" id="p045">{45}</span> -real friends lost in the general mass! You need but look -round at the artificial expressions of face, to see at once how -it is. All have their disguises on; and how can there be -sympathy between masks? No wonder that in private every -one exclaims against the stupidity of these gatherings. No -wonder that hostesses get them up rather because they -must than because they wish. No wonder that the -invited go less from the expectation of pleasure than -from fear of giving offence. The whole thing is an -organized disappointment.</p> - -<p>And then note, lastly, that in this case, as in others, -an organization inoperative for its proper purpose, it is -employed for quite other purposes. What is the usual -plea put in for giving and attending these tedious assemblies? -“I admit that they are dull and frivolous enough,” -replies every man to your criticisms; “but then, you know, -one must keep up one’s connexions.” And could you get -from his wife a sincere answer, it would be—“Like you, I -am sick of these formal parties; but then, we must get our -daughters married.” The one knows that there is a -profession to push, a business to extend; or parliamentary -influence, or county patronage, or votes, or office, to -be got: position, berths, favours, profit. The other’s -thoughts run upon husbands and settlements, wives and -dowries. Worthless for their ostensible purpose of daily -bringing human beings into pleasurable relations with -each other, these cumbrous appliances of our social intercourse -are now perseveringly kept in action with a view -to the pecuniary and matrimonial results which they -indirectly produce.</p> - -<p>Who then shall say that the reform of our system of -observances is unimportant? When we see how this system -induces fashionable extravagance, with its occasional ruin—when -we mark how greatly it limits the amount of social -intercourse among the less wealthy classes—when we find -that many who most need to be -disciplined by mixing <span class="xxpn" id="p046">{46}</span> -with the refined are driven away by it, and led into bad -courses—when we count up the many minor evils it inflicts, -the extra work which its costliness entails on all professional -and mercantile men, the damage to public taste -in dress and decoration by the setting up of its absurdities -as standards for imitation, the injury to health indicated -in the faces of its devotees at the close of the London season, -the mortality of milliners and the like, which its sudden -exigencies yearly involve;—and when to all these we add -its fatal sin, that it withers up and kills that high enjoyment -it professedly ministers to—shall we not conclude that -to rationalize etiquette and fashion, is an aim yielding to -few in urgency?</p> - -<p class="padtopb">There needs, then, a protestantism in social usages. -Forms which have ceased to facilitate and have become -obstructive—have to be swept away. Signs are not -wanting that some change is at hand. A host of satirists, -led on by Thackeray, have long been engaged in bringing -our sham-festivities, and our fashionable follies, into contempt; -and in their candid moods, most men laugh at the -frivolities with which they and the world in general are -deluded. Ridicule has always been a revolutionary agent. -Institutions that have lost their roots in men’s respect and -faith are doomed; and the day of their dissolution is not -far off. The time is approaching, then, when our system of -social observances must pass through some crisis, out of -which it will come purified and comparatively simple.</p> - -<p>How this crisis will be brought about, no one can say. -Whether by the continuance and increase of individual -protests, or whether by the union of many persons for the -practice and diffusion of better usages, the future alone -can decide. The influence of dissentients acting without -co-operation, seems inadequate. Frowned on by conformists, -and expostulated with even by those who secretly -sympathize with them; subject to -petty persecutions, and <span class="xxpn" id="p047">{47}</span> -unable to trace any benefit produced by their example; -they are apt, one by one, to give up their attempts as -hopeless. The young convention-breaker eventually finds -that he pays too heavily for his nonconformity. Hating, -for example, everything that bears about it any remnant -of servility, he determines, in the ardour of his independence, -that he will uncover to no one. But what he means -simply as a general protest, he finds that ladies interpret -into a personal disrespect. In other cases his courage -fails him. Such of his unconventionalities as can be attributed -only to eccentricity, he has no qualms about; for, on -the whole, he feels rather complimented than otherwise in -being considered a disregarder of public opinion. But -when they are liable to be put down to ignorance, to ill-breeding, -or to poverty, he becomes a coward. However -clearly the recent innovation of eating some kinds of fish -with knife and fork proves the fork-and-bread practice to -have had little but caprice for its basis, yet he dares not -wholly ignore that practice while fashion partially maintains -it.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn4" id="fnanch4">4</a> -Though he thinks that a silk handkerchief is -quite as appropriate for drawing-room use as a white -cambric one, he is not altogether at ease in acting out his -opinion. Then, too, he begins to perceive that his resistance -to prescription brings round disadvantageous results -which he had not calculated upon. He had expected that -it would save him from a great deal of social intercourse -of a frivolous kind—that it would offend the silly people, -but not the sensible people; and so would serve as a self-acting -test by which those worth knowing would be separated -from those not worth knowing. But the silly people -prove to be so greatly in the majority that, by offending -them, he closes against himself nearly all the avenues -through which the sensible people are to be reached. Thus -he finds, that his nonconformity is frequently misinterpreted; -that there are but few directions in -which he dares <span class="xxpn" id="p048">{48}</span> -to carry it consistently out; that the disadvantages it -entails are greater than he anticipated; and that the -chances of his doing any good are very remote. Hence he -gradually loses resolution, and lapses, step by step, into the -ordinary routine of observances.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch4" id="fn4">4</a> -This was written before the introduction -of silver fish-knives.</p></div> - -<p>Abortive as individual protests thus generally turn out, -it may possibly be that nothing effectual will be done until -there arises some organized resistance to this invisible -despotism, by which our modes and habits are dictated. -It may happen, that the government of Manners and -Fashion will be rendered less tyrannical, as the political and -religious governments have been, by some antagonistic -union. Alike in Church and State, men’s first emancipations -from excesses of restriction were achieved by -numbers, bound together by a common creed or a common -political faith. What remained undone while there were -but individual schismatics or rebels, was effected when -there came to be many acting in concert. It is tolerably -clear that these earliest instalments of freedom could not -have been obtained in any other way; for so long as the -feeling of personal independence was weak and the rule -strong, there could never have been a sufficient number of -separate dissentients to produce the desired results. Only -in these later times, during which the secular and spiritual -controls have been growing less coercive, and the tendency -towards individual liberty greater, has it become possible -for smaller and smaller sects and parties to fight against -established creeds and laws; until now men may safely -stand even alone in their antagonism. The failure of -individual nonconformity to customs, suggests that an -analogous series of changes may have to be gone through -in this case also. It is true that the <i>lex non scripta</i> differs -from the <i>lex scripta</i> in this, that, being unwritten, it is -more readily altered; and that it has, from time to time, -been quietly ameliorated. Nevertheless, we shall find that -the analogy holds substantially good. For in -this case, as <span class="xxpn" id="p049">{49}</span> -in the others, the essential revolution is not the substituting -of any one set of restraints for any other, but the limiting -or abolishing the authority which prescribes restraints. -Just as the fundamental change inaugurated by the -Reformation, was not a superseding of one creed by -another, but an ignoring of the arbiter who before dictated -creeds—just as the fundamental change which Democracy -long ago commenced, was not from this particular law to -that, but from the despotism of one to the freedom of all; -so, the parallel change yet to be wrought out in this -supplementary government of which we are treating, is not -the replacing of absurd usages by sensible ones, but the -dethronement of that power which now imposes our usages, -and the assertion of the rights of individuals to choose -their own usages. In rules of living, a West-end clique is -our Pope; and we are all papists, with but a mere sprinkling -of heretics. On those who decisively rebel, comes -down the penalty of excommunication, with its long -catalogue of disagreeable and, indeed, serious consequences. -The liberty of the subject asserted in our constitution, and -ever on the increase, has yet to be wrested from this -subtler tyranny. The right of private judgment, which -our ancestors wrung from the church, remains to be -claimed from this dictator of our habits. Or, as before -said, to free us from these idolatries and superstitious -conformities, there has still to come a protestantism in -social usages. Parallel, therefore, as is the change to be -wrought out, it seems not improbable that it may be -wrought out in an analogous way. That influence which -solitary dissentients fail to gain, and that perseverance -which they lack, may come into existence when they unite. -That persecution which the world now visits upon them -from mistaking their nonconformity for ignorance or disrespect, -may diminish when it is seen to result from -principle. The penalty which exclusion now entails may -disappear when they become numerous -enough to form <span class="xxpn" id="p050">{50}</span> -visiting circles of their own. And when a successful stand -has been made, and the brunt of the opposition has passed, -that large amount of secret dislike to our observances -which now pervades society, may manifest itself with -sufficient power to effect the desired emancipation.</p> - -<p>Whether such will be the process, time alone can decide. -That community of origin, growth, supremacy, and decadence, -which we have found among all kinds of government, -suggests a community in modes of change also. -On the other hand, Nature often performs substantially -similar operations, in ways apparently different. Hence -these details can never be foretold.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Meanwhile, let us glance at the conclusions that have -been reached. On the one side, government, originally -one, and afterwards subdivided for the better fulfilment of -its function, must be considered as having ever been, in all -its branches—political, religious, and ceremonial—beneficial; -and, indeed, absolutely necessary. On the other -side, government, under all its forms, must be regarded as -subserving an office, made needful by the unfitness of -aboriginal humanity for social life; and the successive -diminutions of its coerciveness in State, in Church, and in -Custom, must be looked upon accompanying the increasing -adaptation of humanity to its conditions. To complete the -conception, there requires to be borne in mind the third fact, -that the genesis, the maintenance, and the decline of all -governments, however named, are alike brought about by -the humanity to be controlled; from which may be drawn the -inference that, on the average, restrictions of every kind -cannot last much longer than they are wanted, and cannot -be destroyed much faster than they ought to be. Society, -in all its developments, undergoes the process of exuviation. -These old forms which it successively throws off, have all -been once vitally united with it—have severally served as -the protective envelopes within which -a higher humanity <span class="xxpn" id="p051">{51}</span> -was being evolved. They are cast aside only when they -become hindrances—only when some inner and better -envelope has been formed; and they bequeath to us all that -there was in them of good. The periodical abolitions of -tyrannical laws have left the administration of justice not -only uninjured, but purified. Dead and buried creeds -have not carried with them the essential morality they -contained, which still exists, uncontaminated by the sloughs -of superstition. And all that there is of justice and -kindness and beauty, embodied in our cumbrous forms of -etiquette, will live perennially when the forms themselves -have been forgotten.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p052">{52}</span></div> -<h2 class="h2nobreak">RAILWAY MORALS AND RAILWAY POLICY.</h2></div> - -<div class="dchappre"> -<p class="pfirst">[<i>First published -in the</i> Edinburgh Review <i>for October 1854</i>.]</p></div> - -<p>Believers in the intrinsic virtues of political forms, might -draw an instructive lesson from the politics of our railways. -If there needs a conclusive proof that the most carefully-framed -constitutions are worthless, unless they be embodiments -of the popular character—if there needs a conclusive -proof, that governmental arrangements in advance of the -time will inevitably lapse into congruity with the time; -such proof may be found over and over again repeated in -the current history of joint-stock enterprises. As devised -by Act of Parliament, the administrations of our public -companies are almost purely democratic. The representative -system is carried out in them with scarcely a check. -Shareholders elect their directors, directors their chairman; -there is an annual retirement of a certain proportion of -members of the board, giving facilities for superseding -them; and, by this means, the whole ruling body may be -changed in periods varying from three to five years. Yet, -not only are the characteristic vices of our political state -reproduced in each of these mercantile corporations—some -even in an intenser degree—but the very form of government, -while remaining nominally democratic, is substantially -so remodelled as to become a miniature of our national -constitution. The direction, ceasing to fulfil its -theory as a <span class="xxpn" id="p053">{53}</span> -council formed of members who possess equal powers, falls -under the control of some one member of superior cunning, -will, or wealth, to whom the majority become so subordinate, -that the decision on every question depends on the course -he takes. Proprietors, instead of constantly exercising -their franchise, allow it to become on all ordinary occasions -a dead letter. Retiring directors are so habitually re-elected -without opposition, and have so great a power of insuring -their own election when opposed, that the board becomes -practically a close body; and it is only when the misgovernment -grows extreme enough to produce a revolutionary -agitation among the shareholders, that any change -can be effected. Thus, a mixture of the monarchic, the -aristocratic, and the democratic elements, is repeated with -such modifications only as the circumstances involve. The -modes of action, too, are substantially the same; save in -this, that the copy outruns the original. Threats of -resignation, which ministries hold out in extreme cases, -are commonly made by railway-boards to stave off disagreeable -inquiries. By no means regarding themselves as -servants of the shareholders, directors rebel against dictation -from them; and construe any amendment to their proposals -into a vote of want of confidence. At half-yearly meetings, -disagreeable criticisms and objections are met by the chairman -with the remark, that if the shareholders cannot trust -his colleagues and himself, they had better choose others. -With most, this assumption of offended dignity tells; and, -under fear that the company’s interests may suffer from -any disturbance, measures quite at variance with the wishes -of the proprietary are allowed to be carried. The parallel -holds yet further. If it be true of national administrations, -that those in power have the support of public <i>employés</i>; -it is not less true of incorporated companies, that the -directors are aided by the officials in their struggles with -shareholders. If, in times past, there have been ministries -who spent public money to secure party ends; -there are, in <span class="xxpn" id="p054">{54}</span> -times present, railway-boards who use the funds of the -shareholders to defeat the shareholders. Nay, even in -detail, the similarity is maintained. Like their prototype, -joint-stock companies have their expensive election contests, -managed by election committees, employing election -agents; they have their canvassing with its sundry -illegitimate accompaniments; they have their occasional -manufacture of fraudulent votes. And, as a general result, -that class-legislation, which has been habitually charged -against statesmen, is now habitually displayed in the -proceedings of these trading associations: constituted -though they are on purely representative principles.</p> - -<p>These last assertions will surprise not a few. The -general public who never see a railway-journal, and who -skip the reports of half-yearly meetings which appear in -the daily papers, are under the impression that dishonesties -like those gigantic ones so notorious during the mania, are -no longer committed. They do not forget the doings of -stags and stock-jobbers and runaway-directors. They -remember how men-of-straw held shares amounting to -£100,000, and even £200,000; how numerous directorates -were filled by the same persons—one having a seat at -twenty-three boards; how subscription-contracts were -made up with signatures bought at 10<i>s</i> and even 4<i>s</i> each, -and porters and errand-boys made themselves liable for -£30,000 and £40,000 a-piece. They can narrate how -boards kept their books in cipher, made false registries, -and refrained from recording their proceedings in minute-books; -how in one company, half-a-million of capital was -put down to unreal names; how in another, directors -bought for account more shares than they issued, and so -forced up the price; and how in many others, they repurchased -for the company their own shares, paying -themselves with the depositors’ money. But, though more -or less aware of the iniquities which have been practised, -the generality think of them solely -as the accompaniments <span class="xxpn" id="p055">{55}</span> -of bubble schemes. More recent enterprises they know to -have been <i>bonâ fide</i> ones, mostly carried out by old-established -companies; and knowing this, they do not suspect -that in the getting-up of branch lines and extensions, -there are chicaneries near akin to those of Capel Court; -and quite as disastrous in their ultimate results. Associating -the ideas of wealth and respectability, and habitually -using respectability as synonymous with morality, it seems -to them incredible that many of the large capitalists and -men of station who administer railway affairs, should be -guilty of indirectly enriching themselves at the expense -of their constituents. True, they occasionally meet with -a law-report disclosing some enormous fraud; or read a -<i>Times</i> leader, characterising directorial acts in terms -which are held libellous. But they regard the cases thus -brought to light as entirely exceptional; and, under that -feeling of loyalty which ever idealises men in authority, -they constantly tend towards the conviction, if not that -directors can do no wrong, yet that they are very unlikely to -do wrong.</p> - -<p>A history of railway management and railway intrigue, -however, would quickly undeceive them. In such a history, -the tricks of projectors and the mysteries of the share-market -would occupy less space than the analysis of the -multiform dishonesties which have been committed since -1845, and the genesis of that elaborate system of tactics by -which companies are betrayed into ruinous undertakings -which benefit the few at the cost of the many. Such a -history would not only have to detail the doings of the -personage famed for “making things pleasant;” nor would -it have merely to add the misdeeds of his colleagues; but -it would have to describe the kindred corruptness of other -railway administrations. From the published report of an -investigation-committee, it would be shown how, not many -years since, the directors of one of our lines allotted among -themselves 15,000 new shares then at a -premium in the <span class="xxpn" id="p056">{56}</span> -market; how to pay the deposits on these shares they used -the company’s funds; and how one of their number thus -accommodated himself in meeting both deposits and calls -to the extent of more than £80,000. We should read in -it of one railway chairman who, with the secretary’s connivance, -retained shares exceeding a quarter of a million -in amount, intending to claim them as his allotment if -they rose to a premium; and who, as they did not do -so, left them as unissued shares on the hands of the -proprietors, to their vast loss. We should also read -in it of directors who made loans to themselves out of -the company’s floating balances at a low rate of interest, -when the market rate was high; and who paid themselves -larger salaries than those assigned: entering the difference -in an obscure corner of the ledger under the head of -“petty disbursements.” There would be a description of -the manœuvres by which a delinquent board, under impending -investigation, gets a favourable committee nominated—“a -whitewashing committee.” There would be documents -showing that the proxies enabling boards to carry contested -measures, have in some cases been obtained by garbled -statements; and, again, that proxies given for a specified -purpose have been used for other purposes. One of our -companies would be proved to have projected a line, serving -as a feeder, for which it obtained shareholders by offering a -guaranteed dividend, which, though understood by the public -to be unconditional, was really contingent upon a condition -not likely to be fulfilled. The managers of another company -would be convicted of having carried party measures by the -aid of preference-shares standing in the names of station-masters; -and of being aided by the proxies of the secretary’s -children too young to write.</p> - -<p>That the corruptions here glanced at are not exceptional -evils, but result from some deep-seated vice in our system -of railway-government, is sufficiently proved by the fact, -that notwithstanding the -falling of railway-dividends <span class="xxpn" id="p057">{57}</span> -produced by the extension policy, that policy has been year -after year continued. Does any tradesman, who, having -enlarged his shop, finds a proportionate diminution in -his rate of profits, go on, even under the stimulus of -competition, making further enlargements at the risk of -further diminutions? Does any merchant, however strong -his desire to take away an opponent’s markets, make successive -mortgages on his capital, and pay for each sum thus -raised a higher interest than he gains by trading with it? -Yet this course, so absurd that no one would insult a private -individual by asking him to follow it, is the course which -railway-boards, at meeting after meeting, persuade their -clients to pursue. Since 1845, when the dividends of our -leading lines ranged from 8 to 10 per cent., they have, -notwithstanding an ever-growing traffic, fallen from 10 per -cent. to 5, from 8 to 4, from 9 to -3 <sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>4</sub>; -and yet the system -of extensions, leases, and guarantees, notoriously the -cause of this, has been year by year persevered in. Is -there not something needing explanation here—something -more than the world is allowed to see? If there be any -one to whom the broad fact of obstinate persistence in -unprofitable expenditure does not alone carry the conviction -that sinister influences are at work, let him read the seductive -statements by which shareholders are led to authorize new -projects, and then compare these with the proved results. -Let him look at the estimated cost, anticipated traffic, and -calculated dividend on some proposed branch line; let him -observe how the proprietary before whom the scheme is laid, -are induced to approve it as promising a fair return; and -then let him contemplate, in the resulting depreciation of -stock, the extent of their loss. Is there any avoiding the -inference? Railway-shareholders can never have habitually -voted for new undertakings which they knew would be injurious -to them. Every one knows, however, that these new -undertakings have almost uniformly proved injurious to -them. Obviously, therefore, -railway-shareholders have been <span class="xxpn" id="p058">{58}</span> -continually deluded by false representations. The only -possible escape from this conclusion is in the belief that -boards and their officers have been themselves deceived; -and were the discrepancies between promises and results -occasional only, there would be grounds for this lenient -interpretation. But to suppose that a railway-government -should repeatedly make such mistakes, and yet gain no -wisdom from disastrous experiences—should after a dozen -disappointments again mislead half-yearly meetings by -bright anticipations into dark realities, and all in good -faith—taxes credulity somewhat too far. Even, then, -were there no demonstrated iniquities to rouse suspicion, -we think that the continuous depreciation in the value -of railway-stock, the determined perseverance of boards in -the policy which has produced this depreciation, and the -proved untruth of the statements by which they have -induced shareholders to sanction this policy, would of -themselves suffice to show the viciousness of -railway-administration.</p> - -<p>That the existing evils, and the causes conspiring to -produce them, may be better understood, it will be needful -to glance at the mode in which the system of extensions -grew up. Earliest among the incentives to it was a feeling -of rivalry. Even while yet their main lines were unfinished, -a contest for supremacy arose between our two greatest -companies. This presently generated a confirmed antagonism; -and the same impulse which in election contests has -sometimes entailed the squandering of a fortune to gain a -victory, has largely aided to make each of these great rivals -submit to repeated sacrifices rather than be beaten. Feuds -of like nature are in other cases perpetually prompting -boards to make aggressions on each other’s territories—every -attack on the one side leading to a reprisal on the -other; and so violent is the hostility occasionally produced, -that directors might be pointed out whose votes are wholly -determined by the desire to be revenged -on their opponents. <span class="xxpn" id="p059">{59}</span> -Among the first methods used by leading companies to -strengthen themselves and weaken their competitors, was -the leasing or purchase of subordinate neighbouring lines. -Of course those to whom overtures were made, obtained -bids from both sides; and it naturally resulted that the -first sales thus effected, being at prices far above the real -values, brought great profits to the sellers. What resulted? -A few recurrences of this proceeding, made it clear to -quick-witted speculators, that constructing lines so circumstanced -as to be bid for by competing companies, would be -a lucrative policy. Shareholders who had once pocketed -these large and easily-made gains, were eager to repeat the -process; and cast about for districts in which it might be -done. Even the directors of the companies by whom these -high prices were given, were under the temptation to aid in -this; for it was manifest to them that by obtaining a larger -interest in any such new undertaking than they possessed -in the purchasing company, and by using their influence in -the purchasing company to obtain a good price or guarantee -for the new undertaking, a great advantage would be -gained. That this motive has been largely operative, railway -history abundantly proves. Once commenced, sundry -other influences conspired to stimulate this making of -feeders and extensions. The non-closure of capital-accounts -rendered possible the “cooking” of dividends, which was -at one period carried to a great extent. Expenditure that -should have been charged against revenue was charged -against capital; works and rolling stock were allowed to go -unrepaired, or insufficient additions made to them, by which -means the current expenses were rendered delusively small; -long-credit agreements with contractors permitted sundry -disbursements that had virtually been made, to be kept out -of the accounts; and thus the net returns were made to -appear greater than they really were. Naturally new -undertakings put before the moneyed world by companies -whose stock and dividends had been -thus artificially raised, <span class="xxpn" id="p060">{60}</span> -were received with proportionate favour. Under the prestige -of their parentage their shares came out at high premiums, -bringing large profits to the projectors. The hint -was soon taken; and it presently became an established -policy, under the auspices of a prosperity either real or -mock, to get up these subsidiary lines—“calves,” as they -were called in the slang of the initiated—and to traffic in -the premiums their shares commanded. Meanwhile had -been developing, a secondary set of influences which also -contributed to foster unwise enterprises; namely, the business -interests of the lawyers, engineers, contractors, and -others directly or indirectly employed in railway construction. -The ways of getting up and carrying new -schemes, could not fail, in the course of years, to become -familiar to all concerned; and there could not fail to grow -up among them a system of concerted tactics for achieving -their common end. Thus, partly from the jealousy of rival -boards, partly from the greediness of shareholders in purchased -lines, partly from the dishonest schemings of directors, -partly from the manœuvres of those whose occupation -it is to carry out the projects legally authorized, partly, and -perhaps mainly, from the delusive appearance of prosperity -maintained by many established companies, there came the -wild speculations of 1844 and 1845. The consequent disasters, -while they pretty well destroyed the last of these -incentives, left the rest much as they were. Though the -painfully-undeceived public have ceased to aid as they once -did, the various private interests that had grown up have -since been working together as before—have developed -their methods of co-operation into still more complex and -subtle forms; and are even now daily thrusting unfortunate -shareholders into losing undertakings.</p> - -<p>Before proceeding to analyze the existing state of things, -however, we would have it clearly understood that we do -not suppose those implicated to be <i>on the average</i> morally -lower than the community at large. Men -taken at random <span class="xxpn" id="p061">{61}</span> -from any class, would, in all probability, behave much in -the same way when placed in like positions. There are -unquestionably directors grossly dishonest. Unquestionably -also there are others whose standard of honour is far higher -than that of most persons. And for the remainder, they -are, doubtless, as good as the mass. Of the engineers, -parliamentary agents, lawyers, contractors, and others -concerned, it may be admitted that though custom has -induced laxity of principle, yet they would be harshly -judged were the transactions which may be recorded -against them, used as tests. Those who do not see how in -these involved affairs, bad deeds may be wrought out by -men not correspondingly bad, will readily do so on considering -all the conditions. In the first place, there is the -familiar fact that the corporate conscience is inferior to the -individual conscience—that a body of men will commit as a -joint act, that which each one of them would shrink from, -did he feel personally responsible. And it may be remarked -that not only is the conduct <i>of</i> a corporate body thus -comparatively lax, but also the conduct <i>towards</i> one. There -is ever a more or less distinct perception, that a broad-backed -company scarcely feels what would be ruinous to a -private person; and this perception is in constant operation -on all railway-boards and their <i>employés</i>, as well as on all -contractors, landowners, and others concerned: leading -them to show a want of principle foreign to their general -behaviour. Again, the indirectness and remoteness of the -evils produced, greatly weaken the restraints on wrongdoing. -Men’s actions are proximately caused by mental -representations of the results to be anticipated; and the -decisions come to, largely depend on the vividness with -which these results can be imagined. A consequence, good -or bad, that is immediate and clearly apprehended, influences -conduct far more potently than a consequence -that has to be traced through a long chain of actions or -influences, and, as eventually reached, is not -a particular and <span class="xxpn" id="p062">{62}</span> -readily conceivable one, but a general and vaguely conceivable -one. Hence, in railway affairs, a questionable -share-transaction, an exorbitant charge, a proceeding which -brings great individual advantage without apparently -injuring any one, and which, even if traced to its ultimate -results, can but very circuitously affect unknown persons -living no one knows where, may be brought home to men -who, could the results be embodied before them, would be -shocked at the cruel injustices they had committed—men -who in their private business, where the results <i>can</i> be thus -embodied, are sufficiently equitable. Further, it requires -to be noted that most of these great delinquencies are -ascribable not to the extreme dishonesty of any one man or -group of men, but to the combined self-interest of many -men and groups of men, whose minor delinquencies are -cumulative. Much as a story which, passing from mouth -to mouth, and receiving a slight exaggeration at each -repetition, comes round to the original narrator in a form -scarcely to be recognised; so, by a little improper influence -on the part of landowners, a little favouritism on the part -of members of Parliament, a little intriguing of lawyers, -a little manœuvring by contractors and engineers, a little -self-seeking on the part of directors, a little under-statement -of estimates and over-statement of traffic, a little magnifying -of the evils to be avoided and the benefits to be gained—it -happens that shareholders are betrayed into ruinous undertakings -by grossly untrue representations, without any one -being guilty of more than a small portion of the fraud. -Bearing in mind then, the comparative laxity of the corporate -conscience; the diffusion and remoteness of the evils -which malpractices produce; and the composite origin of -these malpractices; it becomes possible to understand how, -in railway affairs, gigantic dishonesties can be perpetrated -by men who, on the average, are little if at all below the -generality in moral character.</p> - -<p>With this preliminary mitigation we proceed -to detail the <span class="xxpn" id="p063">{63}</span> -various illegitimate influences by which these seemingly -insane extensions and this continual squandering of shareholders’ -property are brought about.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Conspicuous among these is the self-interest of landowners. -Once the greatest obstacles to railway enterprise, -owners of estates have of late years been among its chief -promoters. Since the Liverpool and Manchester line was -first defeated by landed opposition, and succeeded with its -second bill only by keeping out of sight of all mansions, -and avoiding game preserves—since the time when the -London and Birmingham Company, after seeing their project -thrown out by a committee of peers who ignored the -evidence, had to “conciliate” opponents by raising the -estimate for land from £250,000 to £750,000—since the -time when Parliamentary counsel justified resistance by -the flimsiest excuses, even to reproaching engineers with -having “trodden down the corn of widows” and “destroyed -the strawberry-beds of gardeners”—since then, a marked -change of policy has taken place. Nor was it in human -nature that it should be otherwise. When it became known -that railway-companies commonly paid for “land and -compensation,” sums varying from £4000 to £8000 per -mile; that men were indemnified for supposed injury to -their property, by sums so inordinate that the greater part -has been known to be returned by the heir as conscience-money; -that in one case £120,000 was given for land said -to be worth but £5000—when it was noised abroad that -large bonuses in the shape of preference shares and the -like, were granted to buy off opposition—when it came to -be an established fact that estates are greatly enhanced in -value by the proximity of railways; it is not surprising -that country gentlemen should have become active friends -of schemes to which they were once the bitterest enemies. -On considering the many temptations, we shall see nothing -wonderful in the fact that in 1845 -they were zealous <span class="xxpn" id="p064">{64}</span> -provisional committee-men; nor in the fact that their influence -as promoters enabled them to get large sums for their own -acres. If we are told of squires soliciting interviews with -the engineer of a projected railway; prompting him to -take their side of the country; promising support if he -did, and threatening opposition if he did not; dictating -the course to be followed through their domains; and hinting -that a good price would be expected; we are simply -told of the special modes in which certain private interests -show themselves. If we hear of an extensive landowner -using his influence as chairman of a board of directors, to -project a branch running for many miles through his own -estate, and putting his company to the cost of a parliamentary -contest to carry this line; we hear only of that -which was likely to occur under such circumstances. If -we find now before the public, a line proposed by a large -capitalist, serving among other ends to effect desirable -communications with his property, and the estimates for -which line, though considered by the engineering world -insufficient, are alleged by him to be ample; we have but -a marked case of the distorted representations which under -such conditions self-interest is sure to engender. If we -discover of this or that scheme, that it was got up by the -local nobility and gentry—that they employed to make the -survey a third-rate engineer, who was ready in anticipation -of future benefit to do this for his bare expenses—that -principals and agent wearied the directors of an adjacent -trunk-line to take up their project; threatened that if they -did not their great rival would; alarmed them into concession; -asked for a contribution to their expenses; and -would have gained all these points but for shareholders’ -resistance—we do but discover the organized tactics which, -in course of time, naturally grow up under such stimuli. -It is not that these facts are particularly remarkable. From -the gross instance of the landowner who asked £8000 for -that which he eventually accepted £80 for, -down to the <span class="xxpn" id="p065">{65}</span> -every-day instances of influence used to get railway accommodation -for the neighbourhood, the acts of the landed -class are simply manifestations of the average character -acting under special conditions. All that it now behoves -us to notice, is, that we have here a large and powerful -body whose interests are ever pressing on railway extension, -irrespective of its intrinsic propriety.</p> - -<p>The great change in the attitude of the Legislature towards -railways, from “the extreme of determined rejection -or dilatory acquiescence, to the opposite extreme of unlimited -concession,” was simultaneous with the change above -described. It could not well fail to be so. Supplying, as -the landowning community does, so large a portion of both -Houses of Parliament, it necessarily follows that the play -of private interests seen in the first, repeats itself in the last -under modified forms, and complicated by other influences. -Remembering the extent to which legislators were themselves -implicated in the speculations of the mania, it is -unlikely that they should since have been free from personal -bias. A return proved, that in 1845 there were 157 members -of Parliament whose names were on the registers of new -companies for sums varying from £291,000 downwards. The -supporters of new projects boasted of the numbers of votes -they could command in the House. Members were personally -canvassed, and peers were solicited. It was publicly -complained in the upper chamber, that “it was nearly impossible -to bring together a jury, some members of which -were not interested in the railway they were about to -assess.” Doubtless this state of things was in a great -degree exceptional; and there has since been not only a -diminution of the temptations, but a marked increase of -equitable feeling. Still, it is not to be expected that private -interests should cease to act. It is not to be expected that -a landowner who, out of Parliament, exerts himself to get -a railway for his district, should, when in Parliament, not -employ the power his new position gives him -to the same <span class="xxpn" id="p066">{66}</span> -end. It is not to be expected that the accumulation of -such individual actions should leave the legislative policy -unchanged. Hence the fact, that the influence once used -to throw out railway bills is now used to carry them. -Hence the fact, that railway committees no longer require a -good traffic case to be made out in justification for the -powers asked. Hence the fact, that railway directors -having seats in the House of Commons, are induced to -pledge their companies to carry out extensions. We could -name a member of Parliament who, having bought an estate -fitly situated, offered to an engineer, also in Parliament, the -making of a railway running through it; and having -obtained the Act (in doing which the influence of himself -and his friend was of course useful), pitted three railway -companies against each other for the purchase of it. We -could name another member of Parliament who, having -projected and obtained powers for an extension through -his property, induced the directors of the main line, with -whom he had great influence, to subscribe half the capital -for his extension, to work it for fifty per cent. of the gross -receipts, and to give up all traffic brought by it on to the -main line until he received four per cent. on his capital; -which was tantamount to a four per cent. guarantee. But -it is not only, nor indeed mainly, from directly personal -motives that legislators have of late years unduly fostered -railway enterprises. Indirectly personal motives of various -kinds have been largely operative. The wish to satisfy -constituents has been one. Inhabitants of an unaccommodated -district, are naturally urgent with their representatives -to help them to a line. Not unfrequently such -representatives are conscious that their next elections may -perhaps turn upon their successful response to this appeal. -Even when there is no popular pressure there is the pressure -of their leading political supporters—of large landholders -whom it will not do to neglect; of local lawyers, important -as electioneering friends, to whom a -railway always brings <span class="xxpn" id="p067">{67}</span> -business. Thus, without having immediately private ends, -members of Parliament are often almost coerced into -urging forward schemes which, from a national point of -view, or from a shareholder’s point of view, are very unwise -ones. Then there come the still less direct stimuli. Where -neither personal nor political ends are to be gained, there -are still the interests of a relative to be subserved; or, if not -those of a relative, still those of a friend. And where there -is no decided impulse to the contrary, these motives, of -course, have their weight. Moreover, it requires in fairness -to be said, that possessed as most members of Parliament -are, with the belief that all railway-making is nationally -beneficial, there exist in their minds few or no reasons for -resisting the influences brought to bear on them. True, -shareholders may be injured; but that is their own affair. -The public will be better served; constituents will be -satisfied; friends will be pleased; perhaps private ends -gained: and under some or all of these incentives, -affirmative votes are readily given. Thus, from the Legislature -also, there has of late years proceeded a factitious -stimulus to railway extensions.</p> - -<p>From Parliament to Parliamentary agents, and the -general body of lawyers concerned in railway enterprise, -is a ready transition. With these, the getting up and -carrying of new lines and branches is a matter of business. -Whoever traces the process of obtaining a railway Act, or -considers the number of legal transactions involved in the -execution of railway works, or notes the large sums that -figure in half-yearly reports under the head of “law -charges;” will at once see how strong are the temptations -which a new project holds out to solicitors, conveyancers, -and counsel. It has been shown that in past years, -parliamentary expenses have varied from £650 to £3000 -per mile; of which a large proportion has gone into the -pockets of the profession. In one contest, £57,000 was -spent among six counsel and twenty solicitors. -At a late <span class="xxpn" id="p068">{68}</span> -meeting of one of our companies it was pointed out, that -the sum expended in legal and parliamentary expenses -during nine years, had reached £480,000; or had averaged -£53,500 a-year. With these and scores of like facts -before them, it would be strange did not so acute a body -of men as lawyers use vigorous efforts and sagacious -devices to promote fresh enterprises. Indeed, if we look -back at the proceedings of 1845, we shall suspect, not -only that lawyers are still the active promoters of fresh -enterprises, but often the originators of them. Many have -heard how in those excited times the projects daily -announced were not uncommonly set afloat by local solicitors—how -these looked over maps to see where plausible -lines could be sketched out—how they canvassed the local -gentry to obtain provisional committeemen—how they -agreed with engineers to make trial surveys—how, under -the wild hopes of the day, they found little difficulty in -forming companies—and how most of them managed to -get as far as the Committee on Standing Orders, if no -farther. Remembering all this, and remembering that -those who were successful are not likely to have forgotten -their cunning, but rather to have yearly exercised and -increased it, we may expect to find railway lawyers among -the most influential of the many parties conspiring to urge -railway proprietaries into disastrous undertakings; and -we shall not be deceived. To a great extent they are in -league with engineers. From the proposal to the completion -of a new line, the lawyer and the engineer work -together; and their interests are throughout identical. -While the one makes the survey, the other prepares the -book of reference. The parish plans which the one gets -ready, the other deposits. The notices to owners and -occupiers which the one fills in, the other serves upon -those concerned. And there are frequent consultations -between them as to the dealing with local opposition and -the obtainment of local support. In the -getting up of <span class="xxpn" id="p069">{69}</span> -their case for Parliament, they necessarily act in concert. -While, before committee, the one gets his ten guineas -per day for attending to give evidence, the other makes -profits on all the complicated transactions which carrying -a bill involves. During the execution of the works they -are in constant correspondence; and alike profit by any -expansion of the undertaking. Thus there naturally arises -in each, the perception that in aiding the other he is -aiding himself; and gradually as, in course of years, the -proceedings come to be often repeated, and a perfect -familiarity with railway politics gained, there grows up a -well-organized system of co-operation between them—a -system rendered the more efficient by the wealth and -influence which each has year by year accumulated.</p> - -<p>Among the manœuvres employed by railway solicitors -thus established and thus helped, not the least remarkable -is that of getting their own nominees elected as directors. -It is a fact, which we state on good authority, that there -are puppet-directors who vote for this or that at the -instigation of the company’s lawyer. The obtainment of -such tools is not difficult. Vacancies are about to occur in -the directorate. Almost always there are men over whom -a solicitor, conducting the extensive law-business of a -railway, has considerable power: not only connexions and -friends, but persons to whom in his legal capacity he can -do great benefit or great injury. He selects the most -suitable of these; giving the preference, if other things -are equal, to one living in the country near the line. On -opening the matter to him, he points out the sundry -advantages attendant on a director’s position—the free -pass and the many facilities it gives; the annual £100 or -so which the office brings; the honour and influence -accruing; the opportunities for profitable investment that -are likely to occur; and so forth. Should ignorance of -railway affairs be raised as an objection, the tempter, in -whose eyes this ignorance is -a chief recommendation, <span class="xxpn" id="p070">{70}</span> -replies that he shall always be at hand to guide his votes. -Should non-possession of a due amount of the company’s -stock be pleaded, the tempter meets the difficulty by -offering himself to furnish the needful qualification. Thus -incited and flattered, and perhaps conscious that it would -be dangerous to refuse, the intended puppet allows himself -to be put in nomination; and as it is the habit of half-yearly -meetings, unless under great indignation, to elect -any one proposed to them by those in authority, the -nomination is successful. On subsequent occasions this -proceeding can, of course, be repeated; and thus the -company’s legal agent and those leagued with him, may -command sufficient votes to turn the scale in their -own favour.</p> - -<p>Then, to the personal interest and power of the head -solicitor, have to be added those of the local solicitors, -with whom he is in daily intercourse. They, too, profit by -new undertakings; they, therefore, are urgent in pressing -them forwards. Acting in co-operation with their chief, -they form a dispersed staff of great influence. They are -active canvassers; they stimulate and concentrate the -feeling of their districts; they encourage rivalry with -other lines; they alarm local shareholders with rumours of -threatened competition. When the question of extension -or non-extension comes to a division, they collect proxies -for the extension party. They bring pressure to bear on -their shareholding clients and relatives. Nay, so deep an -interest do they feel in the decision, as sometimes to create -votes with the view of influencing it. We have before us -the case of a local solicitor, who, before the special -meeting called to adopt or reject a contemplated branch, -transferred portions of his own shares into the names of -sundry members of his family, and so multiplied his seventeen -votes into forty-one; all of which he recorded in -favour of the new scheme.</p> - -<p>The morality of railway engineers is -not much above <span class="xxpn" id="p071">{71}</span> -that of railway lawyers. The gossip of Great George -Street is fertile in discreditable revelations. It tells how -So-and-so, like others before him, testified to estimates -which he well knew were insufficient. It makes jocose -allusion to this man as being employed to do his senior’s -“dirty work”—his hard-swearing; and narrates of the -other that, when giving evidence before committee, he was -told by counsel that he was not to be believed even on his -knees. It explains how cheaply the projector of a certain -line executed the parliamentary survey, by employing on it -part of the staff in the pay of another company to which -he was engineer. Now it alludes to the suspicion attaching -to a certain member of the fraternity from his having -let a permanent-way contract, for a term of years, at an -extravagant sum per mile. Again it rumours the great -profits which some of the leaders of the profession made in -1845, by charging for the use of their names at so much -the prospectus: even up to a thousand guineas. And then, -it enlarges on the important advantages possessed by -engineers who have seats in the House of Commons.</p> - -<p>Thus lax as is the ethical code of engineers, and greatly -as they are interested in railway enterprise, it is to be -expected that they should be active and not very scrupulous -promoters of it. To illustrate the vigour and skill with -which they further new undertakings, a few facts may be -cited. Not far from London, and lying between two lines -of railway, is an estate lately purchased by one of our -engineers. He has since obtained Acts for branches to -both of the adjacent lines. One of these branches he has -leased to the company whose line it joins; and he has tried -to do the like with the other, but as yet without success. -Even as it is, however, he is considered to have doubled the -value of his property. Again, an engineer of celebrity -once nearly succeeded in smuggling through Parliament, -in the bill for a proposed railway, a clause extending the -limits of deviation, to several miles on each side -of the line, <span class="xxpn" id="p072">{72}</span> -throughout a certain district—the usual limits being but -five chains on each side; and the attempt is accounted for -by the fact, that this engineer possessed mines in this -district. To press forward extensions by the companies with -which they are connected, they occasionally go to great -lengths. Not long since, at a half-yearly meeting, certain -projects which the proprietary had already once rejected, -were again brought forward by two engineers who attended -in their capacity of shareholders. Though known to be -personally interested, one of them moved and the other -seconded, that some new proposals from the promoters of -these schemes be considered without delay by the directors. -The motion was carried; the directors approved the proposals; -and again, the proprietors negatived them. A -third time a like effort was made; a third time a conflict -arose; and within a few days of the special meeting at -which the division was to take place, one of these engineers -circulated among the shareholders a pamphlet denying the -allegations of the dissentient party and making counter-statements -which it was then too late to meet. Nay, -he did more: he employed agents to canvass the shareholders -for proxies in support of the new undertaking; and -was obliged to confess as much when charged with it at -the meeting.</p> - -<p>Turn we now to contractors. Railway-enterprise has -given to this class of men a gigantic development; not only -in respect of numbers, but in respect of the vast wealth to -which some of them have acquired. Originally, half a -dozen miles of earthwork, fencing, and bridges, was as much -as any single contractor undertook. Of late years, however -it has become common for one man to engage to construct -an entire railway; and deliver it to the company in a fit -condition for opening. Great capital is required for this. -Great profits are made by it. And the fortunes accumulated -in course of time have been such, that sundry contractors -are named as being each able to make a railway -at his own <span class="xxpn" id="p073">{73}</span> -cost. But they are as insatiable as millionaires in general; -and so long as they continue in business at all, are, in some -sort, forced to provide new undertakings to keep their -plant employed. As may be imagined, enormous stocks of -working appliances are needed: many hundreds of earth-waggons -and of horses; many miles of temporary rails and -sleepers; some dozen locomotive engines, and several fixed -ones; innumerable tools; besides vast stores of timber, -bricks, stone, rails, and other constituents of permanent works, -that have been bought on speculation. To keep the capital -thus invested, and also a large staff of <i>employés</i>, standing -idle, entails loss, partly negative, partly positive. The -great contractor, therefore, is both under a strong stimulus -to get fresh work, and enabled by his wealth to do this. -Hence the not unfrequent inversion of the old arrangement -under which companies and engineers employed contractors, -into an arrangement under which contractors employ -engineers and form companies. Many recent undertakings -have been thus set on foot. The most gigantic project -which private enterprise has yet dared, originated with a -distinguished contracting firm. In some cases this mode -of procedure may, perhaps, be advantageous; but in far -more numerous cases its results are disastrous. Interested -in promoting railway extensions, even in a greater degree -than engineers and lawyers, contractors habitually co-operate -with these, either as agents or as coadjutors. Lines are -fostered into being, which it is known from the beginning, -will not pay. Of late, it has become common for landowners, -merchants, and others personally interested, who, -under the belief that their indirect gains will compensate -for their meagre dividends, have themselves raised part of -the capital for a local railway, but cannot raise the rest—it -has become common for such to make an agreement with a -wealthy contractor to construct the line, taking in part -payment a portion of the shares, amounting to perhaps a -third of the whole, and to charge for his -work according to <span class="xxpn" id="p074">{74}</span> -a schedule of prices to be thereafter settled between himself -and the engineer. By this last clause the contractor -renders himself secure. It would never answer his purpose -to take part payment in shares likely to return some £2 per -cent., unless he compensated himself by unusually high -profits; and this subsequent settlement of prices with one -whose interests, like his own, are wrapped up in the -prosecution of the undertaking, ensures him high profits. -Meanwhile, it is noised abroad that all the capital has been -subscribed and the line contracted for; these facts unduly -raise the public estimate of the scheme; the shares are -quoted at much above their true worth; unwary persons -buy; the contractor from time to time parts with his -moiety at fair prices; and the new shareholders ultimately -find themselves part owners of a railway which, unprofitable -as it originally promised to be, had been made yet more -unprofitable by expensiveness of construction. Nor are -these the only cases in which contractors gain after this -fashion. They do the like with lines of their own projecting. -To obtain Acts for these, they sign the subscription-contracts -for large amounts; knowing that in the way -above described, they can always make it answer to do -this. So general had the practice latterly become, as to -attract the attention of committees. As was remarked by -a personage noted for his complicity in these transactions—“Committees -are getting too knowing; they won’t stand -that dodge now.” Nevertheless, the thing is still done -under a disguised form. Though contractors no longer -enter their own names on subscription lists for thousands -of shares; yet they effect the same end by making nominal -holders of their foremen and others: themselves being the -real ones.</p> - -<p>Of directorial misdoings some samples have already been -given; and more might be added. Besides those arising -from directly personal aims, there are sundry others. One -of these is the increasing -community between railway <span class="xxpn" id="p075">{75}</span> -boards and the House of Commons. There are eighty-one -directors sitting in Parliament; and though some of these -take little part in the affairs of their respective railways, many -of them are the most active members of the boards to -which they belong. We have but to look back a few years, -and mark the unanimity with which companies adopted the -policy of getting themselves represented in the Legislature, -to see that the furtherance of their respective interests—especially -in cases of competition—was the incentive. How -well this policy is understood by the initiated, may be -judged from the fact, that gentlemen are now in some cases -elected on boards, simply because they are members of -Parliament. Of course this implies that railway legislation -is affected by a complicated play of private influences; and -that these influences generally work towards the facilitation -of new enterprises, is obvious. It naturally happens that -directors having seats in the House of Commons can more -or less smooth the way of their annual batch of new bills -through committees. It naturally happens that those -whose companies are not opposed, exchange good offices. -Not only do they aid the passing of schemes in which they -are interested, but they are solicited to undertake further -schemes by those around them. It is a common-sense -conclusion that representatives of small towns and country -districts needing railway accommodation, who are daily -thrown in contact with the chairman of a company capable -of giving this accommodation, do not neglect the opportunity -of furthering their ends. It is a common-sense -conclusion that by hospitalities, by favours, by flattery, by -the many means used to bias men, they seek to obtain his -assistance. And it is an equally common-sense conclusion -that in many cases they succeed—that by some complication -of persuasions and temptations they swerve him from his -calmer judgment; and so introduce into the company he -represents, influences at variance with its welfare.</p> - -<p>Under some motives however—whether -those of direct <span class="xxpn" id="p076">{76}</span> -self-interest, of private favour, or of antagonistic feeling, -matters not here—it is certain that directors are constantly -committing their constituents to unwise enterprises; and -that they frequently employ unjustifiable means for either -eluding or overcoming their opposition. Shareholders -occasionally find that their directors have given to Parliament, -pledges of extension much exceeding any they were -authorised to give; and they are then persuaded that they -are bound to endorse the promises made for them by -their agents. In some cases, among the misleading statements -laid before shareholders to obtain their consent to -a new project, will be found an abstract of the earnings -of a previously-executed branch to which the proposed -one bears some analogy. These earnings are shown (not -always without “cooking”) to be tolerably good and improving; -and it is argued that the new project, having like -prospects, offers a fair investment. Meanwhile, it is not -stated that the capital for this previously-executed branch -was raised on debentures or by guaranteed shares at a -higher rate of interest than the dividend pays; it is not -stated that as the capital for this further undertaking will -be raised on like terms, the annual interest on debt will -swallow up more than the annual revenue; and thus -unsuspecting shareholders—some unacquainted with the -company’s antecedents, some unable to understand its -complicated accounts—give their proxies, or raise their -hands, for new works which will tell with disastrous effect -on their future dividends. In pursuit of their ends, -directors will from time to time go directly in the teeth of -established regulations. Where it has been made a rule -that proxies shall be issued only by order of a meeting of -the proprietors, they will yet issue them without any such -order, when by so doing they can steal a march on dissentients. -If it suits their purpose, they will occasionally -bring forward most important measures without due notice. -In stating the amount of the company’s -stock which has <span class="xxpn" id="p077">{77}</span> -voted with them on a division, they have been known to -include thousands of shares on which a small sum only was -paid up, counting them as though fully paid up.</p> - -<p>To complete the sketch, something must be said on the -management of board meetings and meetings of shareholders. -For the first—their decisions are affected by -various manœuvres. Of course, on fit occasions, there is a -whipping-up of those favourable to any project which it is -desired to carry. Were this all, there would be little to -complain of; but something more than this is done. There -are boards in which it is the practice to defeat opposition -by stratagem. The extension party having summoned their -forces for the occasion, and having entered on the minutes -of business a notice worded with the requisite vagueness, -shape their proceedings according to the character of the -meeting. Should their antagonists muster more strongly -than was expected, this vaguely-worded notice serves -simply to introduce some general statement or further -information concerning the project named in it; and the -matter is passed over as though nothing more had been -meant. On the contrary, should the proportion of the -two sides be more favourable, the notice becomes the -basis of a definite motion committing the board to some -important act. If due precautions have been taken, the -motion is passed; and once passed, those who, if present, -would have resisted it, have no remedy; for in railway -government there is no “second reading,” much less a -third. So determined and so unscrupulous are the efforts -sometimes made by the stronger party to overcome and -silence their antagonists, that when a contested measure, -carried by them at the board, has to go before a general -meeting for confirmation, they have been known to pass a -resolution that their dissentient colleagues shall not address -the proprietary!</p> - -<p>That, at half-yearly and special meetings, shareholders -should be so readily misled by boards, -even after repeated <span class="xxpn" id="p078">{78}</span> -experience of their untrustworthiness, seems at first sight -difficult to understand. The mystery disappears, however, -on inquiry. Very frequently, contested measures are -carried against the sense of the meetings before which they -are laid, by means of the proxies previously collected by -the directors. These proxies are obtained from proprietors -scattered everywhere throughout the kingdom, who are -mostly weak enough to sign the first document sent to -them. Then, of those present when the question is brought -to an issue, not many dare attempt a speech. Of those -who dare, but few are clear-headed enough to see the full -bearings of the measure they are about to vote upon; and -such as can see them are often prevented by nervousness -from doing justice to the views they hold. Moreover, -it must be borne in mind that proprietors displaying -antagonism to the board are usually regarded by their -brother proprietors with more or less reprobation. Unless -the misconduct of the governing body has been very glaring -and very recent, there ever arises in the mass a prejudice -against all playing the part of an opposition. They are -condemned as noisy, and factious, and obstructive; and -often only by determined courage avoid being put down. -Besides these negative reasons for the general inefficiency -of shareholders’ resistance, there are sundry positive ones. -As writes to us a Member of Parliament who has been an -extensive holder of stock in many companies from the -first days of railway enterprise:—“My large and long -acquaintance with Railway Companies’ affairs, enables me -to say, that a large majority of shareholders trust wholly -to their directors, having little or no information, nor -caring to have any opinion of their own. . . . . Some others, -better informed but timid, are afraid, by opposing the -directors, of causing a depreciation of the value of their -stock in the market, and are more alarmed at the prospect -of this temporary depreciation than at the permanent loss -entailed on the company by the -useless, and therefore <span class="xxpn" id="p079">{79}</span> -unprofitable, outlay of additional capital. . . . . Others -again, believing that the impending permanent evil is -inevitable, resolve on the spot to sell out immediately, and -to keep up the prices of their shares, also give their support -to the directors.” Thus, from lack of organization and -efficiency among those who express their opposition, and -from the timidity and double-facedness of those who do -not, it happens that extremely unwise projects are carried -by large majorities. Nor is this all. The tactics of the -aggressive party are commonly as skilful as those of their -antagonists are bungling. The chairman, who is generally -the chief promoter of the contested scheme, has it in his -power to favour those who take his own side, and to throw -difficulties in the way of opponents; and this he not unfrequently -does to a great extent—refusing to hear, putting -down on some plea of breach of order, browbeating, even -using threats.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn5" id="fnanch5">5</a> -It generally turns out too, that, whether -intentionally or not, some of the most important motions -are postponed until nearly the close of the meeting, when the -greater part of the shareholders are gone. Large money-votes, -extensive powers, unlimited permits to directors to -take, in certain matters, “such steps as in their judgment -they may deem most expedient,”—these, and the like, are -hurried over during the last half-hour, when the tired and -impatient remnant will no longer listen to objectors; and -when those who have personal ends to serve by outstaying -the rest, carry everything their own way. Indeed, in some -cases, the arrangements are such as almost ensure the -meeting becoming a pro-extension one -towards the end. <span class="xxpn" id="p080">{80}</span> -This result is brought about thus:—A certain portion of -the general body of proprietors are also proprietors of some -subordinate work—some branch line, or canal, or steamboats, -which the Company has purchased or leased; and -as holders of guaranteed stock, ready to take up further -such stock if they can get it, these lean towards projects -that are to be executed on the preference-share system. -They hold their meeting for the declaration of dividend, -&c., as soon as the meeting of the Company at large has -been dissolved; and in the same room. Hence it happens -that being kept together by the prospect of subsequent -business, they gradually, towards the close of the general -meeting, come to form the majority of those present; and -the few ordinary shareholders who have been patient -enough to stay, are outvoted by those having interests -distinct from their own and quite at variance with the -welfare of the Company.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch5" id="fn5">5</a> -We may remark in passing, that the practice of making the chairman -of the board also chairman of the half-yearly meetings, is a very injudicious -one. The directors are the servants of the proprietary; and meet them -from time to time to render an account of their stewardship. That the chief -of these servants, whose proceedings are about to be examined, should -himself act as chief of the jury is absurd. Obviously, the business of each -meeting should be conducted by some one independently chosen for the -purpose; as the Speaker is chosen by the -House of Commons.</p></div> - -<p>And here this allusion to the preference-share system, -introduces us to a fact which may fitly close this detail of -private interests and questionable practices—a fact serving -at once to illustrate the subtlety and concert of railway -officialism, and the power it can exert. That this fact may -be fully appreciated, it must be premised, that though -preference-shares do not usually carry votes, they are -sometimes specially endowed with them; and further, that -they occasionally remain unpaid up until the expiration of -a time after which no further calls can be legally made. -In the case in question, a large number of £50 preference-shares -had thus long stood with but £5 paid. Promoters -of extensions, &c., had here a fine opportunity of getting -great power in the Company at small cost; and, as we shall -see, they duly availed themselves of it. Already had their -party twice tried to thrust the proprietors into a new -undertaking of great magnitude. Twice had they entailed -on them an expensive and harassing contest. A third time, -notwithstanding a professed relinquishment -of it, they <span class="xxpn" id="p081">{81}</span> -brought forward substantially the same scheme, and were -defeated only by a small majority. The following extracts -from the division lists we take from the statement of one of -the scrutineers.</p> - -<div class="section dtablebox"> -<table class="fsz7 borall" summary=""> -<colgroup> -<col width="32%" /><col width="10%" /><col width="28%" /> -<col width="10%" /><col width="10%" /><col width="10%" /> -</colgroup> -<tr> - <th class="borall" rowspan="2"></th> - <th class="borall" rowspan="2">50<i>l.</i> Preference - Shares with 5<i>l.</i> paid up.</th> - <th class="borall" rowspan="2">Additional Stock or Shares</th> - <th class="borall">Recorded Stock at the Poll as held.</th> - <th class="borall">Total actual Capital paid up.</th> - <th class="borall" rowspan="2">Number of Votes scored for - the Extension.</th></tr> -<tr> - <th class="borall">£</th> - <th class="borall">£</th></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft borall">The Company’s solicitor</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">500</td> - <td class="tdleft bort borr borl">7,500<i>l.</i> stock, and 100 50<i>l.</i> - shares, with 42<i>l.</i> 10<i>s.</i> paid up.</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall" rowspan="2">75,650</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall" rowspan="2">18,140</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall" rowspan="2">188</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft borall">Ditto in joint account with another</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">778</td> - <td class="tdcenter borr borb borl">None.</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft borall">The solicitor’s partner</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">60</td> - <td class="tdcenter borall">None.</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">3,000</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">300</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">20</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft borall">The Company’s engineer</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">150</td> - <td class="tdcenter borall">None.</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">7,500</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">750</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">33</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft borall">The engineer’s partner</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">1,354</td> - <td class="tdcenter borall">4,266<i>l.</i> stock.</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">71,966</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">11,036</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">161</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft borall">One of the Company’s - parliamentary counsel</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">200</td> - <td class="tdcenter borall">1,000<i>l.</i> stock.</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">11,000</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">2,000</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">40</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft borall">Another ditto, ditto</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">125</td> - <td class="tdcenter borall">200<i>l.</i> stock.</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">6,450</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">825</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">30</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft borall">Local solicitor for the - proposed extension</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">7</td> - <td class="tdcenter borall">None.</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">350</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">35</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">7</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft borall">The Company’s contractor - for permanent-way</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">347</td> - <td class="tdcenter borall">52,833<i>l.</i></td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">70,183</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">54,568</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">158</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft borall">The Company’s conveyancer</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">1,003</td> - <td class="tdcenter borall">333<i>l.</i> stock.</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">50,483</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">5,348</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">118</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft borall">The Company’s furniture printer</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">35</td> - <td class="tdcenter borall">10,000<i>l.</i> stock.</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">11,750</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">10,175</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">41</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft borall">The Company’s surveyor</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">360</td> - <td class="tdcenter borall">1,250<i>l.</i> stock.</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">19,250</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">3,050</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">56</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft borall">The Company’s architect</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">217</td> - <td class="tdleft borall">14,916<i>l.</i> stock; 119 50<i>l.</i> shares, with 42<i>l.</i> 10<i>s.</i> paid up; and 13 40<i>l.</i> shares, with 34<i>l.</i> paid up.</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">32,230</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">20,416</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">82</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft borall">One of the Company’s carriers.</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">17</td> - <td class="tdcenter borall">833<i>l.</i> stock.</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">1,683</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">918</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">14</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft borall" colspan="6">The Company’s bankers:—</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdina borall">One Partner</td> - <td class="tdcenter borall">.. ..</td> - <td class="tdcenter borall">..  ..</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">33,666</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">32,366</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">90</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdina borall">Another partner</td> - <td class="tdcenter borall">.. ..</td> - <td class="tdcenter borall">..  ..</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">2,500</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">2,500</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">18</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdina borall">Ditto - in joint account with another</td> - <td class="tdcenter borall">.. ..</td> - <td class="tdcenter borall">..  ..</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">1,000</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">850</td> - <td class="tdrighta borall">12</td></tr> -</table></div> - -<p>To this list, some seven or eight of the Company’s -tradesmen, similarly armed, might be added; raising the -number of the almost factitious shares held by functionaries -to about 5200, and increasing the votes commanded -by them, from its present total of 1068 to upwards of 1100. -If now we separate the £380,000, which these gentlemen -bring to bear against their brother shareholders, into real -and nominal; we find that while not quite £120,000 of it is -<i>bonâ fide</i> property invested, the remaining -£260,000 is nine <span class="xxpn" id="p082">{82}</span> -parts shadow and one part substance. And thus it results, -that by virtue of certain stock actually representing but -£26,000, these lawyers, engineers, counsel, conveyancers, -contractors, bankers, and others interested in the promotion -of new schemes, outweigh more than a quarter of a million -of the real capital held by shareholders whom these -schemes will injure!</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Need we any longer wonder, then, at the persistence -of Railway Companies in seemingly reckless competition and ruinous -extensions? Is not this obstinate continuance of a policy that has year -after year proved disastrous, sufficiently explicable on contemplating -the many illegitimate influences at work? Is it not manifest that the -small organized party always out-manœuvres the large unorganized one? -Consider their respective characters and circumstances. Here are the -shareholders diffused throughout the kingdom, in towns and country -houses; knowing nothing of each other, and too remote to co-operate -were they acquainted. Very few of them see a railway journal; and -scarcely any know much of railway politics. Necessarily a fluctuating -body, only a small number are familiar with the Company’s history—its -acts, engagements, policy, management. A great proportion are -incompetent to judge of the matters that come before them, and lack -decision to act out such judgments as they may form—executors who do -not like to take steps involving much responsibility; trustees fearful -of interfering with the property under their care, lest possible -loss should entail a lawsuit; widows who have never in their lives -acted for themselves in any affair of moment; maiden ladies, alike -nervous and innocent of all business knowledge; clergymen whose daily -discipline has been little calculated to make them acute men of the -world; retired tradesmen whose retail transactions have given them -small ability for grasping large considerations; servants possessed -of <span class="xxpn" id="p083">{83}</span> accumulated savings and -cramped notions; with sundry others of like helpless characters—all -of them rendered more or less conservative by ignorance or timidity, -and proportionately inclined to support those in authority. To these -should be added the temporary shareholders, who, having bought stock -on speculation, and knowing that a revolution in the Company is likely -to depress prices for a time, have an interest in supporting the board -irrespective of the goodness of its policy. Turn now to those whose -efforts are directed to railway expansion. Consider the constant -pressure of local populations—of small towns, of rural districts, of -landowners: all of them eager for branch accommodation; all of them -with great and definite advantages in view; few of them conscious of -the loss those advantages may entail on others. Remember the influence -of legislators, prompted, some by their constituents, some by personal -aims, and encouraged by the belief that additional railway facilities -are in every case nationally beneficial; and then infer the extent to -which as stated to Mr. Cardwell’s committee, Parliament has “excited -and urged forward” Companies into rivalry. Note the temptations under -which lawyers are placed—the vast profits accruing to them from every -railway contest, whether ending in success or failure; and then imagine -the range and subtlety of their extension manœuvring. Conceive the -urgency of engineers; to the richer of whom more railway-making means -more wealth; to the mass of whom more railway-making means daily bread. -Estimate the capitalist-power of contractors; whose unemployed plant -brings heavy loss; whose plant when employed brings great gain. Then -recollect that to lawyers, engineers, and contractors the getting up -and executing of new undertakings is a business—a business to which -every energy is directed; in which many years of practice have given -great skill; and to the facilitation of which, all means tolerated -by men of the world are thought justifiable. <span class="xxpn" -id="p084">{84}</span> Finally, consider that the classes interested in -carrying out new schemes, are in constant communication, and have every -facility for combined action. A great part of them live in London, and -most of these have offices at Westminster—in Great George Street, in -Parliament Street, clustering round the Legislature. Not only are they -thus concentrated—not only are they throughout the year in frequent -business intercourse; but during the session they are daily together, -in Palace-Yard Hotels, in the lobbies, in the committee-rooms, in the -House of Commons itself. Is it any wonder then, that the wide-spread, -ill-informed unorganized body of shareholders, standing severally -alone, and each pre-occupied with his private affairs, should be -continually out-generalled by the comparatively small but active, -skilful, combined body opposed to them, whose very occupation is at -stake in gaining the victory?</p> - -<p>“But how about the directors?” it will perhaps be -asked. “How can they be parties to these obviously -unwise undertakings? They are themselves shareholders; -they gain by whatever benefits the proprietary at large; -they lose by whatever injures it. And if without their -consent, or rather their agency, no new scheme can be -adopted by the Company, the classes interested in fostering -railway enterprise are powerless to do harm.”</p> - -<p>This belief in the identity of directorial and proprietary -interests, is the fatal error commonly made by shareholders. -It is this which, in spite of bitter experiences, -leads them to be so careless and so trustful. “Their -profit is our profit; their loss is our loss; they know more -than we do; therefore let us leave the matter to them.” -Such is the argument which more or less definitely passes -through the shareholding mind—an argument of which the -premises are delusive, and the inference disastrous. Let -us consider it in detail.</p> - -<p>Not to dwell on the disclosures that have -in years past <span class="xxpn" id="p085">{85}</span> -been made respecting the share-trafficking of directors, -and the large profits realized by it—disclosures which -alone suffice to disprove the assumed identity between the -interests of board and proprietary—and taking for granted -that little, if any, of this now takes place; let us go on -to notice the still-prevailing influences which render this -apparent community of aims illusive. The immediate -interests which directors have in the prosperity of the -Company, are often much less than is supposed. Occasionally -they possess only the bare qualification of £1000 -worth of stock. In some instances even this is partly -nominal. Admitting, however, as we do frankly, that in -the great majority of cases the full qualification, and much -more than the qualification, is held; yet it must be borne -in mind that the indirect advantages which a wealthy -member of a board may gain from the prosecution of a -new undertaking, will often far outweigh the direct injury -it will inflict on him by lowering the value of his shares. -A board usually consists, to a considerable extent, of -gentlemen residing at different points throughout the tract -of country traversed by the railway they control: some of -them landowners; some merchants or manufacturers; some -owners of mines or shipping. Almost always some or all -of them are advantaged by a new branch or feeder. -Those in close proximity to it, gain either by enhanced -value of their lands, or by increased facilities of transit for -their commodities. Those at more remote parts of the -main line, though less directly interested, are still frequently -interested in some degree; for every extension -opens up new markets either for produce or raw materials; -and if it is one effecting a junction with some other -system of railways, the greater mercantile conveniences -afforded to directors thus circumstanced, become important. -Obviously, therefore, the indirect profits accruing to such -from one of these extensions, may more than counterbalance -the direct loss upon -their railway investments; <span class="xxpn" id="p086">{86}</span> -and though there are, doubtless, men too honourable to let -such considerations sway them, yet the generality can -scarcely fail to be affected by temptations so strong. -Then we have to remember the influences brought to bear -upon directors having seats in Parliament. Already -these have been noticed; and we recur to them only for -the purpose of pointing out that the immediate evil of -an increased discount on his £1000 worth of stock, may be -to a director of much less consequence than the favours, -patronage, connexions, which his aid in carrying a new -scheme will bring him. So that here too the supposed -identity of interests between directors and shareholders -does not hold.</p> - -<p>Moreover, this disunion of interests is increased by the -system of preference-stock. Were there no other cause in -action, the raising of capital for supplementary undertakings, -by issuing shares bearing a guaranteed interest of 5, 6, -and 7 per cent., would destroy that community of motives -supposed to exist between a railway proprietary and its -executive. Little as the fact is recognized, it is yet readily -demonstrable that by raising one of these mortgages, a -Company is forthwith divided into two classes; the one -consisting of the richer shareholders, inclusive of the -directors, and the other of the poorer shareholders; of -which classes the richer one can protect itself from the -losses which the poorer one has to bear—nay, can even -profit by the losses of the poorer one. This assertion, -startling as it will be to many, we will proceed to prove.</p> - -<p>When the capital required for a branch or extension is -raised by means of guaranteed shares, it is the custom to -give each proprietor the option of taking up a number of -such shares proportionate to the number of his original -shares. By availing himself of this offer, he partially -protects himself against any loss which the new undertaking -may entail. Should this, not fulfilling the promises -of its advocates, diminish in some -degree the general <span class="xxpn" id="p087">{87}</span> -dividend; yet, a high dividend on the due proportion of -preference-stock, may nearly or quite compensate for this. -Hence, it becomes the policy of all who can do so, to take -up as many guaranteed shares as they can get. But what -happens when the circular announcing this apportionment -of guaranteed shares is sent round? Those who possess -much stock, being generally capitalists, accept as many as -are allotted to them. On the other hand, the smaller -holders, constituting as they do the bulk of the Company, -having no available funds with which to pay the calls on -new shares, are obliged to part with their letters of allotment. -What results? When this additional line has been -opened, and it turns out, as usual, that its revenue is -insufficient to meet the guaranteed dividend on its shares—when -the general income of the Company is laid under -contribution to make up this guaranteed dividend—when -as a consequence, the dividend on the original stock is -diminished; then the poorer shareholders who possess -original stock only, find themselves losers; while the richer -ones, possessing guaranteed shares in addition, find that -their gain on preference-dividends nearly or quite counterbalances -their loss on general dividends. Indeed, as above -hinted, the case is even worse. For as the large share-proprietor -who has obtained his proportion of guaranteed -stock, is not obliged to retain his original stock—as, if he -doubts the paying character of the new undertaking, he -can always sell such of his shares as will suffer from it; -it is obvious that he may, if he pleases, become the possessor -of preference-shares only; and may so obtain a handsome -return for his money at the expense of the Company at -large and the small shareholders in particular. How far -this policy is pursued we do not pretend to say; though -the table given some pages back suggests extensive pursuit -of it. All which it here concerns us to notice, is, that -directors, being mostly men of large means, and being -therefore able to avail themselves -of this guaranteed <span class="xxpn" id="p088">{88}</span> -stock, are liable to be swayed by motives different from -those of the general proprietary. And that they often are -so swayed there cannot be a doubt. Without assuming -that any of them deliberately intend to benefit at the cost -of their co-proprietors; and believing, as we do, that few -of them duly perceive that the protection they will have, is -a protection not available by the shareholders at large; we -think it is a rational deduction from common experience, -that this prospect of compensation often turns the scale in -the minds of those who are hesitating, and diminishes the -opposition of those who disapprove.</p> - -<p>Thus, the belief which leads most railway shareholders -to place implicit faith in their directors, is an erroneous one. -It is not true that there is an identity of interest between -the proprietary and its executive. It is not true that the -board forms an efficient guard against the intrigues of -lawyers, engineers, contractors, and others who profit by -railway-making. Contrariwise, its members are not only -liable to be drawn from their line of duty by various -indirect motives, but by the system of guaranteed shares -they are placed under a positive temptation to betray -their constituents.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">And now what is the proximate origin of these corruptions? -and what is the remedy for them? What error -in railway legislation is it that has made possible such -complicated chicaneries? Whence arises this facility with -which interested persons thrust companies into unwise -enterprises? We believe there is a very simple answer to -these questions. It is an answer, however, which will at -first sight seem quite irrelevant; and we doubt not that the -corollary we propose drawing from it, will be forthwith -condemned by so-called practical men. Nevertheless, we -are not without hope of showing, both that the evils laboured -under would be excluded were this corollary recognized, -and that recognition of it is not only -feasible, but would <span class="xxpn" id="p089">{89}</span> -even open the way out of sundry perplexities in which -railway legislation is at present involved.</p> - -<p>We conceive, then, that the fundamental vice of our -system, as hitherto carried out, lies in <i>the misinterpretation -of the proprietary contract</i>—the contract tacitly entered into -between each shareholder and the body of shareholders -with whom he unites; and that the remedy for these evils -which have now become so great, lies simply in the -enforcement of an equitable interpretation of this contract. -In reality the contract is a strictly limited one. In -practice it is treated as altogether unlimited. And the -thing needed is, that it should be clearly defined and -abided by.</p> - -<p>Our popular form of government has so habituated us to -seeing public questions decided by the voice of the majority, -and the system is so manifestly equitable in the cases daily -before us, that there has been produced in the general -mind, an unhesitating belief that the majority’s right is -unbounded. Under whatever circumstances men co-operate, -it is held that if difference of opinion arises among them, -justice requires that the will of the greater number shall -be executed rather than that of the smaller number; be -the question at issue what it may. So confirmed is this -conviction, that to most this mere suggestion of a doubt will -cause astonishment. Yet it needs but a brief analysis to -show that the conviction is little better than a political -superstition. Instances may readily be selected which -prove, by <i>reductio ad absurdum</i>, that the right of a majority -is a purely conditional right, valid only within specific limits. -Let us take a few. Suppose that at the general meeting -of some philanthropic association, it was resolved that in -addition to relieving distress the association should employ -home-missionaries to preach down popery. Might the subscriptions -of Catholics, who had joined the body with charitable -views, be rightfully used for this end? Suppose that -of the members of a book-club, the -greater number, thinking <span class="xxpn" id="p090">{90}</span> -that under existing circumstances rifle-practice is more -important than reading, should decide to change the purpose -of their union, and to apply the funds in hand for the purchase -of powder, ball, and targets. Would the rest be bound by -this decision? Suppose that under the excitement of news -from Australia, the majority of a Freehold Land Society -should determine, not simply to start in a body for the gold -diggings, but to use their accumulated capital to provide -outfits. Would this appropriation of property be just to the -minority? and must these join the expedition? Scarcely -any one would venture an affirmative answer even to the -first of these questions; much less to the others. And -why? Because everyone must perceive that by joining -with others, no man can equitably be committed to acts -utterly foreign to the purpose for which he joined them. -Each of these supposed minorities would properly reply to -those seeking to coerce them:—“We combined with you -for a defined object; we gave money and time for the -furtherance of that object; on all questions thence arising, -we tacitly agreed to conform to the will of the greater -number; but we did not agree to conform on any other -questions. If you induce us to join you by professing a -certain end, and then undertake some other end of which -we were not apprised, you obtain our support under false -pretences; you exceed the expressed or understood compact -to which we committed ourselves; and we are no longer -bound by your decisions.” Clearly this is the only rational -interpretation of the matter. The general principle underlying -the right government of every incorporated body, is, -that its members contract with each other severally to -submit to the will of the majority <i>in all matters concerning -the fulfilment of the objects for which they are incorporated; -but in no others</i>. To this extent only can the contract hold. -For as it is implied in the very nature of a contract, that -those entering into it must know what they contract to do; -and as those who unite with others for -a specified object, <span class="xxpn" id="p091">{91}</span> -cannot contemplate all the unspecified objects which it is -hypothetically possible for the union to undertake; it -follows that the contract entered into cannot extend to -such unspecified objects. And if there exists no expressed -or understood contract between the union and its members -respecting unspecified objects, then for the majority to -coerce the minority into undertaking them, is nothing less -than gross tyranny.</p> - -<p>Now this almost self-evident principle is wholly ignored, -alike in our railway legislation and the proceedings of our -companies. Definite as is the purpose with which the promoters -of a public enterprise combine, many other purposes -not dreamed of at the outset are commonly added to it; and -this, apparently, without any suspicion that such a course -is unwarrantable, unless taken with the <i>unanimous</i> consent -of the proprietors. The unsuspecting shareholder who -signed the subscription contract for a line from Greatborough -to Grandport, did so under the belief that this line -would not only be a public benefit but a good investment. -He was familiar with the country. He had been at some -trouble to estimate the traffic. And, fully believing that he -knew what he was embarking in, he put down his name for -a large amount. The line has been made; a few years of -prosperity have justified his foresight; when, at some fatal -special meeting, a project is put before him for a branch -from Littlehomestead to Stonyfield. The will of the board -and the intrigues of the interested, overbear all opposition; -and in spite of the protests of many who like him see its -impolicy, he presently finds himself involved in an undertaking -which, when he joined the promoters of the original -line, he had not the remotest conception would ever be proposed. -From year to year this proceeding is repeated. His -dividends dwindle and his shares go down; and eventually -the congeries of enterprises to which he is committed, grows -so vast that the first enterprise of the series becomes but -a small fraction of the whole. Yet it is in -virtue of his <span class="xxpn" id="p092">{92}</span> -consent to this first of the series, that all the rest are thrust -upon him. He feels that there is injustice somewhere; but, -believing in the unlimited right of a majority, fails to detect -it. He does not see that when the first of these extensions -was proposed, he should have denied the power of his -brother-shareholders to implicate him in an undertaking not -named in their deed of incorporation. He should have told -its proposers that they were perfectly free to form a separate -Company for the execution of it; but that they could not -rightfully compel dissentients to join in a new undertaking, -any more than they could rightfully have compelled dissentients -to join in the original. Had such a shareholder -united with others for the specified purpose of <i>making -railways</i>, he would have had no ground for protest. But -he united with others for the specified purpose of <i>making a -particular railway</i>. Yet such is the confusion of ideas on -the subject, that there is absolutely no difference recognized -between these cases!</p> - -<p>It will doubtless be alleged in defence of all this, that -these secondary enterprises are supplementary to the -original one—are in part undertaken for the furtherance of -it; professedly minister to its prosperity; cannot, therefore, -be regarded as altogether separate enterprises. And it is -true that they have this for their excuse. But if it is a -sufficient excuse for accessories of this kind, it may be -made a sufficient excuse for any accessories whatever. -Already, Companies have carried the practice beyond the -making of branches and extensions. Already, under the -plea of bringing traffic to their lines, they have constructed -docks; bought lines of steam-packets; built vast hotels; -deepened river-channels. Already, they have created small -towns for their workmen; erected churches and schools; -salaried clergymen and teachers. Are these warranted on -the ground of advancing the Companies’ interests? Then -thousands of other undertakings are similarly warranted. -If a view to the development of traffic, -justifies the making <span class="xxpn" id="p093">{93}</span> -of a branch to some neighbouring coal-mines; then, should -the coal-mines be inefficiently worked, the same view would -justify the purchase of them—would justify the Company in -becoming coal-miner and coal-seller. If anticipated increase -of goods and passengers is a sufficient reason for carrying -a feeder into an agricultural district; then, it is a sufficient -reason for organizing a system of coaches and waggons to -run in connexion with this feeder; for making the requisite -horse-breeding establishments; for hiring the needful -farms; for buying estates; for becoming agriculturists. -If it be allowable to purchase steamers plying in conjunction -with the railway; it must be allowable to purchase -merchant vessels to trade in conjunction with it; it must -be allowable to set up a yard for building such vessels; it -must be allowable to erect depôts at foreign ports for the -receipt of goods; it must be allowable to employ commission -agents for collecting such goods; it must be allowable -to extend a mercantile organization all over the world. -From making its own engines and carriages, a Company -may readily progress to manufacturing its own iron and -growing its own timber. From giving its <i>employés</i> secular -and religious instruction, and providing houses for them, -it may go on to supply them with food, clothing, medical -attendance, and all the needs of life. Beginning simply as -a corporation to make and work a railway between A and -B; it may become a miner, manufacturer, merchant, shipowner, -canal-proprietor, hotel-keeper, landowner, house-builder, -farmer, retail-trader, priest, teacher—an organization -of indefinite extent and complication. There is no -logical alternative between permitting this, and strictly -limiting the corporation to the object first agreed upon. -A man joining with others for a specific purpose, must be -held to commit himself to that purpose only; or else to all -purposes whatever which they may choose to undertake.</p> - -<p>But proprietors dissenting from one of these supplementary -projects are told that they have -the option of <span class="xxpn" id="p094">{94}</span> -selling out. So might the dissentients from a new State-enforced -creed be told, that if they did not like it they might -leave the country. The one reply is little more satisfactory -than the other would be. The opposing shareholder sees -himself in possession of a good investment—one perhaps -which, as an original subscriber, he ran some risk in -obtaining. This investment is about to be endangered by -an act not named in the deed of incorporation. And his -protests are met by saying, that if he fears the danger he -may part with his investment. Surely this choice between -two evils scarcely meets his claims. Moreover, he has not -even this in any fair sense. It is often an unfavourable -time to sell. The very rumour of one of these extensions -frequently causes a depreciation of stock. And if many of -the minority throw their shares on the market, this depreciation -is greatly increased; a fact which further hinders -them from selling. So that each is in a dilemma: he has -to part with a good investment at much less than its value; -or to run the risk of having its value greatly diminished.</p> - -<p>The injustice thus inflicted on minorities is, indeed, -already recognized in a vague way. The recently-established -Standing Order of the House of Lords, that before a Company -carry out any new undertaking, three-fourths of the -votes of the proprietors shall be recorded in its favour, -clearly implies a perception that the usual rule of the -majority does not apply. And again, in the case of The -Great Western Railway Company <i>versus</i> Rushout, the -decision that the funds of the Company could not be used -for purposes not originally authorized, without a special -legislative permit, involves the doctrine that the will of the -greater number is not of unlimited validity. In both these -cases, however, it is taken for granted that a State-warrant -can justify an act which without it would be unjustifiable. -We must take leave to question this. If it be held that an -Act of Parliament can make murder proper, or can give -rectitude to robbery; it may be consistently -held that it <span class="xxpn" id="p095">{95}</span> -can sanctify a breach of contract; but not otherwise. We -are not about to enter upon the vexed question of the -standard of right and wrong; and to inquire whether it is -the function of a government to make rules of conduct, or -simply to enforce rules deducible from the laws of social -life. We are content, for the occasion, to adopt the -expediency-hypothesis; and adopting it, must yet contend -that, rightly interpreted, it gives no countenance to this -supposed power of a Government to alter the limits of -an equitable contract against the wishes of some of the -contracting parties. For, as understood by its teachers -and their chief disciples, the doctrine of expediency is -not a doctrine implying that each particular act is to -be determined by the particular consequences that may -be expected to flow from it; but that the general consequences -of entire classes of acts having been ascertained -by induction from experience, rules shall be framed for the -regulation of such classes of acts, and each rule shall be -uniformly applied to every act coming under it. Our whole -administration of justice proceeds on this principle of -invariably enforcing an ordained course, regardless of -special results. Were immediate consequences to be considered, -the verdict gained by the rich creditor against the -poor debtor would generally be reversed; for the starvation -of the last is a much greater evil than the inconvenience of -the first. Most thefts arising from distress would go -unpunished; a large proportion of men’s wills would be -cancelled; many of the wealthy would be dispossessed of -their fortunes. But it is clearly seen that were judges thus -guided by proximate evils and benefits, the ultimate result -would be social confusion; that what was immediately -expedient would be ultimately inexpedient; and hence the -aim at rigorous uniformity, spite of incidental hardships. -Now, the binding nature of agreements is one of the commonest -and most important principles of civil law. A large -part of the causes daily heard in our -courts, involve the <span class="xxpn" id="p096">{96}</span> -question, whether in virtue of some expressed or understood -contract, some of those concerned are, or are not, bound to -certain acts or certain payments. And when it has been -decided what the contract implies, the matter is settled. -The contract itself is held sacred. This sacredness of a -contract being, according to the expediency-hypothesis, -justified by the experience of all nations in all times that it -is generally beneficial, it is <i>not</i> competent for a Legislature -to declare that contracts are violable. Assuming that the -contracts are themselves equitable, there is no rational -system of ethics which warrants the alteration or dissolving -of them, save by the consent of all concerned. If then it -be shown, as we think it has been shown, that the contract -tacitly entered into by railway shareholders with each -other, has definite limits; it is the function of the Government -to <i>enforce</i>, and not to <i>abolish</i>, those limits. It cannot -decline to enforce them without running counter, not -only to all theories of moral obligation, but to its own -judicial system. It cannot abolish them without glaring -self-stultification.</p> - -<p>Returning, now, to the manifold evils of which the cause -was asked; it only remains to point out that, were the just -construction of the proprietary contract insisted upon, such -evils would, in great part, be excluded. The various -illicit influences by which Companies are daily betrayed -into disastrous extensions, would necessarily be inoperative -when such extensions could not be undertaken by them. -When such extensions had to be undertaken by independent -bodies of shareholders, with no one to guarantee -them good dividends, those who are locally and professionally -interested would find it a less easy matter than at -present to aggrandize themselves at the expense of others.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">And now as to the policy of thus modifying railway -legislation—the commercial policy we mean. Leaving out -of sight the more general social interests, let -us glance at <span class="xxpn" id="p097">{97}</span> -the effects on business interests—the proximate instead of -the ultimate effects. The implication contained in the last -paragraph, that the making of supplementary lines would -no longer be so facile, will be thought to prove the -disadvantage of any such limit as the one advocated. -Many will argue, that to restrict Companies to their -original undertakings would fatally cripple railway enterprise. -Many others will remark, that, however detrimental -to shareholders this extension system may have been, it -has manifestly proved beneficial to the public. Both these -positions seem to us more than questionable. We will first -look at the last of them.</p> - -<p>Even were travelling accommodation the sole thing to -be considered, it would not be true that prodigality in new -lines has been advantageous. The districts supplied have, -in many cases, themselves been injured by it. It is shown -by the evidence given before the Select Committee on -Railway and Canal Bills, that in Lancashire, the existence -of competing lines has, in some cases, both diminished the -facilities of communication and increased the cost. It is -further shown by this evidence, that a town obtaining -branches from two antagonist Companies, by-and-by, in -consequence of a working arrangement between these -Companies, comes to be worse off than if it had but one -branch; and Hastings is quoted as an example. It is -again shown that a district may be wholly deprived of -railway accommodation by granting a superfluity of lines; -as in the case of Wilts and Dorset. In 1844–5, the Great -Western and the South Western Companies projected -rival systems of lines, supplying these and parts of the -adjacent counties. The Board of Trade, “asserting that -there was not sufficient traffic to remunerate an outlay for -two independent railways,” reported in favour of the Great -Western schemes; and bills were granted for them: a -certain agreement, suggested by the Board of Trade, being -at the same time made with the South -Western, which, in <span class="xxpn" id="p098">{98}</span> -return for specified advantages, conceded this district to -its rival. Notwithstanding this agreement, the South -Western, in 1847, projected an extension calculated to -take most of the traffic from the Great Western extensions; -and in 1848, Parliament, though it had virtually suggested -this agreement, and though the Great Western Company -had already spent a million and a half in part execution -of the new lines, authorized the South Western project. -The result was, that the Great Western Company suspended -their works; the South Western Company were -unable, from financial difficulties, to proceed with theirs; -the district has remained for years unaccommodated; and -only since the powers granted to the South Western have -expired from delay, has the Great Western recommenced -its long-suspended undertakings.</p> - -<p>And if this undue multiplication of supplementary lines -has often directly decreased the facilities of communication, -still more has it done this indirectly, by maintaining the -cost of travelling on the main lines. Little as the public -are conscious of the fact, it is nevertheless true, that they -pay for the accommodation of unremunerative districts, -by high fares in remunerative districts. Before this reckless -branch-making commenced, 8 and 9 per cent. were -the dividends returned by our chief railways; and these -dividends were rapidly increasing. The maximum dividend -allowed by their Acts is 10 per cent. Had there not been -unprofitable extensions, this maximum would have been -reached many years since; and in the absence of the -power to undertake new works, the fact that it had been -reached could not have been hidden. Lower rates for -goods and passengers would necessarily have followed. -These would have caused much additional traffic; and -with the aid of the natural increase otherwise going on, -the maximum would shortly again have been reached. -There can scarcely be a doubt that repetitions of this -process would, before now, have reduced -the fares and <span class="xxpn" id="p099">{99}</span> -freights on our main lines by at least one-third. This -reduction, be it remembered, would have affected those -railways which subserve commercial and social intercourse -in the greatest degree—would, therefore, have applied to -the most important part of the traffic throughout the -kingdom. As it is, however, this greater proportion of -the traffic has been heavily taxed for the benefit of the -smaller proportion. That the tens who travel on branches -might have railway communication, the hundreds who -travel along main lines have been charged 30, or 40 per -cent. extra. Nay, worse: that these few might be accommodated, -the many who would have been brought on to -the main lines by lower fares have gone unaccommodated. -Is it then so clear that undertakings which have been -disastrous to shareholders have yet been beneficial to -the public?</p> - -<p>But it is not only in greater cost of transit that the evil -has been felt; it has been felt also in diminished safety. -The multiplication of railway accidents, which has of late -years drawn so much attention, has been in no inconsiderable -degree caused by the extension policy. The relation -is not obvious; and we had ourselves no conception that -such a relation existed, until the facts illustrative of it -were furnished to us by a director who had witnessed the -whole process of causation. When preference-share dividends -and guarantees began to make large draughts upon -half-yearly returns—when original stock was greatly depreciated, -and the dividends upon it fell from 9 and 8 per -cent. to 4 <sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>2</sub> -and 4 and 3 <sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>2</sub>, -great dissatisfaction necessarily -arose among shareholders. There were stormy meetings, -motions of censure, and committees of investigation. -Retrenchment was the general cry; and retrenchment -was carried to a most imprudent extent. Directors with -an indignant proprietary to face, and under the fear that -their next dividend would be no greater, perhaps less, than -the last, dared not to lay out money for -the needful repairs. <span class="xxpn" id="p100">{100}</span> -Permanent way, reported to them as requiring to be replaced, -was made to serve awhile longer. Old rolling -stock was not superseded by new to the proper extent; -nor increased in proportion to the demand. Committees, -appointed to examine where the expenditure could be cut -down, went round discharging a porter here, dispensing -with a clerk there, and diminishing the salaries of the -officials in general. To such a length was this policy -carried, that in one case, to effect a saving of £1200 -per annum, the working staff was so crippled as to cause, -in the course of a few years, a loss of probably £100,000: -such, at least, is the opinion of the gentleman on whose -authority we make this statement, who was himself one -of the retrenchment committee. What, now, was the -necessary result of all this? With the line out of condition; -with engines and carriages neither sufficient in number -nor in the best working order; with drivers, guards, -porters, clerks, and the rest, decreased to the smallest -number with which it was possible to work; with inexperienced -managers in place of the experienced ones -driven away by reduced salaries; what was likely to occur? -Was it not certain that an apparatus of means just -competent to deal with the ordinary traffic, would be -incompetent to deal with extraordinary traffic? that a -decimated body of officials under inferior regulation, would -fail in the emergencies sure from time to time to occur? -that with way and works and rolling stock all below par, -there would occasionally be a concurrence of small defects, -permitting something to go wrong? Was not a multiplication -of accidents inevitable? No one can doubt it. -And if we trace back this result step by step to its original -cause—the reckless expenditure on new lines—we shall -see further reason to doubt whether such expenditure -has been as advantageous to the public as is supposed. -We shall hesitate to indorse the opinion of the Select -Committee on Railway and Canal Bills, -that it is <span class="xxpn" id="p101">{101}</span> -desirable “to increase the facility for obtaining lines of -local convenience.”</p> - -<p>Still more doubtful becomes the alleged benefit accruing -to the public from extensions which cause loss to shareholders, -when, from considering the question as one of -traffic, we turn to consider it as a general commercial -question—a question of political economy. Were there no -facts showing that the travelling facilities gained were -counterbalanced, if not more than counterbalanced, by -the travelling facilities lost; we should still contend that -the making of branches which do not return fair dividends, -is a national evil, and not a national good. The prevalent -error committed in studying matters of this nature, consists -in looking at them separately, rather than in connexion -with other social wants and social benefits. Not only -does one of these undertakings, when executed, affect -society in various ways, but the effort put forth in the -execution of it affects society in various ways; and to -form a true estimate, the two sets of results must be -compared. The axiom that “action and re-action are equal, -and in opposite directions,” is true, not only in mechanics—it -is true everywhere. No power can be put forth by a -nation to achieve a given end, without producing, for the -time being, a corresponding inability to achieve some other -end. No amount of capital can be abstracted for one -purpose, without involving an equivalent lack of capital -for another purpose. Every advantage wrought out by -labour, is purchased by the relinquishment of some alternative -advantage which that labour might else have -wrought out. In judging, therefore, of the benefits -flowing from any public undertaking, it is requisite to -consider them not by themselves, but as compared with -the benefits which the invested capital would otherwise -have secured. But how can these relative benefits be -measured? it may be asked. Very simply. The rate of -interest which the capital will bring -as thus respectively <span class="xxpn" id="p102">{102}</span> -employed, is the measure. Money which, if used for a -certain end, gives a smaller return than it would give if -otherwise used, is used disadvantageously, not only to -its possessors, but to the community. This is a corollary -from the commonest principles of political economy—a -corollary so obvious that we can scarcely understand how, -after the free-trade controversy, a committee, numbering -among its members Mr. Bright and Mr. Cardwell, should -have overlooked it. Have we not been long ago taught, -that in the mercantile world capital goes where it is most -wanted—that the business which is at any time attracting -capital by unusually high returns, is a business proved -by that very fact to be unusually active—that its unusual -activity shows society to be making great demands upon -it; giving it high profits; wanting its commodities or -services more than other commodities or services? Do -not comparisons among our railways demonstrate that -those paying large dividends are those subserving the -public needs in a greater degree than those paying small -dividends? and is it not obvious that the efforts of -capitalists to get these large dividends led them to supply -the greater needs before the lesser needs? Surely, the -same law which holds in ordinary commerce, and also -holds between one railway investment and another, holds -likewise between railway investments and other investments. -If the money spent in making branches and -feeders is yielding an average return of from 1 to 2 per -cent.; while if employed in land-draining or ship-building, -it would return 4 or 5 per cent.; it is a conclusive -proof that money is more wanted for land-draining and -ship-building than for branch-making. And the general -conclusions to be drawn are, that that large proportion of -railway capital which does not pay the current rate of -interest, is capital ill laid out; that if the returns on such -proportion were capitalized at the current rate of interest, -the resulting sum would represent its real -value; and that <span class="xxpn" id="p103">{103}</span> -the difference between this sum and the amount expended, -would indicate the national loss—a loss which, on the lowest -estimate, would exceed £100,000,000. And however true -it may be that the sum invested in unprofitable lines will go -on increasing in productiveness; yet as, if more wisely -invested, it would similarly have gone on increasing in -productiveness, perhaps even at a greater rate, this vast -loss must be regarded as a permanent and not as a temporary -one.</p> - -<p>Again then, we ask, is it so obvious that undertakings -which have been disastrous to shareholders have been -advantageous to the public? Is it not obvious, rather, -that, in this respect, as in others, the interests of -shareholders and the public are in the end identical? -And does it not seem that instead of recommending -“increased facilities for obtaining lines of local convenience,” -the Select Committee might properly have -reported that the existing facilities are abnormally great, -and should be decreased?</p> - -<p>There remains still to be considered the other of the two -objections above stated as liable to be raised against the -proposed interpretation of the proprietary contract—the -objection, namely, that it would be a serious hindrance to -railway enterprise. After what has already been said, it is -scarcely needful to reply, that the hindrance would be no -greater than is natural and healthful—no greater than is -requisite to hold in check the private interests at variance -with public ones. This notion that railway enterprise will -not go on with due activity without artificial incentives—that -bills for local extensions “rather need encouragement,” -as the Committee say, is nothing but a remnant of protectionism. -The motive which has hitherto led to the formation -of all independent railway companies—the search of -capitalists for good investments—may safely be left to form -others as fast as local requirements become great enough to -promise fair returns—as fast, that is, -as local requirements <span class="xxpn" id="p104">{104}</span> -should be satisfied. This would be manifest enough without -illustration; but there are facts proving it.</p> - -<p>Already we have incidentally referred to the circumstance, -that it has of late become common for landowners, merchants, -and others locally interested, to get up railways for their own -accommodation, which they do not expect to pay satisfactory -dividends; and in which they are yet content to invest -considerable sums, under the belief that the indirect profits -accruing to them from increased facilities of traffic, will outbalance -the direct loss. To so great an extent is this policy -being carried that, as stated to the Select Committee, “in -Yorkshire and Northumberland, where branch lines are -being made through mere agricultural districts, the landowners -are <i>giving their land</i> for the purpose, and taking -shares.” With such examples before us, it cannot rationally -be doubted that there will always be capital forthcoming for -making local lines as soon as the sum of the calculated -benefits, direct and indirect, justifies its expenditure.</p> - -<p>“But,” it will be urged, “a branch that would be -unremunerative as an independent property, is often remunerative -to the company which has made it, in virtue of the -traffic it brings to the trunk line. Though yielding meagre -returns on its own capital, yet, by increasing the returns on -the capital of the trunk line, it compensates, or more than -compensates. Were the existing company, however, forbidden -to extend its undertaking, such a branch would not -be made; and injury would result.” This is all true, with -the exception of the last assertion, that such a branch -would not be made. Though in its corporate capacity the -company owning the trunk line would be unable to execute -a work of this nature, there would be nothing to prevent -individual shareholders in the trunk line from uniting -to execute it; and were the prospects as favourable as is -assumed, this course, being manifestly advantageous to -individual shareholders, would be pursued by many of -them. If, acting in concert with -others similarly <span class="xxpn" id="p105">{105}</span> -circumstanced, the owner of £10,000 worth of stock in the trunk -line, could aid the carrying out of a proposed feeder -promising to return only 2 per cent. on its cost, by taking -shares to the extent of £1000, it would answer his purpose -to do this, providing the extra traffic it brought would raise -the trunk-line dividend by one-fourth per cent. Thus, -under a limited proprietary contract, companies would still, -as now, foster extensions where they were wanted: the -only difference being that, in the absence of guaranteed -dividends, due caution would be shown; and the poorer -shareholders would not, as at present, be sacrificed to -the richer.</p> - -<p>In brief, our position is, that whenever, by the efforts -of all parties to be advantaged—local landowners, manufacturers, -merchants, trunk-line shareholders, &c., the -capital for an extension can be raised—whenever it becomes -clear to all such, that their indirect profits plus their -direct profits will make the investment a paying one; -the fact is proof that the line is wanted. On the contrary, -whenever the prospective gains to those interested are -insufficient to induce them to undertake it, the fact is proof -that the line is not wanted so much as other things are -wanted, and therefore <i>ought not to be made</i>. Instead, -then, of the principle we advocate being objectionable as -a check to railway enterprise, one of its merits is, that -by destroying the artificial incentives to such enterprise, -it would confine it within normal limits.</p> - -<p>A perusal of the evidence given before the Select -Committee will show that it has sundry other merits, which -we have space only to indicate.</p> - -<p>It is estimated by Mr. Laing—and Mr. Stephenson, -while declining to commit himself to the estimate, “does -not believe he has overstated it,”—that out of the -£280,000,000 already raised for the construction of our -railways, £70,000,000 has been needlessly spent in contests, -in duplicate lines, in “the multiplication of an immense -number of schemes prosecuted at -an almost reckless <span class="xxpn" id="p106">{106}</span> -expense;” and Mr. Stephenson believes that this sum is -“a very inadequate representative of the actual loss in -point of convenience, economy, and other circumstances -connected with traffic, which the public has sustained by -reason of parliamentary carelessness in legislating for railways.” -Under an equitable interpretation of the proprietary -contract, the greater part of this would have been avoided.</p> - -<p>The competition between rival companies in extension -and branch-making, which has already done vast injury, -and the effects of which, if not stopped, will, in the opinion -of Mr. Stephenson, be such that “property now paying -5 <sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>2</sub> -per cent. will in ten years be worth only 3 per cent., and -that on twenty-one millions of money”—this competition -could never have existed in its intense and deleterious -form under the limiting principle we advocate.</p> - -<p>Prompted by jealousy and antagonism, our companies -have obtained powers for 2000 miles of railway which -they have never made. The millions thus squandered in -surveys and parliamentary contests—“food for lawyers and -engineers”—would nearly all have been saved, had each -supplementary line been obtainable only by an independent -body of proprietors with no one to shield them from the -penalties of reckless scheming.</p> - -<p>It is admitted that the branches and feeders constructed -from competitive motives have not been laid out in the best -directions for the public. To defeat, or retaliate upon, -opponents, having been one of the ends—often the chief -end—in making them, routes have been chosen especially -calculated to effect this end; and the local traffic has in -consequence been ill provided for. Had these branches and -feeders, however, been left to the enterprise of their -respective districts, aided by such other enterprise as they -could attract, the reverse would have been the fact; seeing -that on the average, in these smaller cases as in the greater -ones, the routes which most accommodate the public must -be the routes most profitable to projectors.</p> - -<p>Were the illegitimate -competition in extension-making <span class="xxpn" id="p107">{107}</span> -done away, there would remain between companies just -that normal competition which is advantageous to all. It -is not true, as is alleged, that there cannot exist between -railways a competition analogous to that which exists -between traders. The evidence of Mr. Saunders, the -secretary of the Great Western Company, proves the -contrary. He shows that where the Great Western and the -North Western railways communicate with the same towns, -as at Birmingham and Oxford, each has tacitly adopted the -fare which the other was charging; and that while there is -thus no competition in fares, there is competition in speed -and accommodation. The results are, that each takes that -portion of the traffic which, in virtue of its position and -local circumstances, naturally falls to its share; that each -stimulates the other to give the greatest advantages it can -afford; and that each keeps the other in order by threatening -to take away its natural share of the traffic if, by -ill-behaviour or inefficiency, it counterbalances the special -advantages it offers. Now, this is just the form which -competition eventually assumes between traders. After it -has been ascertained by underselling what is the lowest -remunerative price at which any commodity can be sold, -the general results are, that that becomes the established -price; that each trader is content to supply those only who, -from proximity or other causes, naturally come to him; and -that only when he treats his customers ill, need he fear that -they will inconvenience themselves by going elsewhere for -their goods.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Is there not, then, pressing need for an amendment of -the laws affecting the proprietary contract—an amendment -which shall transform it from an unlimited into a limited -contract; or rather—not <i>transform</i> it into such, but <i>recognize</i> -it as such? If there be truth in our argument, the absence -of any limitation has been the chief cause of the manifold -evils of our railway -administration. The share-trafficking <span class="xxpn" id="p108">{108}</span> -of directors; the complicated intrigues of lawyers, engineers, -contractors, and others; the betrayal of proprietaries—all -the complicated corruptions which we have detailed, have -primarily arisen from it, have been made possible by it. -It has rendered travelling more costly and less safe than it -would have been; and while apparently facilitating traffic, -has indirectly hindered it. By fostering antagonism, it has -led to the ill laying-out of supplementary lines; to the -wasting of enormous sums in useless parliamentary contests; -to the loss of an almost incredible amount of national -capital in the making of railways for which there is no due -requirement. Regarded in the mass, the investments of -shareholders have been reduced by it to less than half the -average productiveness which such investments should -possess; and, as all authorities admit, railway property is, -even now, kept below its real value, by the fear of future -depreciations consequent on future extensions. Considering, -then, the vastness of the interests at stake—considering -that the total capital of our companies will soon reach -£300,000,000—considering, on the one hand, the immense -number of persons owning this capital (many of them with -no incomes but what are derived from it), and, on the other -hand, the great extent to which the community is concerned, -both directly as to its commercial facilities, and indirectly -as to the economy of its resources—considering all this, it -becomes extremely important that railway property should -be placed on a secure footing, and railway enterprise -confined within normal bounds. The change is demanded -alike for the welfare of shareholders and the public. No -charge of over-legislation can be brought against it. It is -simply an extension to joint-stock contracts, of the principle -applied to all other contracts; it is merely a fulfilment of -the State’s judicial function in cases hitherto neglected; it -is nothing but a better administration of justice.</p> - -<p class="padtopb"><span class="smcap">P<b>OSTSCRIPT</b>.</span>—That -the proprietary -contract should be <span class="xxpn" id="p109">{109}</span> -strictly adhered to, and no undertakings beyond those -specified in the deed of incorporation entered upon, is a -doctrine unpalatable to those in authority. A friend who, -as chairman of one of our great railway-companies, has -been familiar with railway-politics and parliamentary -usages in connexion with them, contends that such a -restrictive interpretation would be unworkable; and, -further, that the legislature would never allow itself to be -shackled in the implied way.</p> - -<p>That he is right in the last of these assertions I think -highly probable. In face of the currently accepted dogma -that an Act of Parliament can do anything, it is foolish to -expect that Parliament would, by ethical considerations, -be restrained from breaking contracts and authorizing -the breaking of contracts. When we see this dogma -habitually acted upon to the extent of trampling under -foot State-guarantees (as in the case of those who purchased -land under the Irish Encumbered Estates Act, or -as in the case of agreements originally entered into with -companies to confer on them certain powers under certain -conditions) it would be absurd to suppose that any tender -regard for the claims of dissentient proprietors would deter -the ruling body from cancelling the understanding under -which shareholders consented to co-operate. Men must -be much more conscientious than they are before any such -check is likely to be effective.</p> - -<p>To the other objection—that such a restriction would -entail an unworkable complication—I entirely demur. That -its consequences would be awkward under our present -form of railway-administration may be true; but it is also -true that had such a restriction been insisted on, another -and better form of railway-administration would have -arisen. This will probably be thought an unwarranted -assertion. Nevertheless I make it with some confidence, -since the form of administration to which I refer is one -which was, in a different guise, -contemplated when railways <span class="xxpn" id="p110">{110}</span> -were originally authorized. To those whose only conception -of the mode of carrying on railway-traffic is that -derived from their daily observations, this will be an -incomprehensible statement; but those who remember how -railways were originally intended to be used will know -what I mean.</p> - -<p>Novel schemes are always more or less shaped by old -habits. At the time when the first railways were authorized, -the experience men had of coach-travelling on high roads, -affected in various ways the structures of the new appliances -and the natures of the new arrangements. The railway -gauge was determined by the width between the wheels of -a stage-coach. Early first-class carriages were made to -appear like the central parts of three stage-coaches joined -together: preserving their convex panels and curved -outlines, and frequently having, on the centre one, the -words “<i>Tria juncta in uno</i>.” The inside of the first-class -carriage was fitted up to resemble the inside of a stage-coach; -and the original second-class carriage, having -bare wooden seats over which, on vertical iron rods, was -supported a roof allowing the wind and rain to blow -through from side to side, was so designed as to be scarcely -more comfortable than the outside of a coach. For some -years the guard had a seat on the outside, at the end of a -carriage, as on a coach; and for many years the luggage, -covered with tarpaulin, was placed on the roofs of carriages, -as on the outsides of coaches. Once more the booking-offices -were at first like the booking-offices for stage-coaches—places -where passengers entered their names to secure -seats. Little as the fact is now recognized, this kinship of -ideas extended to the contemplated arrangements for -working. Men thought that traffic on railways might be -carried on after the same manner as traffic on high roads. -It was assumed that on lines of rails, where the passing of -vehicles going in the same direction is impracticable, the -system pursued might be like that in use -on high roads, <span class="xxpn" id="p111">{111}</span> -where vehicles can pass and re-pass in any direction and join -or leave the stream at will. Does the reader ask proof of -this? The proof lies in the fact, well-known to those who -were adult in the early days of railways, that in the office -or waiting-room of every railway-station was fixed up a -table of tolls, like that which was fixed up at every toll-gate; -but in this case specifying the rate chargeable per mile for -all things carried—passengers, horses, cattle, goods, &c. -This table of tolls implied that it was within the power -of others besides the company to run vehicles on the -company’s line, and pay them at such and such rates for the -privilege of doing so—a privilege which, so far as I know, -was never made use of, for the sufficient reason that it -would have been impossible to carry on business amid the -confusion which would have resulted.</p> - -<p>But while this arrangement, in the form implied, would -have been impracticable, it foreshadows an arrangement -which would have been practicable; and one which would -have grown up had each railway company been limited to -the undertaking specified in its deed of incorporation. -After experience of inefficient co-operation, when so many -independent bodies owning branches and extensions had to -adjust their train services, &c., there would, in all probability, -have been formed what we may call running-companies -or traffic-companies, separate from the original railway-companies. -Each one of these would have proposed to -the companies owning the various main lines, extensions, and -branches, within some large district conveniently delimited, -to undertake the working of their various lines: either -taking them severally on lease, or agreeing to give a -specified share of the net returns annually received, or -agreeing to pay certain tolls for passengers and goods. -Under such an arrangement the original companies, standing -in the position of landlords, would have had for -their chief business to keep the embankments, cuttings, -bridges, permanent way, stations, -&c., in working <span class="xxpn" id="p112">{112}</span> -order; while the running-companies, standing in the -position of tenants, but owning the rolling-stock, would -have had for their business to conduct the passenger and -goods traffic throughout the whole area, with power to -arrange the workings of the various subdivisions of the -system in a harmonious manner. Clearly, if there is an -advantage in division of labour in other cases, there -would have been an advantage in this case. The fixed -works constituting each of these inter-connected railways -would have been kept in more perfect repair, had preservation -of them been the exclusive business of the companies -owning them; while the running-companies, with nothing -to attend to beyond the keeping in order of their rolling-stock -and the management of train-services &c. would -have done this more satisfactorily.</p> - -<p>A further reason for believing that better results would -have been achieved than are now achieved, is that under such -circumstances there would have been no absorption of -directors’ time in carrying on railway-wars and getting new -acts of parliament—a business which, under the existing -system, has chiefly occupied the attention of boards.</p> - -<p>The enforcement of equitable arrangements is often -fraught with unanticipated benefits; and there seems -reason to think that unanticipated benefits would have -resulted in this case also.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p113">{113}</span></div> -<h2 class="h2nobreak">THE MORALS OF TRADE.</h2></div> - -<div class="dchappre"> -<p class="pfirst">[<i>First -published in</i> The Westminster Review <i>for April 1859</i>.]</p></div> - -<p>We are not about to repeat, under the above title, the often-told -tale of adulterations: albeit, were it our object to deal -with this familiar topic, there are not wanting fresh materials. -It is rather the less-observed and less-known dishonesties of -trade, to which we would here draw attention. The same -lack of conscientiousness which shows itself in the mixing -of starch with cocoa, in the dilution of butter with lard, in -the colouring of confectionery with chromate of lead and -arsenite of copper, must of course come out in more concealed -forms; and these are nearly, if not quite, as numerous and -as mischievous.</p> - -<p>It is not true, as many suppose, that only the lower -classes of the commercial world are guilty of fraudulent -dealing. Those above them are to a great extent blameworthy. -On the average, men who deal in bales and tons differ but -little in morality from men who deal in yards and pounds. -Illicit practices of every form and shade, from venial deception -up to all but direct theft, may be brought home to the -higher grades of our commercial world. Tricks innumerable, -lies acted or uttered, elaborately-devised -frauds, are prevalent: <span class="xxpn" id="p114">{114}</span> -many of them established as “customs of the trade;” nay, -not only established, but defended.</p> - -<p>Passing over, then, the much-reprobated shopkeepers, of -whose delinquencies most people know something, let us turn -our attention to the delinquencies of the classes above them -in the mercantile scale.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">The business of wholesale houses—in the clothing-trades at -least—is chiefly managed by a class of men called “buyers.” -Each wholesale establishment is usually divided into several -departments; and at the head of each department is placed -one of these functionaries. A buyer is a partially-independent -sub-trader. At the beginning of the year he is -debited with a certain share of the capital of his employers. -With this capital he trades. From the makers he orders for -his department such goods as he thinks will find a market; -and for the goods thus bought he obtains as large a sale as -he can among the retailers of his connexion. The accounts -show at the end of the year what profit has been made on the -capital over which he has command; and, according to the -result, his engagement is continued—perhaps at an increased -salary—or he is discharged.</p> - -<p>Under such circumstances, bribery would hardly be -expected. Yet we learn, on unquestionable authority, that -buyers habitually bribe and are bribed. Giving presents, -as a means of obtaining custom, is an established practice -between them and all with whom they have dealings. -Their connexions among retailers they extend by treating -and favours; and they are themselves influenced in their -purchases by like means. It might be presumed that self-interest -would in both cases negative this. But apparently, -no very obvious sacrifice results from yielding to such -influences. When, as usually happens, there are many manufacturers -producing articles of like goodness at the same -prices, or many buyers between whose commodities and -whose terms there is little room for choice, -there exists no <span class="xxpn" id="p115">{115}</span> -motive to purchase of one rather than another; and then the -temptation to take some immediate bonus turns the scale. -Whatever be the cause, however, the fact is testified to us -alike in London and the provinces. By manufacturers, -buyers are sumptuously entertained for days together, and -are plied throughout the year with hampers of game, turkeys, -dozens of wine, etc.: nay, they receive actual money-bribes; -sometimes, as we hear from a manufacturer, in the shape of -bank-notes, but more commonly in the shape of discounts on -the amounts of their purchases. The extreme prevalence—universality -we might say—of this system, is proved by the -evidence of one who, disgusted as he is, finds himself inextricably -entangled in it. He confessed to us that all his -transactions were thus tainted. “Each of the buyers with -whom I deal,” he said, “expects an occasional bonus in one -form or other. Some require the bribe to be wrapped up; -and some take it without disguise. To an offer of money, -this one replies—‘Oh, I don’t like that sort of thing,’ but -nevertheless, does not object to money’s-worth; while my -friend So-and-so, who promises to bring me a large trade -this season, will, I very well know, look for one per cent. -discount in cash. The thing is not to be avoided. I could -name sundry buyers who look askance at me, and never -will inspect my goods; and I have no doubt about the -cause—I have not bought their patronage.” And then our -informant appealed to another of the trade, who agreed in -the assertion that in London their business could not be done -on any other terms. So greedy do some of these buyers -become, that their perquisites absorb a great part of the -profits, and make it a question whether it is worth while to -continue the dealing with them. Next, as above hinted, -there comes a like history of transactions between buyers -and retailers—the bribed being now the bribers. One of -those above referred to as habitually expecting douceurs, -said to the giver of them, whose testimony we have just -repeated—“I’ve spent pounds and pounds over ―― <span class="xxpn" id="p116">{116}</span> -(naming a large tailor), and now I think I have gained him -over.” To which confession this buyer added the complaint, -that his house did not make him any allowance for sums -thus disbursed.</p> - -<p>Under the buyer, who has absolute control of his own -department in a wholesale house, come sundry assistants, -who transact the business with retail traders; much as retail -trader’s assistants transact the business with the general -public. These higher-class assistants, working under the -same pressure as the lower, are similarly unscrupulous. -Liable to prompt dismissal as they are for failure in selling; -gaining higher positions as they do in proportion to the -quantities of goods they dispose of at profitable rates; and -finding that no objections are made to any dishonest artifices -they use, but rather that they are applauded for them; these -young men display a scarcely credible demoralization. As -we learn from those who have been of them, their duplicity -is unceasing—they speak almost continuous falsehood; and -their tricks range from the simplest to the most Machiavellian. -Take a few samples. When dealing with a retailer, it is an -habitual practice to bear in mind the character of his business; -and to delude him respecting articles of which he has -least experience. If his shop is in a neighbourhood where -the sales are chiefly of inferior goods (a fact ascertained from -the traveller), it is inferred that, having a comparatively -small demand for superior goods, he is a bad judge of them; -and advantage is taken of his ignorance. Again, it is usual -purposely to present samples of cloths, silks, etc., in such -order as to disqualify the perceptions. As, when tasting -different foods or wines, the palate is disabled by something -strongly flavoured, from appreciating the more delicate flavour -of another thing afterwards taken; so with the other organs -of sense, a temporary disability follows an excessive stimulation. -This holds not only with the eyes in judging of colours, -but also, as we are told by one who has been in the trade, it -holds with the fingers in judging of -textures; and cunning <span class="xxpn" id="p117">{117}</span> -salesmen are in the habit of thus partially paralysing the -customers’ perceptions, and then selling second-rate articles -as first-rate ones. Another common manœuvre is that of -raising a false belief of cheapness. Suppose a tailor is laying -in a stock of broad cloths. He is offered a bargain. Three -pieces are put before him—two of good quality, at, perhaps, -14<i>s.</i> per yard; and one of much inferior quality, at 8<i>s.</i> per -yard. These pieces have been purposely a little tumbled -and creased, to give an apparent reason for a pretended -sacrifice upon them. And the tailor is then told that he may -have these nominally-damaged cloths as “a job lot,” at 12<i>s.</i> -per yard. Misled by the appearances into a belief of the -professed sacrifice; impressed, moreover, by the fact that -two of the pieces are really worth considerably more than -the price asked; and not sufficiently bearing in mind that -the great inferiority of the third just balances this; the tailor -probably buys; and he goes away with the comfortable conviction -that he has made a specially-advantageous purchase, -when he has really paid the full price for every yard. A -still more subtle trick has been described to us by one who -himself made use of it, when engaged in one of these wholesale-houses—a -trick so successful that he was often sent for -to sell to customers who could be induced to buy by none -other of the assistants, and who ever afterwards would buy -only of him. His policy was to seem extremely simple and -honest, and, during the first few purchases, to exhibit his -honesty by pointing out defects in the things he was selling; -and then, having gained the customer’s confidence, he -proceeded to pass off upon him inferior goods at superior -prices. These are a few out of the various manœuvres in -constant practice. Of course there is a running accompaniment -of falsehoods, uttered as well as acted. It is expected -of the assistant that he will say whatever is needed to effect -a sale. “Any fool can sell what is wanted,” said a master -in reproaching a shopman for not having persuaded a -customer to buy something quite unlike that -which he asked <span class="xxpn" id="p118">{118}</span> -for. And the unscrupulous mendacity thus required by -employers, and encouraged by example, grows to a height -of depravity that has been described to us in words too -strong to be repeated. Our informant was obliged to -relinquish his position in one of these establishments, because -he could not lower himself to the required depth of degradation. -“You don’t lie as though you believe what you say,” -observed one of his fellow-assistants. And this was uttered -as a reproach!</p> - -<p>As those subordinates who have fewest qualms of -conscience are those who succeed the best, are soonest -promoted to more remunerative posts, and have therefore -the greatest chances of establishing businesses of their -own; it may be inferred that the morality of the heads of -these establishments, is much on a par with that of their -<i>employés</i>. The habitual malpractices of wholesale houses, -confirm this inference. Not only, as we have just seen, -are assistants under a pressure impelling them to deceive -purchasers respecting the qualities of the goods they buy, -but purchasers are also deceived in respect to the quantities; -and that, not by an occasional unauthorized trick, but by -an organized system, for which the firm itself is responsible. -The general practice is to make up goods, or to have them -made up, in lengths that are shorter than they profess to -be. A piece of calico nominally thirty-six yards long, -never measures more than thirty-one yards—is understood -throughout the trade to measure only so much. And -the long-accumulating delinquencies which this custom -indicates—the successive diminutions of length, each introduced -by some adept in dishonesty, and then imitated -by his competitors—are now being daily carried to a -still greater extent, wherever they are not likely to be -immediately detected. Articles that are sold in small -bundles, knots, packets, or such forms as negative -measurement at the time of sale, are habitually deficient -in quantity. Silk-laces called six -quarters, or fifty-four <span class="xxpn" id="p119">{119}</span> -inches, really measure four quarters, or thirty-six inches. -Tapes were originally sold in grosses containing twelve -knots of twelve yards each; but these twelve-yard-knots -are now cut of all lengths, from eight yards down to five -yards, and even less—the usual length being six yards. -That is to say, the 144 yards which the gross once contained, -has now in some cases dwindled down to 60 yards. -In widths, as well as in lengths, this deception is practised. -French cotton-braid, for instance (French only in name), is -made of different widths; which are respectively marked -5, 7, 9, 11, etc.: each figure indicating the number of -threads of cotton which the width includes, or rather -should include, but does not. For those which should be -marked 5 are marked 7; and those which should be -marked 7 are marked 9: out of three samples from -different houses shown to us by our informant, only one -contained the alleged number of threads. Fringe, again, -which is sold wrapped on card, will often be found two -inches wide at the end exposed to view, but will diminish -to one inch at the end next the card; or perhaps the first -twenty yards will be good, and all the rest, hidden under -it, will be bad. These frauds are committed unblushingly, -and as a matter of business. We have ourselves read in -an agent’s order-book, the details of an order, specifying -the actual lengths of which the articles were to be cut, and -the much greater lengths to be marked on the labels. And -we have been told by a manufacturer who was required to -make up tapes into lengths of fifteen yards, and label them -“warranted 18 yards,” that when he did not label them -falsely, his goods were sent back to him; and that the -greatest concession he could obtain was to be allowed to -send them without labels.</p> - -<p>It is not to be supposed that in their dealings with -manufacturers, these wholesale-houses adopt a code of -morals differing much from that which regulates their -dealings with retailers. The facts prove it to -be much the <span class="xxpn" id="p120">{120}</span> -same. A buyer for instance (who exclusively conducts the -purchases of a wholesale-house from manufacturers) will -not unfrequently take from a first-class maker, a small -supply of some new fabric, on the pattern of which much -time and money have been spent; and this new-pattern -fabric he will put into the hands of another maker, to have -copied in large quantities. Some buyers, again, give their -orders orally, that they may have the opportunity of -afterwards repudiating them if they wish; and in a case -narrated to us, where a manufacturer who had been thus -deluded, wished on a subsequent occasion to guarantee -himself by obtaining the buyer’s signature to his order, he -was refused it. For other unjust acts of wholesale-houses, -the heads of these establishments are, we presume, responsible. -Small manufacturers working with insufficient -capital, and in times of depression not having the wherewith -to meet their engagements, are often obliged to become -dependants on the wholesale-houses with which they deal; -and are then cruelly taken advantage of. One who has -thus committed himself, has either to sell his accumulated -stock at a great sacrifice—thirty to forty per cent. below -its value—or else to mortgage it; and when the wholesale-house -becomes the mortgagee, the manufacturer has little -chance of escape. He is obliged to work at the wholesale-dealer’s -terms; and ruin almost certainly follows. This is -especially the case in the silk-hosiery business. As was -said to us by one of the larger silk-hosiers, who had -watched the destruction of many of his smaller brethren—“They -may be spared for a time as a cat spares a mouse; -but they are sure to be eaten up in the end.” And we can -the more readily credit this statement from having found -that a like policy is pursued by some provincial curriers in -their dealings with small shoe-makers; and also by hop-merchants -and maltsters in their dealings with small -publicans. We read that in Hindostan the ryots, when -crops fall short, borrow from the Jews to -buy seed; and <span class="xxpn" id="p121">{121}</span> -once in their clutches are doomed. It seems that our -commercial world can furnish parallels.</p> - -<p>Of another class of wholesale-traders—those who supply -grocers with foreign and colonial produce—we may say that -though, in consequence of the nature of their business, -their malpractices are less numerous and multiform, as -well as less glaring, they bear the same stamp as the foregoing. -Unless it is to be supposed that sugar and spices -are moral antiseptics as well as physical ones, it must be -expected that wholesale dealers in them will transgress -much as other wholesale dealers do, in those directions -where the facilities are greatest. And the truth is that, -both in the qualities and quantities of the articles they sell, -they take advantage of the retailers. The descriptions -they give of their commodities are habitually misrepresentations. -Samples sent round to their customers are -characterized as first-rate when they are really second-rate. -The travellers are expected to endorse these untrue statements; -and unless the grocer has adequate keenness and -extensive knowledge, he is more or less deceived. In -some cases, indeed, no skill will save him. There are -frauds that have grown up little by little into customs of -the trade, which the retailer must submit to. In the -purchase of sugar, for example, he is imposed on in respect -alike of the goodness and the weight. The history of the -dishonesty is this. Originally the tare allowed by the -merchant on each hogshead, was 14 per cent. of the gross -weight. The actual weight of the wood of which the -hogshead was made, was at that time about 12 per cent. of -the gross weight. And thus the trade-allowance left a -profit of 2 per cent. to the buyer. Gradually, however, -the hogshead has grown thicker and heavier; until now, -instead of amounting to 12 per cent. of the gross weight, -it amounts to 17 per cent. As the allowance of 14 per cent. -still continues, the result is that the retail grocer loses -3 per cent.: to the extent of 3 per cent. -he buys wood <span class="xxpn" id="p122">{122}</span> -in place of sugar. In the quality of the sugar, he is -deluded by the practice of giving him a sample from the -best part of the hogshead. During its voyage from Jamaica -or elsewhere, the contents of a hogshead undergo a slow -drainage. The molasses, of which more or less is always -present, filters from the uppermost part of the mass of -sugar to the lowermost part; and this lowermost part, -technically known as the “foots,” is of darker colour and -smaller value. The quantity of it contained in a hogshead -varies greatly; and the retailer, receiving a false sample, -has to guess what the quantity of “foots” may be; and, to -his cost, often under-estimates it. As will be seen from the -following letter, copied from the <i>Public Ledger</i> for the -20th Oct., 1858, these grievances, more severe even than -we have represented them, are now exciting an agitation.</p> - -<blockquote> -<div>“<i>To the Retail Grocers of the United Kingdom.</i></div> - -<div class="pnormal">“Gentlemen,—The time has arrived for the trade at once to make a move -for the revision of tares on all raw sugars. Facts prove the evil of the -present system to be greatly on the increase. We submit a case as under, -and only one out of twenty. On the 30th August, 1858, we bought 3 hogsheads -of Barbados, mark -<table id="p122glyph" summary="trademark glyph TG over K"> -<tr> - <td class="tdtight">TG</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdtight">K</td></tr></table> - -<div class="dctr01"> -<img src="images/p122table.png" width="600" height="224" -alt="<Illustration of data table>" /></div></div> - -<p>“We make a claim for £2. 1<i>s.</i> 3<i>d.</i>; we are told by the wholesale grocer -there is no redress.</p> - -<p>“There is another evil which the retail grocer has to contend with, that -is, the mode of sampling raw sugars: the foots are excluded from the merchants’ -samples. Facts will prove that in thousands of hogsheads of -Barbados this season there is an average of 5 cwt. of foots in each; we have -turned out some with 10 cwt., which are at least 5<i>s.</i> per cwt. less value than -sample, and in these cases we are told again there is no redress.</p> - -<p>“These two causes are bringing hundreds of hard-working -men to ruin <span class="xxpn" id="p123">{123}</span> -and will bring hundreds more unless the trade take it up, and we implore -them to unite in obtaining so important a revision.</p> - -<div>“We are, Gentlemen, your obedient servants,</div> - -<p class="psignature">“<span class="smcap">W<b>ALKER</b></span> and -<span class="smcap">S<b>TAINES</b></span>.<a -class="afnanch" href="#fn6" id="fnanch6">6</a></p> - -<p>“Birmingham, October 19, 1858.”</p> -</blockquote> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch6" id="fn6">6</a> -The abuses described in this letter have now, we -believe, been abolished.</p></div> - -<p>A more subtle method of imposition remains to be added. -It is the practice of sugar-refiners to put moist, crushed -sugar into dried casks. During the time that elapses before -one of these casks is opened by the retailer, the desiccated -wood has taken up the excess of water from the sugar; -which is thus brought again into good condition. When -the retailer, finding that the cask weighs much more than -was allowed as tare by the wholesale dealer, complains to -him of this excess, the reply is—“Send it up to us, and we -will <i>dry it</i> and weigh it, as is the custom of the trade.”</p> - -<p>Without further detailing these malpractices, of which -the above examples are perhaps the worst, we will advert -only to one other point in the transactions of these large -houses—the drawing-up of trade-circulars. It is the habit -of many wholesale dealers to send round to their customers, -periodic accounts of the past transactions, present condition, -and prospects of the markets. Serving as checks on each -other, as they do, these documents are prevented from -swerving very widely from the truth. But it is scarcely to -be expected that they should be quite honest. Those who -issue them, being in most cases interested in the prices of -the commodities referred to in their circulars, are swayed -by their interests in the representations they make respecting -the probabilities of the future. Far-seeing retailers are -on their guard against this. A large provincial grocer, -who thoroughly understands his business, said to us—“As -a rule, I throw trade-circulars on the fire.” And that this -estimate of their trustworthiness is not unwarranted, we -gather from the expressions of those engaged in other -businesses. From two leather-dealers, one in the country -and one in London, we have heard -the same complaint <span class="xxpn" id="p124">{124}</span> -against the circulars published by houses in their trade, -that they are misleading. Not that they state untruths; -but that they produce false impressions by leaving out -facts which they should have stated.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">In illustrating the morality of manufacturers, we shall -confine ourselves to one class—those who work in silk. And -it will be the most convenient method of arranging facts, -to follow the silk through its various stages; from its state -when imported, to its state when ready for the wearer.</p> - -<p>Bundles of raw silk from abroad—not uncommonly -weighted with rubbish, stones, or rouleaux of Chinese -copper coin, to the loss of the buyer—are disposed of by -auction. Purchases are made on behalf of the silk-dealers -by “sworn brokers;” and the regulation is, that these -sworn brokers shall confine themselves to their functions as -agents. From a silk-manufacturer, however, we learn that -they are currently understood to be themselves speculators -in silk, either directly or by proxy; and that as thus -personally interested in prices, they become faulty as -agents. We give this, however, simply as a prevailing -opinion, for the truth of which we do not vouch.</p> - -<p>The silk bought by the London dealer, he sends into the -manufacturing districts to be “thrown;” that is, to be -made into thread fit for weaving. In the established form -of bargain between the silk-dealer and the silk-throwster, -we have a strange instance of an organized and recognized -deception; which has seemingly grown out of a check on a -previous deception. The throwing of silk is necessarily -accompanied by some waste, from broken ends, knots, and -fibres too weak to wind. This waste varies in different -kinds of silk from 3 per cent. to 20 per cent.: the average -being about 5 per cent. The per-centage of waste being -thus variable, it is obvious that in the absence of restraint, -a dishonest silk-throwster might abstract a portion of the -silk; and, on returning the rest to the -dealer, might plead <span class="xxpn" id="p125">{125}</span> -that the great diminution in weight had resulted from the -large amount of loss in the process of throwing. Hence -there has arisen a system, called “working on cost,” which -requires the throwster to send back to the dealer the same -weight of silk which he receives: the meaning of the -phrase being, we presume, that whatever waste the throwster -makes must be at his own cost. Now, as it is impossible -to throw silk without <i>some</i> waste—at least 3 per cent., and -ordinarily 5 per cent.—this arrangement necessitates a -deception; if, indeed, that can be called a deception -which is tacitly understood by all concerned. The silk -has to be weighted. As much as is lost in throwing, -has to be made up by some foreign substance introduced. -Soap is largely used for this. In small quantity, soap is requisite -to facilitate the running of the threads in the process -of manufacture; and the quantity is readily increased. -Sugar also is used. And by one means or other, the threads -are made to absorb enough matter to produce the desired -weight. To this system all silk-throwsters are obliged to -succumb; and some of them carry it to a great extent, as a -means of hiding either carelessness or something worse.</p> - -<p>The next stage through which silk passes, is that of -dyeing. Here, too, impositions have grown chronic and -general. In times past, as we learn from a ribbon-manufacturer, -the weighting by water was the chief dishonesty. -Bundles returned from the dyer’s, if not manifestly damp, -still, containing moisture enough to make up for a portion of -the silk that had been kept back; and precautions had to be -taken to escape losses thus entailed. Since then, however, -there has arisen a method of deception which leaves this -far behind—that of employing heavy dyes. The following -details have been given us by a silk-throwster. It is now, -he says, some five-and-thirty years since this method was -commenced. Before that time silk lost a considerable part -of its weight in the copper. The ultimate fibre of silk is -coated, in issuing from the spinneret of -the silk-worm, with <span class="xxpn" id="p126">{126}</span> -a film of varnish which is soluble in boiling water. In -dyeing, therefore, this film, amounting to 25 per cent. of the -entire weight of the silk, is dissolved off; and the silk is -rendered that much lighter. So that originally, for every -sixteen ounces of silk sent to the dyer’s, only twelve ounces -were returned. Gradually, however, by the use of heavy -dyes, this result has been reversed. The silk now gains in -weight; and sometimes to a scarcely credible extent. -According to the requirement, silk is sent back from the -dyer’s of any weight, from twelve ounces to the pound up -to forty ounces to the pound. The original pound of silk, -instead of losing four ounces, as it naturally would, is -actually, when certain black dyes are used, made to gain as -much as twenty-four ounces! Instead of 25 per cent. -lighter, it is returned 150 per cent. heavier—is weighted -with 175 per cent. of foreign matter! Now as, during this -stage of its manufacture, the transactions in silk are carried -on by weight, it is manifest that in the introduction and -development of this system, we have a long history of frauds. -At present all in the trade are aware of it, and on their -guard against it. Like other modes of adulteration, in -becoming established and universal, it has ceased to be profitable -to any one. But it still serves to indicate the morals -of those concerned.</p> - -<p>The thrown and dyed silk passes into the hands of the -weaver; and here again we come upon dishonesties. -Manufacturers of figured silks sin against their fellows by -stealing their patterns. The laws which have been found -necessary to prevent this species of piracy, show that it has -been carried to a great extent. Even now it is not prevented. -One who has himself suffered from it, tells us that -manufacturers still get one another’s designs by bribing -the workmen. In their dealings with “buyers,” too, some -manufacturers resort to deceptions: perhaps tempted to do -so by the desire to compensate themselves for the heavy tax -paid in treating, etc. Goods which have -already been seen <span class="xxpn" id="p127">{127}</span> -and declined by other buyers, are brought before a subsequent -one with artfully-devised appearances of secrecy, -accompanied by professions that these goods have been -specially reserved for his inspection: a manœuvre by which -an unwary man is sometimes betrayed. That the process of -production has its delusions, scarcely needs saying. In the -ribbon-trade, for example, there is a practice called “top-ending;” -that is, making the first three yards good, and -the rest (which is covered when rolled up) of bad or loose -texture—80 “shutes” to the inch instead of 108. And then -there comes the issuing of imitations made of inferior -materials—textile adulterations as we may call them. This -practice of debasement, not an occasional but an established -one, is carried to a surprising extent, and with surprising -rapidity. Some new fabric, first sold at 7<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> per yard, is -supplanted by successive counterfeits; until at the end of -eighteen months a semblance of it is selling at 4<i>s.</i> 3<i>d.</i> per -yard. Nay, still greater depreciations of quality and price -take place—from 10<i>s.</i> down to 3<i>s.</i>, and even 2<i>s.</i> per yard. -Until at length the badness of these spurious fabrics -becomes so conspicuous, that they are unsaleable; and -there ensues a reaction, ending either in the reintroduction -of the original fabric, or in the production of some novelty -to supply its place.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Among our notes of malpractices in trade, retail, wholesale, -and manufacturing, we have many others that must be -passed over. We cannot here enlarge on the not uncommon -trick of using false trade-marks; or of imitating another -maker’s wrappers. We must be satisfied with simply -referring to the doings of apparently-reputable houses, -which purchase goods known to be dishonestly obtained. -And we are obliged to refrain from particularizing certain -established arrangements, existing under cover of the -highest respectability, which seem intended to facilitate -these nefarious transactions. The frauds -we have detailed <span class="xxpn" id="p128">{128}</span> -are but samples of a state of things which it would take -a volume to describe in full.</p> - -<p>The further instances of trading-immorality which it -seems desirable here to give, are those which carry with -them a certain excuse: showing as they do how insensibly, -and almost irresistibly, men are thrust into vicious practices. -Always, no doubt, some utterly unconscientious trader is -the first to introduce a new form of fraud. He is by-and-by -followed by others who wear their moral codes but loosely. -The more upright traders are continually tempted to adopt -this questionable device which those around them are -adopting. The greater the number who yield, and the more -familiar the device becomes, the more difficult is it for the -remainder to stand out against it. The pressure of competition -upon them becomes more and more severe. They -have to fight an unequal battle: debarred as they are from -one of the sources of profit which their antagonists possess. -And they are finally almost compelled to follow the lead of -the rest. Take for example what has happened in the -candle-trade. As all know, the commoner kinds of candles -are sold in bunches, supposed to weigh a pound each. -Originally, the nominal weight corresponded with the real -weight. But at present the weight is habitually short by -an amount varying from half an ounce to two ounces—is -sometimes depreciated -12 <sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>2</sub> -per cent. If, now, an honest -chandler offers to supply a retailer at, say, six shillings for -the dozen pounds, the answer he receives is—“Oh, we get -them for five-and-eightpence.” “But mine,” replies the -chandler, “are of full weight; while those you buy at five-and-eightpence -are not.” “What does that matter to me?” -the retailer rejoins—“a pound of candles is a pound of -candles: my customers buy them in the bunch, and won’t -know the difference between yours and another’s.” And -the honest chandler, being everywhere met with this argument, -finds that he must either make his bunches of short -weight, or give up business. Take -another case, which, <span class="xxpn" id="p129">{129}</span> -like the last, we have direct from the mouth of one who has -been obliged to succumb. It is that of a manufacturer of -elastic webbing, now extensively used in making boots, etc. -From a London house with which he dealt largely, this -manufacturer recently received a sample of webbing -produced by some one else, accompanied by the question, -“Can you make us this at —— per yard?” (naming a price -below that at which he had before supplied them); and -hinting that if he could not do so they must go elsewhere. -On pulling to pieces the sample (which he showed to us), -this manufacturer found that sundry of the threads which -should have been of silk were of cotton. Indicating this -fact to those who sent him the sample, he replied that, if he -made a like substitution, he could furnish the fabric at the -price named; and the result was that he eventually did -thus furnish it. He saw that if he did not do so, he must -lose a considerable share of his trade. He saw further, that -if he did not at once yield, he would have to yield in the -end; for that other elastic-webbing-makers would one after -another engage to produce this adulterated fabric at -correspondingly diminished prices; and that when at length -he stood alone in selling an apparently-similar article at a -higher price, his business would leave him. This manufacturer -we have the best reasons for knowing to be a man -of fine moral nature, both generous and upright; and yet -we here see him obliged, in a sense, to implicate himself -in one of these processes of vitiation. It is a startling -assertion, but it is none the less a true one, that those -who resist these corruptions often do it at the risk of -bankruptcy; sometimes the certainty of bankruptcy. We -do not say this simply as a manifest inference from the -conditions, as above described. We say it on the warrant -of instances which have been given to us. From one brought -up in his house, we have had the history of a draper who, -carrying his conscience into his shop, refused to commit the -current frauds of the trade. He would -not represent his <span class="xxpn" id="p130">{130}</span> -goods as of better quality than they really were; he would -not say that patterns were just out, when they had been -issued the previous season; he would not warrant to wash -well, colours which he knew to be fugitive. Refraining -from these and the like malpractices of his competitors; -and, as a consequence, daily failing to sell various articles -which his competitors would have sold by force of lying; -his business was so unremunerative that he twice became -bankrupt. And in the opinion of our informant, he inflicted -more evil upon others by his bankruptcies, than he would -have done by committing the usual trade-dishonesties. See, -then, how complicated the question becomes; and how -difficult to estimate the trader’s criminality. Often—generally -indeed—he has to choose between two wrongs. -He has tried to carry on his business with strict integrity. -He has sold none but genuine articles, and has given full -measure. Others in the same business adulterate or otherwise -delude, and are so able to undersell him. His -customers, not adequately appreciating the superiority in -the quality or quantity of his goods, and attracted by the -apparent cheapness at other shops, desert him. Inspection -of his books proves the alarming fact that his diminishing -returns will soon be insufficient to meet his engagements, -and provide for his increasing family. What then must he -do? Must he continue his present course; stop payment; -inflict heavy losses on his creditors; and, with his wife and -children, turn out into the streets? Or must he follow the -example of his competitors; use their artifices; and give -his customers the same apparent advantages? The last not -only seems the least detrimental to himself, but also may be -considered the least detrimental to others. Moreover, the -like is done by men regarded as respectable. Why should -he ruin himself and family in trying to be better than his -neighbours? He will do as they do.</p> - -<p>Such is the position of the trader; such is the reasoning -by which he justifies himself; and it is hard -to visit him <span class="xxpn" id="p131">{131}</span> -with harsh condemnation. Of course this statement of the -case is by no means universally true. There are businesses -in which, competition being less active, the excuse for -falling into corrupt practices does not hold; and here, -indeed, we find corrupt practices much less prevalent. -Many traders, too, have obtained connexions which secure -to them adequate returns without descending to small -rogueries; and they have no defence if they thus degrade -themselves. Moreover, there are the men—commonly not -prompted by necessity but by greed—who introduce these -adulterations and petty frauds; and on these should descend -unmitigated indignation: both as being themselves criminals -without excuse, and as causing criminality in others. -Leaving out, however, these comparatively small classes, -most traders by whom the commoner businesses are carried -on, must receive a much more qualified censure than they -at first sight seem to deserve. On all sides we have met -with the same conviction, that for those engaged in the -ordinary trades there are but two courses—either to adopt -the practices of their competitors, or to give up business. -Men in different occupations and in different places—men -naturally conscientious, who manifestly chafed under the -degradations they submitted to, have one and all expressed -to us the sad belief that it is impossible to carry on trade -with strict rectitude. Their concurrent opinion, independently -given by each, is that the scrupulously honest -man must go to the wall.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">But that it has been, during the past year, frequently -treated by the daily press, we might here enter at some -length on the topic of banking-delinquencies. As it is, we -may presume all to be familiar with the facts, and shall limit -ourselves to making a few comments.</p> - -<p>In the opinion of one whose means of judging have been -second to those of few, the directors of joint-stock-banks -have rarely been guilty of -direct dishonesty. Admitting <span class="xxpn" id="p132">{132}</span> -notorious exceptions, the general fact appears to be that -directors have had no immediate interests in furthering -these speculations which have proved so ruinous to depositors -and shareholders; but have usually been among -the greatest sufferers. Their fault has rather been the less -flagitious, though still grave fault, of indifference to their -responsibilities. Often with very inadequate knowledge -they have undertaken to trade with property belonging in -great part to needy people. Instead of using as much care -in the investment of this property as though it were their -own, many of them have shown culpable recklessness: -either themselves loaning the entrusted capital without -adequate guarantee, or else passively allowing their colleagues -to do this. Sundry excuses may doubtless be made -for them. The well-known defects of a corporate conscience, -caused by divided responsibility, must be remembered in -mitigation. And it may also be pleaded for such delinquents -that if shareholders, swayed by reverence for mere -wealth and position, choose as directors, not the most -intelligent, the most experienced, and those of longest-tried -probity, but those of largest capital or highest rank, the -blame must not be cast solely on the men so chosen, but -must be shared by the men who choose them. Nay, -further, it must fall on the public as well as on shareholders; -seeing that this unwise selection of directors is in -part determined by the known bias of depositors. But -after all allowances have been made, it must be admitted -that these bank-administrators who risk the property of -their clients by lending it to speculators, are near akin in -morality to the speculators themselves. As these speculators -risk other men’s money in undertakings which they -hope will be profitable; so do the directors who lend them -the money. If these last plead that the money thus lent -is lent with the belief that it will be repaid with good -interest, the first may similarly plead that they expect their -investment to return the borrowed capital -along with a <span class="xxpn" id="p133">{133}</span> -handsome profit. In each case the transaction is one of -which the evil consequences, if they come, fall more largely -on others than on the actors. And though it may be -contended, on behalf of the director, that what he does is -done chiefly for the benefit of his constituents, whereas the -speculator has in view only his own benefit; it may be -replied that the director’s blameworthiness is not the less -because he took a rash step with a comparatively weak -motive. The truth is that when a bank-director lends the -capital of shareholders to those to whom he would not lend -his own capital, he is guilty of a breach of trust. In -tracing the gradations of crime, we pass from direct robbery -to robbery one, two, three, or more degrees removed. -Though a man who speculates with other people’s money is -not chargeable with direct robbery, he is chargeable with -robbery one degree removed: he deliberately stakes his -neighbour’s property, intending to appropriate the gain, if -any, and to let his neighbour suffer the loss, if any: his -crime is that of contingent robbery. And hence any one -who, standing like a bank-director in the position of -trustee, puts the money with which he is entrusted into -a speculator’s hands, must be called an accessory to contingent -robbery.</p> - -<p>If so grave a condemnation is to be passed on those who -lend trust-money to speculators, as well as on the speculators -who borrow it, what shall we say of the still more -delinquent class who obtain loans by fraud—who not only -pawn other men’s property when obtained, but obtain it -under false pretences? For how else than thus must we -describe the doings of those who raise money by accommodation-bills? -When A and B agree, the one to draw and -the other to accept a bill of £1000 for “value received;” -while in truth there has been no sale of goods between -them, or no value received; the transaction is not simply -an embodied lie, but it becomes thereafter a living and -active lie. Whoever discounts the bill, does -so in the <span class="xxpn" id="p134">{134}</span> -belief that B, having become possessed of £1000 worth of -goods, will, when the bill falls due, have either the £1000 -worth of goods or some equivalent, with which to meet it. -Did he know that there were no such goods in the hands of -either A or B, and no other property available for liquidating -the bill, he would not discount it—he would not lend -money to a man of straw without security. Had A taken -to the bank a forged mortgage-deed, and obtained a loan -upon it, he would not have committed a greater wrong. -Practically, an accommodation-bill is a forgery. It is an -error to suppose that forgery is limited to the production -of documents that are <i>physically</i> false—that contain signatures -or other symbols which are not what they appear to -be: forgery, properly understood, equally includes the -production of documents that are <i>morally</i> false. What -constitutes the crime committed in forging a bank-note? -Not the mere mechanical imitation. This is but a means -to the end; and, taken alone, is no crime at all. The -crime consists in deluding others into the acceptance of -what seems to be a representative of so much money, but -which actually represents nothing. It matters not whether -the delusion is effected by copying the forms of the letters -and figures, as in a forged bank-note, or by copying the -form of expression, as in an accommodation-bill. In either -case a semblance of value is given to that which has no -value; and it is in giving this false appearance of value -that the crime consists. It is true that generally, the -acceptor of an accommodation-bill hopes to be able to meet -it when due. But if those who think this exonerates him, -will remember the many cases in which, by the use of -forged documents, men have obtained possession of moneys -which they hoped presently to replace, and were nevertheless -judged guilty of forgery, they will see that the plea is -insufficient. We contend, then, that the manufacturers of -accommodation-bills should be classed as forgers. That if -the law so classed them, much good would -result, we are <span class="xxpn" id="p135">{135}</span> -not prepared to say. Several questions present themselves:—Whether -such a change would cause inconvenience, -by negativing the many harmless transactions -carried on under this fictitious form by solvent men? -Whether making it penal to use the words “value -received,” unless there <i>had</i> been value received, would not -simply originate an additional class of bills in which these -words were omitted? Whether it would be an advantage -if bills bore on their faces proofs that they did or did not -represent actual sales? Whether a restraint on undue -credit would result, when bankers and discounters saw -that certain bills coming to them in the names of speculative -or unsubstantial traders, were avowed accommodation-bills? -But these are questions we need not go out of our -way to discuss. We are here concerned only with the -morality of the question.</p> - -<p>Duly to estimate the greatness of the evils indicated, -however, we must bear in mind both that the fraudulent -transactions thus entered into are numerous, and that each -generally becomes the cause of others. The original lie is -commonly the parent of further lies, which again give rise -to an increasing progeny; and so on for successive generations, -multiplying as they descend. When A and B find -their £1000 bill about to fall due, and the expected proceeds -of their speculation not forthcoming—when they find, as -they often do, either that the investment has resulted in a -loss instead of a gain; or that the time for realizing their -hoped-for profits, has not yet come; or that the profits, if -there are any, do not cover the extravagances of living -which, in the meantime, they have sanguinely indulged in—when, -in short, they find that the bill cannot be taken -up; they resort to the expedient of manufacturing other -bills with which to liquidate the first. And while they are -about it, they usually think it will be as well to raise a somewhat -larger sum than is required to meet their outstanding -engagements. Unless it happens that -great success enables <span class="xxpn" id="p136">{136}</span> -them to redeem themselves, this proceeding is repeated, and -again repeated. So long as there is no monetary crisis, it -continues easy thus to keep afloat; and, indeed, the appearance -of prosperity which is given by an extended circulation -of bills in their names, bearing respectable indorsements, -creates a confidence in them which renders the obtainment -of credit easier than at first. And where, as in some cases, -this process is carried to the extent of employing men in -different towns throughout the kingdom, and even in -distant parts of the world, to accept bills, the appearances -are still better kept up, and the bubble reaches a still -greater development. As, however, all these transactions -are carried on with borrowed capital, on which interest has -to be paid; as, further, the maintenance of this organized -fraud entails constant expenses, as well as occasional -sacrifices; and as it is in the very nature of the system to -generate reckless speculation; the fabric of lies is almost -certain ultimately to fall; and, in falling, to ruin or embarrass -others besides those who had given credit.</p> - -<p>Nor does the evil end with the direct penalties from time -to time inflicted on honest traders. There is also a grave -indirect penalty which they suffer from the system. These -forgers of credit are habitually instrumental in lowering -prices below their natural level. To meet emergencies, -they are obliged every now and then to sell goods at a loss: -the alternative being immediate stoppage. Though with -each such concern, this is but an occasional incident, yet, -taking the whole number of them connected with any one -business, it results that there are generally some who are -making sacrifices—generally some who are unnaturally -depressing the market. In short, the capital fraudulently -obtained from some traders is, in part, dissipated in rendering -the business of other traders deficiently remunerative: -often to their serious embarrassment.</p> - -<p>If, however, the whole truth must be said, the condemnation -visited on these commercial vampires is -not to be <span class="xxpn" id="p137">{137}</span> -confined to them; but is in some degree deserved by a -much more numerous class. Between the penniless schemer -who obtains the use of capital by false pretences, and the -upright trader who never contracts greater liabilities than -his estate will liquidate, there lie all gradations. From -businesses carried on entirely with other people’s capital, -obtained by forgery, we pass to businesses in which there -is a real capital of one-tenth and a credit-capital of nine-tenths; -to other businesses in which the ratio of real to -fictitious capital is somewhat greater; and so on until we -reach the very extensive class of men who trade but a little -beyond their means. To get more credit than would be -given were the state of the business known, is in all cases -the aim; and the cases in which this credit is partially -unwarranted, differ only in degree from those in which it -is wholly unwarranted. As most are beginning to see, the -prevalence of this indirect dishonesty has not a little to do -with our commercial disasters. Speaking broadly, the -tendency is for every trader to hypothecate the capital of -other traders, as well as his own. And when A has -borrowed on the strength of B’s credit; B on the strength -of C’s; and C on the strength of A’s—when, throughout -the trading world, each has made engagements which he -can meet only by direct or indirect aid—when everybody is -wanting help from some one else to save him from falling; a -crash is certain. The punishment of a general unconscientiousness -may be postponed, but it is sure to come eventually.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">The average commercial morality cannot, of course, be -accurately depicted in so brief a space. On the one hand, -we have been able to give but a few typical instances of the -malpractices by which trade is disgraced. On the other -hand, we have been obliged to present these alone; unqualified -by the large amount of honest dealing throughout which -they are dispersed. While, by accumulating such evidences, -the indictment may be made heavier; -by diluting them <span class="xxpn" id="p138">{138}</span> -with the immense mass of equitable transactions daily -carried on, the verdict would be mitigated. After making -every allowance, however, we fear that the state of things -is very bad. Our impression on this point is due less to -the particular facts above given, than to the general opinion -expressed by our informants. On all sides we have found -the result of long personal experience, to be the conviction -that trade is essentially corrupt. In tones of disgust or discouragement, -reprehension or derision, according to their -several natures, men in business have one after another -expressed or implied this belief. Omitting the highest mercantile -classes, a few of the less common trades, and those -exceptional cases where an entire command of the market has -been obtained, the uniform testimony of competent judges -is, that success is incompatible with strict integrity. To -live in the commercial world it appears necessary to adopt -its ethical code: neither exceeding nor falling short of it—neither -being less honest nor more honest. Those who sink -below its standard are expelled; while those who rise above -it are either pulled down to it or ruined. As, in self-defence, -the civilized man becomes savage among savages; so, it -seems that in self-defence, the scrupulous trader is obliged -to become as little scrupulous as his competitors. It has -been said that the law of the animal creation is—“Eat and -be eaten;” and of our trading community it may similarly -be said that its law is—Cheat and be cheated. A system -of keen competition, carried on, as it is, without adequate -moral restraint, is very much a system of commercial cannibalism. -Its alternatives are—Use the same weapons as your -antagonists or be conquered and devoured.</p> - -<p>Of questions suggested by these facts, one of the most -obvious is—Are not the prejudices which have ever been -entertained against trade and traders, thus fully justified? -do not these meannesses and dishonesties, and the moral -degradation they imply, warrant the disrespect shown to -men in business? A prompt -affirmative answer will <span class="xxpn" id="p139">{139}</span> -probably be looked for; but we very much doubt whether it -should be given. We are rather of opinion that these -delinquencies are products of the average character placed -under special conditions. There is no reason for assuming -that the trading classes are intrinsically worse than other -classes. Men taken at random from higher and lower -ranks, would, most likely, if similarly circumstanced, do -much the same. Indeed the mercantile world might readily -recriminate. Is it a solicitor who comments on their misdoings? -They may quickly silence him by referring to the -countless dark stains on the reputation of his fraternity. -Is it a barrister? His frequent practice of putting in pleas -which he knows are not valid, and his established habit of -taking fees for work he does not perform, make his criticism -somewhat suicidal. Does the condemnation come through -the press? The condemned may remind those who write, -of the fact that it is not quite honest to utter a positive -verdict on a book merely glanced through, or to pen glowing -eulogies on the mediocre work of a friend while slighting -the good one of an enemy; and they may further ask -whether those who, at the dictation of an employer, write -what they disbelieve, are not guilty of the serious offence -of adulterating public opinion. Moreover, traders might -contend that many of their delinquencies are thrust on them -by the injustice of their customers. They, and especially -drapers, might point to the fact that the habitual demand -for an abatement of price, is made in utter disregard of their -reasonable profits; and that, to protect themselves against -attempts to gain by their loss, they are obliged to name -prices greater than those they intend to take. They might -also urge that the straits to which they are often brought -by non-payment of large sums due from their wealthier -customers, is itself a cause of their malpractices: obliging -them, as it does, to use all means, illegitimate as well -as legitimate, for getting the wherewith to meet their -engagements. And then, after proving -that those without <span class="xxpn" id="p140">{140}</span> -excuse show this disregard of other men’s claims, traders -might ask whether they, who have the excuse of having to -contend with a merciless competition, are alone to be blamed -if they display a like disregard in other forms. Nay, even -to the guardians of social rectitude—members of the legislature—they -might use the <i>tu quoque</i> argument: asking -whether bribery of a customer’s servant, is any worse than -bribery of an elector? or whether the gaining of suffrages -by clap-trap hustings-speeches, containing insincere professions -adapted to the taste of the constituency, is not as -bad as getting an order for goods by delusive representations -respecting their quality? No; few if any classes are -free from immoralities which are as great, <i>relatively to -the temptations</i>, as these we have been exposing. Of -course they will not be so petty or so gross where the -circumstances do not prompt pettiness or grossness; nor so -constant and organized where the class-conditions have not -tended to make them habitual. But, taken with these -qualifications, we think that much might be said for the -proposition that the trading classes, neither better nor -worse intrinsically than other classes, are betrayed into -their flagitious habits by external causes.</p> - -<p>Another question, here naturally arising, is—Are not -these evils growing worse? Many of the facts we have -cited seem to imply that they are. Yet there are many -other facts which point as distinctly the other way. In -weighing the evidence, we must bear in mind that the -greater public attention at present paid to such matters, is -itself a source of error—is apt to generate the belief that -evils now becoming recognized are evils that have recently -arisen; when in truth they have merely been hitherto disregarded, -or less regarded. It has been clearly thus with -crime, with distress, with popular ignorance; and it is very -probably thus with trading-dishonesties. As it is true of -individual beings, that their height in the scale of creation -may be measured by the degree -of their self-consciousness; <span class="xxpn" id="p141">{141}</span> -so, in a sense, it is true of societies. Advanced and highly-organized -societies are distinguished from lower ones by the -evolution of something that stands for a <i>social self-consciousness</i>. -Among ourselves there has, happily, been of late -years a remarkable growth of this social self-consciousness; -and we believe that to this is chiefly ascribable the impression -that commercial malpractices are increasing. Such -facts as have come down to us respecting the trade of past -times, confirm this view. In his <i>Complete English Tradesman</i>, -Defoe mentions, among other manœuvres of retailers, -the false lights which they introduced into their shops, for -the purpose of giving delusive appearances to their goods. -He comments on the “shop rhetorick,” the “flux of -falsehoods,” which tradesmen habitually uttered to their -customers; and quotes their defence as being that they -could not live without lying. He says, too, that there was -scarce a shopkeeper who had not a bag of spurious or -debased coin, from which he gave change whenever he -could; and that men, even the most honest, triumphed in -their skill in getting rid of bad money. These facts show -that the mercantile morals of that day were, at any rate, -not better than ours; and if we call to mind the numerous -Acts of Parliament passed in old times to prevent frauds of -all kinds, we perceive the like implication. As much may, -indeed, be safely inferred from the general state of society. -When, reign after reign, governments debased the coinage, -the moral tone of the middle classes could scarcely have -been higher than now. Among generations whose sympathy -with the claims of fellow-creatures was so weak, that the -slave-trade was not only thought justifiable, but the initiator -of it was rewarded by permission to record the feat in his -coat of arms, it is hardly possible that men respected the -claims of their fellow-citizens more than at present. Times -characterized by an administration of justice so inefficient, -that there were in London nests of criminals who defied the -law, and on all high roads robbers who -eluded it, cannot <span class="xxpn" id="p142">{142}</span> -have been distinguished by just mercantile dealings. While, -conversely, an age which, like ours, has seen so many equitable -social changes thrust on the legislature by public -opinion, is very unlikely to be an age in which the transactions -between individuals have been growing more inequitable. -Yet, on the other hand, it is undeniable that many of -the dishonesties we have described are of modern origin. -Not a few of them have become established during the last -thirty years; and others are even now arising. How are -these seeming contradictions to be reconciled?</p> - -<p>The reconciliation is not difficult. It lies in the fact that -while the <i>direct</i> frauds have been diminishing, the <i>indirect</i> -frauds have been increasing: alike in variety and in -number. And this admission we take to be consistent with -the opinion that the standard of commercial morals is higher -than it was. For if we omit, as excluded from the question, -the penal restraints—religious and legal—and ask what is -the ultimate moral restraint to the aggression of man on -man, we find it to be—sympathy with the pain inflicted. -Now the keenness of the sympathy, depending on the -vividness with which this pain is realized, varies with the -conditions of the case. It may be active enough to check -misdeeds which will manifestly cause great suffering, and -yet not be active enough to check misdeeds which will -cause but slight annoyance. While sufficiently acute to -prevent a man from doing that which will entail immediate -injury on a known person, it may not be sufficiently acute -to prevent him from doing that which will entail remote -injuries on unknown persons. And we find the facts to -agree with this deduction, that the moral restraint varies -according to the clearness with which the evil consequences -are conceived. Many a one who would shrink from picking -a pocket does not scruple to adulterate his goods; and he -who never dreams of passing base coin will yet be a party -to joint-stock-bank deceptions. Hence, as we say, the -multiplication of the more subtle and -complex forms of <span class="xxpn" id="p143">{143}</span> -fraud, is consistent with a general progress in morality; -provided it is accompanied with a decrease in the grosser -forms of fraud.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">But the question which most concerns us is, not whether -the morals of trade are better or worse than they have been? -but rather—why are they so bad? Why in this civilized -state of ours, is there so much that betrays the cunning -selfishness of the savage? Why, after the careful inculcations -of rectitude during education, comes there in after-life -all this knavery? Why, in spite of all the exhortations to -which the commercial classes listen every Sunday, do they -next morning recommence their evil deeds? What is this -so potent agency which almost neutralizes the discipline of -education, of law, of religion?</p> - -<p>Various subsidiary causes that might be assigned, must be -passed over, that we may have space to deal with the chief -cause. In an exhaustive statement, something would have -to be said on the credulity of consumers, which leads them -to believe in representations of impossible advantages; and -something, too, on their greediness, which, ever prompting -them to look for more than they ought to get, encourages -sellers to offer delusive bargains. The increased difficulty -of living consequent on growing pressure of population, -might perhaps come in as a part cause; and that greater -cost of bringing up a family, which results from the higher -standard of education, might be added. But the chief -inciter of these trading malpractices is intense desire for -wealth. And if we ask—Why this intense desire? the -reply is—It results from the <i>indiscriminate respect paid -to wealth</i>.</p> - -<p>To be distinguished from the common herd—to be somebody—to -make a name, a position—this is the universal -ambition; and to accumulate riches is alike the surest and -the easiest way of fulfilling this ambition. Very early in -life all learn this. At school, the court paid -to one whose <span class="xxpn" id="p144">{144}</span> -parents have called in their carriage to see him, is conspicuous; -while the poor boy whose insufficient stock of -clothes implies the small means of his family, soon has -burnt into his memory the fact that poverty is contemptible. -On entering the world, the lessons which may have been -taught about the nobility of self-sacrifice, the reverence -due to genius, the admirableness of high integrity, are -quickly neutralized by experience: men’s actions proving -that these are not their standards of respect. It is soon -perceived that while abundant outward marks of deference -from fellow-citizens may almost certainly be gained by -directing every energy to the accumulation of property, -they are but rarely to be gained in any other way; and -that even in the few cases in which they are otherwise -gained, they are not given with entire unreserve, but are -commonly joined with a more or less manifest display of -patronage. When, seeing this, the young man further -sees that while the acquisition of property is possible with -his mediocre endowments, the acquirement of distinction -by brilliant discoveries, or heroic acts, or high achievements -in art, implies faculties and feelings which he does not -possess; it is not difficult to understand why he devotes -himself heart and soul to business.</p> - -<p>We do not mean to say that men act on the consciously -reasoned-out conclusions thus indicated; but we mean that -these conclusions are the unconsciously-formed products of -their daily experiences. From early childhood the sayings -and doings of all around them have generated the idea that -wealth and respectability are two sides of the same thing. -This idea, growing with their growth, and strengthening -with their strength, becomes at last almost what we may -call an organic conviction. And this organic conviction it -is which prompts the expenditure of all their energies in -money-making. We contend that the chief stimulus is not -the desire for the wealth itself, but for the applause and -position which the wealth brings. And in -this belief, we <span class="xxpn" id="p145">{145}</span> -find ourselves at one with various intelligent traders with -whom we have talked on the matter. It is incredible that -men should make the sacrifices, mental and bodily, which -they do, merely to get the material benefits which money -purchases. Who would undertake an extra burden of -business for the purpose of getting a cellar of choice wines -for his own drinking? He who does it, does it that he -may have choice wines to give his guests and gain their -praises. What merchant would spend an additional hour -at his office daily, merely that he might move into a house -in a more fashionable quarter? He submits to the tax -not to gain health and comfort but for the sake of the -increased social consideration which the new house will -bring him. Where is the man who would lie awake at -nights devising means of increasing his income, in the hope -of being able to provide his wife with a carriage, were the -use of the carriage the sole consideration? It is because -of the <i>éclat</i> which the carriage will give, that he enters on -these additional anxieties. So manifest, so trite, indeed, -are these truths, that we should be ashamed of insisting on -them, did not our argument require it.</p> - -<p>For if the desire for that homage which wealth brings, is -the chief stimulus to these strivings after wealth, then the -giving of this homage (when given, as it is, with but little -discrimination) is the chief cause of the dishonesties into -which these strivings betray mercantile men. When the -shopkeeper, on the strength of a prosperous year and -favourable prospects, has yielded to his wife’s persuasions, -and replaced the old furniture with new, at an outlay -greater than his income covers—when, instead of the hoped-for -increase, the next year brings a decrease in his returns—when -he finds that his expenses are out-running his -revenue; then does he fall under the strongest temptation to -adopt some newly-introduced adulteration or other malpractice. -When, having by display gained a certain -recognition, the wholesale trader begins -to give dinners <span class="xxpn" id="p146">{146}</span> -appropriate only to those of ten times his income, with -other expensive entertainments to match—when, having -for a time carried on this style at a cost greater than he -can afford, he finds that he cannot discontinue it without -giving up his position; then is he most strongly prompted -to enter into larger transactions, to trade beyond his means, -to seek undue credit, to get into that ever-complicating -series of misdeeds which ends in disgraceful bankruptcy. -And if these are the facts then is it an unavoidable conclusion -that the blind admiration which society gives to -mere wealth, and the display of wealth, is the chief source -of these multitudinous immoralities.</p> - -<p>Yes, the evil is deeper than appears—draws its nutriment -from far below the surface. This gigantic system of dishonesty, -branching out into every conceivable form of -fraud, has roots which run underneath our whole social -fabric, and, sending fibres into every house, suck up -strength from our daily sayings and doings. In every -dining-room a rootlet finds food, when the conversation -turns on So-and-so’s successful speculations, his purchase -of an estate, his probable worth—on this man’s recent large -legacy, and the other’s advantageous match; for being -thus talked about is one form of that tacit respect which -men struggle for. Every drawing-room furnishes nourishment -in the admiration awarded to costliness—to silks that -are “rich,” that is, expensive; to dresses that contain an -enormous quantity of material, that is, are expensive; to -laces that are hand-made, that is, expensive; to diamonds -that are rare, that is, expensive; to china that is old, that -is, expensive. And from scores of small remarks and -minutiæ of behaviour which, in all circles, hourly imply how -completely the idea of respectability involves that of costly -externals, there is drawn fresh pabulum.</p> - -<p>We are all implicated. We all, whether with self-approbation -or not, give expression to the established feeling. -Even he who disapproves this feeling finds -himself unable to <span class="xxpn" id="p147">{147}</span> -treat virtue in threadbare apparel with a cordiality as great -as that which he would show to the same virtue endowed -with prosperity. Scarcely a man is to be found who would -not behave with more civility to a knave in broadcloth than -to a knave in fustian. Though for the deference which they -have shown to the vulgar rich, or the dishonestly successful, -men afterwards compound with their consciences by privately -venting their contempt; yet when they again come face to -face with these imposing externals covering worthlessness, -they do as before. And so long as imposing worthlessness -gets the visible marks of respect, while the disrespect felt -for it is hidden, it naturally flourishes.</p> - -<p>Hence, then, is it that men persevere in these evil practices -which all condemn. They can so purchase a homage which, -if not genuine, is yet, so far as appearances go, as good as the -best. To one whose wealth has been gained by a life of -frauds, what matters it that his name is in all circles a -synonym of roguery? Has he not been conspicuously -honoured by being twice elected mayor of his town? (we -state a fact) and does not this, joined to the personal consideration -shown him, outweigh in his estimation all that is -said against him; of which he hears scarcely anything? -When, not many years after the exposure of his inequitable -dealing, a trader attains to the highest civic distinction which -the kingdom has to offer, and that, too, through the instrumentality -of those who best know his delinquency, is not the -fact an encouragement to him, and to all others, to sacrifice -rectitude to aggrandizement? If, after listening to a sermon -that has by implication denounced the dishonesties he has -been guilty of, the rich ill-doer finds, on leaving church, that -his neighbours cap to him, does not this tacit approval go -far to neutralize the effect of all he has heard? The truth -is that with the great majority of men, the visible expression -of social opinion is far the most efficient of incentives and -restraints. Let any one who wishes to -estimate the strength <span class="xxpn" id="p148">{148}</span> -of this control, propose to himself to walk through the streets -in the dress of a dustman, or hawk vegetables from door to -door. Let him feel, as he probably will, that he had rather -do something morally wrong than commit such a breach of -usage and suffer the resulting derision. He will then -better estimate how powerful a curb to men is the open disapproval -of their fellows, and how, conversely, the outward -applause of their fellows is a stimulus surpassing all others in -intensity. Fully realizing which facts, he will see that the -immoralities of trade are in great part traceable to an -immoral public opinion.</p> - -<p>Let none infer, from what has been said, that the payment -of respect to wealth rightly acquired and rightly used, is -deprecated. In its original meaning, and in due degree, the -feeling which prompts such respect is good. Primarily, -wealth is the sign of mental power; and this is always -respectable. To have honestly-acquired property, implies -intelligence, energy, self-control; and these are worthy of -the homage that is indirectly paid to them by admiring their -results. Moreover, the good administration and increase of -inherited property, also requires its virtues; and therefore -demands its share of approbation. And besides being -applauded for their display of faculty, men who gain and -increase wealth are to be applauded as public benefactors. -For he who, as manufacturer or merchant, has, without -injustice to others, realized a fortune, is thereby proved to -have discharged his functions better than those who have -been less successful. By greater skill, better judgment, or -more economy than his competitors, he has afforded the public -greater advantages. His extra profits are but a share of -the extra produce obtained by the same outlay: the other -share going to the consumers. And similarly, the landowner -who, by judicious investment of money, has increased the -value (that is, the productiveness) of his estate, has thereby -added to the stock of national capital. By -all means, then, <span class="xxpn" id="p149">{149}</span> -let the right acquisition and proper use of wealth have their -due share of admiration.</p> - -<p>But that which we condemn as the chief cause of commercial -dishonesty, is the <i>indiscriminate</i> admiration of wealth—an -admiration that has little or no reference to the character -of the possessor. When, as generally happens, the external -signs are reverenced where they signify no internal worthiness—nay, -even where they cover internal unworthiness; -then does the feeling become vicious. It is this idolatry -which worships the symbol apart from the thing symbolized, -that is the root of all these evils we have been exposing. So -long as men pay homage to those social benefactors who have -grown rich honestly, they give a wholesome stimulus to -industry; but when they accord a share of their homage to -those social malefactors who have grown rich dishonestly, -then do they foster corruption—then do they become -accomplices in all these frauds of commerce.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">As for remedy, it manifestly follows that there is none -save a purified public opinion. When that abhorrence -which society now shows to direct theft, is shown to theft -of all degrees of indirectness; then will these mercantile -vices disappear. When not only the trader who adulterates -or gives short measure, but also the merchant who over-trades, -the bank-director who countenances an exaggerated -report, and the railway-director who repudiates his -guarantee, come to be regarded as of the same genus as -the pickpocket, and are treated with like disdain; then will -the morals of trade become what they should be.</p> - -<p>We have little hope, however, that any such higher tone -of public opinion will shortly be reached. The present -condition of things appears to be, in great measure, a -necessary accompaniment of our present phase of progress. -Throughout the civilized world, especially in England, and -above all in America, social activity is almost wholly -expended in material development. -To subjugate Nature <span class="xxpn" id="p150">{150}</span> -and bring the powers of production and distribution to their -highest perfection, is the task of our age, and probably will -be the task of many future ages. And as in times when -national defence and conquest were the chief desiderata, -military achievement was honoured above all other things; -so now, when the chief desideratum is industrial growth, -honour is most conspicuously given to that which generally -indicates the aiding of industrial growth. The English -nation at present displays what we may call the commercial -diathesis; and the undue admiration for wealth appears -to be its concomitant—a relation still more conspicuous in -the worship of “the almighty dollar” by the Americans. -And while the commercial diathesis, with its accompanying -standard of distinction, continues, we fear the evils we have -been delineating can be but partially cured. It seems -hopeless to expect that men will distinguish between that -wealth which represents personal superiority and benefits -done to society, from that which does not. The symbols, the -externals, have all the world through swayed the masses, -and must long continue to do so. Even the cultivated, who -are on their guard against the bias of associated ideas, and -try to separate the real from the seeming, cannot escape the -influence of current opinion. We must therefore content -ourselves with looking for a slow amelioration.</p> - -<p>Something, however, may even now be done by vigorous -protest against adoration of mere success. And it is important -that it should be done, considering how this vicious -sentiment is being fostered. When we have one of our -leading moralists preaching, with increasing vehemence, the -doctrine of sanctification by force—when we are told that -while a selfishness troubled with qualms of conscience is -contemptible, a selfishness intense enough to trample down -everything in the unscrupulous pursuit of its ends is worthy -of admiration—when we find that if it be sufficiently great, -power, no matter of what kind or how directed, is held up -for our reverence; we may fear lest -the prevalent applause <span class="xxpn" id="p151">{151}</span> -of mere success, together with the commercial vices which -it stimulates, should be increased rather than diminished. -Not at all by this hero-worship grown into brute-worship -is society to be made better, but by exactly the opposite—by -a stern criticism of the means through which success has -been achieved, and by according honour to the higher and -less selfish modes of activity.</p> - -<p>And happily the signs of this more moral public opinion -are showing themselves. It is becoming a tacitly-received -doctrine that the rich should not, as in bygone times, spend -their lives in personal gratification; but should devote them -to the general welfare. Year by year is the improvement -of the people occupying a larger share of the attention of -the upper classes. Year by year are they voluntarily -devoting more energy to furthering the material and mental -progress of the masses. And those among them who do not -join in the discharge of these high functions, are beginning -to be looked upon with more or less contempt by their own -order. This latest and most hopeful fact in human history—this -new and better chivalry—promises to evolve a higher -standard of honour, and so to ameliorate many evils: among -others those which we have detailed. When wealth obtained -by illegitimate means inevitably brings nothing but disgrace—when -to wealth rightly acquired is accorded only its -due share of homage, while the greatest homage is given to -those who consecrate their energies and their means to -the noblest ends; then may we be sure that, along with -other accompanying benefits, the morals of trade will be -greatly purified.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p152">{152}</span></div> -<h2 class="h2nobreak">PRISON-ETHICS.</h2></div> - -<div class="dchappre"> -<p class="pfirst">[<i>First -published in</i> The British Quarterly Review <i>for July 1860</i>.]</p></div> - -<p>The two antagonist theories of morals, like many other -antagonist theories, are both right and both wrong. The -<i>a priori</i> school has its truth; the <i>a posteriori</i> school has its -truth; and for the proper guidance of conduct, there must -be due recognition of both. On the one hand, it is -asserted that there is an absolute standard of rectitude; -and, respecting certain classes of actions, it is rightly so -asserted. From the fundamental laws of life and the -conditions of social existence, are deducible certain imperative -limitations to individual action—limitations which -are essential to a perfect life, individual and social; or, -in other words, essential to the greatest happiness. And -these limitations, following inevitably as they do from -undeniable first principles, deep as the nature of life itself, -constitute what we may distinguish as absolute morality. -On the other hand it is contended, and in a sense rightly -contended, that with men as they are and society as it is, -the dictates of absolute morality are impracticable. Legal -control, which involves infliction of pain, alike on those -who are restrained and on those who pay the cost of -restraining them, is proved by this fact to be not absolutely -moral; seeing that absolute morality is the regulation of -conduct in such way that pain shall -not be inflicted. <span class="xxpn" id="p153">{153}</span></p> - -<p>Wherefore, if it be admitted that legal control is at present -indispensable, it must be admitted that these <i>a priori</i> rules -cannot be immediately carried out. And hence it follows -that we must adapt our laws and actions to the existing -character of mankind—that we must estimate the good or -evil resulting from this or that arrangement, and so reach, -<i>a posteriori</i>, a code fitted for the time being. In short, we -must fall back on expediency. Now, each of these positions -being valid, it is a grave mistake to adopt either -to the exclusion of the other. They should be respectively -appealed to for mutual qualification. Progressing civilization, -which is of necessity a succession of compromises -between old and new, requires a perpetual readjustment -of the compromise between the ideal and the practicable -in social arrangements: to which end both elements of the -compromise must be kept in view. If it is true that pure -rectitude prescribes a system of things too good for men -as they are; it is not less true that mere expediency does -not of itself tend to establish a system of things any -better than that which exists. While absolute morality -owes to expediency the checks which prevent it from -rushing into utopian absurdities; expediency is indebted -to absolute morality for all stimulus to improvement. -Granted that we are chiefly interested in ascertaining what -is <i>relatively right</i>; it still follows that we must first consider -what is <i>absolutely right</i>; since the one conception -presupposes the other. That is to say, though we must -ever aim to do what is best for the present times, yet we -must ever bear in mind what is abstractedly best; so that -the changes we make may be <i>towards</i> it, and not <i>away</i> -from it. Unattainable as pure rectitude is, and will long -continue to be, we must keep an eye on the compass which -tells us whereabout it lies; or we shall otherwise wander -in the opposite direction.</p> - -<p>Illustrations from our recent history will show very -conclusively, we think, how important -it is that <span class="xxpn" id="p154">{154}</span> -considerations of abstract expediency should be joined with those -of concrete expediency—how immense would be the evils -avoided and the benefits gained, if <i>a posteriori</i> morality -were enlightened by <i>a priori</i> morality. Take first the -case of free trade. Until recently it has been the practice -of all nations, artificially to restrict their commerce with -other nations. Throughout past centuries this course was -defensible as conducing to safety. Without saying that -law-givers had the motive of promoting industrial independence, -it may yet be said that in ages when national -quarrels were perpetual, it would not have been well -for any people to be much dependent on others for -necessary commodities. But though there is this ground -for asserting that commercial restrictions were once expedient, -it cannot be asserted that our corn-laws were thus -justified: it cannot be alleged that the penalties and -prohibitions which, until lately, hampered our trade, were -needful to prevent us from being industrially disabled by -a war. Protection in all its forms was established and -maintained for other reasons of expediency; and the -reasons for which it was opposed and finally abolished -were also those of expediency. Calculations of immediate -and remote consequences were set forth by the antagonist -parties; and the mode of decision was by a balancing of -these various anticipated consequences. And what, after -generations of mischievous legislation and long years of -arduous struggle, was the conclusion arrived at, and since -justified by the results? Exactly the one which abstract -equity plainly teaches. The moral course proves to be the -politic course. That ability to exercise the faculties, the -total denial of which causes death—that liberty to pursue -the objects of desire, without which there cannot be complete -life—that freedom of action which his nature prompts -every individual to claim, and on which equity puts no -limit save the like freedom of action of other individuals, -involves, among other corollaries, -freedom of exchange. <span class="xxpn" id="p155">{155}</span> -Government which, in protecting citizens from murder, -robbery, assault or other aggression, shows us that it has -the all-essential function of securing to each this free -exercise of faculties within the assigned limits, is called on, -in the due discharge of its function, to maintain this -freedom of exchange; and cannot abrogate it without -reversing its function, and becoming aggressor instead of -protector. Thus, absolute morality would all along have -shown in what direction legislation should tend. Qualified -only by the consideration that in turbulent times they -must not be so carried out as to endanger national life, -through suspensions in the supply of necessaries, these -<i>a priori</i> principles would have guided statesmen, as fast as -circumstances allowed, towards the normal condition. We -should have been saved from thousands of needless restrictions. -Such restrictions as were needful would have -been abolished as soon as was safe. An enormous amount -of suffering would have been prevented. That prosperity -which we now enjoy would have commenced much sooner. -And our present condition would have been one of greater -power, wealth, happiness, and morality.</p> - -<p>Our railway-politics furnish another instance. A vast -loss of national capital has been incurred, and great misery -has been inflicted, in consequence of the neglect of a -simple principle clearly dictated by abstract justice. Whoso -enters into a contract, though he is bound to do that which -the contract specifies, is not bound to do some other thing -which is neither specified nor implied in the contract. We -do not appeal to moral perception only in warranty of this -position. It is one deducible from that first principle of -equity which, as above pointed out, follows from the laws -of life, individual and social; and it is one which the -accumulated experience of mankind has so uniformly -justified, that it has become a tacitly-recognized doctrine -of civil law among all nations. In cases of disputes about -agreements, the question in each case -brought to trial <span class="xxpn" id="p156">{156}</span> -always is, whether the terms bind one or other of the -contracting parties to do this or that; and it is assumed, -as a matter of course, that neither of them can be called -upon to do more than is expressed or understood in the -agreement. Now this almost self-evident principle has -been wholly ignored in railway-legislation. A shareholder, -uniting with others to make and work a line from one -specified place to another specified place, binds himself to -pay certain sums in furtherance of the project; and, by -implication, agrees to yield to the majority of his fellow-shareholders -on all questions raised respecting the execution -of this project. But he commits himself no further than -this. He is not required to obey the majority concerning -things not named in the deed of incorporation. Though -with respect to the specified railway he has bound himself, -he has not bound himself, with respect to any <i>un</i>specified -railway which his co-proprietors may wish to make; and he -cannot be committed to such unspecified railway by a vote -of the majority. But this distinction has been wholly passed -over. Shareholders in joint-stock undertakings have been -perpetually involved in other undertakings subsequently -decided on by their fellow-shareholders; and, against their -will, have had their properties heavily mortgaged for the -execution of projects that were ruinously unremunerative. -In every case the proprietary contract for making a -particular railway, has been dealt with as though it were a -proprietary contract for making railways! Not only have -directors thus misinterpreted it, and not only have shareholders -allowed it to be thus misinterpreted, but legislators -have so little understood their duties as to have endorsed -the misinterpretation. To this simple cause has been -owing most of our railway-companies’ disasters. Abnormal -facilities for getting capital have caused reckless competition -in extension-making and branch-making, and in -needless opposition lines, got up to be purchased by the -companies they threatened. Had each -new scheme been <span class="xxpn" id="p157">{157}</span> -executed by an independent body of shareholders, without -any guarantee from another company—without any capital -raised by preference shares—there would have been little -or none of the ruinous expenditure we have seen. Something -like a hundred millions of money would have been -saved, and thousands of families preserved from misery, -had the proprietary-contract been enforced according to -the dictates of pure equity.</p> - -<p>These cases go far to justify our position. The general -reasons we gave for thinking that the ethics of immediate -experience must be enlightened by abstract ethics, to -ensure correct guidance, are strongly enforced by these -instances of the gigantic errors which are made when the -dictates of abstract ethics are ignored. -The complex estimates -of relative expediency, cannot do without the clue furnished -by the simple deductions of absolute expediency.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">We propose to study the treatment of criminals from this -point of view. And first, let us set down those temporary -requirements which have hitherto prevented, and do still, -in part, prevent the establishment of a just system.</p> - -<p>The same average popular character which necessitates a -rigorous form of government, necessitates also a rigorous -criminal code. Institutions are ultimately determined by -the natures of the citizens living under them; and when -these citizens are too impulsive or selfish for free institutions, -and unscrupulous enough to supply the requisite staff of -agents for maintaining tyrannical institutions, they are -proved by implication to be citizens who will tolerate, and -will probably need, severe forms of punishment. The -same mental defect underlies both results. The character -which originates and sustains political liberty, is a character -swayed by remote considerations—a character not at the -mercy of immediate temptations, but one which contemplates -the consequences likely to arise in future. We have only to -remember that, among ourselves, a -political encroachment is <span class="xxpn" id="p158">{158}</span> -resisted, not because of any direct evil it inflicts, but because -of the evils likely hereafter to flow from it, to see how the -maintenance of freedom presupposes the habit of weighing -distant results, and being chiefly guided by them. Conversely, -it is manifest that men who dwell only in the -present, the special, the concrete—who do not realize with -clearness the contingencies of the future—will put little -value on those rights of citizenship which profit them -nothing, save as a means of warding off unspecified evils -that can possibly affect them only at a distant time in an -obscure way. Well, is it not obvious that the forms of -mind thus contrasted, will require different kinds of punishment -for misconduct? To restrain the second, there must -be penalties which are severe, prompt, and specific enough -to be vividly conceived; while the first may be deterred by -penalties which are less definite, less intense, less immediate. -For the more civilized, dread of a long, monotonous, -criminal discipline may suffice; but for the less civilized -there must be inflictions of bodily pain and death. Thus -we hold, not only that a social condition which generates a -harsh form of government, also generates harsh retributions; -but also, that in such a social condition, harsh -retributions are requisite. And there are facts which -illustrate this. Witness the case of one of the Italian -states, in which the punishment of death having been -abolished in conformity with the wish of a dying duchess, -assassinations increased so greatly that it became needful -to re-establish it.</p> - -<p>Besides the fact that in the less-advanced stages of -civilization, a bloody penal code is both a natural product -of the time and a needful restraint for the time, there -must be noted the fact that a more equitable and humane -code could not be carried out from want of fit administration. -To deal with delinquents not by short and sharp methods -but by such methods as abstract justice indicates, implies a -class of agencies too complicated to exist in -a low society, <span class="xxpn" id="p159">{159}</span> -and a class of officers more trustworthy than can be found -among its citizens. Especially would the equitable treatment -of criminals be impracticable where the amount of -crime was very great. The number to be dealt with would -be unmanageable. Some simpler method of purging the -community of its worst members becomes, under such -circumstances, a necessity.</p> - -<p>The inapplicability of an absolutely just system of penal -discipline to a barbarous or semi-barbarous people, is thus, -we think, as manifest as is the inapplicability of an absolutely -just form of government to them. And in the same manner -that, for some nations, a despotism is warranted; so may a -criminal code of the extremest severity be warranted. In -either case the defence is, that the institution is as good -as the average character of the people permits—that less -stringent institutions would entail social confusion and its -far more severe evils. Bad as a despotism is, yet where -anarchy is the only alternative, we must say that, as anarchy -would bring greater suffering than despotism brings, despotism -is justified by the circumstances. And similarly, -however inequitable in the abstract were the beheadings, -crucifyings, and burnings of ruder ages, yet, if it be shown -that, without penalties thus extreme, the safety of society -could not have been insured—if, in their absence, the -increase of crime would have inflicted a larger total of evil, -and that, too, on peaceable members of the community; -then it follows that morality warranted this severity. In -the one case, as in the other, we must say that, measured -by the quantities of pain respectively inflicted and avoided, -the course pursued was the <i>least wrong</i>; and to say that it -was the least wrong is to say that it was <i>relatively right</i>.</p> - -<p>But while we thus admit all that can be alleged by the -defenders of Draconian codes, we go on to assert a correlative -truth which they overlook. While fully recognizing -the evils that must follow the premature -establishment of a <span class="xxpn" id="p160">{160}</span> -penal system dictated by pure equity, let us not overlook -the evils that have arisen from altogether rejecting the -guidance of pure equity. Let us note how terribly the -one-sided regard for immediate expediency has retarded -the ameliorations from time to time demanded.</p> - -<p>Consider, for instance, the immense amount of suffering -and demoralization needlessly caused by our severe laws in -the last century. Those many merciless penalties which -Romilly and others succeeded in abolishing, were as little -justified by social necessities as by abstract morality. -Experience has since proved that to hang men for theft, -was not requisite for the security of property. And that -such a measure was opposed to pure equity, scarcely needs -saying. Evidently, had considerations of relative expediency -been all along qualified by considerations of absolute -expediency, these severities, with their many concomitant -evils, would have ceased long before they did.</p> - -<p>Again, the dreadful misery, demoralization, and crime, -generated by the harsh treatment of transported convicts, -would have been impossible, had our authorities considered -what seemed just as well as what seemed politic. There -would never have been inflicted on transports the shocking -cruelties proved before the Parliamentary Committee of -1848. We should not have had men condemned to the -horrors of the chain-gang even for insolent looks. There -could not have been perpetrated such an atrocity as that of -locking up chain-gangs “from sunset to sunrise in the -caravans or boxes used for this description of prisons, -which hold from twenty to twenty-eight men, but in which -the whole number <i>can neither stand upright nor sit down at -the same time, except with their legs at right angles to their -bodies</i>.” Men would never have been doomed to tortures -extreme enough to produce despair, desperation, and -further crimes—tortures under which “a man’s heart is -taken from him, and there is given to him the -heart of a <span class="xxpn" id="p161">{161}</span> -beast,” as said by one of these law-produced criminals -before his execution. We should not have been told, as -by a chief justice of Australia, that the discipline was -“carried to an extent of <i>suffering, such as to render death -desirable, and to induce many prisoners to seek it under its -most appalling aspects</i>.” Sir G. Arthur would not have -had to testify that, in Van Diemen’s Land, convicts committed -murder for the purpose “<i>of being sent up to Hobart -Town for trial, though aware that in the ordinary course they -must be executed within a fortnight after arrival</i>;” nor -would tears of commiseration have been drawn from Judge -Burton’s eyes, by one of these cruelly-used transports -placed before him for sentence. In brief, had abstract -equity joined with immediate expediency in devising -convict discipline, not only would untold suffering, degradation, -and mortality have been prevented; but those who -were responsible for atrocities like those above-named, -would not themselves be chargeable with crime, as we now -hold them to be.</p> - -<p>Probably we shall meet with a less general assent when, -as a further benefit which the guidance of absolute morality -would have conferred, we instance the prevention of such -methods as those in use at Pentonville. How the silent -and the separate systems are negatived by abstract justice -we shall by and by see. For the present, the position we -have to defend is that these systems are bad. That but a -moderate per-centage of the prisoners subjected to them -are re-convicted, may be true; though, considering the -fallaciousness of negative statistics, this by no means proves -that those not re-convicted are reformed. But the question -is not solely how many prisoners are prevented from again -committing crime? A further question is, how many of -them have become self-supporting members of society? It -is notorious that this prolonged denial of human intercourse -not unfrequently produces insanity or imbecility; and on -those who remain sane, its depressing -influence must almost <span class="xxpn" id="p162">{162}</span> -of necessity entail serious debility, bodily and mental.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn7" id="fnanch7">7</a> -Indeed, we think it probable that much of the apparent -success is due to an enfeeblement which incapacitates for -crime as much as for industry. Our own objection to such -methods, however, has always been, that their effect on -the moral nature is the reverse of that required. Crime is -anti-social—is prompted by self-regarding feelings and -checked by social feelings. The natural prompter of right -conduct to others, and the natural opponent of misconduct -to others, is sympathy; for out of sympathy grow both -the kindly emotions, and that sentiment of justice which -restrains us from aggressions. Well, this sympathy, -which makes society possible, is cultivated by social intercourse. -By habitual participation in the pleasures of -others, the faculty is strengthened; and whatever prevents -this participation, weakens it. Hence, therefore, shutting -up prisoners within themselves, or forbidding all interchange -of feeling, inevitably deadens such sympathies as they -have; and so tends rather to diminish than to increase the -moral check to transgression. This <i>a priori</i> conviction, -which we have long entertained, we now find confirmed by -facts. Captain Maconochie states, as a result of observation, -that a long course of separation so fosters the self-regarding -desires, and so weakens the sympathies, as to -make even well-disposed men very unfit to bear the little -trials of domestic life on their return to their homes. -Thus there is good reason to think that, while silence and -solitude may cow the spirit or undermine the energies, it -cannot produce true reformation.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch7" id="fn7">7</a> -Mr. Baillie-Cochrane says:—“The officers at -the Dartmoor prison inform me that the prisoners who arrive -there even after one year’s confinement at Pentonville, -may be distinguished from the others by their miserable -downcast look. In most instances their brain is affected; -and they are unable to give satisfactory replies to the -simplest questions.”</p></div> - -<p>“But how can it be shown,” asks the reader, “that these -injudicious penal systems are inequitable? Where is the -method which will enable us to -say what kind of <span class="xxpn" id="p163">{163}</span> -punishment is justified by absolute morality, and what kind is -not?” These questions we will now attempt to answer.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">So long as the individual citizen pursues the objects of -his desires without diminishing the equal freedom of any of -his fellow citizens to do the like, society cannot equitably -interfere with him. While he contents himself with the -benefits won by his own energies, and attempts not to -intercept any of the benefits similarly won for themselves -by others, or any of those which Nature has conferred on -them; no legal penalties can rightly be inflicted on him. -But when, by murder, theft, assault, arson, or minor -aggression, he has broken through these limits, the community -is warranted in putting him under restraint. On -the relative propriety of doing this we need say nothing: -it is demonstrated by social experience. Its absolute -propriety not being so manifest, we will proceed to point -out how it is deducible from the ultimate laws of life.</p> - -<p>Life depends on the maintenance of certain natural -relations between actions and their results. If respiration -does not supply oxygen to the blood, as in the normal order -of things it should do, but instead supplies carbonic acid, -death quickly results. If the swallowing of food is not -followed by the usual organic sequences—the contractions -of the stomach, and the pouring into it of gastric juice—indigestion -arises, and the energies flag. If active movements -of the limbs fail in exciting the heart to supply blood -more rapidly, or if the extra current propelled by the heart -is greatly retarded by an aneurism through which it passes, -speedy prostration ensues. In which, and endless like -cases, we see that bodily life depends on the maintenance -of the established connexions between physiological causes -and their consequences. Among the intellectual processes, -the same thing holds. If certain impressions made on the -senses do not induce the appropriate muscular adjustments—if -the brain is clouded with wine, -or consciousness is <span class="xxpn" id="p164">{164}</span> -pre-occupied, or the perceptions are naturally obtuse; the -movements are so ill-controlled that accidents happen. -Where, as in paralytic patients, the natural link between -mental impressions and the appropriate motions is broken, -the life is greatly vitiated. And when, as during insanity, -evidence fitted, according to the usual order of thought, to -produce certain convictions, produces convictions of an -opposite kind, conduct is reduced to chaos, and life -endangered—perhaps cut short. So it is with more involved -phenomena. Just as we here find that, throughout both -its physical and intellectual divisions, healthful life implies -continuance of the established successions of antecedents -and consequents among our vital actions; so shall we find -it throughout the moral division. In our dealings with -external Nature and our fellow men, there are relations of -cause and effect, on the maintenance of which, as on the -maintenance of the internal ones above instanced, life -depends. Conduct of this or that kind tends to bring -results which are pleasurable or painful; and the welfare of -every one demands that these natural sequences shall not -be interfered with. To speak more specifically, we see that -in the order of Nature, inactivity entails want. There is a -connexion between exertion and the fulfilment of certain -imperative needs. If, now, this connexion is broken—if -labour of body or mind has been gone through, and the -produce of the labour is intercepted by another, one of the -conditions to complete life is unfulfilled. The defrauded -person is physically injured by deprivation of the wherewithal -to make good the wear and tear he had undergone; -and if the robbery be continually repeated, he must die. -Where all men are dishonest a reflex evil results. When, -throughout a society, the normal relation between work -and benefit is habitually broken, not only are the lives of -many directly undermined, but the lives of all are indirectly -undermined by destruction of the motive for work, and by -the consequent poverty. Thus, to demand -that there shall <span class="xxpn" id="p165">{165}</span> -be no breach of the natural sequence between labour and -the rewards obtained by labour, is to demand that the laws -of life shall be respected. What we call the right of -property, is simply a corollary from certain necessary -conditions to complete living. It is a formulated recognition -of the relation between expenditure of force and the -need for force-sustaining objects obtainable by the expenditure -of force—a recognition in full of a relation which -cannot be wholly ignored without causing death. And all -else regarded as individual rights, are indirect implications -of like nature—similarly insist on certain relations between -man and man, as conditions without which there cannot be -fully maintained that correspondence between inner and outer -actions which constitutes life. It is not, as some moralists -and most lawyers absurdly assert, that such rights are derived -from human legislation; nor is it, as asserted by others with -absurdity almost as great, that there is no basis for them save -the inductions of immediate expediency. These rights are -deducible from the established connexions between our acts -and their results. As certainly as there are conditions which -must be fulfilled before life can exist, so certainly are -there conditions which must be fulfilled before complete -life can be enjoyed by the respective members of a society; -and those which we call the requirements of justice, simply -answer to the most important of such conditions.</p> - -<p>Hence, if life is our legitimate aim—if absolute morality -means, as it does, conformity to the laws of complete life; -then absolute morality warrants the restraint of those who -force their fellow-citizens into non-conformity. Our justification -is, that life is impossible save under certain conditions; -that it cannot be entire unless these conditions are maintained -unbroken; and that if it is right for us to live completely, -it is right for us to remove any one who either -breaks these conditions in our persons or constrains us to -break them.</p> - -<p>Such being the basis of our right to -coerce the criminal, <span class="xxpn" id="p166">{166}</span> -there next come the questions:—What is the legitimate -extent of the coercion? Can we from this source derive -authority for certain demands on him? and are there any -similarly-derived limits to such demands? To both these -questions there are affirmative answers.</p> - -<p>First, we find authority for demanding restitution or compensation. -Conformity to the laws of life being the substance -of absolute morality; and the social regulations which -absolute morality dictates, being those which make this -conformity possible; it is a manifest corollary that whoever -breaks these regulations, may be justly required to undo, -as far as possible, the wrong he has done. The object -being to maintain the conditions essential to complete life, -it follows that, when one of these conditions has been transgressed, -the first thing to be required of the transgressor -is, that he shall put matters as nearly as may be in the state -they previously were. The property stolen shall be restored, -or an equivalent for it given. Any one injured by an -assault shall have his surgeon’s bill paid, compensation for -lost time, and also for the suffering he has borne. And -similarly in all cases of infringed rights.</p> - -<p>Second, we are warranted by this highest authority in -restricting the actions of the offender as much as is needful to -prevent further aggressions. Any citizen who will not allow -others to fulfil the conditions to complete life—who takes -away the produce of his neighbour’s labour, or deducts from -that bodily health and comfort which his neighbour has -earned by good conduct, must be forced to desist. And society -is warranted in using such force as may be found requisite. -Equity justifies the fellow-citizens of such a man in limiting -the free exercise of his faculties to the extent necessary for -preserving the free exercise of their own faculties.</p> - -<p>But now mark that absolute morality countenances no -restraint beyond this—no gratuitous inflictions of pain, no -revengeful penalties. The conditions it insists on being such -as make possible complete life, we -cannot rightly abrogate <span class="xxpn" id="p167">{167}</span> -these conditions, even in the person of a criminal, further -than is needful to prevent greater abrogations of them. -Freedom to fulfil the laws of life being the thing insisted on, -to the end that the sum of life may be the greatest possible, -it follows that the life of the offender must be taken into -account as an item in this sum. We must permit him to -live as completely as consists with social safety. It is -commonly said that the criminal loses all his rights. This -may be so according to law, but it is not so according to -justice. Such portion of them only is justly taken away, -as cannot be left to him without danger to the community. -Those exercises of faculty, and consequent benefits, which -are possible under the necessary restraint, cannot be equitably -denied. If any do not think it proper that we should -be thus regardful of an offender’s claims, let them consider -for a moment the lesson which Nature reads us. We do -not find that those processes of life by which bodily health -is maintained, are miraculously suspended in the person of -the prisoner. In him, as in others, good digestion waits on -appetite. If he is wounded, the healing process goes on -with the usual rapidity. When he is ill, as much effect is -expected from the <i>vis medicatrix naturæ</i> by the medical -officer, as in one who has not transgressed. His perceptions -yield him guidance as they did before he was imprisoned; -and he is capable of much the same pleasurable emotions. -When we thus see that the beneficent arrangements of things, -are no less uniformly sustained in his person than in that -of another, are we not bound to respect in his person such -of these beneficent arrangements as we have power to -thwart? are we not bound to interfere with the laws of life -no further than is needful? If any still hesitate, there is -another lesson for them having the same implication. -Whoso disregards any one of those simpler laws of life out -of which, as we have shown, the moral laws originate, has -to bear the evil necessitated by the transgression—just that, -and no more. If, careless of your footing, -you fall, the <span class="xxpn" id="p168">{168}</span> -consequent bruise, and possibly some constitutional disturbance -entailed by it, are all you have to suffer: there is not -the further gratuitous penalty of a cold or an attack of -small-pox. If you have eaten something which you know -to be indigestible, there follow certain visceral derangements -and their concomitants; but, for your physical sin, -there is no vengeance in the shape of a broken bone or a -spinal affection. The punishments, in these and other cases, -are neither greater nor less than flow from the natural -workings of things. Well, should we not with all humility -follow this example? Must we not infer that, similarly, a -citizen who has transgressed the conditions to social welfare, -ought to bear the needful penalties and restraints, but -nothing beyond these? Is it not clear that neither by absolute -morality nor by Nature’s precedents, are we warranted in -visiting on him any pains besides those involved in remedying, -as far as may be, the evil committed, and preventing -other such evils? To us it seems manifest that if society -exceeds this, it trespasses against the criminal.</p> - -<p>Those who think that we are tending towards a mischievous -leniency, will find that the next step in our argument -disposes of any such objection; for while equity -forbids us to punish the criminal otherwise than by making -him suffer the natural consequences, these, when rigorously -enforced, are quite severe enough.</p> - -<p>Society having proved in the high court of absolute -morality, that the offender must make restitution or compensation, -and submit to the restraints requisite for public -safety; and the offender having obtained from the same -court the decision, that these restraints shall be no greater -than the specified end requires; society thereupon makes -the further demand that, while living in durance, the -offender shall maintain himself; and this demand absolute -morality at once endorses. The community having taken -measures for self-preservation, and having inflicted on the -aggressor no punishments or -disabilities beyond those <span class="xxpn" id="p169">{169}</span> -involved in these necessary measures, is no further concerned -in the matter. With the support of the prisoner it has no -more to do than before he committed the crime. It is the -business of society simply to defend itself against him; -and it is his business to live as well as he can under the -restrictions society is obliged to impose on him. All he -may rightly ask is, to have the opportunity of labouring, -and exchanging the produce of his labour for necessaries; -and this claim is a corollary from that already admitted, -that his actions shall not be restricted more than is needful -for the public safety. With these opportunities, however, -he must make the best of his position. He must be content -to gain as good a livelihood as the circumstances permit; -and if he cannot employ his powers to the best advantage, -if he has to work hard and fare scantily, these evils must -be counted among the penalties of his transgression—the -natural reactions of his wrong action.</p> - -<p>On this self-maintenance equity sternly insists. The -reasons which justify his imprisonment, equally justify the -refusal to let him have any other sustenance than he earns. -He is confined that he may not further interfere with the -complete living of his fellow-citizens—that he may not -again intercept any of those benefits which the order of -Nature has conferred on them, or any of those procured by -their exertions and careful conduct. And he is required -to support himself for exactly the same reasons—that he -may not interfere with others’ complete living—that he -may not intercept the benefits they earn. For, if otherwise, -whence must come his food and clothing? Directly from -the public stores, and indirectly from the pockets of all -tax-payers. And what is the property thus abstracted -from tax-payers? It is the equivalent of so much benefit -earned by labour. It is so much means to complete living. -And when this property is taken away—when the toil has -been gone through, and the produce of it is intercepted by -the tax-gatherer on behalf of the convict; -the conditions to <span class="xxpn" id="p170">{170}</span> -complete life are broken: the convict commits by deputy -a further aggression on his fellow-citizens. It matters not -that such abstraction is made according to law. We are -here considering the <i>dictum</i> of that authority which is -above law; and which law ought to enforce. And this -<i>dictum</i> we find to be, that each individual shall take the -evils and benefits of his own conduct—that the offender -must suffer, as far as is possible, all pains entailed by his -offence; and must not be allowed to visit part of them on -the unoffending. Unless the criminal maintains himself, he -indirectly commits an additional crime. Instead of repairing -the breach he has made in the conditions to complete -social life, he widens this breach. He inflicts on others -that very injury which the restraint imposed on him was -to prevent. As certainly, therefore, as such restraint is -warranted by absolute morality; so certainly does absolute -morality warrant us in refusing him gratuitous support.</p> - -<p>These, then, are the requirements of an equitable penal -system:—That the aggressor shall make restitution or compensation; -that he shall be placed under the restraints -requisite for social security; that neither any restraints -beyond these, nor any gratuitous penalties, shall be inflicted -on him; and that while living in confinement, or under -surveillance, he shall maintain himself. We are not -prepared to say that such dictates may at once be fully -obeyed. Already we have admitted that the deductions of -absolute expediency must, in our transition state, be -qualified by the inductions of relative expediency. We -have pointed out that in rude times, the severest criminal -codes were morally justified if, without them, crime could -not be repressed and social safety insured. Whence, by -implication, it follows that our present methods of treating -criminals are warranted, if they come as near to those of -pure equity as circumstances permit. That any system -now feasible must fall short of the ideal sketched out, is -probable. It may be that the enforcement -of restitution or <span class="xxpn" id="p171">{171}</span> -compensation, is in many cases impracticable. It may be -that on some convicts, penalties more severe than abstract -justice demands must be inflicted. On the other hand, it -may be that entire self-maintenance would entail on the -wholly-unskilled criminal, a punishment too grievous to be -borne. But any such shortcomings do not affect our -argument. All we insist on is, that the commands of -absolute morality shall be obeyed as far as possible—that -we shall fulfil them up to those limits beyond which experiment -proves that more evil than good results—that, ever -keeping in view the ideal, each change we make shall be -towards its realization.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">But now we are prepared to say, that this ideal may be -in great part realized at the present time. Experience in -various countries, under various circumstances, has shown -that immense benefits result from substituting for the old -penal systems, systems that approximate to that above -indicated. Germany, France, Spain, England, Ireland, -and Australia, send statements to the effect that the most -successful criminal discipline, is a discipline of decreased -restraints and increased self-dependence. And the evidence -proves the success to be greatest, where the nearest -approach is made to the arrangements prescribed by -abstract justice. We shall find the facts striking: some of -them even astonishing.</p> - -<p>When M. Obermair was appointed Governor of the -Munich State-Prison―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“He found from 600 to 700 prisoners in the jail, in the worst state of -insubordination, and whose excesses, he was told, defied the harshest and -most stringent discipline; the prisoners were all chained together, and -attached to each chain was an iron weight, which the strongest found -difficulty in dragging along. The guard consisted of about 100 soldiers, -who did duty not only at the gates and around the walls, but also in the -passages, and even in the workshops and dormitories; and, strangest of all -protections against the possibility of an outbreak or individual invasion, -twenty to thirty large savage dogs, of the bloodhound breed, were let -loose at night in the passages and courts to keep their -watch and ward. <span class="xxpn" id="p172">{172}</span> -According to his account the place was a perfect Pandemonium, comprising, -within the limits of a few acres, the worst passions, the most slavish vices, -and the most heartless tyranny.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>M. Obermair gradually relaxed this harsh system. He -greatly lightened the chains; and would, if allowed, have -thrown them aside. The dogs, and nearly all the guards, -were dispensed with; and the prisoners were treated with -such consideration as to gain their confidence. Mr. Baillie-Cochrane, -who visited the place in 1852, says the prison-gates -were</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“Wide open, without any sentinel at the door, and a guard of only twenty -men idling away their time in a guard-room off the entrance-hall. . . . . -None of the doors were provided with bolts and bars; the only security was -an ordinary lock, and as in most of the rooms the key was not turned, there -was no obstacle to the men walking into the passage. . . . . Over each -workshop some of the prisoners with the best characters were appointed -overseers, and M. Obermair assured me that if a prisoner transgressed a -regulation, his companions generally told him, ‘Es ist verboten’ (it is -forbidden), and it rarely happened that he did not yield to the opinion of his -fellow-prisoners. . . . . Within the prison walls every description of work is -carried on; the prisoners, divided into different gangs and supplied with -instruments and tools, make their own clothes, repair their own prison walls, -and forge their own chains, producing various specimens of manufacture -which are turned to most excellent account—the result being, that each -prisoner, by occupation and industry, maintains himself; the surplus of his -earnings being given him on his emancipation, avoids his being parted with -in a state of destitution.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>And further, the prisoners “associate in their leisure -hours, without any check on their intercourse, but at the -same time under an efficient system of observation and -control”—an arrangement by which, after many years’ -experience, M. Obermair asserts that morality is increased.</p> - -<p>And now what has been the result? During his six-years’ -government of the Kaiserslauten (the first prison -under his care), M. Obermair discharged 132 criminals, of -which number 123 have since conducted themselves well, -and 7 have been recommitted. From the Munich prison, -between 1843 and 1845, 298 prisoners were discharged.</p> - -<p>Of these, 246 have been restored, improved, to society. -Those whose characters are doubtful, but -have not been <span class="xxpn" id="p173">{173}</span> -remanded for any criminal act, 26; again under examination, -4; punished by the police, 6; remanded, 8; died, 8. -This statement, says M. Obermair, “is based on irrefutable -evidence.” And to the reality of his success, -we have the testimony not only of Mr. Baillie-Cochrane, -but of the Rev. C. H. Townsend, Mr. George Combe, -Mr. Matthew Hill, and Sir John Milbanke, our Envoy at -the Court of Bavaria.</p> - -<p>Take, again, the case of Mettray. Every one has heard -something about Mettray, and its success as a reformatory -of juvenile criminals. Observe how nearly the successful -system there pursued, conforms to the abstract principles -above enunciated.</p> - -<p>This “Colonie Agricole” is “without wall or enclosure -of any sort, for the purposes at least of confinement;” and -except when for some fault a child is temporarily put in a -cell, there is no physical restraint. The life is industrial: -the boys being brought up to trades or agriculture as they -prefer; and all the domestic services being discharged -by them. “They all do their work by the <i>piece</i>;” are -rewarded according to the judgment of the <i>chef d’atelier</i>; -and, a portion being placed at the disposal of the child, -the rest is deposited in the savings-bank at Tours. “A -boy in receipt of any money has to make payment for any -part of his dress which requires to be renewed before the -stated time arrives at which fresh clothing is given out; -. . . . . on the other hand, if his clothes are found in good -condition at such time, he receives the benefit of it by -having the money which would have been laid out in -clothes placed to his account. Two hours per day are -allowed for play. Part-singing is taught; and if a boy -shows any turn for drawing he receives a little instruction -in it. . . . . . Some of the boys also are formed into a -fire-brigade, and have rendered at times substantial assistance -in the neighbourhood.” In which few leading facts -do we not clearly see that -the essential peculiarities <span class="xxpn" id="p174">{174}</span> -are—no more restraint than is absolutely necessary; self-support -as far as possible; extra benefits earned by extra labour; -and as much gratifying exercise of faculties as the circumstances -permit.</p> - -<p>The “intermediate system” which has of late been -carried out with much success in Ireland, exemplifies, in a -degree, the practicability of the same general principles. -Under this system, prisoners working as artizans are -allowed “such a modified degree of liberty as shall in -various ways prove their power of self-denial and self-dependence, -in a manner wholly incompatible with the -rigid restraints of an ordinary prison.” An offender who -has passed through this stage of probation, is tested by -employment “on messenger’s duties daily throughout the -city, and also in special works required by the department -outside the prison-walls. The performance of the duties -of messengers entails their being out until seven or eight -in the evening, unaccompanied by an officer; and although -a small portion of their earnings is allowed them weekly, -and they would have the power of compromising themselves -if so disposed, not one instance has as yet taken place of -the slightest irregularity, or even the want of punctuality, -although careful checks have been contrived to detect -either, should it occur.” A proportion of their prison-earnings -is set aside for them in a savings-bank; and to -this they are encouraged to add during their period of -partial freedom, with a view to subsequent emigration. -The results are:—“In the penitentiary the greatest possible -order and regularity, and an amount of willing industry -performed that cannot be obtained in the prisons.” -Employers to whom prisoners are eventually transferred, -“have on many occasions returned for others in consequence -of the good conduct of those at first engaged.” -And according to Captain Crofton’s pamphlet of 1857, out -of 112 conditionally discharged during the previous year, -85 were going on satisfactorily, “9 -have been discharged <span class="xxpn" id="p175">{175}</span> -too recently to be spoken of, and 5 have had their licences -revoked. As to the remaining 13, it has been found -impossible to obtain accurate information, but it is supposed -that 5 have left the country, and 3 enlisted.”</p> - -<p>The “mark system” of Captain Maconochie, is one -which more fully carries out the principle of self-maintenance, -under restraints no greater than are needful for -safety. The plan is to join with time-sentences certain -labour-sentences—specific tasks to be worked out by the -convicts. “No rations, or other supplies of any kind, -whether of food, bedding, clothing, or even education or -indulgences, to be given <i>gratuitously</i>, but all to be made -exchangeable, at fixed rates, at the prisoners’ own option, -for marks previously earned; it being understood, at the -same time, that only those shall count towards liberation -which remain over and above all so exchanged; the -prisoners being thus caused to depend for every necessary -on their own good conduct; and their prison-offences to be -in like manner restrained by corresponding fines imposed -according to the measures of each.” The use of marks, -which thus play the part of money, was first introduced by -Captain Maconochie in Norfolk Island. Describing the -working of his method, he says―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“First, it gave me wages and then fines. One gave me willing and -progressively-skilled labourers, and the other saved me from the necessity of -imposing brutal and demoralizing punishments. . . . . My form of money -next gave me school fees. I was most anxious to encourage education -among my men, but as I refused them rations gratuitously, so I would not -give them schooling either, but compelled them to yield marks to acquire it. . . . . -I never saw adult schools make such rapid progress. . . . . My form -of money next gave me bailbonds in cases of minor or even great offences; -a period of close imprisonment being wholly or in part remitted in consideration -of a sufficient number of other prisoners of good character -becoming bound, under a penalty, for the improved conduct -of the culprit.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>Even in the establishment of a sick-club and a burial-club, -Captain Maconochie applied “the inflexible principle -of giving nothing for nothing.” That is to say, here, as -throughout, he made the discipline of -the prisoners as <span class="xxpn" id="p176">{176}</span> -much like the discipline of ordinary life as possible: let -them experience just such good or evil as naturally flowed -from their conduct—a principle which he rightly asserts is -the only true one. What were the effects? The extreme -debasement of Norfolk Island convicts was notorious; and -on a preceding page we have described some of the -horrible sufferings inflicted on them. Yet, starting with -these most demoralized of criminals, Captain Maconochie -obtained highly-favourable results. “In four years,” he -says, “I discharged 920 doubly-convicted men to Sydney, -of whom only 20, or 2 per cent., had been re-convicted up -to January, 1845;” while, at the same time, the ordinary -proportion of re-convicted Van Diemen’s Land men, -otherwise trained, was 9 per cent. “Captain Maconochie,” -writes Mr. Harris in his <i>Settlers and Convicts</i>, “did more -for the reformation of these unhappy wretches, and -amelioration of their physical circumstances, than the -most sanguine practical mind could beforehand have ventured -even to hope.” Another witness says—“a reformation -far greater than has been hitherto effected in any body of -men by any system, either before or after yours, has taken -place in them.” “As pastor of the island, and for two -years a magistrate, I can prove that at no period was -there so little crime,” writes the Rev. B. Naylor. And -Thomas H. Dixon, Chief Superintendent of Convicts in -Western Australia, who partially introduced the system -there in 1856, asserts that not only was the amount of -work done under it extraordinary, but that “even although -the characters of some of the party were by no means -good previously (many of them being men whose licences -had been revoked in England), yet the transformation -which in this and all other respects they underwent, -was very remarkable indeed.” If such were the results, -when the method was imperfectly carried out (for the -Government all along refused to give any fixed value -to the marks as a means to liberation); -what might be <span class="xxpn" id="p177">{177}</span> -expected if its motives and restraints were allowed their -full influence?</p> - -<p>Perhaps, however, of all evidence, the most conclusive is -that afforded by the prison of Valencia. When, in 1835, -Colonel Montesinos was appointed governor, “the average -of re-committals was from 30 to 35 per cent. per annum—nearly -the same that is found in England and other -countries in Europe; but such has been the success of his -method, that for the last three years <i>there has not been even -one re-committal to it</i>, and for the ten previous years they -did not, on an average, exceed 1 per cent.” And how -has this marvellous change been brought about? By -diminished restraint and industrial discipline. The following -extracts, taken irregularly from Mr. Hoskins’s <i>Account -of the Public Prison at Valencia</i>, will prove this:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“When first the convict enters the establishment he wears chains, but -on his application to the commander they are taken off, unless he has not -conducted himself well.”</p> - -<p>“There are a thousand prisoners, and in the whole establishment I did -not see above three or four guardians to keep them in order. They say -there are only a dozen old soldiers, and not a bar or bolt that might not be -easily broken—apparently not more fastenings than in any private house.”</p> - -<p>“When a convict enters, he is asked what trade or employment he will -work at or learn, and above forty are open to him. . . . . There are -weavers and spinners of every description; . . . . blacksmiths, shoemakers, -basketmakers, ropemakers, joiners, cabinetmakers, making handsome -mahogany drawers; and they had also a printing machine hard at work.”</p> - -<p>“The labour of every description for the repair, rebuilding, and cleaning -the establishment, is supplied by the convicts. They were all most respectful -in demeanour, and certainly I never saw such a good-looking set of -prisoners, useful occupations (and other considerate treatment) having -apparently improved their countenances. . . . . [And besides a] garden for -exercise planted with orange trees, there was also a poultry yard for their -amusement, with pheasants and various other kinds of birds; washing-houses, -where they wash their clothes; and a shop, where they can purchase, -if they wish, tobacco and other little comforts out of one-fourth of the -profits of their labour, which is given to them. Another fourth they are -entitled to when they leave; the other half goes to the establishment, -and <i>often this is sufficient for all expenses, without any assistance from -the Government</i>.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>Thus the highest success, regarded by -Mr. Hoskins as <span class="xxpn" id="p178">{178}</span> -“really a miracle,” is achieved by a system most nearly -conforming to those dictates of absolute morality on which -we have insisted. The convicts are almost, if not quite, -self-supporting. They are subject neither to gratuitous -penalties nor unnecessary restrictions. While made to earn -their living, they are allowed to purchase such enjoyments -as consist with their confinement: the avowed principle -being, in the words of Colonel Montesinos, to “give as -much latitude to their free agency as can be made conformable -to discipline at all.” Thus they are (as we found -that equity required they should be) allowed to live as -satisfactorily as they can, under such restraints only as are -needful for the safety of their fellow-citizens.</p> - -<p>To us it appears extremely significant that there should -be so close a correspondence between <i>a priori</i> conclusions, -and the results of experiments tried without reference to -such conclusions. On the one hand, neither in the doctrines -of pure equity with which we set out, nor in the corollaries -drawn from them, is there any mention of criminal-reformation: -our concern has been solely with the rights -of citizens and convicts in their mutual relations. On the -other hand, those who have carried out the improved penal -systems above described, have had almost solely in view -the improvement of the offender: the just claims of society, -and of those who sin against it, having been left out of -the question. Yet the methods which have succeeded so -marvellously in decreasing criminality, are the methods -which most nearly fulfil the requirements of abstract justice.</p> - -<p>That the most equitable system is the one best calculated -to reform the offender, may indeed be deductively shown. -The internal experience of every one must prove to him, -that excessive punishment begets, not penitence, but indignation -and hatred. So long as an aggressor suffers nothing -beyond the evils which have naturally resulted from his -misconduct—so long as he perceives that his fellow-men -have done no more than was -needful for self-defence—he <span class="xxpn" id="p179">{179}</span> -has no excuse for anger; and is led to contemplate his -crime and his punishment as cause and effect. But if -gratuitous sufferings are inflicted on him, a sense of -injustice is produced. He regards himself as an injured -man. He cherishes animosity against all who have brought -this harsh treatment on him. Glad of any plea for forgetting -the injury he has done to others, he dwells instead on -the injury others have done to him. Thus nurturing a -desire for revenge rather than atonement, he re-enters -society not better but worse; and if he does not commit -further crimes, as he often does, he is restrained by the -lowest of motives—fear. Again, this industrial discipline, -to which criminals subject themselves under a purely -equitable system, is the discipline they especially need. -Speaking generally, we are all compelled to work by the -necessities of our social existence. For most of us this -compulsion suffices; but there are some whose aversion to -labour cannot be thus overcome. Not labouring, and yet -needing sustenance, they are compelled to obtain it in -illegitimate ways; and so bring on themselves the legal -penalties. The criminal class being thus in great part -recruited from the idle class; and the idleness being the -source of the criminality; it follows that a successful -discipline must be one which shall cure the idleness. The -natural compulsions to labour having been eluded, the -thing required is that the offender shall be so placed that -he cannot elude them. And this is just what is done -under the system we advocate. Its action is such that -men whose natures are ill-adapted to the conditions of -social life, bring themselves into a position in which a -better adaptation is forced on them by the alternative of -starvation. Lastly, let us not forget that this discipline -which absolute morality dictates, is salutary, not only -because it is industrial, but because it is voluntarily industrial. -As we have shown, equity requires that the confined -criminal shall be left to maintain himself—that -is, shall be <span class="xxpn" id="p180">{180}</span> -left to work much or little, and to take the consequent -plenitude or hunger. When, therefore, under this sharp -but natural spur, a prisoner begins to exert himself, he -does so by his own will. The process which leads him into -habits of labour, is a process by which his self-control is -strengthened; and this is what is wanted to make him a -better citizen. It is to no purpose that you make him work -by external coercion; for when he is again free, and the -coercion absent, he will be what he was before. The -coercion must be an internal one, which he shall carry -with him out of prison. It avails little that you force -him to work; he must force himself to work. And this -he will do, only when placed in those conditions which -equity dictates.</p> - -<p>Here, then, we find a third order of evidences. Psychology -supports our conclusion. The various experiments -above detailed, carried out by men who had no political -or ethical theories to propagate, have established facts -which we find to be quite concordant, not only with the -deductions of absolute morality, but also with the deductions -of mental science. Such a combination of different kinds -of proof, cannot, we think, be resisted.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">And now let us try whether, by pursuing somewhat -further the method thus far followed, we can see our way -to the development of certain improved systems which are -coming into use.</p> - -<p>Equity requires that the restraint of the criminal shall -be as great as is needful for the safety of society; but not -greater. In respect to the <i>quality</i> of the restraint, there is -little difficulty in interpreting this requirement; but there -is considerable difficulty in deciding on the <i>duration</i> of the -restraint. No obvious mode presents itself of finding out -how long a transgressor must be held in legal bondage, to -insure society against further injury from him. A longer -period than is necessary, implies an -actual injustice to <span class="xxpn" id="p181">{181}</span> -the offender. A shorter period than is necessary, implies -a potential injustice to society. And yet, without good -guidance, one or other of these extremes is almost sure to -be fallen into.</p> - -<p>At present, the lengths of penal sentences are fixed in a -manner that is wholly empirical. For offences defined in -certain technical ways, Acts of Parliament assign transportations -and imprisonments, having durations not greater -than so much nor less than so much: these partially-determined -periods being arbitrarily fixed by legislators, under -the promptings of moral feeling. Within the assigned -limits the judge exercises his discretion; and in deciding -on the time over which the restraint shall extend, he is -swayed, partly by the special quality of the offence, partly -by the circumstances under which it was committed, partly -by the prisoner’s appearance and behaviour, partly by the -character given to him. And the conclusion he arrives at -after consideration of these data, depends very much on -his individual nature—his moral bias and his theories of -human conduct. Thus the mode of fixing the lengths of -penal restraints, is from beginning to end, little else than -guessing. How ill this system of guessing works, we have -abundant proofs. “Justices’ justice,” which illustrates it -in its simplest form, has become a bye-word; and the -decisions of higher criminal court frequently err in the -directions of both undue severity and undue lenity. Daily -there occur cases of extremely-trifling transgressions visited -with imprisonments of considerable lengths; and daily there -occur cases in which the punishments are so inadequate, that -the offenders time after time commit new crimes, when -time after time discharged from custody.</p> - -<p>Now the question is whether, in place of this purely empirical -method which answers so ill, equity can guide us to -a method which shall more correctly adjust the period of -restraint to the requirement. We believe it can. We -believe that by following out its dictates, -we shall arrive <span class="xxpn" id="p182">{182}</span> -at a method that is in great measure self-acting; and -therefore less liable to be vitiated by errors of individual -judgment or feeling.</p> - -<p>We have seen that were the injunctions of absolute -morality obeyed, every transgressor would be compelled to -make restitution or compensation. Throughout a considerable -range of cases, this would itself involve a period of -restraint varying in proportion to the magnitude of the -offence. It is true that when the malefactor possessed -ample means, the making restitution or compensation would -usually be to him but a slight punishment. But though in -these comparatively few cases, the regulation would fall -short of its object, in so far as its effect on the criminal was -concerned, yet in the immense majority of cases—in all -cases of aggressions committed by the poorer members -of the community—it would act with efficiency. It would -involve periods of detention that would be longer or -shorter according as the injury done was greater or less, -and according as the transgressor was idle or industrious. -And although between the injury done by an offender and -his moral turpitude, there is no constant and exact proportion, -yet the greatness of the injury done, affords, on the -average of cases, a better measure of the discipline required, -than do the votes of Parliamentary majorities and the -guesses of judges.</p> - -<p>But our guidance does not end here. An endeavour still -further to do that which is strictly equitable, will carry us -still nearer to a correct adjustment of discipline to delinquency. -When, having enforced restitution, we insist on -some adequate guarantee that society shall not again be -injured, and accept any guarantee that is sufficient, we -open the way to a self-acting regulator of the period of detention. -Already our laws are in many cases satisfied with -securities for future good behaviour. Already this system -manifestly tends to separate the more vicious from the less -vicious; seeing that, on the average, -the difficulty of <span class="xxpn" id="p183">{183}</span> -finding securities is great in proportion as the character is bad. -And what we propose is that this system, now confined to -particular kinds of offences, shall be made general. But -let us be more specific.</p> - -<p>A prisoner on his trial calls witnesses to testify to his -previous character—that is, if his character has been tolerably -good. The evidence thus given weighs more or less -in his favour, according to the respectability of the witnesses, -their number, and the nature of their testimony. Taking -into account these several elements, the judge forms his -conception of the delinquent’s general disposition, and -modifies the length of punishment accordingly. Now, may -we not fairly say that if the current opinion respecting a -convict’s character could be brought <i>directly</i> to bear in -qualifying the statutory sentence, instead of being brought -<i>indirectly</i> to bear, as at present, it would be a great improvement? -Clearly the estimate made by a judge from -such testimony, must be less accurate than the estimate -made by the prisoner’s neighbours and employers. Clearly, -too, the opinion expressed by such neighbours and employers -in the witness-box, is less trustworthy than an -opinion which entails on them serious responsibility. <i>The -desideratum is, that a prisoner’s sentence shall be qualified by -the judgment of those who have had life-long experience of -him; and that the sincerity of this judgment shall be tested -by their readiness to act on it.</i></p> - -<p>But how is this to be done? A very simple method of -doing it has been suggested.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn8" id="fnanch8">8</a> -When a convict has fulfilled -his task of making restitution or compensation, let it -be possible for one or other of those who have known him, to -take him out of confinement, on giving adequate bail for his -good behaviour. Always premising that such an arrangement -shall be possible only under an official permit, to be -withheld if the prisoner’s conduct has been unsatisfactory; -and always premising that the person who -offers bail shall <span class="xxpn" id="p184">{184}</span> -be of good character and means; let it be competent for -such a one to liberate a prisoner by being bound on his -behalf for a specific sum, or by undertaking to make good -any injury which he may do to his fellow-citizens within a -specified period. This will doubtless be thought a startling -proposal. We shall, however, find good reasons to believe -it might be safely acted on—nay, we shall find facts proving -the success of a plan that is obviously less safe.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch8" id="fn8">8</a> -We owe the suggestion to the late Mr. -Octavius H. Smith.</p></div> - -<p>Under such an arrangement, the liberator and the convict -would usually stand in the relation of employer and employed. -Those to be thus conditionally released, would be -ready to work for somewhat lower wages than were usual in -their occupation; and those who became bound for them, -besides having this economy of wages as an incentive, -would be in a manner guaranteed by it against the risk -undertaken. In working for less money, and in being -under the surveillance of his master, the convict would still -be undergoing a mitigated discipline. And while, on the -one hand, he would be put on his good behaviour by the -consciousness that his master might at any time cancel the -contract and surrender him back to the authorities, he -would, on the other hand, have a remedy against his master’s -harshness, in the option of returning to prison, and there -maintaining himself for the remainder of his term.</p> - -<p>Observe, next, that the difficulty of obtaining such conditional -release would vary with the gravity of the offence -which had been committed. Men guilty of heinous crimes -would remain in prison; for none would dare to become -responsible for their good behaviour. Any one convicted a -second time would remain unbailed for a much longer period -than before; seeing that having once inflicted loss on some -one bound for him, he would not again be so soon offered -the opportunity of doing the like: only after a long period of -good behaviour testified to by prison-officers, would he be -likely to get another chance. Conversely, those whose transgressions -were not serious, and who -had usually been <span class="xxpn" id="p185">{185}</span> -well-conducted, would readily obtain recognizances; while to -venial offenders this qualified liberation would come as soon -as they had made restitution. Moreover, when innocent -persons had been pronounced guilty, as well as when solitary -misdeeds had been committed by those of really superior -natures, the system we have described would supply a -remedy. From the wrong verdicts of the law and its mistaken -estimates of turpitude, there would be an appeal; -and long-proved worth would bring its reward in the -mitigation of grievous injustices.</p> - -<p>A further advantage would by implication result, in the -shape of a long industrial discipline for those who most -needed it. Speaking generally, diligent and skilful workmen, -who were on the whole useful members of society, -would, if their offences were not serious, soon obtain employers -to give bail for them. Whereas members of the -criminal class—the idle and the dissolute—would remain -long in confinement; since, until they had been brought by -habitual self-maintenance under restraint, to something like -industrial efficiency, employers would not be tempted to -become responsible for them.</p> - -<p>We should thus have a self-acting test, not only of the -length of restraint required for social safety, but also of that -apprenticeship to labour which many convicts need; while -there would be supplied a means of rectifying sundry failures -and excesses of our present system. The plan would practically -amount to an extension of trial by jury. At present, -the State calls in certain of a prisoner’s fellow-citizens to -decide whether he is guilty or not guilty: the judge, under -guidance of the penal laws, being left to decide what punishment -he deserves, if guilty. Under the arrangement we -have described, the judge’s decision would admit of modification -by a jury of the convict’s neighbours. And this -natural jury, while it would be best fitted by previous -knowledge of the man to form an opinion, would be rendered -cautious by the sense of grave -responsibility; inasmuch as <span class="xxpn" id="p186">{186}</span> -any one of its number who gave a conditional release, would -do so at his own peril.</p> - -<p>And now mark that all the evidence forthcoming to -prove the safety and advantages of the “intermediate -system,” proves, still more conclusively, the safety and -advantages of this system which we would substitute for -it. What we have described, is nothing more than an -intermediate system reduced to a natural instead of an -artificial form—carried out with natural checks instead of -artificial checks. If, as Captain Crofton has experimentally -shown, it is safe to give a prisoner conditional liberation, -on the strength of good conduct during a certain period of -prison-discipline; it is evidently safer to let his conditional -liberation depend not alone on good conduct while under -the eyes of his jailors, but also on the character he had -earned during his previous life. If it is safe to act on the -judgments of officials whose experience of a convict’s -behaviour is comparatively limited, and who do not suffer -penalties when their judgments are mistaken; then, manifestly, -it is safer (when such officials can show no reason -to the contrary), to act on the additional judgment of one -who has not only had better opportunities of knowing the -convict, but who will be a serious loser if his judgment -proves erroneous. Further, that surveillance over each -conditionally-liberated prisoner, which the “intermediate -system” exercises, would be still better exercised when, -instead of going to a strange master in a strange district, -the prisoner went to some master in his own district; and, -under such circumstances, it would be easier to get information -respecting his after-career. There is every reason -to think that this method would be workable. If, on the -recommendation of the officers, Captain Crofton’s prisoners -obtain employers “who have on many occasions returned -for others, in consequence of the good conduct of those at -first engaged;” still better would be the action of the -system when, instead of the -employers having “every <span class="xxpn" id="p187">{187}</span> -facility placed at their disposal for satisfying themselves as -to the antecedents of the convict,” they were already familiar -with his antecedents.</p> - -<p>Finally, let us not overlook the fact, that this course is -the only one which, while duly consulting social safety, is -also entirely just to the prisoner. As we have shown, the -restraints imposed on a criminal are warranted by absolute -equity, only to the extent needful to prevent further -aggressions on his fellow-men; and when his fellow-men -impose greater restraints than these, they trespass against -him. Hence, when a prisoner has worked out his task of -making restitution, and, so far as is possible, undone the -wrong he had done, society is, in strict justice, bound to -accept any arrangement which adequately protects its -members against further injury. And if, moved by the -expectation of profit, or other motive, any citizen sufficiently -substantial and trustworthy, will take on himself to hold -society harmless, society must agree to his proposal. All -it can rightly require is, that the guarantee against contingent -injury <i>shall</i> be adequate; which, of course, it never -can be where the contingent injury is of the gravest kind. -No bail could compensate for murder; and therefore against -this, and other extreme crimes, society would rightly refuse -any such guarantee, even if offered, which it would be very -unlikely to be.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Such, then, is our code of prison-ethics. Such is the -ideal which we ought to keep ever in view when modifying -our penal system. Again we say, as we said at the outset, -that the realization of such an ideal wholly depends on the -advance of civilization. Let no one carry away the impression -that we regard all these purely equitable regulations -as immediately practicable. Though they may be partially -carried out, we think it highly improbable that they could -at present be carried out in full. The number of offenders, -the low average of enlightenment, -the ill-working of <span class="xxpn" id="p188">{188}</span> -administrative machinery, and above all, the difficulty of obtaining -officials of adequate intelligence, good feeling, and self-control, -are obstacles which must long stand in the way of -a system so complex as that which morality dictates. And -we here assert, as emphatically as before, that the harshest -penal system is ethically justified if it is as good as the -circumstances of the time permit. However great the -cruelties it inflicts, yet if a system theoretically more -equitable would not be a sufficient terror to evil-doers, or -could not be worked, from lack of officers sufficiently -judicious, honest, and humane—if less rigorous methods -would entail a diminution of social security; then the -methods in use are extrinsically good though intrinsically -bad. They are, as before said, the least wrong, and therefore -relatively right.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, as we have endeavoured to prove, it is -immensely important that, while duly considering the relatively -right, we should keep the absolutely right constantly -in view. True as it is that, in this transition state, our -conceptions of the ultimately expedient must ever be -qualified by our experience of the proximately expedient; -it is not the less true that the proximately expedient cannot -be determined unless the ultimately expedient is known. -Before we can say what is as good as the time permits, we -must say what is abstractedly good; for the first idea -involves the last. We must have some fixed standard, -some invariable measure, some constant clue; otherwise we -shall inevitably be misled by the suggestions of immediate -policy, and wander away from the right rather than advance -towards it. This conclusion is fully borne out by the facts -we have cited. In other cases, as well as in the case of penal -discipline, the evidence shows how terribly we have erred -from obstinately refusing to consult first principles and -clinging to an unreasoning empiricism. Though, during -civilization, grievous evils have occasionally arisen from -attempts suddenly to realize absolute -rectitude, yet a <span class="xxpn" id="p189">{189}</span> -greater sum total of evils has arisen from the more usual -course of ignoring absolute rectitude. Age after age, effete -institutions have been maintained far longer than they -would else have been, and equitable arrangements have -been needlessly postponed. Is it not time for us to profit -by past lessons?</p> - -<p class="padtopb"><span class="smcap">P<b>OSTSCRIPT</b>.</span>—Since the publication of this essay in 1860 -further evidence supporting its conclusions has been made -public. Dr. F.J. Mouat, late Inspector-General of Gaols in -Lower Bengal, has given, in various pamphlets and articles, -dating from 1872, accounts of his experiences, which -entirely harmonize with the foregoing general argument. -Speaking of three leading systems of prison-discipline, -“based on opposite theories,” he says:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“The oldest is, that a prison should be rendered a terror to evil doers by -the infliction of as much pain as can be inflicted, without direct injury to -health or risk to life. The second plan is a graduated system of punishment, -from which the direct infliction of pain is eliminated, and the prisoner is -allowed to work his way to freedom and mitigation of sentence, by mere -good conduct in jail. The third, and in my humble judgment the best, is -to convert every prison into a school of industry, labour being used as an -instrument of punishment, discipline, and reformation.”—<i>Prison Industry in -its Primitive, Reformatory, and Economic Aspects</i> -(London, Nov. 1889).</p></blockquote> - -<p>In his pamphlet on the <i>Prison System of India</i>, published -in 1872, Dr. Mouat contends:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“That remunerative prison labour is an efficient instrument of punishment -and reformation by occupying the whole available time of criminals in -uncongenial and compulsory employments; by teaching them the means of -gaining an honest livelihood on release; by the inculcation of habits of -order and industry, to the displacement of the irregularity and idleness -which are the sources of so much vice and crime; and by repaying to the -State the whole or part of the cost of repression of crime by the compulsory -industry of the unproductive classes, and thus relieving the community at -large from a burden which it is at present compelled to bear.</p> - -<p>“That the economic objections to the remunerative employment of convicts -are unsound and untenable; and that even if they were true as respects -individuals and small sections of the community, the interests of the -minority should yield to the general welfare.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>Once more, under the title <i>Prison Discipline and its -Results in Bengal</i>, first published in the -<i>Journal of the <span class="xxpn" id="p190">{190}</span> -Society of Arts</i> in 1872, Dr. Mouat, after describing an -exhibition of gaol-manufactures held in Calcutta in 1856, -urges “that every prisoner sentenced to labour should be -made to repay to the State the whole cost of his punishment -in gaol; . . . and that prisons should be made, as -much as possible, schools of industry, as combining, more -completely than can be effected by any other system, the -punishment of the offender, with the protection of society.” -He then goes on to show what have been the results of -the self-supporting system:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“The net profits realized from the labour of the convicts actually employed -in handicrafts, after deducting the cost of production, were, in round numbers, -as follows:―</p> - -<div class="dtablebox"><div class="nowrap"> -<table summary="" class="borall"> -<tr> - <th></th> - <th>£</th> - <th class="borl"></th> - <th>£</th></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">1855–56</td> - <td class="tdleft">11,019</td> - <td class="tdleft borl">1864–65</td> - <td class="tdleft">32,988</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft"> ’56–57</td> - <td class="tdleft">12,300</td> - <td class="tdleft borl"> ’65–66</td> - <td class="tdleft">35,543</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft"> ’57–58</td> - <td class="tdleft">10,841</td> - <td class="tdleft borl"> ’66</td> - <td class="tdleft">14,287</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft"> ’59–60</td> - <td class="tdleft">14,065</td> - <td class="tdleft borl"> ’67</td> - <td class="tdleft">41,168</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft"> ’60–61</td> - <td class="tdleft">23,124</td> - <td class="tdleft borl"> ’68</td> - <td class="tdleft">56,817</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft"> ’61–62</td> - <td class="tdleft">54,542</td> - <td class="tdleft borl"> ’69</td> - <td class="tdleft">46,588</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft"> ’62–63</td> - <td class="tdleft">30,604</td> - <td class="tdleft borl"> ’70</td> - <td class="tdleft">45,274</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft"> ’63–64</td> - <td class="tdleft">54,542</td> - <td class="borl" colspan="2"></td></tr> -</table></div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">In all, nearly half a million of -money. In 1866, the accounts were made -up for only eight months, to introduce the calendar in place of the official -year, which ended on the 30th of April.</p> - -<p>“If the limits of time and space permitted, I could show you in minute -detail that each skilled prisoner employed in handicrafts, striking the -average of all the jails, earned considerably more than he cost; that five of -the prisons under my charge were at various times self-supporting, and -that one of them, the great industrial prison at Alipore, a suburb of -Calcutta, has repaid very considerably more than its cost, for the last ten -years continuously.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>As Dr. Mouat held the position of Inspector-General of -Gaols in Lower Bengal for 15 years, and as, during that -period, he had under his control an average of 20,000 -prisoners, it may, I think, be held that his experiences -have been tolerably extensive, and that a system justified -by such experiences is worthy of adoption. Unfortunately, -however, men pooh-pooh those experiences which do not -accord with their foregone conclusions.</p> - -<p>I have occasionally vented the paradox -that mankind go <span class="xxpn" id="p191">{191}</span> -right only when they have tried all possible ways of going -wrong: intending it to be taken with some qualification. -Of late, however, I have observed that in some respects -this paradox falls short of the truth. Sundry instances -have shown me that even when mankind have at length -stumbled into the right course, they often deliberately return -to the wrong.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p192">{192}</span></div> -<h2 class="h2nobreak">THE ETHICS OF KANT.</h2></div> - -<div class="dchappre"> -<p class="pfirst">[<i>From the</i> Fortnightly -Review <i>for July 1888. This essay was -called forth by attacks on me made in essays published in -preceding numbers of the</i> Fortnightly Review—<i>essays in which -the Kantian system of ethics was lauded as immensely superior to -the system of ethics defended by me. The last section now appears -for the first time.</i>]</p></div> - -<p>If, before Kant uttered that often-quoted saying in -which, with the stars of Heaven he coupled the conscience -of Man, as being the two things that excited his awe, he -had known more of Man than he did, he would probably -have expressed himself somewhat otherwise. Not, indeed, -that the conscience of Man is not wonderful enough, whatever -be its supposed genesis; but the wonderfulness of it -is of a different kind according as we assume it to have -been supernaturally given or infer that it has been naturally -evolved. The knowledge of Man in that large sense -which Anthropology expresses, had made, in Kant’s day, -but small advances. The books of travel were relatively -few, and the facts which they contained concerning the -human mind as existing in different races, had not been -gathered together and generalized. In our days the -conscience of Man, as inductively known, has none of that -universality of presence and unity of nature, which Kant’s -saying tacitly assumes. Sir John Lubbock writes:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“In fact, I believe that the lower races of men may be said -to be deficient <span class="xxpn" id="p193">{193}</span> -in the idea of right. . . . . That there should be any races of men so -deficient in moral feeling, was altogether opposed to the preconceived ideas -with which I commenced the study of savage life, and I have arrived at the -conviction by slow degrees, and even with reluctance.”—<i>Origin of Civilization</i>, -1882, pp. 404–5.</p></blockquote> - -<p>But now let us look at the evidence from which this -impression is derived, as we find it in the testimonies of -travellers and missionaries.</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>Praising his deceased son, Tui Thakau, a Fijian Chief, concluded “by -speaking of his daring spirit and consummate cruelty, as he could kill his -own wives if they offended him, and eat them afterwards.”—<i>Western Pacific.</i> -J. E. Erskine, p. 248.</p> - -<p>“Shedding of blood is to him no crime, but a glory . . . . to be somehow -an acknowledged murderer is the object of the Fijian’s restless ambition.”—<i>Fiji -and the Fijians.</i> Rev. T. Williams, i., p. 112.</p> - -<p>“It is a melancholy fact that when they [the Zulu boys] have arrived at a -very early age, should their mothers attempt to chastise them, such is the -law, that these lads are at the moment allowed to kill their mothers.”—<i>Travels -and Adventures in Southern Africa.</i> G. Thompson, ii., p. 418.</p> - -<p>“Murther, adultery, thievery, and all other such like crimes, are here -[Gold Coast] accounted no sins.”—<i>Description of the Coast of Guinea.</i> W. -Bosman, p. 130.</p> - -<p>“The accusing conscience is unknown to him [the East African]. His -only fear after committing a treacherous murder is that of being haunted by -the angry ghost of the dead.”—<i>Lake Regions of Central Africa.</i> R. F. -Burton, ii., p. 336.</p> - -<p>“I never could make them [East Africans] understand the existence of -good principle.”—<i>The Albert N’Yanza.</i> S. W. Baker, i., pp. 241.</p> - -<p>“The Damaras kill useless and worn-out people; even sons smother -their sick fathers.”—<i>Narrative of an Explorer in Tropical South Africa.</i> -F. Galton, p. 112.</p> - -<p>The Damaras “seem to have no perceptible notion of right and wrong.”—<i>Ibid.</i> -p. 72.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Against these we may set some converse facts. At the -other extreme we have a few Eastern tribes—pagans they -are called—who practise the virtues which Western nations—Christians -they are called—do but teach. While Europeans -thirst for blood-revenge in much the same way as -the lowest savages, there are some simple peoples of the -Indian Hills, as the Lepchas, who “are singularly forgiving -of injuries;”<a class="afnanch" href="#fn9" id="fnanch9">9</a> -and Campbell exemplifies “the -effect of a <span class="xxpn" id="p194">{194}</span> -very strong sense of duty on this savage.”<a class="afnanch" href="#fn10" id="fnanch10">10</a> -That character -which the creed of Christendom is supposed to foster -is exhibited in high degree by the Arafuras (Papuans) who -live in “peace and brotherly love with one another”<a class="afnanch" href="#fn11" id="fnanch11">11</a> -to -such extent that government is but nominal. And concerning -various of the Indian Hill-tribes, as the Santáls, -Sowrahs, Marias, Lepchas, Bodo and Dhimáls, different -observers testify of them severally that “they were the -most truthful set of men I ever met,”<a class="afnanch" href="#fn12" id="fnanch12">12</a> -“crime and criminal -officers are almost unknown,”<a class="afnanch" href="#fn13" id="fnanch13">13</a> -“a pleasing feature in -their character is their complete truthfulness,”<a class="afnanch" href="#fn14" id="fnanch14">14</a> -“they -bear a singular character for truthfulness and honesty,”<a class="afnanch" href="#fn15" id="fnanch15">15</a> -they are “wonderfully honest,”<a class="afnanch" href="#fn16" id="fnanch16">16</a> -“honest and truthful in -deed and word.”<a class="afnanch" href="#fn17" id="fnanch17">17</a> -Irrespective of race, we find these -traits in men who are, and have long been, absolutely -peaceful (the uniform antecedent), be they the Jakuns of -the South Malayan Peninsula, who “are never known to -steal anything, not even the most insignificant trifle,”<a class="afnanch" href="#fn18" id="fnanch18">18</a> -or -be it in the Hos of the Himalaya, among whom “a reflection -on a man’s honesty or veracity may be sufficient to send -him to self-destruction.”<a class="afnanch" href="#fn19" id="fnanch19">19</a> -So that in respect of conscience -these uncivilized people are as superior to average Europeans, -as average Europeans are superior to the brutal -savages previously described.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="phanga"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch9" id="fn9">9</a> -Campbell in <i>Journal of the Ethnological -Society</i>, July, N. S. vol. i., 1869, p. 150.</p> - -<p class="phanga"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch10" id="fn10">10</a> -<i>Ibid.</i> p. 154.</p> - -<p class="phanga"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch11" id="fn11">11</a> -Dr. H. Kolff, <i>Voyages of the Dutch brig -“Dourga.”</i> Earl’s translation, pp. 161.</p> - -<p class="phanga"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch12" id="fn12">12</a> -W. W. Hunter, <i>Annals of Rural Bengal</i>, p. -248.</p> - -<p class="phanga"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch13" id="fn13">13</a> -<i>Ibid.</i> p. 217.</p> - -<p class="phanga"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch14" id="fn14">14</a> -Dr. J. Shortt, <i>Hill Ranges of Southern -India</i>, pt. iii., p. 38.</p> - -<p class="phanga"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch15" id="fn15">15</a> -Glasfind in <i>Selections from the Records of -Government of India</i> (Foreign Department), No. xxxix., p. -41.</p> - -<p class="phanga"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch16" id="fn16">16</a> -Campbell in <i>Journal of the Ethnological -Society</i>, N. S. vol. i., 1869, p. 150.</p> - -<p class="phanga"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch17" id="fn17">17</a> -B. H. Hodgson in <i>Journal of the Asiatic -Society of Bengal</i>, xviii., p. 745.</p> - -<p class="phanga"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch18" id="fn18">18</a> -Rev. P. Favre in <i>Journal of the Indian -Archipelago</i>, ii., p. 266.</p> - -<p class="phanga"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch19" id="fn19">19</a> -Col. E. T. Dalton, <i>Descriptive Ethnology of -Bengal</i>, p. 206.</p></div> - -<p>Had Kant had these and kindred -facts before him, <span class="xxpn" id="p195">{195}</span> -his conception of the human mind, and consequently his -ethical conception, would scarcely have been what they -were. Believing, as he did, that one object of his awe—the -stellar Universe—has been evolved, he might by evidence -like the foregoing have been led to suspect that the -other object of his awe—the human conscience—has been -evolved, and has consequently a real nature unlike its -apparent nature.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">For the disciples of Kant living in our day there can be -made no such defence as that which may be made for their -master. On all sides of them lie classes of facts of various -kinds, which might suffice to make them hesitate, if nothing -more. Here are a few such classes of facts.</p> - -<p>Though, unlike the uncultured, who suppose everything -to be what it appears, chemists had for many generations -known that multitudinous substances which seem simple -are really compound, and often highly compound; yet, -until the time of Sir Humphrey Davy, even chemists had -believed that certain substances which resisted all their -powers of decomposition, were to be classed among the -elements. Davy, however, by subjecting the alkalies to -a force not before applied, proved that they are oxides -of metals; and, suspecting the like to be the case with -the earths, similarly proved the composite nature of these -also. Not only the common sense of the uncultured, but -the common sense of the cultured was shown to be wrong. -Wider knowledge has, as usual, led to greater modesty, -and, since Davy’s day, chemists have felt less certain that -the so-called elements are elementary. Contrariwise, increasing -evidence of sundry kinds leads them to suspect -more and more strongly that they are all compound.</p> - -<p>Alike to the labourer who digs it out and to the carpenter -who uses it in his workshop, a piece of chalk appears a -thing than which nothing can be simpler; and ninety-nine -people out of a hundred would agree with -them. Yet a <span class="xxpn" id="p196">{196}</span> -piece of chalk is highly complex. A microscope shows it -to consist of myriads of shells of <i>Foraminifera</i>; shows, -further, that it contains more kinds than one; and shows, -further still, that each minute shell, whole or broken, is -formed of many chambers, every one of which once contained -a living unit. Thus by ordinary inspection, however close, -the true nature of chalk cannot be known; and to one who -has absolute confidence in his eyes the assertion of its true -nature appears absurd.</p> - -<p>Take again a living body of a seemingly uncomplicated -kind—say a potato. Cut it through and observe how -structureless is its substance. But though unaided vision -gives this verdict, aided vision gives a widely different one. -Aided vision discovers, in the first place, that the mass is -everywhere permeated by vessels of complex formation. -Further, that it is made up of innumerable units called -cells, each of which has walls composed of several layers. -Further still, that each cell contains a number of starch-grains. -And yet still further, that each of these grains is -formed of layer within layer, like the coats of an onion. -So that where there appears perfect simplicity there is really -complexity within complexity.</p> - -<p>From these examples which the objective world furnishes, -let us turn to some examples furnished by the subjective -world—some of our states of consciousness. Up to modern -times any one who, looking out on the snow, was told that -the impression of whiteness it gave him was composed of -impressions such as those given by the rainbow, would have -regarded his informant as a lunatic; as would even now -the great mass of mankind. But since Newton’s day, it -has become well known to a relatively small number that -this is literal fact. Not only may white light be resolved -by a prism into a number of brilliant colours, but, by an -appropriate arrangement, these colours can be re-combined -into white light: the visual sensation which seems perfectly -simple proves to be highly -compound. Those who <span class="xxpn" id="p197">{197}</span> -habitually suppose that things are what they seem, are wrong -here as in multitudinous other cases.</p> - -<p>Another example is supplied by the sensation of sound. -A solitary note struck on the piano, or a blast from a horn, -yields through the ear a feeling which appears homogeneous; -and the uninstructed are incredulous if told that it is an -intricate combination of noises. In the first place, that which -constitutes the more voluminous part of the tone is accompanied -by a number of over-tones, producing what is known -as its <i>timbre</i>: instead of one note, there are half a dozen -notes, of which the chief has its character specialized by -the others. In the second place, each of these notes, consisting -objectively of a rapid series of aërial waves, produces -subjectively a rapid series of impressions on the auditory -nerve. Either by the appliance of Hooke or by Savart’s -machine or by the siren, it is proved to demonstration that -every musical sound is the product of successive units of -sound, each in itself unmusical, which, as they succeed one -another with increasing rapidity, produce a tone which progressively -rises in pitch. Here again, then, under an -apparent simplicity there is a double complexity.</p> - -<p>Most of these examples of the illusiveness of unaided -perception, whether exercised upon objective or subjective -existences, were unknown to Kant. Had they been known -to him they might have suggested other views concerning -certain of our states of consciousness, and might have given -a different character to his philosophy. Let us observe -what would possibly have been the changes in two of his -cardinal conceptions—metaphysical and ethical.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Our consciousness of Time and Space appeared to him, -as they appear to everyone, perfectly simple; and the -apparent simplicity he accepted as actual simplicity. Had -he suspected that, just as the seemingly homogeneous and -undecomposable consciousness of Sound really consists of -multitudinous units of consciousness, -so might the <span class="xxpn" id="p198">{198}</span> -apparently homogeneous and undecomposable consciousness of -Space, he would possibly have been led to inquire whether -the consciousness of Space is not wholly composed of infinitely -numerous relations of position, such as those which -every portion of it presents. And finding that every portion -of Space, immense or minute, cannot be either known -or conceived save in some relative position to the conscious -subject, and that, besides involving the relations of distance -and direction, it invariably contains within itself relations -of right and left, top and bottom, nearer and farther; he -might perhaps have concluded that our consciousness of -that matrix of phenomena we call Space, has been built up -in the course of Evolution by accumulated experiences -registered in the nervous system. And had he concluded -this, he would not have committed himself to the many -absurdities which his doctrine involves.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn20" id="fnanch20">20</a></p> - -<p>Similarly, if, instead of assuming that conscience is simple -because it seems simple to ordinary introspection, he had -entertained the hypothesis that it is perhaps complex—a -consolidated product of multitudinous experiences received, -mainly by ancestors and added to by self—he might have -arrived at a consistent system of Ethics. That the habitual -association of pains with certain things and acts, generation -after generation, may produce organic repugnance to such -things and acts,<a class="afnanch" href="#fn21" id="fnanch21">21</a> -might, had it been known to him, have -made him suspect that conscience is a product of Evolution. -And in that case his conception of it would not have -been incongruous with the facts above named, showing -that there are widely different degrees of conscience in -different races.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch20" id="fn20">20</a> -See <i>Principles of Psychology</i>, § 399.</p> - -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch21" id="fn21">21</a> -See <i>Principles of Psychology</i>, § 189 (note) -and § 520.</p></div> - -<p>In brief, as already implied, had Kant, instead of his -incongruous beliefs that the celestial bodies have had an -evolutionary origin, but that the minds of living beings on -them, or at least on one of them, -have had a <span class="xxpn" id="p199">{199}</span> -non-evolutionary origin, entertained the belief that both have arisen -by Evolution, he would have been saved from the impossibilities -of his Metaphysics, and the untenabilities of his -Ethics. To the consideration of these last, let us now pass.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Before doing this, however, something must be -said concerning abnormal reasoning as compared with -normal reasoning.</p> - -<p>Knowledge which is of the highest order in respect of -certainty, and which we call exact science, is distinguished -from other knowledge by its definitely quantitative previsions.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn22" id="fnanch22">22</a> -It sets out with data, and proceeds by steps -which, taken together, enable it to say under what specified -conditions a specified relation of phenomena will be found; -and to say in what place, or at what time, or in what -quantity, or all of them, a certain effect will be witnessed. -Given the factors of any arithmetical operation, and there -is absolute certainty in the result reached, supposing there -are no stumblings: stumblings which always admit of -detection and disproof by the method which we shall -presently find is pursued. Base and angles having been -accurately measured, that sub-division of geometry which -is called trigonometry yields with certainty the distance or -the height of the object of which the position is sought. -The ratio of the arms of a lever having been stated, -mechanics tells us what weight at one end will balance an -assigned weight at the other. And by the aid of these -three exact sciences, the Calculus, Geometry, and Mechanics, -Astronomy can predict to the minute, for each separate -place on the Earth, when an eclipse will begin and end, -and how near it will approach to totality. Knowledge of -this order has infinite justifications in the successful guidance -of infinitely numerous human actions. The accounts -of every trader, the operations of every workshop, the -navigation of every vessel, depend -for their trustworthiness <span class="xxpn" id="p200">{200}</span> -on these sciences. The method they pursue, therefore, -verified in cases which pass all human power to enumerate, -is a method not to be transcended in certainty.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch22" id="fn22">22</a> -See Essay on “Genesis of Science.”</p></div> - -<p>What is this method? Whichever of these sciences we -examine, we find the course uniformly pursued to be that -of setting out with propositions of which the negations are -inconceivable, and advancing by successive dependent -propositions, each of which has the like character—that its -negation is inconceivable. In a developed consciousness -(and of course I exclude minds of which the faculties are -unformed) it is impossible to represent things that are -equal to the same thing as being themselves unequal; and -in a developed consciousness, action and re-action cannot be -thought of as other than equal and opposite. In like -manner, every <i>because</i> and every <i>therefore</i>, used in a mathematical -argument, connotes a proposition of which the -terms are absolutely coherent in the mode alleged: the -proof being that an attempt to bring together in consciousness -the terms of the opposite proposition is futile. And -this method of testing, alike the fundamental propositions -and all members of the fabrics of propositions raised upon -them, is consistently pursued in verifying the conclusion. -Inference and observation are compared; and when they -agree, it is held inconceivable that the inference is other -than true.</p> - -<p>In contrast to the method which I have just described, -distinguishable as the legitimate <i>a priori</i> method, there is -one which may be called—I was about to say, the illegitimate -<i>a priori</i> method. But the word is not strong enough; -it must be called the inverted <i>a priori</i> method. Instead of -setting out with a proposition of which the negation is -inconceivable, it sets out with a proposition of which the -affirmation is inconceivable, and therefrom proceeds to draw -conclusions. It is not consistent, however: it does not -continue to do that which it does at first. Having posited -an inconceivable proposition to begin with, -it does not <span class="xxpn" id="p201">{201}</span> -frame its argument out of a series of inconceivable -propositions. All steps after the first are of the kind -ordinarily accepted as valid. The successive <i>therefores</i> and -<i>becauses</i> have the usual connotations. The peculiarity lies -in this, that in every proposition save the first, the reader -is expected to admit the logical necessity of an inference -drawn, for the reason that the opposite is not thinkable; -but he is not supposed to expect a like conformity to -logical necessity in the primary proposition. The dictum -of a logical consciousness which must be recognized as -valid in every subsequent step, must be ignored in the first -step. We pass now to an illustration of this method which -here concerns us.</p> - -<p>The first sentence in Kant’s first chapter runs thus:—“Nothing -can possibly be conceived in the world, or even -out of it, which can be called good without qualification, -except a Good Will.”<a class="afnanch" href="#fn23" id="fnanch23">23</a> -And then on the next page we -come upon the following definition:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“A good will is good not because of what it performs or -effects, nor by its aptness for the attainment of some -proposed end, but simply by virtue of the volition, that -is, it is good in itself, and considered by itself is to -be esteemed much higher than all that can be brought about -by it in favour of any inclination, nay even of the sum -total of all inclinations.”<a class="afnanch" href="#fn24" -id="fnanch24">24</a></p></blockquote> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch23" id="fn23">23</a> -<i>Kant’s Critique of Practical Reason and other -works on the Theory of Ethics</i>, trans. -by T. K. Abbott, p. 11.</p> - -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch24" id="fn24">24</a> -<i>Ibid.</i> pp. 12–13.</p></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Most -fallacies result from the habit of using words without -fully rendering them into thoughts—passing them by with -recognitions of their meanings as ordinarily used, without -stopping to consider whether these meanings admit of -being given to them in the cases named. Let us not rest -satisfied with thinking vaguely of what is understood by -“a Good Will,” but let us interpret the words definitely. -Will implies the consciousness of some end. Exclude from -it every idea of purpose and the conception of Will disappears. -An end of some kind being necessarily implied by -the conception of Will, the quality of the -Will is determined <span class="xxpn" id="p202">{202}</span> -by the quality of the end contemplated. Will itself, considered -apart from any distinguishing epithet, is not -cognizable by Morality at all. It becomes cognizable by -Morality only when it gains its character as good or bad by -virtue of its contemplated end as good or bad. If any one -doubts this, let him try whether he can think of a good -will which contemplates a bad end. The whole question, -therefore, centres in the meaning of the word good. Let -us look at the meanings habitually given to it.</p> - -<p>We speak of good meat, good bread, good wine; by -which phrases we mean either things that are palatable, -and so give pleasure, or things that are wholesome, and by -conducing to health conduce to pleasure. A good fire, -good clothing, a good house, we so name because they -minister either to comfort, which means pleasure, or gratify -the æsthetic sentiment, which also means pleasure. So it -is with things which more indirectly further welfare, as -good tools or good roads. When we speak of a good workman, -a good teacher, a good doctor, it is the same: -efficiency in aiding others’ well-being is what we indirectly -mean. Yet again, good government, good institutions, -good laws, connote benefits yielded to the society in which -they exist: benefits being equivalent to certain kinds of -happiness, positive or negative. But Kant tells us that a -good will is one that is good in and for itself without reference -to ends. We are not to think of it as prompting acts -which will profit the man himself, either by conducing to -his health, advancing his culture, or improving his inclinations; -for all these are in the long run conducive to -happiness, and are urged only for the reason that they do -this. We are not to think of a will as good because, by -fulfilment of it, friends are saved from sufferings or have -their gratifications increased; for this would involve -calling it good because of beneficial ends in view. Nor -must conduciveness to social ameliorations, present or -future, be taken into account when we -attempt to conceive <span class="xxpn" id="p203">{203}</span> -a good will. In short, we are to frame our idea of a good -will without any material out of which to frame the idea of -good: good is to be used in thought as an eviscerated term.</p> - -<p>Here, then, is illustrated what I have called above the -inverted <i>a priori</i> method of philosophizing: the setting out -with an inconceivable proposition. The Kantian Metaphysics -starts by asserting that Space is “nothing but” a -form of intuition—pertains wholly to the subject and not at -all to the object. This is a verbally intelligible proposition, -but one of which the terms cannot be put together in -consciousness; for neither Kant, nor any one else, ever -succeeded in bringing into unity of representation the -thought of Space and the thought of Self, as being the one -an attribute of the other. And here we see that, just in -the same way, the Kantian Ethics begins by positing -something which seems to have a meaning but which has -really no meaning—something which, under the conditions -imposed, cannot be rendered into thought at all. For -neither Kant, nor any one else, ever has or ever can, frame -a consciousness of a good will when from the word good are -expelled all thoughts of those ends which we distinguish -by the word good.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Evidently Kant himself sees that his assumption invites -attack, for he proceeds to defend it. He says:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“There is, however, something so strange in this idea of the absolute -value of the mere will, in which no account is taken of its utility, that -notwithstanding the thorough assent of even common reason to the idea [!], -yet a suspicion must arise that it may perhaps really be the product of mere -high-flown fancy, &c.” (p. 13).</p></blockquote> - -<p class="pcontinue">And -then to prepare for a justification, he goes on to say:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“In the physical constitution of an organized being we assume it as a -fundamental principle that no organ for any purpose will be found in it but -what is also the fittest and best adapted for that purpose” (pp. 13–14).</p></blockquote> - -<p>Now, even had this assumption been valid, the argument -he bases upon it, far-fetched as it is, might be considered -of very inadequate strength to warrant the supposition that -there can be a will conceived as good -without any reference <span class="xxpn" id="p204">{204}</span> -to good ends. But, unfortunately for Kant, the assumption -is utterly invalid. In his day it probably passed without -question; but in our day few if any biologists would admit -it. On the special-creation hypothesis some defence of -the proposition might be attempted, but the evolution-hypothesis -tacitly negatives it entirely. Let us begin with -some minor facts which militate against Kant’s supposition. -Take, first, rudimentary organs. These are numerous -throughout the animal kingdom. While representing -organs which were of use in ancestral types, they are of -no use in the types possessing them; and, as being -rudimentary, they are of necessity imperfect. Moreover, -besides being injurious by taxing nutrition to no purpose, -they are almost certainly in some cases injurious by being -in the way. Then, beyond the argument from rudimentary -organs, there is the argument from make-shift organs, -which form a large class. We have a conspicuous case in -the swimming organ of the seal, formed by the apposition -of the two hind limbs—an organ manifestly inferior to one -specially shaped for its function, and one which, during -early stages of the changes which have produced it, must -have been very inefficient. But the untruth of the assumption -is best shown by comparing a given organ in a low -type of creature with the same organ in a high type. The -alimentary canal, for example, in very inferior creatures is -a simple tube, substantially alike from end to end, and -having throughout all its parts the same function. But in -a superior creature this tube is differentiated into mouth, -æsophagus, stomach (or stomachs), small and large intestines -with their various appended glands pouring in -secretions. Now if this last form of alimentary canal is to -be regarded as a perfect organ, or something like it, what -shall we say of the original form; and what shall we say of -all those forms lying between the two? The vascular system, -again, furnishes a clear instance. The primitive heart is -nothing but a dilatation of the great -blood vessel—a pulsatile <span class="xxpn" id="p205">{205}</span> -sac. But a mammal has a four-chambered heart with valves, -by the aid of which the blood is propelled through the lungs -for aëration, and throughout the system at large for general -purposes. If this four-chambered heart is a perfect organ, -what is the primitive heart, and what are the hearts possessed -by all the multitudinous creatures below the higher <i>vertebrata</i>? -Manifestly the process of evolution implies a continual -replacing of creatures having inferior organs, by creatures -having superior organs; leaving such of the inferior as can -survive to occupy inferior spheres of life. This is not only -so throughout the whole animal creation up to Man himself, -but it is so within the limits of the human race. Both the -brains and the lower limbs of various inferior races are -ineffective organs, compared with those of superior races. -Nay, even in the highest type of Man we have obvious -imperfections. The structure of the groin is imperfect: the -frequent ruptures which result from it would have been -prevented by closure of the inguinal rings during fœtal life -after they had performed their office. That all-important -organ the vertebral column, too, is as yet but incompletely -adapted to the upright posture. Only while the vigour is -considerable can there be maintained, without appreciable -effort, those muscular contractions which produce the sigmoid -flexure, and bring the lumbar portion into such a -position that the “line of direction” falls within it. In -young children, in boys and girls who are admonished to -“sit up,” in weakly people, and in the old, the spine lapses -into that convex form characteristic of lower <i>Primates</i>. It -is the same with the balancing of the head. Only by a -muscular strain to which habit makes us insensible, as it -does to the exposure of the face to cold, is the head maintained -in position. Immediately certain cervical muscles -are relaxed the head falls forward; and where there is -great debility the chin rests permanently on the chest.</p> - -<p>So far, indeed, is the assumption of Kant from being -true that the very reverse is -probably true. After <span class="xxpn" id="p206">{206}</span> -contemplating the countless examples of imperfections exhibited -in low types of creatures, and decreasing with the ascent -to high types, but still exemplified in the highest, anyone -who concludes, as he may reasonably do, that Evolution -has not yet reached its limit, must infer that most likely -no such thing as a perfect organ exists. Thus the basis -of the argument by which Kant attempts to justify his -assumption that there exists a good will apart from a good -end, disappears utterly; and leaves his dogma in all its -naked unthinkableness.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn25" id="fnanch25">25</a></p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch25" id="fn25">25</a> -I find that in the above three paragraphs I have done Kant less than -justice and more than justice—less, in assuming that his evolutionary view -was limited to the genesis of our sidereal system, and more, in assuming that -he had not contradicted himself. My knowledge of Kant’s writings is -extremely limited. In 1844 a translation of his <i>Critique of Pure Reason</i> -(then I think lately published) fell into my hands, and I read the first few -pages enunciating his doctrine of Time and Space: my peremptory rejection -of which caused me to lay the book down. Twice since then the same thing -has happened; for, being an impatient reader, when I disagree with the -cardinal propositions of a work I can go no further. One other thing I knew. -By indirect references I was made aware that Kant had propounded the idea -that celestial bodies have been formed by the aggregation of diffused matter. -Beyond this my knowledge of his conceptions did not extend; and my -supposition that his evolutionary conception had stopped short with the -genesis of sun, stars, and planets, was due to the fact that his doctrine of -Time and Space, as forms of thought anteceding experience, implied a -supernatural origin inconsistent with the hypothesis of natural genesis. Dr. -Paul Carus, who, shortly after the publication of this article in the <i>Fortnightly -Review</i> for July, 1888, undertook to defend the Kantian ethics in the -American journal which he edits, <i>The Open Court</i>, has now (Sept. 4, 1890), -in another defensive article, translated sundry passages from Kant’s -<i>Critique of Judgment</i>, his <i>Presumable Origin of Humanity</i>, and his work -<i>Upon the different Races of Mankind</i>, showing that Kant was, if not fully, -yet partially, an evolutionist in his speculations about living beings. There -is, perhaps, some reason for doubting the correctness of Dr. Carus’s rendering -of these passages into English. When, as in the first of the articles just -named, he failed to distinguish between consciousness and conscientiousness, -and when, as in this last article, he blames the English for mistranslating -Kant, since they have said “Kant maintained that Space and Time are -intuitions,” which is quite untrue, for they have -everywhere described him -as maintaining that Space and Time are <i>forms</i> of intuition, one may be -excused for thinking that possibly Dr. Carus has read into some of Kant’s -expressions, meanings which they do not rightly bear. Still, the general -drift of the passages quoted makes it tolerably clear that Kant must have -believed in the operation of natural causes as largely, though not entirely, -instrumental in producing organic forms: extending this belief (which he -says “can be named a daring venture of reason”) in some measure to the -origin of Man himself. He does not, however, extend the theory of natural -genesis to the exclusion of the theory of supernatural genesis. When he speaks -of an organic habit “which in the wisdom of nature appears to be thus -arranged in order that the species shall be preserved;” and when, further, -he says “we see, moreover, that a germ of reason is placed in him, whereby, -after the development of the same, he is destined for social intercourse,” he -implies divine intervention. And this shows that I was justified in ascribing -to him the belief that Space and Time, as forms of thought, are supernatural -endowments. Had he conceived of organic evolution in a consistent manner, -he would necessarily have regarded Space and Time as subjective forms -generated by converse with objective realities.</p> - -<p>Beyond showing that Kant had a partial, if not a complete, belief in -organic evolution (though with no idea of its causes), the passages translated -by Dr. Carus show that he entertained an implied belief which it here -specially concerns me to notice as bearing on his theory of “a good will.” -He quotes approvingly Dr. Moscati’s lecture showing “that the upright walk -of man is constrained and unnatural,” and showing the imperfect visceral -arrangements and consequent diseases which result: not only adopting, but -further illustrating, Dr. Moscati’s argument. If here, then, there is a distinct -admission, or rather assertion, that various human organs are imperfectly -adjusted to their functions, what becomes of the postulate above quoted -“that no organ for any purpose will be found in it but what is also the -fittest and best adapted for that purpose?” And what becomes of the -argument which sets out with this postulate? Clearly, I am indebted to -Dr. Carus for enabling me to prove that Kant’s defence of his theory of “a -good will” is, by his own showing, baseless.</p></div> - -<p class="padtopb">One of the propositions contained in Kant’s -first chapter <span class="xxpn" id="p207">{207}</span> -is that “we find that the more a cultivated reason applies -itself with deliberate purpose to the enjoyment of life and -happiness, so much the more does the man fail of true -satisfaction.” A preliminary remark to be made on this -statement is that in its sweeping form it is not true. I -assert that it is untrue on the strength of personal experiences. -In the course of my life there have occurred -many intervals, averaging more than a month each, in -which the pursuit of happiness was the sole -object, and in <span class="xxpn" id="p208">{208}</span> -which happiness was successfully pursued. How successfully, -may be judged from the fact that I would gladly live -over again each of those periods without change—an -assertion which I certainly cannot make of any portions of -my life spent in the daily discharge of duties. That which -Kant should have said is that the <i>exclusive</i> pursuit of what -are distinguished as pleasures and amusements, is disappointing. -This is doubtless true; and for the obvious -reason that it over-exercises one group of faculties and -exhausts them, while it leaves unexercised another group -of faculties, which consequently do not yield the gratifications -accompanying their exercise. It is not, as Kant says, -guidance by “a cultivated reason” which leads to disappointment, -but guidance by an uncultivated reason; for a -cultivated reason teaches that continuous action of a small -part of the nature joined with inaction of the rest, must -end in dissatisfaction.</p> - -<p>But now, supposing we accept Kant’s statement in full, -what is its implication? That happiness is the thing to be -desired, and, in one way or another, the thing to be achieved. -For if not, what meaning is there in the statement that it -will not be achieved when made the immediate object? -One who was thus admonished might properly rejoin:—“You -say I shall fail to get happiness if I make it the -object of pursuit? Suppose then I do not make it the -object of my pursuit; shall I get it? If I do, then your -admonition amounts to this, that I shall obtain it better if I -proceed in some other way than that I adopt. If I do not -get it, then I remain without happiness if I follow your -way, just as much as if I follow my own, and nothing is -gained.” An illustration will best show how the matter -stands. To a tyro in archery the instructor says:—“Sir, -you must not point your arrow directly at the target. If -you do, you will inevitably miss it. You must aim high -above the target; and you may then possibly pierce the -bull’s eye.” What now is implied by the -warning and the <span class="xxpn" id="p209">{209}</span> -advice? Clearly that the purpose is to hit the target. -Otherwise there is no sense in the remark that it will be -missed if directly aimed at; and no sense in the remark -that to be hit, something higher must be aimed at. -Similarly with happiness. There is no sense in the remark -that happiness will not be found if it is directly sought, -unless happiness is a thing to be somehow or other obtained.</p> - -<p>“Yes; there is sense,” I hear it said. “Just as it may -be that the target is not the thing to be hit at all, either -by aiming directly or indirectly at it, but that some other -thing is to be hit; so it may be that the thing to be -achieved immediately or remotely is not happiness at all, but -some other thing: the other thing being duty.” In answer -to this the admonished man may reasonably say:—“What -then is meant by Kant’s statement that the man who -pursues happiness ‘fails of true satisfaction’? All happiness -is made up of satisfactions. The ‘true satisfaction’ -which Kant offers as an alternative, must be some kind of -happiness; and if a truer satisfaction, must be a better -happiness; and better must mean on the average, and in -the long run, greater. If this ‘true satisfaction’ does not -mean greater happiness of self,—distant if not proximate, -in another life if not in this life—and if it does not mean -greater happiness by achieving the happiness of others; -then you propose to me as an end a smaller happiness -instead of a greater, and I decline it.”</p> - -<p>So that in this professed repudiation of happiness as an -end, there lies the inavoidable implication that it <i>is</i> the end.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">The last consideration introduces us naturally to another -of Kant’s cardinal doctrines. That there may be no -mistake in my representation of it, I must make a -long quotation.</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“I omit here all actions which are already recognized as inconsistent with -duty, although they may be useful for this or that purpose, for with these the -question whether they are done <i>from duty</i> cannot arise at all, since they -even conflict with it. I also set aside those actions -which really conform to <span class="xxpn" id="p210">{210}</span> -duty, but to which men have <i>no</i> direct <i>inclination</i>, performing them because -they are impelled thereto by some other inclination. For in this case we -can readily distinguish whether the action which agrees with duty is done -<i>from duty</i>, or from a selfish view. It is much harder to make this -distinction when the action accords with duty, and the subject has besides -a <i>direct</i> inclination to it. For example, it is always a matter of duty that a -dealer should not overcharge an inexperienced purchaser, and wherever -there is much commerce the prudent tradesman does not overcharge, but -keeps a fixed price for every one, so that a child buys of him as well as any -other. Men are thus <i>honestly</i> served; but this is not enough to make us -believe that the tradesman has so acted from duty and from principles of -honesty: his own advantage required it; it is out of the question in this -case to suppose that he might besides have a direct inclination in favour of -the buyers, so that, as it were, from love he should give no advantage to -one over another [!]. Accordingly the action was done neither from duty -nor from direct inclination, but merely with a selfish view. On the other -hand, it is a duty to maintain one’s life; and, in addition, every one has -also a direct inclination to do so. But on this account the often anxious -care which most men take for it has no intrinsic worth, and their maxim -has no moral import. They preserve their life <i>as duty requires</i>, no doubt, -but not <i>because duty requires</i>. On the other hand, if adversity and hopeless -sorrow have completely taken away the relish for life; if the unfortunate -one, strong in mind, indignant at his fate rather than desponding or dejected, -wishes for death, and yet preserves his life without loving it—not from -inclination or fear, but from duty—then his maxim has a moral worth.</p> - -<p>“To be beneficent when we can is a duty; and besides this, there are -many minds so sympathetically constituted that without any other motive -of vanity or self-interest, they find a pleasure in spreading joy around them, -and can take delight in the satisfaction of others so far as it is their own -work. But I maintain that in such a case an action of this kind, however -proper, however amiable it may be, has nevertheless no true moral worth, -but is on a level with other inclinations” (pp. 17–19).</p></blockquote> - -<p>I have given this extract at length that there may be -fully understood the remarkable doctrine it embodies—a -doctrine especially remarkable as exemplified in the last -sentence. Let us now consider all that it means.</p> - -<p>Before doing this, however, I may remark that, space -permitting, it might be shown clearly enough that the -assumed distinction between <i>sense</i> of duty and inclination -is untenable. The very expression sense of duty implies -that the mental state signified is a feeling; and if a feeling -it must, like other feelings, be gratified by acts of one kind -and offended by acts of an opposite kind. If -we take the <span class="xxpn" id="p211">{211}</span> -name conscience, which is equivalent to sense of duty, we -see the same thing. The common expressions “a tender -conscience” “a seared conscience,” indicate the perception -that conscience is a feeling—a feeling which has its -satisfactions and dissatisfactions, and which <i>inclines</i> a man -to acts which yield the one and avoid the other—produces -an <i>inclination</i>. The truth is that conscience, or the sense -of duty, is an inclination of a complex kind as distinguished -from inclinations of simpler kinds.</p> - -<p>But let us grant Kant’s distinction in an unqualified -form. Doing this, let us entertain, too, his proposition -that acts of whatever kind done from inclination have no -moral worth, and that the only acts having moral worth -are those done from a sense of duty. To test this proposition -let us follow an example he sets. As he would have -the quality of an act judged by supposing it universalized, -let us judge of moral worth as he conceives it by making -a like supposition. That we may do this effectually, let us -assume that it is exemplified not only by every man but by -all the acts of every man. Unless Kant alleges that a man -may be morally worthy in too high a degree, we must -admit that the greater the number of his acts which have -moral worth the better. Let us then contemplate him as -doing nothing from inclination but everything from a -sense of duty.</p> - -<p>When he pays the labourer who has done a week’s work -for him, it is not because letting a man go without wages -would be against his inclination, but solely because he sees -it to be a duty to fulfil contracts. Such care as he takes -of his aged mother is prompted not by tender feeling for -her but by the consciousness of filial obligation. When he -gives evidence on behalf of a man whom he knows to have -been falsely charged, it is not that he would be hurt by -seeing the man wrongly punished, but simply in pursuance -of a moral intuition showing him that public duty requires -him to testify. When he sees a little child -in danger of <span class="xxpn" id="p212">{212}</span> -being run over, and steps aside to snatch, it away, he does -so not because thought of the impending death of the -child pains him, but because he knows it is a duty to save -life. And so throughout, in all his relations as husband, -as friend, as citizen, he thinks always of what the law of -right conduct directs, and does it because it is the law of -right conduct, not because he satisfies his affections or his -sympathies by doing it. This is not all however. Kant’s -doctrine commits him to something far beyond this. If -those acts only have moral worth which are done from a -sense of duty, we must not only say that the moral worth -of a man is greater in proportion as the number of the acts -so done is greater. We must also say that his moral worth -is greater in proportion as his sense of duty makes him do -the right thing not only apart from inclination but against -inclination. According to Kant, then, the most moral man -is the man whose sense of duty is so strong that he refrains -from picking a pocket though he is much tempted to do it; -who says of another that which is true though he would -like to injure him by a falsehood; who lends money to his -brother though he would prefer to see him in distress; who -fetches the doctor to his sick child though death would -remove what he feels to be a burden. What, now, shall we -think of a world peopled with Kant’s typically moral men—men -who, in the one case, while doing right by one another, -do it with indifference, and severally know one another to -be so doing it; and men who, in the other case, do right by -one another notwithstanding the promptings of evil passions -to do otherwise, and who severally know themselves surrounded -by others similarly prompted? Most people will, -I think, say that even in the first case life would be hardly -bearable, and that in the second case it would be absolutely -intolerable. Had such been men’s natures, Schopenhauer -would indeed have had good reason for urging that the -race should bring itself to an end as quickly as possible.</p> - -<p>Contemplate now the doings of one -whose acts, according <span class="xxpn" id="p213">{213}</span> -to Kant, have no moral worth. He goes through his daily -work not thinking of duty to wife and child, but having in -his mind the pleasure of witnessing their welfare; and on -reaching home he delights to see his little girl with rosy -cheeks and laughing eyes eating heartily. When he hands -back to a shopkeeper the shilling given in excess of right -change, he does not stop to ask what the moral law requires: -the thought of profiting by the man’s mistake is intrinsically -repugnant to him. One who is drowning he plunges in to -rescue without any idea of obligation, but because he cannot -contemplate without horror the death which threatens. If, -for a worthy man who is out of employment, he takes much -trouble to find a place, he does it because the consciousness -of the man’s difficulties is painful to him, and because he -knows that he will benefit not only him but the employer -who engages him: no moral maxim enters his mind. When -he goes to see a sick friend the gentle tones of his voice and -the kindly expression of his face show that he is come not -from any sense of duty, but because pity and a desire to -raise his friend’s spirits have moved him. If he aids in -some public measure which helps men to help themselves, -it is not in pursuance of the admonition “Do as you would -be done by,” but because the distresses around make him -unhappy, and the thought of mitigating them gives him -pleasure. And so throughout: he ever does the right thing -not in obedience to any injunction but because he loves the -right thing in and for itself. And now who would not like -to live in a world where everyone was thus characterized?</p> - -<p>What, then, shall we think of Kant’s conception of moral -worth, when, if it were displayed universally in men’s acts -the world would be intolerable, and when if these same acts -were universally performed from inclination, the world -would be delightful?</p> - -<p class="padtopb">But now, from these indirect criticisms, let us -pass to a <span class="xxpn" id="p214">{214}</span> -direct criticism of the Kantian principle—the principle often -quoted as distinctive of his ethics. He states it thus:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“There is therefore but one categorical imperative, namely this: <i>Act only -on that maxim whereby thou canst at the same time will that it should become -a universal law</i>.” (pp. 54–5.)</p></blockquote> - -<p>Again, subsequently, we read:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“<i>Act on maxims which can at the same time have for their object themselves -as universal laws of nature.</i> Such then is the formula of an absolutely good -will.” (p. 80.)</p></blockquote> - -<p>Here, then, we have a clear statement of that which -constitutes the character of a good will; which good will, -as we have already seen, is said to exist independently of -any contemplated end. Let us now observe how this -theory is reduced to practice. Speaking of a man who is -absolutely selfish and yet absolutely just, he represents -him as saying:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“Let everyone be as happy as heaven pleases or as he can make himself; -I will take nothing from him nor even envy him, only I do not wish to contribute -anything either to his welfare or to his assistance in distress! Now no -doubt if such a mode of thinking were a universal law, the human race -might very well subsist, and doubtless even better than in a state in which -every one talks of sympathy and good will, or even takes care occasionally -to put it into practice, but on the other side, also cheats when he can, betrays -the rights of men or otherwise violates them. But although it is possible -that a universal law of nature might exist in accordance with that maxim, -it is impossible to <i>will</i> that such a principle should have the universal -validity of a law of nature. For a will which resolved this would contradict -itself, inasmuch as many cases might occur in which one would have need -of the love and sympathy of others, and in which by such a law of nature, -sprung from his own will, he would deprive himself of all hope of the aid he -desires.” (pp. 58–9.)</p></blockquote> - -<p>Thus we see illustrated the guidance of conduct in conformity -with the Kantian maxim; and what is the process -of guidance? It is that of considering what, in the particular -case, would be the result if the suggested course of -conduct were made universal; and then being deterred from -willing such conduct by the badness of the conceived result. -Now, in the first place, what here becomes of the doctrine -of a good will, which we are told -exists “without paying <span class="xxpn" id="p215">{215}</span> -any regard to the effect expected from it”? (p. 24). The -good will, characterized by readiness to see the act it -prompts made universal, has, in this particular case, as in -every other case, to be decided by contemplation of an -end—if not a special and immediate end then a general and -remote end. And what, in this case, is to be the deterrent -from a suggested course of conduct? Consciousness that -the result, if such conduct were universal, might be suffering -to self: there might be no aid when it was wanted. So -that, in the first place, the question is to be decided by the -contemplation of happiness or misery as likely to be caused -by the one or the other course; and, in the second place, -this happiness or misery is that of the individual himself. -Strangely enough, this principle which is lauded because -of its apparently implied altruism, turns out, in the last -resort, to have its justification in egoism!</p> - -<p>The essential truth here to be noted, however, is that the -Kantian principle, so much vaunted as higher than that of -expediency or utilitarianism, is compelled to take expediency -or utilitarianism as its basis. Do what it will, it -cannot escape the need for conceiving happiness or misery, -to self or others or both, as respectively to be achieved or -avoided; for in any case what, except the conceived happiness -or misery which would follow if a given mode of -action were made universal, can determine the will for or -against such mode of action? If, in one who has been -injured, there arises a temptation to murder the injurer; -and if, following out the Kantian injunction, the tempted -man thinks of himself as willing that all men who have -been injured should murder those who have injured them; -and if, imagining the consequences experienced by mankind -at large, and possibly on some occasion by himself in -particular, he is deterred from yielding to the temptation; -what is it which deters him? Obviously the representation -of the many evils, pains, deprivations of happiness, -which would be caused. If, on imagining his -act to be <span class="xxpn" id="p216">{216}</span> -universalized, he saw that it would increase human happiness, -the alleged deterrent would not act. Hence the conduct -to be insured by adoption of the Kantian maxim is -simply the conduct to be insured by making the happiness -of self or others or both the end to be achieved. By implication, -if not avowedly, the Kantian principle is as distinctly -utilitarian as the principle of Bentham. And it falls short -of a scientific ethics in just the same way; since it fails to -furnish any method by which to determine whether such -and such acts <i>would</i> or <i>would not</i> be conducive to happiness—leaves -all such questions to be decided empirically.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p217">{217}</span></div> -<h2 class="h2nobreak">ABSOLUTE POLITICAL ETHICS.</h2></div> - -<div class="dchappre"> -<p class="pfirst">[<i>Originally published in</i> The Nineteenth Century -<i>for January 1890. The writing of this essay was consequent on a -controversy carried on in</i> The Times <i>between Nov. 7 and Nov. 27, 1889, -and was made needful by the misapprehensions and misrepresentations -embodied in that controversy. Hence the allusions which the essay -contains. The last few paragraphs of it in its original form were -mainly personal in their character; and, not wishing to perpetuate -personalities, I have omitted them</i>.]</p></div> - -<p>Life in Fiji, at the time when Thomas Williams settled -there, must have been something worse than uncomfortable. -One of the people who passed near the string of nine -hundred stones with which Ra Undreundre recorded the -number of human victims he had devoured, must have had -unpleasant waking thoughts and occasionally horrible -dreams. A man who had lost some fingers for breaches of -ceremony, or had seen his neighbour killed by a chief for -behaviour not sufficiently respectful, and who remembered -how King Tanoa cut off his cousin’s arm, cooked it and ate -it in his presence, and then had him hacked to pieces, must -not unfrequently have had “a bad quarter of an hour.” -Nor could creeping sensations have failed to run through -women who heard Tui Thakau eulogizing his dead son for -cruelty, and saying that “he could kill his own wives if -they offended him, and eat -them afterwards.” Happiness <span class="xxpn" id="p218">{218}</span> -could not have been general in a society where there was a -liability to be one among the ten whose life-blood baptized -the decks of a new canoe—a society in which the killing -even of unoffending persons was no crime but a glory; -and in which everyone knew that his neighbour’s restless -ambition was to be an acknowledged murderer. Still, -there must have been some moderation in murdering even -in Fiji. Or must we hesitate to conclude that unlimited -murder would have caused extinction of the society?</p> - -<p>The extent to which each man’s possessions among the -Biluchis are endangered by the predatory instincts of his -neighbours, may be judged from the fact that “a small -mud tower is erected in each field, where the possessor -and his retainers guard his produce.” If turbulent states -of society such as early histories tell of, do not show us so -vividly how the habit of appropriating one another’s goods -interferes with social prosperity and individual comfort, -yet they do not leave us in doubt respecting these results. -It is an inference which few will be hardy enough to -dispute, that in proportion as the time of each man, instead -of being occupied in further production, is occupied in -guarding that which he has produced against marauders, -the total production must be diminished and the sustentation -of each and all less satisfactorily achieved. And it -is a manifest corollary that if each pushes beyond a certain -limit the practice of trying to satisfy his needs by robbing -his neighbour, the society must dissolve: solitary life will -prove preferable.</p> - -<p>A deceased friend of mine, narrating incidents in his life, -told me that as a young man he sought to establish himself -in Spain as a commission agent; and that, failing by -expostulation or other means to obtain payment from one -who had ordered goods through him, he, as a last resource, -went to the man’s house and presented himself before him -pistol in hand—a proceeding which had the desired effect: -the account was settled. Suppose -now that everywhere <span class="xxpn" id="p219">{219}</span> -contracts had thus to be enforced by more or less strenuous -measures. Suppose that a coal-mine proprietor in Derbyshire, -having sent a train-load to a London coal-merchant, -had commonly to send a <i>posse</i> of colliers up to town, to -stop the man’s wagons and take out the horses until -payment had been made. Suppose the farm-labourer or -the artisan was constantly in doubt whether, at the end of -the week, the wages agreed upon would be forthcoming; -or whether he would get only half, or whether he would -have to wait six months. Suppose that daily in every shop -there occurred scuffles between shopman and customer, -the one to get the money without giving the goods, and the -other to get the goods without paying the money. What in -such case would happen to the society? What would become -of its producing and distributing businesses? Is it a rash -inference that industrial co-operation (of the voluntary -kind at least) would cease?</p> - -<p>“Why these absurd questions?” asks the impatient -reader. “Surely everyone knows that murder, assault, -robbery, fraud, breach of contract, &c., are at variance -with social welfare and must be punished when committed,” -My replies are several. In the first place, I am quite -content to have the questions called absurd; because this -implies a consciousness that the answers are so self-evident -that it is absurd to assume the possibility of any other -answers. My second reply is that I am not desirous of -pressing the question <i>whether</i> we know these things, but of -pressing the question <i>how</i> we know these things. Can we -know them, and do we know them, by contemplating -the necessities of the case? or must we have recourse to -“inductions based on careful observation and experience”? -Before we make and enforce laws against murder, ought we -to inquire into the social welfare and individual happiness -in places where murder prevails, and observe whether or -not the welfare and happiness are greater in places where -murder is rare? Shall robbery be allowed to -go on until, <span class="xxpn" id="p220">{220}</span> -by collecting and tabulating the effects in countries where -thieves predominate and in countries where thieves are -but few, we are shown by induction that prosperity is -greater when each man is allowed to retain that which -he has earned? And is it needful to prove by accumulated -evidence that breaches of contract impede production -and exchange, and those benefits to each and all which mutual -dependence achieves? In the third place, these instances of -actions which, pushed to extremes, cause social dissolution, -and which, in smaller degrees, hinder social co-operation -and its benefits, I give for the purpose of asking what is -their common trait. In each of such actions we see aggression—a -carrying on of life in a way which directly interferes -with the carrying on of another’s life. The relation -between effort and consequent benefit in one man, is either -destroyed altogether or partially broken by the doings of -another man. If it be admitted that life can be maintained -only by certain activities (the internal ones being universal, -and the external ones being universal for all but parasites -and the immature), it must be admitted that when like-natured -beings are associated, the required activities must -be mutually limited; and that the highest life can result -only when the associated beings are so constituted as -severally to keep within the implied limits. The restrictions -stated thus generally, may obviously be developed -into special restrictions referring to this or that kind of -conduct. These, then, I hold are <i>a priori</i> truths which admit -of being known by contemplation of the conditions—axiomatic -truths which bear to ethics a relation analogous -to that which the mathematical axioms bear to the -exact sciences.</p> - -<p>I do not mean that these axiomatic truths are cognisable -by all. For the apprehension of them, as for the apprehension -of simpler axioms, a certain mental growth and a -certain mental discipline are needed. In the <i>Treatise on -Natural Philosophy</i> by Professors Thomson -and Tait [1st ed.], <span class="xxpn" id="p221">{221}</span> -it is remarked that “physical axioms are axiomatic to -those only who have sufficient knowledge of the action of -physical causes to enable them to see at once their necessary -truth.” Doubtless a fact and a significant fact. A plough-boy -cannot form a conception of the axiom that action and -reaction are equal and opposite. In the first place he lacks -a sufficiently generalized idea of action—has not united -into one conception pushing and pulling, the blow of a fist, -the recoil of a gun, and the attraction of a planet. Still -less has he any generalized idea of reaction. And even had -he these two ideas, it is probable that, defective in power -of representation as he is, he would fail to recognize the -necessary equality. Similarly with these <i>a priori</i> ethical -truths. If a member of that Fijian slave-tribe who regarded -themselves as food for the chiefs had suggested that there -might arrive a time when men would not eat one another, -his implied belief that men might come to have a little -respect for one another’s lives, condemned as utterly without -justification in experience, would be considered as fit only -for a wild speculator. Facts furnished by every-day -observation make it clear to the Biluchi, keeping watch in -his mud-tower, that possession of property can be maintained -only by force; and it is most likely to him scarcely -conceivable that there exist limits which, if mutually -recognized, may exclude aggressions, and make it needless -to mount guard over fields: only an absurd idealist (supposing -such a thing known to him) would suggest the -possibility. And so even of our own ancestors in feudal -times, it may be concluded that, constantly going about -armed and often taking refuge in strongholds, the thought -of a peaceful social state would have seemed ridiculous; -and the belief that there might be a recognized equality -among men’s claims to pursue the objects of life, and a -consequent desistence from aggressions, would have been -scarcely conceivable. But now that an orderly social state -has been maintained for generations—now -that in daily <span class="xxpn" id="p222">{222}</span> -intercourse men rarely use violence, commonly pay what -they owe, and in most cases respect the claims of the weak -as well as those of the strong—now that they are brought -up with the idea that all men are equal before the law, and -daily see judicial decisions turning upon the question -whether one citizen has or has not infringed upon the equal -rights of another; there exist in the general mind materials -for forming the conception of a <i>régime</i> in which men’s -activities are mutually limited, and in which maintenance -of harmony depends on respect for the limits. There has -arisen an ability to see that mutual limitations are required -when lives are carried on in proximity; and to see that -there necessarily emerge definite sets of restraints applying -to definite classes of actions. And it has become -manifest to some, though not it seems to many, that there -results an <i>a priori</i> system of absolute political ethics—a -system under which men of like natures, severally so -constituted as spontaneously to refrain from trespassing, -may work together without friction, and with the greatest -advantage to each and all.</p> - -<p>“But men are not wholly like-natured and are unlikely -to become so. Nor are they so constituted that each is -solicitous for his neighbour’s claims as for his own, and -there is small probability that they ever will be. Your -absolute political ethics is therefore an ideal beyond the -reach of the real.” This is true. Nevertheless, much as it -seems to do so, it does not follow that there is no use for -absolute political ethics. The contrary may clearly enough -be shown. An analogy will explain the paradox.</p> - -<p>There exists a division of physical science distinguished as -abstract mechanics or absolute mechanics—absolute in the -sense that its propositions are unqualified. It is concerned -with statics and dynamics in their pure forms—deals with -forces and motions considered as free from all interferences -resulting from friction, resistances of media, and special -properties of matter. If it enunciates a law -of motion, it <span class="xxpn" id="p223">{223}</span> -recognizes nothing which modifies manifestation of it. -If it formulates the properties of the lever it treats of this -assuming it to be perfectly rigid and without thickness—an -impossible lever. Its theory of the screw imagines -the screw to be frictionless; and in treating of the -wedge, absolute incompressibility is supposed. Thus -its truths are never presented in experience. Even those -movements of the heavenly bodies which are deducible -from its propositions are always more or less perturbed; and -on the Earth the inferences to be drawn from them deviate -very considerably from the results reached by experiment. -Nevertheless this system of ideal mechanics is indispensable -for the guidance of real mechanics. The engineer has to -deal with its propositions as true in full, before he proceeds -to qualify them by taking into account the natures of the -materials he uses. The course which a projectile would -take if subject only to the propulsive force and the attraction -of the Earth must be recognized, though no such course is -ever pursued: correction for atmospheric resistance cannot -else be made. That is to say, though, by empirical methods, -applied or relative mechanics may be developed to a considerable -extent, it cannot be highly developed without the -aid of absolute mechanics. So is it here. Relative political -ethics, or that which deals with right and wrong in public -affairs as partially determined by changing circumstances, -cannot progress without taking into account right and -wrong considered apart from changing circumstances—cannot -do without absolute political ethics; the propositions -of which, deduced from the conditions under which life is -carried on in an associated state, take no account of the -special circumstances of any particular associated state.</p> - -<p>And now observe a truth which seems entirely overlooked; -namely, that the set of deductions thus arrived at -is verified by an immeasurably vast induction, or rather by -a great assemblage of vast inductions. For what else are -the laws and judicial systems of all civilized -nations, and of <span class="xxpn" id="p224">{224}</span> -all societies which have risen above savagery? What is -the meaning of the fact that all peoples have discovered -the need for punishing murder, usually by death? How is -it that where any considerable progress has been made, -theft is forbidden by law, and a penalty attached to it? -Why along with further advance does the enforcing of -contracts become general? And what is the reason that -among fully civilized peoples frauds, libels, and minor -aggressions of various kinds are repressed in more or less -rigorous ways? No cause can be assigned save a general -uniformity in men’s experiences, showing them that aggressions -directly injurious to the individuals aggressed -upon are indirectly injurious to society. Generation after -generation observations have forced this truth on them; -and generation after generation they have been developing -the interdicts into greater detail. That is to say, the above -fundamental principle and its corollaries arrived at <i>a priori</i> -are verified in an infinity of cases <i>a posteriori</i>. Everywhere -the tendency has been to carry further in practice -the dictates of theory—to conform systems of law to the -requirements of absolute political ethics: if not consciously, -still unconsciously. Nay, indeed, is not this truth manifest -in the very name used for the end aimed at—equity or -equalness? Equalness of what? No answer can be given -without a recognition—vague it may be, but still a recognition—of -the doctrine above set forth.</p> - -<p>Thus, instead of being described as putting faith in -“long chains of deduction from abstract ethical assumptions” -I ought to be described as putting faith in simple -deductions from abstract ethical necessities; which deductions -are verified by infinitely numerous observations and -experiences of semi-civilized and civilized mankind in all -ages and places. Or rather I ought to be described as one -who, contemplating the restraints everywhere put on the -various kinds of transgressions, and seeing in them all a -common principle everywhere dictated -by the necessities <span class="xxpn" id="p225">{225}</span> -of the associated state, proceeds to develop the consequences -of this common principle by deduction, and to justify both -the deductions and the conclusions which legislators have -empirically reached by showing that the two correspond. -This method of deduction verified by induction -is the method of developed science at large. I do not -believe that I shall be led to abandon it and change my -“way of thinking” by any amount of disapproval, however -strongly expressed.</p> - -<p>Are we then to understand that by this imposing title, -“Absolute Political Ethics,” nothing more is meant than -a theory of the needful restraints which law imposes on the -actions of citizens—an ethical warrant for systems of law? -Well, supposing even that I had to answer “Yes” to this -question (which I do not), there would still be an ample -justification for the title. Having for its subject-matter all -that is comprehended under the word “Justice,” alike as -formulated in law and administered by legal instrumentalities, -the title has a sufficiently large area to cover. -This would scarcely need saying were it not for a curious -defect of thought which we are everywhere led into by habit.</p> - -<p>Just as, when talking of knowledge, we ignore entirely -that familiar knowledge of surrounding things, animate -and inanimate, acquired in childhood, in the absence of -which death would quickly result, and think only of that -far less essential knowledge gained at school and college or -from books and conversation—just as, when thinking of -mathematics, we include under the name only its higher -groups of truths and drop out that simpler group constituting -arithmetic, though for the carrying on of life -this is more important than all the rest put together; -so, when politics and political ethics are discussed, there -is no thought of those parts of them which include whatever -is fundamental and long settled. The word political -raises ideas of party-contests, ministerial changes, prospective -elections, or else of the -Home-Rule question, the <span class="xxpn" id="p226">{226}</span> -Land-Purchase scheme, Local Option, or the Eight-Hours -movement. Rarely does the word suggest law-reform, or -a better judicial organization, or a purified police. And -if ethics comes into consideration, it is in connexion with the -morals of parliamentary strife or of candidates’ professions, -or of electoral corruptions. Yet it needs but to look at -the definition of politics (“that part of ethics which consists -in the regulation and government of a nation or state, for -the preservation of its safety, peace, and prosperity”), to -see that the current conception fails by omitting the chief -part. It needs but to consider how relatively immense -a factor in the life of each man is constituted by safety of -person, security of house and property, and enforcement of -claims, to see that not only the largest part but the part -which is vital is left out. Hence the absurdity does not -exist in the conception of an absolute political ethics, but it -exists in the ignoring of its subject-matter. Unless it be -considered absurd to regard as absolute the interdicts -against murder, burglary, fraud and all other aggressions, -it cannot be considered absurd to regard as absolute the -ethical system which embodies these interdicts.</p> - -<p>It remains to add that beyond the deductions which, as we -have seen, are verified by vast assemblages of inductions, -there may be drawn other deductions not thus verified—deductions -drawn from the same data, but which have no -relevant experiences to say yes or no to them. Such -deductions may be valid or invalid; and I believe that in -my first work, written forty years ago and long since withdrawn -from circulation, there are some invalid deductions. -But to reject a principle and a method because of some -invalid deductions, is about as proper as it would be to -pooh-pooh arithmetic because of blunders in certain arithmetical -calculations.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">I turn now to a question above put—whether, by absolute -political ethics, nothing more is meant -than an ethical <span class="xxpn" id="p227">{227}</span> -warrant for systems of law—a question to which, by implication, -I answered No. And now I have to answer that it -extends over a further field equally wide if less important. -For beyond the relations among citizens taken individually, -there are the relations between the incorporated body of -citizens and each citizen. And on these relations between -the State and the man, absolute political ethics gives -judgments as well as on the relations between man and man. -Its judgments on the relations between man and man are -corollaries from its primary truth, that the activities of -each in pursuing the objects of life may be rightly -restricted only by the like activities of others: such others -being like-natured (for the principle does not contemplate -slave-societies or societies in which one race dominates -over another); and its judgments on the relations between -the man and the State are corollaries from the allied truth, -that the activities of each citizen may be rightly limited by -the incorporated body of citizens only as far as is needful -for securing to him the remainder. This further limitation -is a necessary accompaniment of the militant state; and -must continue so long as, besides the criminalities of -individual aggression, there continue the criminalities of -international aggression. It is clear that the preservation -of the society is an end which must take precedence of the -preservation of its individuals taken singly; since the -preservation of each individual and the maintenance of his -ability to pursue the objects of life, depend on the preservation -of the society. Such restrictions upon his actions as -are imposed by the necessities of war, and of preparedness -for war when it is probable, are therefore ethically defensible.</p> - -<p>And here we enter upon the many and involved questions -with which relative political ethics has to deal. When -originally indicating the contrast, I spoke of “absolute -political ethics, or that which ought to be, as distinguished -from relative political ethics, or that which is at present -the nearest practicable approach to it;” -and had any <span class="xxpn" id="p228">{228}</span> -attention been paid to this distinction, no controversy need have -arisen. Here I have to add that the qualifications which -relative political ethics sets forth vary with the type of the -society, which is primarily determined by the extent to -which defence against other societies is needful. Where -international enmity is great and the social organization -has to be adapted to warlike activities, the coercion of -individuals by the State is such as almost to destroy their -freedom of action and make them slaves of the State; and -where this results from the necessities of defensive war (not -offensive war, however), relative political ethics furnishes a -warrant. Conversely, as militancy decreases, there is a -diminished need both for that subordination of individuals -which is necessitated by consolidating them into a fighting -machine, and for that further subordination entailed by -supplying this fighting machine with the necessaries of life; -and as fast as this change goes on, the warrant for State-coercion -which relative political ethics furnishes becomes -less and less.</p> - -<p>Obviously it is out of the question here to enter upon the -complex questions raised. It must suffice to indicate them -as above. Should I be able to complete Part IV. of <i>The -Principles of Ethics</i>, treating of “Justice,” of which the -first chapters only are at present written, I hope to deal -adequately with these relations between the ethics of the -progressive condition and the ethics of that condition -which is the goal of progress—a goal ever to be recognized, -though it cannot be actually reached.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p229">{229}</span></div> -<h2 class="h2nobreak" title="OVER-LEGISLATION."> - OVER-LEGISLATION.<a class="afnanch" - href="#fn26" id="fnanch26">26</a></h2></div> - -<div class="dchappre"> -<p class="pfirst">[<i>First published in</i> -The Westminster Review <i>for July 1853</i>.]</p></div> - -<p>From time to time there returns on the cautious thinker, -the conclusion that, considered simply as a question of probabilities, -it is unlikely that his views upon any debatable -topic are correct. “Here,” he reflects, “are thousands -around me holding on this or that point opinions differing -from mine—wholly in many cases; partially in most others. -Each is as confident as I am of the truth of his convictions. -Many of them are possessed of great intelligence; and, -rank myself high as I may, I must admit that some are my -equals—perhaps my superiors. Yet, while every one of us -is sure he is right, unquestionably most of us are wrong. -Why should not I be among the mistaken? True, I -cannot realize the likelihood that I am so. But this proves -nothing; for though the majority of us are necessarily in -error, we all labour under the inability to think we are in -error. Is it not then foolish thus -to trust myself? When <span class="xxpn" id="p230">{230}</span> -I look back into the past, I find nations, sects, theologians, -philosophers, cherishing beliefs in science, morals, politics, -and religion, which we decisively reject. Yet they held -them with a faith quite as strong as ours: nay—stronger, if -their intolerance of dissent is any criterion. Of what little -worth, therefore, seems this strength of my conviction that -I am right! A like warrant has been felt by men all the -world through; and, in nine cases out of ten, has proved a -delusive warrant. Is it not then absurd in me to put so -much faith in my judgments?”</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch26" id="fn26">26</a> -Some of the illustrations used in this essay refer to laws and -arrangements changed since it was written; while many recent occurrences -might now be cited in further aid of its argument. As, however, the -reasoning is not affected by these changes; and as to keep it corrected to -the facts of the day would involve perpetual alterations; it seems best to -leave it substantially in its original state: or rather in the state in which it -was republished in Mr. Chapman’s <i>Library -for the People</i>.</p></div> - -<p>Barren of practical results as this reflection at first sight -appears, it may, and indeed should, influence some of our -most important proceedings. Though in daily life we are -constantly obliged to act out our inferences, trustless as -they may be—though in the house, in the office, in the -street, there hourly arise occasions on which we may not -hesitate; seeing that if to act is dangerous, never to act at -all is fatal—and though, consequently, on our private -conduct, this abstract doubt as to the worth of our judgments, -must remain inoperative; yet, in our public conduct, -we may properly allow it to weigh. Here decision is no -longer imperative; while the difficulty of deciding aright -is incalculably greater. Clearly as we may think we see -how a given measure will work, we may infer, drawing -the above induction from human experience, that the -chances are many against the truth of our anticipations. -Whether in most cases it is not wiser to do nothing, -becomes now a rational question. Continuing his self-criticism, -the cautious thinker may reason:—“If in these -personal affairs, where all the conditions of the case were -known to me, I have so often miscalculated, how much -oftener shall I miscalculate in political affairs, where the -conditions are too numerous, too wide-spread, too complex, -too obscure to be understood. Here, doubtless, is a social -evil and there a desideratum; and were I sure of doing no -mischief I would forthwith try to cure the -one and achieve <span class="xxpn" id="p231">{231}</span> -the other. But when I remember how many of my private -schemes have miscarried—how speculations have failed, -agents proved dishonest, marriage been a disappointment—how -I did but pauperize the relative I sought to help—how -my carefully-governed son has turned out worse than most -children—how the thing I desperately strove against as a -misfortune did me immense good—how while the objects I -ardently pursued brought me little happiness when gained, -most of my pleasures have come from unexpected sources; -when I recall these and hosts of like facts, I am struck -with the incompetence of my intellect to prescribe for -society. And as the evil is one under which society has -not only lived but grown, while the desideratum is one it -may spontaneously obtain, as it has most others, in some -unforeseen way, I question the propriety of meddling.”</p> - -<p class="padtopb">There is a great want of this practical humility in our -political conduct. Though we have less self-confidence -than our ancestors, who did not hesitate to organize in law -their judgments on all subjects whatever, we have yet far -too much. Though we have ceased to assume the infallibility -of our theological beliefs and so ceased to enact them, -we have not ceased to enact hosts of other beliefs of an -equally doubtful kind. Though we no longer presume to -coerce men for their <i>spiritual good</i>, we still think ourselves -called upon to coerce them for their <i>material good</i>: not -seeing that the one is as useless and as unwarrantable as -the other. Innumerable failures seem, so far, powerless to -teach this. Take up a daily paper and you will probably -find a leader exposing the corruption, negligence, or mismanagement -of some State-department. Cast your eye -down the next column, and it is not unlikely that you will -read proposals for an extension of State-supervision. -Yesterday came a charge of gross carelessness against the -Colonial office. To-day Admiralty bunglings are burlesqued. -To-morrow brings -the question—“Should there <span class="xxpn" id="p232">{232}</span> -not be more coal-mine inspectors?” Now there is a complaint -that the Board of Health is useless; and now an -outcry for more railway regulation. While your ears are -still ringing with denunciations of Chancery abuses, or -your cheeks still glowing with indignation at some well-exposed -iniquity of the Ecclesiastical Courts, you suddenly -come upon suggestions for organizing “a priesthood of -science.” Here is a vehement condemnation of the police -for stupidly allowing sight-seers to crush each other to -death. You look for the corollary that official regulation is -not to be trusted; when, instead, <i>à propos</i> of a shipwreck, -you read an urgent demand for government-inspectors to -see that ships always have their boats ready for launching. -Thus, while every day chronicles a failure, there every day -reappears the belief that it needs but an Act of Parliament -and a staff of officers, to effect any end desired. Nowhere -is the perennial faith of mankind better seen. Ever since -society existed Disappointment has been preaching—“Put -not your trust in legislation;” and yet the trust in legislation -seems scarcely diminished.</p> - -<p>Did the State fulfil efficiently its unquestionable duties, -there would be some excuse for this eagerness to assign it -further duties. Were there no complaints of its faulty -administration of justice; of its endless delays and untold -expenses; of its bringing ruin in place of restitution; of its -playing the tyrant where it should have been the protector—did -we never hear of its complicated stupidities; its -20,000 statutes, which it assumes all Englishmen to know, -and which not one Englishman does know; its multiplied -forms, which, in the effort to meet every contingency, open -far more loopholes than they provide against—had it not -shown its folly in the system of making every petty alteration -by a new act, variously affecting innumerable preceding -acts; or in its score of successive sets of Chancery -rules, which so modify, and limit, and extend, and abolish, -and alter each other, that not even -Chancery lawyers know <span class="xxpn" id="p233">{233}</span> -what the rules are—were we never astounded by such a fact -as that, under the system of land registration in Ireland, -6000l. have been spent in a “negative search” to establish -the title of an estate—did we find in its doings no such -terrible incongruity as the imprisonment of a hungry -vagrant for stealing a turnip, while for the gigantic embezzlements -of a railway director it inflicts no punishment;—had -we, in short, proved its efficiency as judge and -defender, instead of having found it treacherous, cruel, and -anxiously to be shunned, there would be some encouragement -to hope other benefits at its hands.</p> - -<p>Or if, while failing in its judicial functions, the State had -proved itself a capable agent in some other department—the -military for example—there would have been some -show of reason for extending its sphere of action. Suppose -that it had rationally equipped its troops, instead of giving -them cumbrous and ineffective muskets, barbarous grenadier -caps, absurdly heavy knapsacks and cartouche-boxes, and -clothing coloured so as admirably to help the enemy’s -marksmen—suppose that it organized well and economically, -instead of salarying an immense superfluity of officers, creating -sinecure colonelcies of 4000<i>l.</i> a year, neglecting the meritorious -and promoting incapables—suppose that its soldiers -were always well housed instead of being thrust into barracks -that invalid hundreds, as at Aden, or that fall on their -occupants, as at Loodianah, where ninety-five were thus -killed—suppose that, in actual war, it had shown due -administrative ability, instead of occasionally leaving its -regiments to march barefoot, to dress in patches, to capture -their own engineering tools, and to fight on empty stomachs, -as during the Peninsular campaign;—suppose all this, -and the wish for more State-control might still have had -some warrant.</p> - -<p>Even though it had bungled in everything else, yet had -it in one case done well—had its naval management alone -been efficient—the sanguine would have -had a colourable <span class="xxpn" id="p234">{234}</span> -excuse for expecting success in a new field. Grant that -the reports about bad ships, ships that will not sail, ships -that have to be lengthened, ships with unfit engines, ships -that will not carry their guns, ships without stowage, and -ships that have to be broken up, are all untrue—assume -those to be mere slanderers who say that the <i>Megœra</i> took -double the time taken by a commercial steamer to reach the -Cape; that during the same voyage the <i>Hydra</i> was three times -on fire, and needed the pumps kept going day and night; -that the <i>Charlotte</i> troop-ship set out with 75 days’ provisions -on board, and was three months in reaching her destination; -that the <i>Harpy</i>, at an imminent risk of life, got home in -110 days from Rio—disregard as calumnies the statements -about septuagenarian admirals, dilettante ship building, -and “cooked” dockyard accounts—set down the affair of -the Goldner preserved meats as a myth, and consider Professor -Barlow mistaken when he reported of the Admiralty -compasses in store, that “at least one-half were mere -lumber;”—let all these, we say, be held groundless charges, -and there would remain for the advocates of much government -some basis for their political air-castles, spite of -military and judicial mismanagement.</p> - -<p>As it is, however, they seem to have read backwards the -parable of the talents. Not to the agent of proved efficiency -do they consign further duties, but to the negligent and -blundering agent. Private enterprise has done much, and -done it well. Private enterprise has cleared, drained, -and fertilized the country, and built the towns—has -excavated mines, laid out roads, dug canals, and embanked -railways—has invented, and brought to perfection, ploughs, -looms, steam-engines, printing-presses, and machines innumerable—has -built our ships, our vast manufactories, -our docks—has established banks, insurance societies, and -the newspaper press—has covered the sea with lines of -steam-vessels, and the land with electric telegraphs. -Private enterprise has -brought agriculture, manufactures, <span class="xxpn" id="p235">{235}</span> -and commerce to their present height, and is now developing -them with increasing rapidity. Therefore, do not trust -private enterprise. On the other hand, the State so fulfils -its judicial function as to ruin many, delude others, and -frighten away those who most need succour; its national -defences are so extravagantly and yet inefficiently administered, -as to call forth almost daily complaint, expostulation, -or ridicule; and as the nation’s steward, it obtains from -some of our vast public estates a minus revenue. Therefore, -trust the State. Slight the good and faithful servant, -and promote the unprofitable one from one talent to ten.</p> - -<p>Seriously, the case, while it may not, in some respects, -warrant this parallel, is, in one respect, even stronger. For -the new work is not of the same order as the old, but of a -more difficult order. Ill as government discharges its true -duties, any other duties committed to it are likely to be still -worse discharged. To guard its subjects against aggression, -either individual or national, is a straightforward and -tolerably simple matter; to regulate, directly or indirectly, -the personal actions of those subjects is an infinitely complicated -matter. It is one thing to secure to each man the -unhindered power to pursue his own good; it is a widely -different thing to pursue the good for him. To do the first -efficiently, the State has merely to look on while its citizens -act; to forbid unfairness; to adjudicate when called on; -and to enforce restitution for injuries. To do the last -efficiently, it must become an ubiquitous worker—must -know each man’s needs better than he knows them himself—must, -in short, possess superhuman power and intelligence. -Even, therefore, had the State done well in its -proper sphere, no sufficient warrant would have existed for -extending that sphere; but seeing how ill it has discharged -those simple offices which we cannot help consigning to it, -small indeed is the probability that it will discharge well -offices of a more complicated nature.</p> - -<p>Change the point of view however we -may, and this <span class="xxpn" id="p236">{236}</span> -conclusion still presents itself. If we define the primary State-duty -to be that of protecting each individual against others; -then, all other State-action comes under the definition of -protecting each individual against himself—against his own -stupidity, his own idleness, his own improvidence, rashness, -or other defect—his own incapacity for doing something or -other which should be done. There is no questioning this -classification. For manifestly all the obstacles that lie -between a man’s desires and the satisfaction of them, are -either obstacles arising from other men’s counter desires, or -obstacles arising from inability in himself. Such of these -counter desires as are just, have as much claim to satisfaction -as his; and may not, therefore, be thwarted. Such of -them as are unjust, it is the State’s duty to hold in check. -The only other possible sphere for it, therefore, is that of -saving the individual from the consequences of his nature, -or, as we say—protecting him against himself. Making no -comment, at present, on the policy of this, and confining -ourselves solely to the practicability of it, let us inquire how -the proposal looks when reduced to its simplest form. Here -are men possessed of instincts, and sentiments, and perceptions, -all conspiring to self-preservation. The due action of -each brings its quantum of pleasure; the inaction, its more -or less of pain. Those provided with these faculties in due -proportions, prosper and multiply; those ill-provided, tend -to die out. And the general success of this human organization -is seen in the fact, that under it the world has been -peopled, and by it the complicated appliances and arrangements -of civilized life have been developed. It is complained, -however, that there are certain directions in which this -apparatus of motives works but imperfectly. While it is -admitted that men are duly prompted by it to bodily sustenance, -to the obtainment of clothing and shelter, to -marriage and the care of offspring, and to the establishment -of the more important industrial and commercial agencies; -it is argued that there are many desiderata, -as pure air, <span class="xxpn" id="p237">{237}</span> -more knowledge, good water, safe travelling, and so forth, -which it does not duly achieve. And these short-comings -being assumed permanent, it is urged that some supplementary -means must be employed. It is therefore proposed -that out of the mass of men a certain number, constituting -the legislature, shall be instructed to attain these various -objects. The legislators thus instructed (all characterized, -on the average, by the same defects in this apparatus of -motives as men in general), being unable personally to -fulfil their tasks, must fulfil them by deputy—must appoint -commissions, boards, councils, and staffs of officers; and -must construct their agencies of this same defective -humanity that acts so ill. Why now should this system -of complex deputation succeed where the system of -simple deputation does not? The industrial, commercial, -and philanthropic agencies, which citizens form -spontaneously, are directly deputed agencies; these -governmental agencies made by electing legislators who -appoint officers, are indirectly deputed ones. And it is -hoped that, by this process of double deputation, things -may be achieved which the process of single deputation -will not achieve. What is the rationale of this hope? Is -it that legislators, and their employés, are made to feel -more intensely than the rest these evils they are to remedy, -these wants they are to satisfy? Hardly; for by position -they are mostly relieved from such evils and wants. Is it, -then, that they are to have the primary motive replaced by -a secondary motive—the fear of public displeasure, and -ultimate removal from office? Why scarcely; for the -minor benefits which citizens will not organize to secure -<i>directly</i>, they will not organize to secure <i>indirectly</i>, by -turning out inefficient servants: especially if they cannot -readily get efficient ones. Is it, then, that these State-agents -are to do from a sense of duty, what they would not -do from any other motive? Evidently this is the only -possibility remaining. The proposition -on which the <span class="xxpn" id="p238">{238}</span> -advocates of much government have to fall back, is, that -things which the people will not unite to effect for personal -benefit, a law-appointed portion of them will unite to effect -for the benefit of the rest. Public men and functionaries -love their neighbours better than themselves! The -philanthropy of statesmen is stronger than the selfishness -of citizens!</p> - -<p>No wonder, then, that every day adds to the list of -legislative miscarriages. If colliery explosions increase, -notwithstanding the appointment of coal-mine inspectors, -why it is but a natural sequence to these false methods. If -Sunderland shipowners complain that, as far as tried, “the -Mercantile Marine Act has proved a total failure;” and if, -meanwhile, the other class affected by it—the sailors—show -their disapprobation by extensive strikes; why it does but -exemplify the folly of trusting a theorising benevolence -rather than an experienced self-interest. On all sides we -may expect such facts; and on all sides we find them. -Government, turning engineer, appoints its lieutenant, the -Sewers’ Commission, to drain London. Presently Lambeth -sends deputations to say that it pays heavy rates, and gets -no benefit. Tired of waiting, Bethnal-green calls meetings -to consider “the most effectual means of extending the -drainage of the district.” From Wandsworth come complainants, -who threaten to pay no more until something is -done. Camberwell proposes to raise a subscription and do -the work itself. Meanwhile, no progress is made towards -the purification of the Thames; the weekly returns show an -increasing rate of mortality; in Parliament, the friends of -the Commission have nothing save good intentions to urge -in mitigation of censure; and, at length, despairing -ministers gladly seize an excuse for quietly shelving the -Commission and its plans altogether.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn27" id="fnanch27">27</a> -As architectural <span class="xxpn" id="p239">{239}</span> -surveyor, the State has scarcely succeeded better than as -engineer; witness the Metropolitan Buildings’ Act. New -houses still tumble down from time to time. A few months -since two fell at Bayswater, and one more recently near the -Pentonville Prison: all notwithstanding prescribed thicknesses, -and hoop-iron bond, and inspectors. It never struck -those who provided these delusive sureties, that it was -possible to build walls without bonding the two surfaces -together, so that the inner layer might be removed after the -surveyor’s approval. Nor did they foresee that, in dictating -a larger <i>quantity</i> of bricks than experience proved absolutely -needful, they were simply insuring a slow deterioration of -<i>quality</i> to an equivalent extent.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn28" id="fnanch28">28</a> -The government guarantee -for safe passenger ships answers no better than its guarantee -for safe houses. Though the burning of the <i>Amazon</i> arose -from either bad construction or bad stowage, she had -received the Admiralty certificate before sailing. Notwithstanding -official approval, the <i>Adelaide</i> was found, on her -first voyage, to steer ill, to have useless pumps, ports that -let floods of water into the cabins, and coals so near the -furnaces that they twice caught fire. The <i>W. S. Lindsay</i>, -which turned out unfit for sailing, had been passed by the -government agent; and, but for the owner, might have gone -to sea at a great risk of life. The <i>Melbourne</i>—originally a -State-built ship—which took twenty-four days to reach -Lisbon, and then needed to be docked to undergo a thorough -repair, had been duly inspected. And lastly, the notorious -<i>Australian</i>, before her third futile attempt -to proceed on her <span class="xxpn" id="p240">{240}</span> -voyage, had, her owners tell us, received “the full approbation -of the government inspector.” Neither does the like -supervision give security to land-travelling. The iron -bridge at Chester, which, breaking, precipitated a train into -the Dee, had passed under the official eye. Inspection did -not prevent a column on the South-Eastern from being so -placed as to kill a man who put his head out of the carriage -window. The locomotive that burst at Brighton lately, did -so notwithstanding a State-approval given but ten days -previously. And—to look at the facts in the gross—this -system of supervision has not prevented the increase of -railway accidents; which, be it remembered, has arisen -<i>since</i> the system was commenced.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch27" id="fn27">27</a> -So complete -is the failure of this and other sanitary bodies, that, at the -present moment (March, 1854) a number of philanthropic gentlemen are -voluntarily organizing a “Health Fund for London,” with the -view of meeting the threatened invasion of the Cholera; -and the plea for this <i>purely private enterprise</i>, is, that -the Local Boards of Health and Boards of Guardians are -inoperative, from “<i>ignorance</i>, 1st, <i>of the extent of the -danger</i>; 2nd, <i>of the means which experience has discovered -for meeting it; and</i> 3rd, <i>of the comparative security -which those means may produce</i>.”</p> - -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch28" id="fn28">28</a> -The <i>Builder</i> remarks, that “the removal of the brick-duties has not yet -produced that improvement in the make of bricks which we ought to find, -. . . . . but as bad bricks can be obtained for less than good bricks, so long -as houses built of the former will sell as readily as if the better had been -used, no improvement is -to be expected.”</p></div> - -<p>“Well; let the State fail. It can but do its best. If it -succeed, so much the better: if it do not, where is the -harm? Surely it is wiser to act, and take the chance of -success, than to do nothing.” To this plea the rejoinder is -that, unfortunately, the results of legislative intervention -are not only negatively bad, but often positively so. Acts -of Parliament do not simply fail; they frequently make -worse. The familiar truth that persecution aids rather -than hinders proscribed doctrines—a truth lately afresh -illustrated by the forbidden work of Gervinus—is a part of -the general truth that legislation often does indirectly, the -reverse of that which it directly aims to do. Thus has it -been with the Metropolitan Buildings’ Act. As was lately -agreed unanimously by the delegates from all the parishes -in London, and as was stated by them to Sir William -Molesworth, this act “has encouraged bad building, and -has been the means of covering the suburbs of the metropolis -with thousands of wretched hovels, which are a disgrace -to a civilized country.” Thus, also, has it been in provincial -towns. The Nottingham Inclosure Act of 1845, by prescribing -the structure of the houses to be built, and the extent -of yard or garden to be allotted to each, has rendered it -impossible to build working-class dwellings -at such moderate <span class="xxpn" id="p241">{241}</span> -rents as to compete with existing ones. It is estimated -that, as a consequence, 10,000 of the population are -debarred from the new homes they would otherwise have, -and are forced to live crowded together in miserable places -unfit for human habitation; and so, in its anxiety to insure -healthy accommodation for artisans, the law has entailed on -them still worse accommodation than before. Thus, too, -has it been with the Passengers’ Act. The terrible fevers -which arose in the Australian emigrant ships a few months -since, causing in the <i>Bourneuf</i> 83 deaths, in the <i>Wanota</i> 39 -deaths, in the <i>Marco Polo</i> 53 deaths, and in the <i>Ticonderoga</i> -104 deaths, arose in vessels sent out by the government; -and arose <i>in consequence</i> of the close packing which the -Passengers’ Act authorizes.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn29" id="fnanch29">29</a> -Thus, moreover, has it been -with the safeguards provided by the Mercantile Marine -Act. The examinations devised for insuring the efficiency -of captains, have had the effect of certifying the -superficially-clever and unpractised men, and, as we are -told by a shipowner, rejecting many of the long-tried and -most trustworthy: the general result being that <i>the -ratio of shipwrecks has increased</i>. Thus also has it -happened with Boards of Health, which have, in sundry -cases, exacerbated the evils to be removed; as, for instance, -at Croydon, where, according to the official report, the -measures of the sanitary authorities produced an epidemic, -which attacked 1600 people and killed 70. Thus again has -it been with the Joint Stock Companies Registration Act. -As was shown by Mr. James Wilson, in his late motion for -a select committee on life-assurance associations, this -measure, passed in 1844 to guard the public against bubble -schemes, actually facilitated the rascalities of 1845 and -subsequent years. The legislative sanction, devised as a -guarantee of genuineness, and supposed -by the people to be <span class="xxpn" id="p242">{242}</span> -such, clever adventurers have without difficulty obtained -for the most worthless projects. Having obtained it, an -amount of public confidence has followed which they could -never otherwise have gained. In this way literally -hundreds of sham enterprises that would not else have seen -the light, have been fostered into being; and thousands of -families have been ruined who would never have been so -but for legislative efforts to make them more secure.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch29" id="fn29">29</a> -Against which close packing, by the way, -<i>a private mercantile body</i>—the Liverpool Shipowners’ -Association—unavailingly protested when the Act was before -Parliament.</p></div> - -<p>Moreover, when these topical remedies applied by -statesmen do not exacerbate the evils they were meant to -cure, they constantly induce collateral evils; and these -often graver than the original ones. It is the vice of this -empirical school of politicians that they never look beyond -proximate causes and immediate effects. In common with -the uneducated masses they habitually regard each phenomenon -as involving but one antecedent and one consequent. -They do not bear in mind that each phenomenon -is a link in an infinite series—is the result of myriads of -preceding phenomena, and will have a share in producing -myriads of succeeding ones. Hence they overlook the fact -that, in disturbing any natural chain of sequences, they are -not only modifying the result next in succession, but all the -future results into which this will enter as a part cause. -The serial genesis of phenomena, and the interaction of -each series upon every other series, produces a complexity -utterly beyond human grasp. Even in the simplest cases -this is so. A servant who puts coals on the fire sees but -few effects from the burning of a lump. The man of -science, however, knows that there are very many effects. -He knows that the combustion establishes numerous -atmospheric currents, and through them moves thousands -of cubic feet of air inside the house and out. He knows -that the heat diffused causes expansions and subsequent -contractions of all bodies within its range. He knows that -the persons warmed are affected in their rate of respiration -and their waste of tissue; and -that these physiological <span class="xxpn" id="p243">{243}</span> -changes must have various secondary results. He knows -that, could he trace to their ramified consequences all the -forces disengaged, mechanical, chemical, thermal, electric—could -he enumerate all the subsequent effects of the -evaporation caused, the gases generated, the light evolved, -the heat radiated; a volume would scarcely suffice to enter -them. If, now, from a simple inorganic change such -numerous and complex results arise, how infinitely multiplied -and involved must be the ultimate consequences of -any force brought to bear upon society. Wonderfully constructed -as it is—mutually dependent as are its members -for the satisfaction of their wants—affected as each unit of -it is by his fellows, not only as to his safety and prosperity, -but in his health, his temper, his culture; the social -organism cannot be dealt with in any one part, without all -other parts being influenced in ways which cannot be -foreseen. You put a duty on paper, and by-and-by find -that, through the medium of the jacquard-cards employed, -you have inadvertently taxed figured silk, sometimes to the -extent of several shillings per piece. On removing the -impost from bricks, you discover that its existence had -increased the dangers of mining, by preventing shafts from -being lined and workings from being tunnelled. By the -excise on soap, you have, it turns out, greatly encouraged -the use of caustic washing-powders; and so have unintentionally -entailed an immense destruction of clothes. In -every case you perceive, on careful inquiry, that besides -acting upon that which you sought to act upon, you have -acted upon many other things, and each of these again on -many others; and so have propagated a multitude of -changes in all directions. We need feel no surprise, then, -that in their efforts to cure specific evils, legislators have -continually caused collateral evils they never looked for. -No Carlyle’s wisest man, nor any body of such, could avoid -causing them. Though their production is explicable -enough after it has occurred, it -is never anticipated. <span class="xxpn" id="p244">{244}</span> -When, under the New Poor-law, provision was made for -the accommodation of vagrants in the Union-houses, it was -hardly expected that a body of tramps would be thereby -called into existence, who would spend their time in walking -from Union to Union throughout the kingdom. It was -little thought by those who in past generations assigned -parish-pay for the maintenance of illegitimate children, -that, as a result, a family of such would by-and-by be -considered a small fortune, and the mother of them a -desirable wife; nor did the same statesmen see that, by -the law of settlement, they were organizing a disastrous -inequality of wages in different districts, and entailing a -system of clearing away cottages, which would result in -the crowding of bedrooms, and in a consequent moral and -physical deterioration. The English tonnage law was -enacted simply with a view to regulate the mode of -measurement. Its framers overlooked the fact that they -were practically providing “for the effectual and compulsory -construction of bad ships;” and that “to cheat -the law, that is, to build a tolerable ship in spite of it, was -the highest achievement left to an English builder.”<a class="afnanch" href="#fn30" id="fnanch30">30</a> -Greater commercial security was alone aimed at by the -partnership law. We now find, however, that the unlimited -liability it insists upon is a serious hindrance to -progress; it practically forbids the association of small -capitalists; it is found a great obstacle to the building of -improved dwellings for the people; it prevents a better -relationship between artisans and employers; and by withholding -from the working-classes good investments for -their savings, it checks the growth of provident habits and -encourages drunkenness. Thus on all sides are well-meant -measures producing unforeseen mischiefs—a licensing -law that promotes the adulteration of beer; a ticket-of-leave -system that encourages men to -commit crime; a <span class="xxpn" id="p245">{245}</span> -police regulation that forces street-huxters into the workhouse. -And then, in addition to the obvious and proximate -evils, come the remote and less distinguishable ones, which, -could we estimate their accumulated result, we should -probably find even more serious.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch30" id="fn30">30</a> -Lecture before the Royal Institution, by J. -Scott Russell, Esq., “On Wave-line Ships and Yachts,” Feb. -6, 1852.</p></div> - -<p class="padtopb">But the thing to be discussed is, not so much whether, -by any amount of intelligence, it is <i>possible</i> for a government -to work out the various ends consigned to it, as -whether its fulfilment of them is <i>probable</i>. It is less a -question of <i>can</i> than a question of <i>will</i>. Granting the -absolute competence of the State, let us consider what -hope there is of getting from it satisfactory performance. -Let us look at the moving force by which the legislative -machine is worked, and then inquire whether this force is -thus employed as economically as it would otherwise be.</p> - -<p>Manifestly, as desire of some kind is the invariable -stimulus to action in the individual, every social agency, of -what nature soever, must have some aggregate of desires -for its motive power. Men in their collective capacity can -exhibit no result but what has its origin in some appetite, -feeling, or taste common among them. Did not they like -meat, there could be no cattle-graziers, no Smithfield, no -distributing organization of butchers. Operas, Philharmonic -Societies, song-books, and street organ-boys, have -all been called into being by our love of music. Look -through the trades’ directory; take up a guide to the -London sights; read the index of Bradshaw’s time-tables, -the reports of the learned societies, or the advertisements -of new books; and you see in the publication itself, and in -the things it describes, so many products of human activities, -stimulated by human desires. Under this stimulus grow up -agencies alike the most gigantic and the most insignificant, the -most complicated and the most simple—agencies for national -defence and for the sweeping of crossings; for the daily distribution -of letters, and for the collection of bits -of coal out <span class="xxpn" id="p246">{246}</span> -of the Thames mud—agencies that subserve all ends, from -the preaching of Christianity to the protection of ill-treated -animals; from the production of bread for a nation to the -supply of groundsel for caged singing-birds. The accumulated -desires of individuals being, then, the moving power -by which every social agency is worked, the question to be -considered is—Which is the most economical kind of -agency? The agency having no power in itself, but being -merely an instrument, our inquiry must be for the most -efficient instrument—the instrument that costs least, and -wastes the smallest amount of the moving power—the instrument -least liable to get out of order, and most readily -put right again when it goes wrong. Of the two kinds of -social mechanism exemplified above, the spontaneous and -the governmental, which is the best?</p> - -<p>From the form of this question will be readily foreseen -the intended answer—that is the best mechanism which -contains the fewest parts. The common saying—“What -you wish well done you must do yourself,” embodies a truth, -equally applicable to political life as to private life. The -experience that farming by bailiff entails loss, while tenant-farming -pays, is an experience still better illustrated in -national history than in a landlord’s account books. This -transference of power from constituencies to members of -parliament, from these to the executive, from the executive -to a board, from the board to inspectors, and from inspectors -through their subs down to the actual workers—this -operating through a series of levers, each, of which absorbs -in friction and inertia part of the moving force; is as bad, -in virtue of its complexity, as the direct employment by -society of individuals, private companies, and spontaneously-formed -institutions, is good in virtue of its simplicity. -Fully to appreciate the contrast, we must compare in detail -the working of the two systems.</p> - -<p>Officialism is habitually slow. When non-governmental -agencies are dilatory, the public has its -remedy: it ceases <span class="xxpn" id="p247">{247}</span> -to employ them and soon finds quicker ones. Under this -discipline all private bodies are taught promptness. But -for delays in State-departments there is no such easy cure. -Life-long Chancery suits must be patiently borne; Museum-catalogues -must be wearily waited for. While, by the -people themselves, a Crystal Palace is designed, erected, -and filled, in the course of a few months, the legislature -takes twenty years to build itself a new house. While, -by private persons, the debates are daily printed and dispersed -over the kingdom within a few hours of their utterance, -the Board of Trade tables are regularly published a -month, and sometimes more, after date. And so throughout. -Here is a Board of Health which, since 1849, has -been about to close the metropolitan graveyards, but has -not done it yet; and which has so long dawdled over projects -for cemeteries, that the London Necropolis Company -has taken the matter out of its hands. Here is a patentee -who has had fourteen years’ correspondence with the -Horse Guards, before getting a definite answer respecting -the use of his improved boot for the Army. Here is a -Plymouth port-admiral who delays sending out to look for -the missing boats of the Amazon until ten days after -the wreck.</p> - -<p>Again, officialism is stupid. Under the natural course -of things each citizen tends towards his fittest function. -Those who are competent to the kind of work they undertake, -succeed, and, in the average of cases, are advanced -in proportion to their efficiency; while the incompetent, -society soon finds out, ceases to employ, forces to try something -easier, and eventually turns to use. But it is quite -otherwise in State-organizations. Here, as every one knows, -birth, age, back-stairs intrigue, and sycophancy, determine -the selections rather than merit. The “fool of the family” -readily finds a place in the Church, if “the family” have -good connexions. A youth too ill-educated for any profession, -does very well for an officer in -the Army. Grey <span class="xxpn" id="p248">{248}</span> -hair, or a title, is a far better guarantee of naval promotion -than genius is. Nay, indeed, the man of capacity often -finds that, in government offices, superiority is a hindrance—that -his chiefs hate to be pestered with his proposed improvements, -and are offended by his implied criticisms. -Not only, therefore, is legislative machinery complex, but -it is made of inferior materials. Hence the blunders we -daily read of—the supplying to the dockyards from the -royal forests of timber unfit for use; the administration -of relief during the Irish famine in such a manner as to -draw labourers from the field, and diminish the subsequent -harvest by one-fourth<a class="afnanch" href="#fn31" id="fnanch31">31</a>; the filing of patents at three -different offices and keeping an index at none. Everywhere -does this bungling show itself, from the elaborate -failure of House of Commons ventilation down to the -publication of <i>The London Gazette</i>, which invariably comes -out wrongly folded.</p> - -<p>A further characteristic of officialism is its extravagance. -In its chief departments, Army, Navy, and Church, it -employs far more officers than are needful, and pays some -of the useless ones exorbitantly. The work done by the -Sewers Commission has cost, as Sir B. Hall tells us, from -300 to 400 per cent, over the contemplated outlay; while -the management charges have reached 35, 40, and 45 per -cent. on the expenditure. The trustees of Ramsgate -Harbour—a harbour, by the way, that has taken a century -to complete—are spending 18,000<i>l.</i> a year in doing what -5000<i>l.</i> has been proved sufficient for. The Board of Health -is causing new surveys to be made of all the towns under -its control—a proceeding which, as Mr. Stephenson states, -and as every tyro in engineering knows, is, for drainage -purposes, a wholly needless expense. These public agencies -are subject to no such influence as that which obliges private -enterprise to be economical. Traders and mercantile -bodies succeed by serving society cheaply. -Such of them <span class="xxpn" id="p249">{249}</span> -as cannot do this are continually supplanted by those who -can. They cannot saddle the nation with the results of -their extravagance, and so are prevented from being extravagant. -On works that are to return a profit it does -not answer to spend 48 per cent. of the capital in superintendence, -as in the engineering department of the Indian -Government; and Indian railway companies, knowing -this, manage to keep their superintendence charges within -8 per cent. A shopkeeper leaves out of his accounts no -item analogous to that 6,000,000<i>l.</i> of its revenues, which -Parliament allows to be deducted on the way to the Exchequer. -Walk through a manufactory, and you see that -the stern alternatives, carefulness or ruin, dictate the saving -of every penny; visit one of the national dockyards, and -the comments you make on any glaring wastefulness are -carelessly met by the slang phrase―“Nunky pays.”</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch31" id="fn31">31</a> -See Evidence of Major Larcom.</p></div> - -<p>The unadaptiveness of officialism is another of its vices. -Unlike private enterprise which quickly modifies its actions -to meet emergencies—unlike the shopkeeper who promptly -finds the wherewith to satisfy a sudden demand—unlike -the railway company which doubles its trains to carry a -special influx of passengers; the law-made instrumentality -lumbers on under all varieties of circumstances through its -ordained routine at its habitual rate. By its very nature it -is fitted only for average requirements, and inevitably fails -under unusual requirements. You cannot step into the -street without having the contrast thrust upon you. Is it -summer? You see the water-carts going their prescribed -rounds with scarcely any regard to the needs of the weather—to-day -sprinkling afresh the already moist roads; to-morrow -bestowing their showers with no greater liberality -upon roads cloudy with dust. Is it winter? You see the -scavengers do not vary in number and activity according -to the quantity of mud; and if there comes a heavy fall -of snow, you find the thoroughfares remaining for nearly -a week in a scarcely passable state, without -an effort being <span class="xxpn" id="p250">{250}</span> -made, even in the heart of London, to meet the exigency. -The late snow-storm, indeed, supplied a neat antithesis -between the two orders of agencies in the effects it respectively -produced on omnibuses and cabs. Not being under -a law-fixed tariff, the omnibuses put on extra horses -and raised their fares. The cabs on the contrary, being -limited in their charges by an Act of Parliament which, -with the usual shortsightedness, never contemplated -such a contingency as this, declined to ply, deserted the -stands and the stations, left luckless travellers to stumble -home with their luggage as best they might, and so became -useless at the very time of all others when they were most -wanted! Not only by its unsusceptibility of adjustment -does officialism entail serious inconveniences, but it likewise -entails great injustices. In this case of cabs for -example, it has resulted since the late change of law, that -old cabs, which were before saleable at 10<i>l.</i> and 12<i>l.</i> each, -are now unsaleable and have to be broken up; and thus -legislation has robbed cab-proprietors of part of their -capital. Again, the recently-passed Smoke-Bill for London, -which applies only within certain prescribed limits, has -the effect of taxing one manufacturer while leaving untaxed -his competitor working within a quarter of a mile; and -so, as we are credibly informed, gives one an advantage of -1500<i>l.</i> a year over another. These typify the infinity of -wrongs, varying in degrees of hardship, which legal regulations -necessarily involve. Society, a living growing -organism, placed within apparatuses of dead, rigid, mechanical -formulas, cannot fail to be hampered and pinched. -The only agencies which can efficiently serve it, are those -through which its pulsations hourly flow, and which change -as it changes.</p> - -<p>How invariably officialism becomes corrupt every one -knows. Exposed to no such antiseptic as free competition—not -dependent for existence, as private unendowed -organizations are, on the maintenance -of a vigorous <span class="xxpn" id="p251">{251}</span> -vitality; all law-made agencies fall into an inert, over-fed -state, from which to disease is a short step. Salaries -flow in irrespective of the activity with which duty is performed; -continue after duty wholly ceases; become rich -prizes for the idle well born; and prompt to perjury, to -bribery, to simony. East India directors are elected not -for any administrative capacity they have; but they buy -votes by promised patronage—a patronage alike asked -and given in utter disregard of the welfare of a hundred -millions of people. Registrars of wills not only get many -thousands a year each for doing work which their miserably -paid deputies leave half done; but they, in some cases, -defraud the revenue, and that after repeated reprimands. -Dockyard promotion is the result not of efficient services, -but of political favouritism. That they may continue to -hold rich livings, clergymen preach what they do not -believe; bishops make false returns of their revenues; and -at their elections to fellowships, well-to-do priests severally -make oath that they are <i>pauper</i>, <i>pius et doctus</i>. From the -local inspector whose eyes are shut to an abuse by a contractor’s -present, up to the prime minister who finds lucrative -berths for his relations, this venality is daily illustrated; -and that in spite of public reprobation and perpetual -attempts to prevent it. As we once heard said by a State-official -of twenty-five years’ standing—“Wherever there is -government there is villainy.” It is the inevitable result of -destroying the direct connexion between the profit obtained -and the work performed. No incompetent person hopes, -by offering a <i>douceur</i> in the <i>Times</i> to get a permanent place -in a mercantile office. But where, as under government, -there is no employer’s self-interest to forbid—where the -appointment is made by some one on whom inefficiency -entails no loss; there a <i>douceur</i> is operative. In hospitals, -in public charities, in endowed schools, in all social agencies -in which duty done and income gained do not go hand in -hand, the like corruption is found; and -is great in <span class="xxpn" id="p252">{252}</span> -proportion as the dependence of income upon duty is remote. In -State-organizations, therefore, corruption is unavoidable. -In trading-organizations it rarely makes its appearance; -and when it does, the instinct of self-preservation soon -provides a remedy.</p> - -<p>To all which broad contrasts add this, that while private -bodies are enterprising and progressive, public bodies are unchanging, -and, indeed, obstructive. That officialism should -be inventive nobody expects. That it should go out of its -easy mechanical routine to introduce improvements, and this -at a considerable expense of thought and application, without -the prospect of profit, is not to be supposed. But it is -not simply stationary; it resists every amendment either -in itself or in anything with which it deals. Until now -that County Courts are taking away their practice, all -agents of the law have doggedly opposed law-reform. The -universities have maintained an old <i>curriculum</i> for centuries -after it ceased to be fit; and are now struggling to prevent -a threatened reconstruction. Every postal improvement -has been vehemently protested against by the postal authorities. -Mr. Whiston can say how pertinacious is the conservatism -of Church grammar-schools. Not even the -gravest consequences in view preclude official resistance: -witness the fact that though, as already mentioned, Professor -Barlow reported in 1820, of the Admiralty compasses -then in store, that “at least one-half were mere lumber,” -yet notwithstanding the constant risk of shipwrecks thence -arising, “very little amelioration in this state of things -appears to have taken place until 1838 to 1840.”<a class="afnanch" href="#fn32" id="fnanch32">32</a> -Nor is -official obstructiveness to be readily overborne even by a -powerful public opinion: witness the fact that though, for -generations, nine-tenths of the nation have disapproved -this ecclesiastical system which pampers the drones and -starves the workers, and though commissions have been -appointed to rectify it, it still remains -substantially as it <span class="xxpn" id="p253">{253}</span> -was: witness again the fact that though, since 1818, there -have been a score attempts to rectify the scandalous maladministration -of Charitable Trusts—though ten times in -ten successive years, remedial measures have been brought -before Parliament—the abuses still continue in all their -grossness. Not only do these legal instrumentalities resist -reforms in themselves, but they hinder reforms in other -things. In defending their vested interests the clergy -delay the closing of town burial-grounds. As Mr. Lindsay -can show, government emigration-agents are checking the -use of iron for sailing-vessels. Excise officers prevent -improvements in the processes they have to overlook. That -organic conservatism which is visible in the daily conduct -of all men, is an obstacle which in private life self-interest -slowly overcomes. The prospect of profit does, in the end, -teach farmers that deep draining is good; though it takes -long to do this. Manufacturers do, ultimately, learn the -most economical speed at which to work their steam-engines; -though precedent has long misled them. But in -the public service, where there is no self-interest to overcome -it, this conservatism exerts its full force; and produces -results alike disastrous and absurd. For generations after -book-keeping had become universal, the Exchequer accounts -were kept by notches cut on sticks. In the estimates for -the current year appears the item, “Trimming the oil-lamps -at the Horse-Guards.”</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch32" id="fn32">32</a> -“Rudimentary Magnetism,” by Sir W. Snow Harris. Part -III. p. 145.</p></div> - -<p>Between these law-made agencies and the spontaneously -formed ones, who then can hesitate? The one class are -slow, stupid, extravagant, unadaptive, corrupt, and obstructive: -can any point out in the other, vices that balance -these? It is true that trade has its dishonesties, speculation -its follies. These are evils inevitably entailed by the existing -imperfections of humanity. It is equally true, however, -that these imperfections of humanity are shared by State-functionaries; -and that being unchecked in them by the -same stern discipline, they grow to -far worse results. <span class="xxpn" id="p254">{254}</span> -Given a race of men having a certain proclivity to misconduct -and the question is, whether a society of these -men shall be so organized that ill-conduct directly brings -punishment, or whether it shall be so organized that -punishment is but remotely contingent on ill-conduct? -Which will be the most healthful community—that in which -agents who perform their functions badly, immediately -suffer by the withdrawal of public patronage; or that in -which such agents can be made to suffer only through an -apparatus of meetings, petitions, polling booths, parliamentary -divisions, cabinet-councils, and red-tape documents? -Is it not an absurdly utopian hope that men will behave -better when correction is far removed and uncertain than -when it is near at hand and inevitable? Yet this is -the hope which most political schemers unconsciously -cherish. Listen to their plans, and you find that just -what they propose to have done, they assume the appointed -agents will do. That functionaries are trustworthy is -their first postulate. Doubtless could good officers be -ensured, much might be said for officialism; just as -despotism would have its advantages could we ensure a -good despot.</p> - -<p>If, however, we would duly appreciate the contrast -between the artificial modes and the natural modes of -achieving social desiderata, we must look not only at the -vices of the one but at the virtues of the other. These are -many and important. Consider first how immediately -every private enterprise is dependent on the need for it; -and how impossible it is for it to continue if there be no -need. Daily are new trades and new companies established. -If they subserve some existing public want, they take root -and grow. If they do not, they die of inanition. It needs -no agitation, no act of Parliament, to put them down. As -with all natural organizations, if there is no function for -them no nutriment comes to them, and they dwindle away. -Moreover, not only do the new agencies -disappear if they <span class="xxpn" id="p255">{255}</span> -are superfluous, but the old ones cease to be when they -have done their work. Unlike public instrumentalities—unlike -Heralds’ Offices, which are maintained for ages after -heraldry has lost all value—unlike Ecclesiastial Courts, -which continue to flourish for generations after they have -become an abomination; these private instrumentalities -dissolve when they become needless. A widely ramified -coaching-system ceases to exist as soon as a more efficient -railway-system comes into being. And not simply does it -cease to exist, and to abstract funds, but the materials -of which it was made are absorbed and turned to use. -Coachmen, guards, and the rest, are employed to profit -elsewhere—do not continue for twenty years a burden, like -the compensated officials of some abolished department of -the State. Consider, again, how necessarily these unordained -agencies fit themselves to their work. It is a law -of all organized things that efficiency presupposes apprenticeship. -Not only is it true that the young merchant must -begin by carrying letters to the post, that the way to be a -successful innkeeper is to commence as waiter—not only is -it true that in the development of the intellect there must -come first the perceptions of identity and duality, next of -number, and that without these, arithmetic, algebra, and -the infinitesimal calculus, remain impracticable; but it is -true that there is no part of an organism but begins in -some simple form with some insignificant function, and -passes to its final stage through successive phases of -complexity. Every heart is at first a mere pulsatile sac; -every brain begins as a slight enlargement of the spinal -chord. This law equally extends to the social organism. -An instrumentality that is to work well must not be designed -and suddenly put together by legislators, but must -grow gradually from a germ; each successive addition -must be tried and proved good by experience before -another addition is made; and by this tentative process -only, can an efficient instrumentality be -produced. From a <span class="xxpn" id="p256">{256}</span> -trustworthy man who receives deposits of money, insensibly -grows up a vast banking system, with its notes, checks, -bills, its complex transactions, and its Clearing-house. -Pack-horses, then waggons, then coaches, then steam-carriages -on common roads, and, finally, steam-carriages -on roads made for them—such has been the slow genesis -of our present means of communication. Not a trade in the -directory but has formed itself an apparatus of manufacturers, -brokers, travellers, and retailers, in so gradual a -way that no one can trace the steps. And so with organizations -of another order. The Zoological Gardens began -as the private collection of a few naturalists. The best -working-class school known—that at Price’s factory—commenced -with half-a-dozen boys sitting among the -candle-boxes, after hours, to teach themselves writing with -worn-out pens. Mark, too, that as a consequence of their -mode of growth, these spontaneously-formed agencies -expand to any extent required. The same stimulus which -brought them into being makes them send their ramifications -wherever they are needed. But supply does not -thus readily follow demand in governmental agencies. -Appoint a board and a staff, fix their duties, and let -the apparatus have a generation or two to consolidate, -and you cannot get it to fulfil larger requirements without -some act of parliament obtained only after long delay -and difficulty.</p> - -<p>Were there space, much more might be said upon the -superiority of what naturalists would call the <i>exogenous</i> -order of institutions over the <i>endogenous</i> one. But, from -the point of view indicated, the further contrasts between -their characteristics will be sufficiently visible.</p> - -<p>Hence then the fact, that while the one order of means -is ever failing, making worse, or producing more evils than -it cures, the other order of means is ever succeeding, ever -improving. Strong as it looks at the outset, State-agency -perpetually disappoints every one. Puny as -are its first <span class="xxpn" id="p257">{257}</span> -stages, private effort daily achieves results that astound -the world. It is not only that joint-stock companies do so -much—it is not only that by them a whole kingdom is -covered with railways in the same time that it takes the -Admiralty to build a hundred-gun ship; but it is that -public instrumentalities are outdone even by individuals. -The often quoted contrast between the Academy whose -forty members took fifty-six years to compile the French -Dictionary, while Dr. Johnson alone compiled the English -one in eight—a contrast still marked enough after making -due set-off for the difference in the works—is by no means -without parallel. That great sanitary desideratum—the -bringing of the New River to London—which the -wealthiest corporation in the world attempted and failed, -Sir Hugh Myddleton achieved single-handed. The first -canal in England—a work of which government might -have been thought the fit projector, and the only competent -executor—was undertaken and finished as the private -speculation of one man—the Duke of Bridgewater. By -his own unaided exertions, William Smith completed that -great achievement, the geological map of Great Britain; -meanwhile, the Ordnance Survey—a very accurate and -elaborate one, it is true—has already occupied a large -staff for some two generations, and will not be completed -before the lapse of another. Howard and the prisons of -Europe; Bianconi and Irish travelling; Waghorn and the -Overland route; Dargan and the Dublin Exhibition—do -not these suggest startling contrasts? While private -gentlemen like Mr. Denison, build model lodging-houses -in which the deaths are greatly below the average, the -State builds barracks in which the deaths are greatly -above the average, even of the much-pitied town populations: -barracks which, though filled with picked men -under medical supervision, show an annual mortality per -thousand of 13·6, 17·9 and even 20·4; though among -civilians of the same age in the same -places, the mortality <span class="xxpn" id="p258">{258}</span> -per thousand is but 11·9.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn33" id="fnanch33">33</a> -While the State has laid out -large sums at Parkhurst in the effort to reform juvenile -criminals, who are <i>not</i> reformed, Mr. Ellis takes fifteen of -the worst young thieves in London—thieves considered -by the police irreclaimable—and reforms them all. Side -by side with the Emigration Board, under whose management -hundreds die of fever from close packing, and under -whose licence sail vessels which, like the <i>Washington</i>, -are the homes of fraud, brutality, tyranny, and obscenity, -stands Mrs. Chisholm’s Family Colonisation Loan Society, -which does not provide worse accommodation than ever -before but much better; which does not demoralize by -promiscuous crowding but improves by mild discipline; -which does not pauperize by charity but encourages -providence; which does not increase our taxes, but is -self-supporting. Here are lessons for the lovers of legislation. -The State outdone by a working shoemaker! The -State beaten by a woman!</p> - -<p>Stronger still becomes this contrast between the results -of public action and private action, when we remember that -the one is constantly eked out by the other, even in doing -the things unavoidably left to it. Passing over military -and naval departments, in which much is done by contractors -and not by men receiving government pay,—passing over -the Church, which is constantly extended not by law but by -voluntary effort—passing over the Universities, where the -efficient teaching is given not by the appointed officers but by -private tutors; let us look at the mode in which our judicial -system is worked. Lawyers perpetually tell us that codification -is impossible; and some are simple enough to believe -them. Merely remarking, in passing, that what government -and all its employés cannot do for the Acts of Parliament -in general, was done for the 1500 Customs acts in 1825 by -the energy of one man—Mr. Deacon -Hume—let us see <span class="xxpn" id="p259">{259}</span> -how the absence of a digested system of law is made good. -In preparing themselves for the bar, and finally the bench, -law-students, by years of research, have to gain an -acquaintance with this vast mass of unorganized legislation; -and that organization which it is held impossible for -the State to effect, it is held possible (sly sarcasm on the -State!) for each student to effect for himself. Every judge -can privately codify, though “united wisdom” cannot. But -how is each judge enabled to codify? By the private -enterprise of men who have prepared the way for him; by -the partial codifications of Blackstone, Coke, and others; -by the digests of Partnership Law, Bankruptcy Law, Law -of Patents, Laws affecting Women, and the rest that daily -issue from the press; by abstracts of cases, and volumes of -reports—every one of them unofficial products. Sweep -away all these fractional codifications made by individuals, -and the State would be in utter ignorance of its own laws! -Had not the bunglings of legislators been made good by -private enterprise, the administration of justice would have -been impossible!</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch33" id="fn33">33</a> -See “Statistical Reports on the Sickness, Mortality, and Invaliding -amongst the Troops.” 1853.</p></div> - -<p>Where, then, is the warrant for the constantly-proposed -extensions of legislative action? If, as we have seen in a -large class of cases, government measures do not remedy -the evils they aim at; if, in another large class, they make -these evils worse instead of remedying them; and if, in a -third large class, while curing some evils they entail others, -and often greater ones—if, as we lately saw, public action -is continually outdone in efficiency by private action; and -if, as just shown, private action is obliged to make up for -the shortcomings of public action, even in fulfilling the -vital functions of the State; what reason is there for -wishing more public administrations? The advocates of -such may claim credit for philanthropy, but not for wisdom; -unless wisdom is shown by disregarding experience.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">“Much of this argument is beside -the question,” will <span class="xxpn" id="p260">{260}</span> -rejoin our opponents. “The true point at issue is, not -whether individuals and companies outdo the State when -they come in competition with it, but whether there are not -certain social wants which the State alone can satisfy. -Admitting that private enterprise does much, and does it -well, it is nevertheless true that we have daily thrust upon -our notice many desiderata which it has not achieved, and is -not achieving. In these cases its incompetency is obvious; -and in these cases, therefore, it behoves the State to make -up for its deficiencies: doing this, if not well, yet as well -as it can.”</p> - -<p>Not to fall back upon the many experiences already -quoted, showing that the State is likely to do more harm -than good in attempting this; nor to dwell upon the fact -that, in most of the alleged cases, the apparent insufficiency -of private enterprise is a <i>result</i> of previous State-interferences, -as may be conclusively shown; let us deal with -the proposition on its own terms. Though there would -have been no need for a Mercantile Marine Act to prevent -the unseaworthiness of ships and the ill-treatment of -sailors, had there been no Navigation Laws to produce -these; and though were all like cases of evils and shortcomings -directly or indirectly produced by law, taken out -of the category, there would probably remain but small -basis for the plea above put; yet let it be granted that, -every artificial obstacle having been removed, there would -still remain many desiderata unachieved, which there was -no seeing how spontaneous effort could achieve. Let all -this, we say, be granted; the propriety of legislative action -may yet be rightly questioned.</p> - -<p>For the said plea involves the unwarrantable assumption -that social agencies will continue to work only as they are -now working; and will produce no results but those they -seem likely to produce. It is the habit of this school of -thinkers to make a limited human intelligence the measure -of phenomena which it requires -omniscience to grasp. <span class="xxpn" id="p261">{261}</span> -That which it does not see the way to, it does not believe -will take place. Though society has, generation after -generation, been growing to developments which none foresaw, -yet there is no practical belief in unforeseen developments -in the future. The parliamentary debates constitute -an elaborate balancing of probabilities, having for data -things as they are. Meanwhile every day adds new -elements to things as they are, and seemingly improbable -results constantly occur. Who, a few years ago, expected -that a Leicester-square refugee would shortly become -Emperor of the French? Who looked for free trade from -a landlords’ ministry? Who dreamed that Irish over-population -would spontaneously cure itself, as it is now -doing? So far from social changes arising in likely ways, -they usually arise in ways which, to common sense, appear -unlikely. A barber’s shop was not a probable-looking -place for the germination of the cotton manufacture. No -one supposed that important agricultural improvements -would come from a Leadenhall-street tradesman. A farmer -would have been the last man thought of to bring to bear -the screw propulsion of steam-ships. The invention of a -new species of architecture we should have hoped from any -one rather than a gardener. Yet while the most unexpected -changes are daily wrought out in the strangest -ways, legislation daily assumes that things will go just as -human foresight thinks they will go. Though by the trite -exclamation—“What would our forefathers have said!” -there is a frequent acknowledgment of the fact that wonderful -results have been achieved in modes wholly unforeseen, yet -there seems no belief that this will be again. Would -it not be wise to admit such a probability into our -politics? May we not rationally infer that, as in the past -so in the future?</p> - -<p>This strong faith in State-agencies is, however, accompanied -by so weak a faith in natural agencies (the two being -antagonistic), that, spite of past experience, -it will by <span class="xxpn" id="p262">{262}</span> -many be thought absurd to rest in the conviction that -existing social needs will be spontaneously met, though we -cannot say how they will be met. Nevertheless, illustrations -exactly to the point are now transpiring before -their eyes. Instance the scarcely credible phenomenon -lately witnessed in the midland counties. Every one has -heard of the distress of the stockingers—a chronic evil of -some generation or two’s standing. Repeated petitions -have prayed Parliament for remedy; and legislation has -made attempts, but without success. The disease seemed -incurable. Two or three years since, however, the circular -knitting machine was introduced—a machine immensely -outstripping the old stocking-frame in productiveness, but -which can make only the legs of stockings, not the feet. -Doubtless, the Leicester and Nottingham artizans regarded -this new engine with alarm, as likely to intensify their -miseries. On the contrary, it has wholly removed them. -By cheapening production it has so enormously increased -consumption, that the old stocking-frames, which were -before too many by half for the work to be done, are now -all employed in putting feet to the legs which the new -machines make. How insane would he have been thought -who anticipated cure from such a cause! If from the -unforeseen removal of evils we turn to the unforeseen -achievement of desiderata, we find like cases. No one -recognized in Oersted’s electro-magnetic discovery the -germ of a new agency for the catching of criminals and -the facilitation of commerce. No one expected railways to -become agents for the diffusion of cheap literature, as they -now are. No one supposed when the Society of Arts was -planning an international exhibition of manufactures in -Hyde Park, that the result would be a place for popular -recreation and culture at Sydenham.</p> - -<p>But there is yet a deeper reply to the appeals of impatient -philanthropists. It is not simply that social vitality may be -trusted by-and-by to -fulfil each much-exaggerated <span class="xxpn" id="p263">{263}</span> -requirement in some quiet spontaneous way—it is not simply that -when thus naturally fulfilled it will be fulfilled efficiently, -instead of being botched as when attempted artificially; -but it is that until thus naturally fulfilled it ought not to -be fulfilled at all. A startling paradox, this, to many; but -one quite justifiable, as we hope shortly to show.</p> - -<p>It was pointed out some distance back, that the force -which produces and sets in motion every social mechanism—governmental, -mercantile, or other—is some accumulation -of personal desires. As there is no individual action -without a desire, so, it was urged, there can be no social -action without an aggregate of desires. To which there -here remains to add, that as it is a general law of the -individual that the intenser desires—those corresponding -to all-essential functions—are satisfied first, and if need be -to the neglect of the weaker and less important ones; so, -it must be a general law of society that the chief requisites -of social life—those necessary to popular existence and -multiplication—will, in the natural order of things, be subserved -before those of a less pressing kind. As the private -man first ensures himself food; then clothing and shelter; -these being secured, takes a wife; and, if he can afford it, -presently supplies himself with carpeted rooms, and piano, -and wines, hires servants and gives dinner parties; so, in -the evolution of society, we see first a combination for -defence against enemies, and for the better pursuit of -game; by-and-by come such political arrangements as are -needed to maintain this combination; afterwards, under a -demand for more food, more clothes, more houses, arises -division of labour; and when satisfaction of the animal -wants has been provided for, there slowly grow up literature, -science, and the arts. Is it not obvious that these -successive evolutions occur in the order of their importance? -Is it not obvious, that, being each of them produced by an -aggregate of desires, they <i>must</i> occur in the order of their -importance, if it be a law of the -individual that the <span class="xxpn" id="p264">{264}</span> -strongest desires correspond to the most needful actions? -Is it not, indeed, obvious that the order of relative importance -will be more uniformly followed in social action than -in individual action; seeing that the personal idiosyncrasies -which disturb that order in the latter case are <i>averaged</i> in -the former? If any one does not see this, let him take up -a book describing life at the gold-diggings. There he will -find the whole process exhibited in little. He will read -that as the diggers must eat, they are compelled to offer -such prices for food that it pays better to keep a store than -to dig. As the store-keepers must get supplies, they give -enormous sums for carriage from the nearest town; and -some men, quickly seeing they can get rich at that, make it -their business. This brings drays and horses into demand; -the high rates draw these from all quarters; and, after -them, wheelwrights and harness-makers. Blacksmiths to -sharpen pickaxes, doctors to cure fevers, get pay exorbitant -in proportion to the need for them; and are so brought -flocking in proportionate numbers. Presently commodities -become scarce; more must be fetched from abroad; sailors -must have increased wages to prevent them from deserting -and turning miners; this necessitates higher charges for -freight; higher freights quickly bring more ships; and so -there rapidly develops an organization for supplying goods -from all parts of the world. Every phase of this evolution -takes place in the order of its necessity; or as we say—in -the order of the intensity of the desires subserved. -Each man does that which he finds pays best; that -which pays best is that for which other men will give -most; that for which they will give most is that which, -under the circumstances, they most desire. Hence the -succession must be throughout from the more important -to the less important. A requirement which at any period -remains unfulfilled, must be one for the fulfilment of which -men will not pay so much as to make it worth any one’s -while to fulfil it—must be a <i>less</i> requirement -than all the <span class="xxpn" id="p265">{265}</span> -others for the fulfilment of which they will pay more; and -must wait until other more needful things are done. Well, -is it not clear that the same law holds good in every -community? Is it not true of the latter phases of social -evolution, as of the earlier, that when things are let alone -the smaller desiderata will be postponed to the greater.</p> - -<p>Hence, then, the justification of the seeming paradox, that -until spontaneously fulfilled a public want should not be fulfilled -at all. It must, on the average, result in our complex -state, as in simpler ones, that the thing left undone is a -thing by doing which citizens cannot gain so much as by -doing other things—is therefore a thing which society does -not want done so much as it wants these other things done; -and the corollary is, that to effect a neglected thing by -artificially employing citizens to do it, is to leave undone -some more important thing which they would have been -doing—is to sacrifice the greater requisite to the smaller.</p> - -<p>“But,” it will perhaps be objected, “if the things done -by a government, or at least by a representative government, -are also done in obedience to some aggregate desire, -why may we not look for this normal subordination of the -more needful to the less needful in them too?” The reply -is, that though they have a certain tendency to follow this -order—though those primal desires for public defence and -personal protection, out of which government originates, -were satisfied through its instrumentality in proper succession—though, -possibly, some other early and simple requirements -may have been so too; yet, when the desires are not -few, universal and intense, but, like those remaining to be -satisfied in the latter stages of civilization, numerous, -partial, and moderate, the judgment of a government is no -longer to be trusted. To select out of an immense number -of minor wants, physical, intellectual, and moral, felt in -different degrees by different classes, and by a total mass -varying in every case, the want that is most pressing, is a -task which no legislature can accomplish. No -man or men <span class="xxpn" id="p266">{266}</span> -by inspecting society can <i>see</i> what it most needs; society -must be left to <i>feel</i> what it most needs. The mode of solution -must be experimental, not theoretical. When left, day -after day, to experience evils and dissatisfactions of various -kinds, affecting them in various degrees, citizens gradually -acquire repugnance to these proportionate to their greatness, -and corresponding desires to get rid of them, which -by spontaneously fostering remedial agencies are likely to -end in the worst inconvenience being first removed. And -however irregular this process may be (and we admit that -men’s habits and prejudices produce many anomalies, or -seeming anomalies, in it) it is a process far more trustworthy -than are legislative judgments. For those who question -this there are instances; and, that the parallel may be the -more conclusive, we will take a case in which the ruling -power is deemed specially fit to decide. We refer to our -means of communication.</p> - -<p>Do those who maintain that railways would have been -better laid out and constructed by government, hold that -the order of importance would have been as uniformly -followed as it has been by private enterprise? Under the -stimulus of an enormous traffic—a traffic too great for the -then existing means—the first line sprung up between -Liverpool and Manchester. Next came the Grand Junction -and the London and Birmingham (now merged in the -London and North Western); afterwards the Great -Western, the South Western, the South Eastern, the -Eastern Counties, the Midland. Since then subsidiary -lines and branches have occupied our capitalists. As they -were quite certain to do, companies made first the most -needed, and therefore the best paying, lines; under the -same impulse that a labourer chooses high wages in preference -to low. That government would have adopted -a better order can hardly be, for the best has been -followed; but that it would have adopted a worse, all the -evidence we have goes to show. In -default of materials <span class="xxpn" id="p267">{267}</span> -for a direct parallel, we might cite from India and the -colonies, cases of injudicious road-making. Or, as exemplifying -State-efforts to facilitate communication, we might -dwell on the fact that while our rulers have sacrificed -hundreds of lives and spent untold treasure in seeking a -North-west passage, which would be useless if found, they -have left the exploration of the Isthmus of Panama, and -the making railways and canals through it, to private companies. -But, not to make much of this indirect evidence, -we will content ourselves with the one sample of a State-made -channel for commerce, which we have at home—the -Caledonian Canal. Up to the present time (1853), this -public work has cost upwards of 1,100,000<i>l.</i> It has now -been open for many years, and salaried emissaries have been -constantly employed to get traffic for it. The results, as -given in its forty-seventh annual report, issued in 1852, are—receipts -during the year, 7,909<i>l.</i>; expenditure ditto, -9,261<i>l.</i>—loss, 1,352<i>l.</i> Has any such large investment been -made with such a pitiful result by a private canal company?</p> - -<p>And if a government is so bad a judge of the relative importance -of social requirements, when these requirements -are <i>of the same kind</i>, how worthless a judge must it be when -they are of different kinds. If, where a fair share of -intelligence might be expected to lead them right, legislators -and their officers go so wrong, how terribly will they -err where no amount of intelligence would suffice them,—where -they must decide among hosts of needs, bodily, -intellectual, and moral, which admit of no direct comparisons; -and how disastrous must be the results if they -act out their erroneous decisions. Should any one need -this bringing home to him by an illustration, let him read -the following extract from the last of the series of letters -some time since published in the <i>Morning Chronicle</i>, on -the state of agriculture in France. After expressing the -opinion that French farming is some century behind English -farming, the writer goes on to say:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“There are two causes principally chargeable with this. -In the first <span class="xxpn" id="p268">{268}</span> -place, strange as it may seem in a country in which two-thirds of the population -are agriculturists, agriculture is a very unhonoured occupation. Develope -in the slightest degree a Frenchman’s mental faculties, and he flies to a town -as surely as steel filings fly to a loadstone. He has no rural tastes, no delight -in rural habits. A French amateur farmer would indeed be a sight to see. -Again, this national tendency is directly encouraged by the centralising -system of government—by the multitude of officials, and by the payment of -all functionaries. From all parts of France, men of great energy and resource -struggle up, and fling themselves on the world of Paris. There they try to -become great functionaries. Through every department of the eighty-four, -men of less energy and resource struggle up to the <i>chef-lieu</i>—the provincial -capital. There they try to become little functionaries. Go still lower—deal -with a still smaller scale—and the result will be the same. As is the department -to France, so is the arrondissement to the department, and the commune -to the arrondissement. All who have, or think they have, heads on their -shoulders, struggle into towns to fight for office. All who are, or are deemed -by themselves or others, too stupid for anything else, are left at home to till -the fields, and breed the cattle, and prune the vines, as their ancestors did -for generations before them. Thus there is actually no intelligence left in -the country. The whole energy, and knowledge, and resource of the land -are barreled up in the towns. You leave one city, and in many cases you -will not meet an educated or cultivated individual until you arrive at -another—all between is utter intellectual barrenness.”—<i>Morning Chronicle.</i> -August, 1851.</p></blockquote> - -<p>To what end now is this constant abstraction of able men -from rural districts? To the end that there may be enough -functionaries to achieve those many desiderata which French -governments have thought ought to be achieved—to provide -amusements, to manage mines, to construct roads and -bridges, to erect numerous buildings—to print books, -encourage the fine arts, control this trade, and inspect -that manufacture—to do all the hundred-and-one things -which the State does in France. That the army of officers -needed for this may be maintained, agriculture must go -unofficered. That certain social conveniences may be -better secured, the chief social necessity is neglected. The -very basis of the national life is sapped, to gain a few non-essential -advantages. Said we not truly, then, that until -a requirement is spontaneously fulfilled, it should not be -fulfilled at all?</p> - -<p class="padtopb">And here indeed we may recognise -the close kinship <span class="xxpn" id="p269">{269}</span> -between the fundamental fallacy involved in these State-meddlings -and the fallacy lately exploded by the free-trade -agitation. These various law-made instrumentalities for -effecting ends which might otherwise not yet be effected, all -embody a subtler form of the protectionist hypothesis. The -same short-sightedness which, looking at commerce, prescribed -bounties and restrictions, looking at social affairs in -general, prescribes these multiplied administrations; and -the same criticism applies alike to all its proceedings.</p> - -<p>For was not the error that vitiated every law aiming at -the artificial maintenance of a trade, substantially that -which we have just been dwelling upon; namely, this -overlooking of the fact that, in setting people to do one -thing, some other thing is inevitably left undone? The -statesmen who thought it wise to protect home-made silks -against French silks, did so under the impression that the -manufacture thus secured constituted a pure gain to the -nation. They did not reflect that the men employed in this -manufacture would otherwise have been producing something -else—a something else which, as they could produce -it without legal help, they could more profitably produce. -Landlords who have been so anxious to prevent foreign -wheat from displacing their own wheat, have never duly -realized the fact that if their fields would not yield wheat -so economically as to prevent the feared displacement, it -simply proved that they were growing unfit crops in place -of fit crops; and so working their land at a relative loss. -In all cases where, by restrictive duties, a trade has been -upheld that would otherwise not have existed, capital has -been turned into a channel less productive than some other -into which it would naturally have flowed. And so, to -pursue certain State-patronized occupations, men have been -drawn from more advantageous occupations.</p> - -<p>Clearly then, as above alleged, the same oversight runs -through all these interferences; be they with commerce, or -be they with other things. In employing -people to achieve <span class="xxpn" id="p270">{270}</span> -this or that desideratum, legislators have not perceived -that they were thereby preventing the achievement of some -other desideratum. They have habitually assumed that -each proposed good would, if secured, be a pure good, instead -of being a good purchasable only by submission to some -evil which would else have been remedied; and, making -this error, have injuriously diverted men’s labour. As in -trade, so in other things, labour will spontaneously find -out, better than any government can find out for it, the -things on which it may best expend itself. Rightly regarded, -the two propositions are identical. This division -into commercial and non-commercial affairs is quite a superficial -one. All the actions going on in society come under -the generalization—human effort ministering to human -desire. Whether the ministration be effected through a -process of buying and selling, or whether in any other way, -matters not so far as the general law of it is concerned. -In all cases it must be true that the stronger desires will -get themselves satisfied before the weaker ones; and in all -cases it must be true that to get satisfaction for the weaker -ones before they would naturally have it, is to deny satisfaction -to the stronger ones.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">To the immense positive evils entailed by over-legislation -have to be added the equally great negative evils—evils -which, notwithstanding their greatness, are scarcely at all -recognized, even by the far-seeing. While the State does -those things which it ought not to do, <i>as an inevitable -consequence</i>, it leaves undone those things which it ought -to do. Time and activity being limited, it necessarily -follows that legislators’ sins of <i>commission</i> entail sins of -<i>omission</i>. Mischievous meddling involves disastrous neglect; -and until statesmen are ubiquitous and omnipotent, must -ever do so. In the very nature of things an agency -employed for two purposes must fulfil both imperfectly; -partly because, while fulfilling the one it -cannot be fulfilling <span class="xxpn" id="p271">{271}</span> -the other, and partly because its adaptation to both ends -implies incomplete fitness for either. As has been well -said <i>à propos</i> of this point,—“A blade which is designed -both to shave and to carve, will certainly not shave so well -as a razor or carve so well as a carving-knife. An academy -of painting, which should also be a bank, would in all -probability exhibit very bad pictures and discount very bad -bills. A gas company, which should also be an infant-school -society, would, we apprehend, light the streets ill, -and teach the children ill.”<a class="afnanch" href="#fn34" id="fnanch34">34</a> -And if an institution undertakes, -not two functions but a score—if a government, -whose office it is to defend citizens against aggressors, -foreign and domestic, engages also to disseminate Christianity, -to administer charity, to teach children their lessons, -to adjust prices of food, to inspect coal-mines, to regulate -railways, to superintend house-building, to arrange cab-fares, -to look into people’s stink-traps, to vaccinate their -children, to send out emigrants, to prescribe hours of labour, -to examine lodging-houses, to test the knowledge of -mercantile captains, to provide public libraries, to read and -authorize dramas, to inspect passenger-ships, to see that -small dwellings are supplied with water, to regulate endless -things from a banker’s issues down to the boat-fares on the -Serpentine—is it not manifest that its primary duty must be -ill-discharged in proportion to the multiplicity of affairs it -busies itself with? Must not its time and energies be frittered -away in schemes, and inquiries, and amendments, in discussions, -and divisions, to the neglect of its essential business? -And does not a glance over the debates make it clear that -this is the fact? and that, while parliament and public -are alike occupied with these mischievous interferences, these -Utopian hopes, the one thing needful is left almost undone?</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch34" id="fn34">34</a> -<i>Edinburgh Review</i>, April, 1839.</p></div> - -<p>See here, then, the proximate cause of our legal abominations. -We drop the substance in our efforts to catch -shadows. While our firesides, and -clubs, and taverns are <span class="xxpn" id="p272">{272}</span> -filled with talk about corn-law questions, and church -questions, and education questions, and poor-law questions—all -of them raised by over-legislation—the justice question -gets scarcely any attention; and we daily submit to be -oppressed, cheated, robbed. This institution which should -succour the man who has fallen among thieves, turns him -over to solicitors, barristers, and a legion of law-officers; -drains his purse for writs, briefs, affidavits, subpœnas, fees -of all kinds and expenses innumerable; involves him in -the intricacies of common courts, chancery courts, suits, -counter-suits, and appeals; and often ruins where it should -aid. Meanwhile, meetings are called, and leading articles -written, and votes asked, and societies formed, and agitations -carried on, not to rectify these gigantic evils, but -partly to abolish our ancestors’ mischievous meddlings and -partly to establish meddlings of our own. Is it not obvious -that this fatal neglect is a result of this mistaken officiousness? -Suppose that external and internal protection had -been the sole recognized functions of the ruling powers. -Is it conceivable that our administration of justice would -have been as corrupt as now? Can any one believe that -had parliamentary elections been habitually contested on -questions of legal reform, our judicial system would still have -been what Sir John Romilly calls it,—“a technical system -invented for the creation of costs?” Does any one suppose -that, if the efficient defence of person and property had -been the constant subject-matter of hustings pledges, we -should yet be waylaid by a Chancery Court which has now -more than two hundred millions of property in its clutches?—which -keeps suits pending fifty years, until all the funds -are gone in fees—which swallows in costs two millions -annually? Dare any one assert that had constituencies -been always canvassed on principles of law-reform versus -law-conservatism, Ecclesiastical Courts would have continued -for centuries fattening on the goods of widows and -orphans? The questions are next to absurd. -A child may <span class="xxpn" id="p273">{273}</span> -see that with the general knowledge people have of legal -corruptions and the universal detestation of legal atrocities, -an end would long since have been put to them, had the -administration of justice always been <i>the</i> political topic. -Had not the public mind been constantly pre-occupied, it -could never have been tolerated that a man neglecting to -file an answer to a bill in due course, should be imprisoned -fifteen years for contempt of court, as Mr. James Taylor was. -It would have been impossible that, on the abolition of their -sinecures, the sworn-clerks should have been compensated -by the continuance of their exorbitant incomes, not only -till death, but for seven years after, at a total estimated -cost of £700,000. Were the State confined to its -defensive and judicial functions, not only the people but -legislators themselves would agitate against abuses. The -sphere of activity and the opportunities for distinction -being narrowed, all the thought, and industry, and -eloquence which members of Parliament now expend on -impracticable schemes and artificial grievances, would be -expended in rendering justice pure, certain, prompt, and -cheap. The complicated follies of our legal verbiage, which -the uninitiated cannot understand and which the initiated -interpret in various senses, would be quickly put an end -to. We should no longer frequently hear of Acts of -Parliament so bunglingly drawn up that it requires half a -dozen actions and judges’ decisions under them, before -even lawyers can say how they apply. There would be no -such stupidly-designed measures as the Railway Winding-up -Act, which, though passed in 1846 to close the accounts -of the bubble schemes of the mania, leaves them still -unsettled in 1854—which, even with funds in hand, withholds -payment from creditors whose claims have been years -since admitted. Lawyers would no longer be suffered to -maintain and to complicate the present absurd system of -land titles, which, besides the litigation and loss it perpetually -causes, lowers the value of -estates, prevents the <span class="xxpn" id="p274">{274}</span> -ready application of capital to them, checks the development -of agriculture, and thus hinders the improvement of -the peasantry and the prosperity of the country. In short, -the corruptions, follies, and terrors of law would cease; -and that which men now shrink from as an enemy they -would come to regard as what it purports to be—a -friend.</p> - -<p>How vast then is the negative evil which, in addition to -the positive evils before enumerated, this meddling policy -entails on us! How many are the grievances men bear, -from which they would otherwise be free! Who is there -that has not submitted to injuries rather than run the risk -of heavy law-costs? Who is there that has not abandoned -just claims rather than “throw good money after bad?” -Who is there that has not paid unjust demands rather than -withstand the threat of an action? This man can point to -property that has been alienated from his family from -lack of funds or courage to fight for it. That man can -name several relations ruined by a law-suit. Here is a -lawyer who has grown rich on the hard earnings of the -needy and the savings of the oppressed. There is a once -wealthy trader who has been brought by legal iniquities to -the workhouse or the lunatic asylum. The badness of our -judicial system vitiates our whole social life: renders -almost every family poorer than it would otherwise be; -hampers almost every business transaction; inflicts daily -anxieties on every trader. And all this loss of property, -time, temper, comfort, men quietly submit to from being -absorbed in the pursuit of schemes which eventually bring -on them other mischiefs.</p> - -<p>Nay, the case is even worse. It is distinctly proveable -that many of these evils about which outcries are raised, -and to cure which special Acts of Parliament are loudly -invoked, are themselves <i>produced</i> by our disgraceful judicial -system. For example, it is well known that the horrors -out of which our sanitary agitators -make political capital, <span class="xxpn" id="p275">{275}</span> -are found in their greatest intensity on properties that -have been for a generation in Chancery—are distinctly -traceable to the ruin thus brought about; and would never -have existed but for the infamous corruptions of law. -Again, it has been shown that the long-drawn miseries of -Ireland, which have been the subject of endless legislation, -have been mainly produced by inequitable land-tenure and -the complicated system of entail: a system which wrought -such involvements as to prevent sales; which practically -negatived all improvement; which brought landlords to the -workhouse; and which required an Incumbered Estates Act -to cut its gordian knots and render the proper cultivation -of the soil possible. Judicial negligence, too, is the main -cause of railway accidents. If the State would fulfil its -true function, by giving passengers an easy remedy for -breach of contract when trains are behind time, it would -do more to prevent accidents than can be done by the -minutest inspection or the most cunningly-devised regulations; -for it is notorious that the majority of accidents -are primarily caused by irregularity. In the case of bad -house-building, also, it is obvious that a cheap, rigorous, -and certain administration of justice, would make Building -Acts needless. For is not the man who erects a house of -bad materials ill put together, and, concealing these with -papering and plaster, sells it as a substantial dwelling, -guilty of fraud? And should not the law recognize this -fraud as it does in the analogous case of an unsound horse? -And if the legal remedy were easy, prompt, and sure, would -not builders cease transgressing? So is it in other cases: -the evils which men perpetually call on the State to cure -by superintendence, themselves arise from non-performance -of its original duty.</p> - -<p>See then how this vicious policy complicates itself. Not -only does meddling legislation fail to cure the evils it aims -at; not only does it make many evils worse; not only does -it create new evils greater than the old; -but while doing <span class="xxpn" id="p276">{276}</span> -this it entails on men the oppressions, robberies, ruin, which -flow from the non-administration of justice. And not only -to the positive evils does it add this vast negative one, but -this again, by fostering many social abuses that would not -else exist, furnishes occasions for more meddlings which -again act and re-act in the same way. And thus as ever, -“things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.”</p> - -<p class="padtopb">After assigning reasons thus fundamental, for condemning -all State-action save that which universal experience has -proved to be absolutely needful, it would seem superfluous -to assign subordinate ones. Were it called for, we might, -taking for text Mr. Lindsay’s work on “Navigation and -Mercantile Marine Law,” say much upon the complexity -to which this process of adding regulation to regulation—each -necessitated by foregoing ones—ultimately leads: a -complexity which, by the misunderstandings, delays, and -disputes it entails, greatly hampers our social life. Something, -too, might be added upon the perturbing effects of -that “gross delusion,” as M. Guizot calls it, “a belief in -the sovereign power of political machinery”—a delusion to -which he partly ascribes the late revolution in France; and -a delusion which is fostered by every new interference. -But, passing over these, we would dwell for a short space -upon the national enervation which this State-superintendence -produces.</p> - -<p>The enthusiastic philanthropist, urgent for some act of -parliament to remedy this evil or secure the other good, -thinks it a trivial and far-fetched objection that the people -will be morally injured by doing things for them instead of -leaving them to do things themselves. He vividly conceives -the benefit he hopes to get achieved, which is a positive and -readily imaginable thing. He does not conceive the diffused, -invisible, and slowly-accumulating effect wrought on the -popular mind, and so does not believe in it; or, if he admits -it, thinks it beneath consideration. -Would he but <span class="xxpn" id="p277">{277}</span> -remember, however, that all national character is gradually -produced by the daily action of circumstances, of which -each day’s result seems so insignificant as not to be worth -mentioning, he would perceive that what is trifling when -viewed in its increments may be formidable when viewed in -its total. Or if he would go into the nursery, and watch -how repeated actions—each of them apparently unimportant,—create, -in the end, a habit which will affect the -whole future life; he would be reminded that every -influence brought to bear on human nature tells, and, if -continued, tells seriously. The thoughtless mother who -hourly yields to the requests—“Mamma, tie my pinafore,” -“Mamma, button my shoe,” and the like, cannot be persuaded -that each of these concessions is detrimental; but -the wiser spectator sees that if this policy be long pursued, -and be extended to other things, it will end in inaptitude. -The teacher of the old school who showed his pupil the way -out of every difficulty, did not perceive that he was generating -an attitude of mind greatly militating against success -in life. The modern teacher, however, induces his pupil to -solve his difficulties himself; believes that in so doing he is -preparing him to meet the difficulties which, when he goes -into the world, there will be no one to help him through; -and finds confirmation for this belief in the fact that a great -proportion of the most successful men are self-made. Well, -is it not obvious that this relationship between discipline -and success holds good nationally? Are not nations made -of men; and are not men subject to the same laws of -modification in their adult years as in their early years? -Is it not true of the drunkard, that each carouse adds a -thread to his bonds? of the trader, that each acquisition -strengthens the wish for acquisitions? of the pauper, that -the more you assist him the more he wants? of the busy -man, that the more he has to do the more he can do? And -does it not follow that if every individual is subject to this -process of adaptation to conditions, a whole -nation must be <span class="xxpn" id="p278">{278}</span> -so—that just in proportion as its members are little helped -by extraneous power they will become self-helping, and in -proportion as they are much helped they will become helpless? -What folly is it to ignore these results because -they are not direct, and not immediately visible. Though -slowly wrought out they are inevitable. We can no more -elude the laws of human development than we can elude -the law of gravitation; and so long as they hold true must -these effects occur.</p> - -<p>If we are asked in what special directions this alleged -helplessness, entailed by much State-superintendence, -shows itself; we reply that it is seen in a retardation of all -social growths requiring self-confidence in the people—in a -timidity that fears all difficulties not before encountered—in -a thoughtless contentment with things as they are. Let -any one, after duly watching the rapid evolution going on -in England, where men have been comparatively little -helped by governments—or better still, after contemplating -the unparalleled progress of the United States, which is -peopled by self-made men, and the recent descendants of -self-made men;—let such an one, we say, go on to the -Continent, and consider the relatively slow advance which -things are there making; and the still slower advance they -would make but for English enterprise. Let him go to -Holland, and see that though the Dutch early showed themselves -good mechanics, and have had abundant practice in -hydraulics, Amsterdam has been without any due supply of -water until now that works are being established by an -English company. Let him go to Berlin, and there be told -that, to give that city a water-supply such as London has had -for generations, the project of an English firm is about to be -executed by English capital, under English superintendence. -Let him go to Vienna, and learn that it, in common with -other continental cities, is lighted by an English gas-company. -Let him go on the Rhone, on the Loire, on the -Danube, and discover that -Englishmen established steam <span class="xxpn" id="p279">{279}</span> -navigation on those rivers. Let him inquire concerning -the railways in Italy, Spain, France, Sweden, Denmark, -how many of them are English projects, how many -have been largely helped by English capital, how many -have been executed by English contractors, how many -have had English engineers. Let him discover, too, as he -will, that where railways have been government-made, as -in Russia, the energy, the perseverance, and the practical -talent developed in England and the United States have -been called in to aid. And then if these illustrations of the -progressiveness of a self-dependent race, and the torpidity -of paternally-governed ones, do not suffice him, he may -read Mr. Laing’s successive volumes of European travel, -and there study the contrast in detail. What, now, is the -cause of this contrast? In the order of nature, a capacity -for self-help must in every case have been brought into -existence by the practice of self-help; and, other things -equal, a lack of this capacity must in every case have -arisen from the lack of demand for it. Do not these two -antecedents and their two consequents agree with the facts -as presented in England and Europe? Were not the -inhabitants of the two, some centuries ago, much upon a -par in point of enterprise? Were not the English even -behind in their manufactures, in their colonization, in their -commerce? Has not the immense relative change the -English have undergone in this respect, been coincident -with the great relative self-dependence they have been -since habituated to? And has not the one been caused by -the other? Whoever doubts it, is asked to assign a more -probable cause. Whoever admits it, must admit that the -enervation of a people by perpetual State-aids is not a -trifling consideration, but the most weighty consideration. -A general arrest of national growth he will see to be an -evil greater than any special benefits can compensate for. -And, indeed, when, after contemplating this great fact, the -overspreading of the Earth by the English, -he remarks the <span class="xxpn" id="p280">{280}</span> -absence of any parallel achievement by a continental race—when -he reflects how this difference must depend chiefly on -difference of character, and how such difference of character -has been mainly produced by difference of discipline; he -will perceive that the policy pursued in this matter may -have a large share in determining a nation’s ultimate fate.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">We are not sanguine, however, that argument will -change the convictions of those who put their trust in -legislation. With men of a certain order of thought the -foregoing reasons will have weight. With men of another -order of thought they will have little or none; nor would -any accumulation of such reasons affect them. The truth -that experience teaches, has its limits. The experiences -which teach, must be experiences which can be appreciated; -and experiences exceeding a certain degree of complexity -become inappreciable to the majority. It is thus with most -social phenomena. If we remember that for these two -thousand years and more, mankind have been making -regulations for commerce, which have all along been -strangling some trades and killing others with kindness, -and that though the proofs of this have been constantly -before their eyes, they have only just discovered that they -have been uniformly doing mischief—if we remember that -even now only a small portion of them see this; we are -taught that perpetually-repeated and ever-accumulating -experiences will fail to teach, until there exist the mental -conditions required for the assimilation of them. Nay, -when they are assimilated, it is very imperfectly. The -truth they teach is only half understood, even by those -supposed to understand it best. For example, Sir Robert -Peel, in one of his last speeches, after describing the -immensely increased consumption consequent on free trade, -goes on to say:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“If, then, you can only continue that consumption—if, -<i>by your legislation</i>, under the favour of Providence, -<i>you can maintain the demand for labour and make your -trade and manufactures prosperous</i>, you are not only -increasing the <span class="xxpn" id="p281">{281}</span> sum of human happiness, but are -giving the agriculturists of this country the best chance -of that increased demand which must contribute to their -welfare.”—<i>Times</i>, Feb. 22, 1850.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Thus the prosperity really due to the abandonment of all -legislation, is ascribed to a particular kind of legislation. -“<i>You</i> can maintain the demand,” he says; “<i>you</i> can make -trade and manufactures prosperous;” whereas, the facts -he quotes prove that they can do this only by doing -nothing. The essential truth of the matter—that law had -been doing immense harm, and that this prosperity resulted -not from law but from the absence of law—is missed; and -his faith in legislation in general, which should, by this -experience, have been greatly shaken, seemingly remains -as strong as ever. Here, again, is the House of Lords, -apparently not yet believing in the relationship of supply -and demand, adopting within these few weeks the -standing order―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“That before the first reading of any bill for making any work in the -construction of which compulsory power is sought to take thirty houses or -more inhabited by the labouring classes in any one parish or place, the -promoters be required to deposit in the office of the clerk of the parliaments -a statement of the number, description, and situation of the said houses, the -number (so far as they can be estimated) of persons to be displaced, <i>and -whether any and what provision is made in the bill for remedying the inconvenience -likely to arise from such displacements</i>.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>If, then, in the comparatively simple relationships of -trade, the teachings of experience remain for so many ages -unperceived, and are so imperfectly apprehended when they -are perceived, it is scarcely to be hoped that where all social -phenomena—moral, intellectual, and physical—are involved, -any due appreciation of the truths displayed will presently -take place. The facts cannot yet get recognized as facts. -As the alchemist attributed his successive disappointments -to some disproportion in the ingredients, some impurity, or -some too great temperature, and never to the futility of his -process or the impossibility of his aim; so, every failure of -State-regulations the law-worshipper explains away as -being caused by this trifling oversight, -or that little <span class="xxpn" id="p282">{282}</span> -mistake: all which oversights and mistakes he assures -you will in future be avoided. Eluding the facts as he -does after this fashion, volley after volley of them produce -no effect.</p> - -<p>Indeed this faith in governments is in a certain sense -organic; and can diminish only by being outgrown. From -the time when rulers were thought demi-gods, there has -been a gradual decline in men’s estimates of their power. -This decline is still in progress, and has still far to go. -Doubtless, every increment of evidence furthers it in <i>some</i> -degree, though not to the degree that at first appears. -Only in so far as it modifies character does it produce a -permanent effect. For while the mental type remains the -same, the removal of a special error is inevitably followed -by the growth of other errors of the same genus. All -superstitions die hard; and we fear that this belief in -government-omnipotence will -form no exception.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p283">{283}</span></div> - -<h2 class="h2nobreak">REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT—WHAT IS IT -GOOD FOR?</h2></div> - -<div class="dchappre"> -<p class="pfirst">[<i>First published in </i>The Westminster - Review<i> for October 1857.</i>]</p></div> - -<p>Shakspeare’s simile for adversity―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"><div class="nowrap"> -<p class="pfirst">Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,</p> -<p class="pcontinue">Wears yet a precious jewel in his head,</p> -</div></blockquote> - -<p class="pcontinue">might fitly be used also as a simile for a disagreeable -truth. Repulsive as is its aspect, the hard fact which -dissipates a cherished illusion, is presently found to contain -the germ of a more salutary belief. The experience of -every one furnishes instances in which an opinion long -shrunk from as seemingly at variance with all that is good, -but finally accepted as irresistible, turns out to be fraught -with benefits. It is thus with self-knowledge: much as -we dislike to admit our defects, we find it better to know -and guard against than to ignore them. It is thus with -changes of creed: alarming as looks the reasoning by -which superstitions are overthrown, the convictions to -which it leads prove to be healthier ones than those they -superseded. And it is thus with political enlightenment: -men eventually see cause to thank those who pull to pieces -their political air-castles, hateful as they once seemed. -Moreover, not only is it always better to believe truth -than error; but the repugnant-looking facts are ever found -to be parts of something far better than the -ideal which they <span class="xxpn" id="p284">{284}</span> -dispelled. To the many illustrations of this which might -be cited, we shall presently add another.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">It is a conviction almost universally entertained here in -England, that our method of making and administering -laws possesses every virtue. Prince Albert’s unlucky -saying that “Representative Government is on its trial,” is -vehemently repudiated: we consider that the trial has -long since ended in our favour on all the counts. Partly -from ignorance, partly from the bias of education, partly -from that patriotism which leads the men of each nation to -pride themselves in their own institutions, we have an -unhesitating belief in the entire superiority of our form of -political organization. Yet unfriendly critics can point -out vices that are manifestly inherent. And if we may -believe the defenders of despotism, these vices are fatal to -its efficiency.</p> - -<p>Now instead of denying or blinking these allegations, it -would be wiser candidly to inquire whether they are true; -and if true, what they imply. If, as most of us are so -confident, government by representatives is better than -any other, we can afford to listen patiently to all adverse -remarks: believing that they are either invalid, or that -if valid they do not essentially tell against its merits. If -our political system is well founded, this crucial criticism -will serve but to bring out its worth more clearly than -ever; and to give us higher conceptions of its nature, its -meaning, its purpose. Let us, then, banishing for the -nonce all prepossessions, and taking up a thoroughly -antagonistic point of view, set down without mitigation its -many flaws, vices, and absurdities.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Is it not manifest that a ruling body made up of many -individuals, who differ in character, education, and aims, -who belong to classes having antagonistic ideas and -feelings, and who are severally swayed -by the special <span class="xxpn" id="p285">{285}</span> -opinions of the districts deputing them, must be a cumbrous -apparatus for the management of public affairs? When -we devise a machine we take care that its parts are as -few as possible; that they are adapted to their respective -ends; that they are properly joined with one another; -and that they work smoothly to their common purpose. -Our political machine, however, is constructed upon directly -opposite principles. Its parts are extremely numerous: -multiplied, indeed, beyond all reason. They are not -severally chosen as specially qualified for particular functions. -No care is taken that they shall fit well together: -on the contrary, our arrangements are such that they -are certain not to fit. And that, as a consequence, they do -not and cannot act in harmony, is a fact nightly demonstrated -to all the world. In truth, had the problem been -to find an appliance for the slow and bungling transaction -of business, it could scarcely have been better solved. -Immense hindrance results from the mere multiplicity of -parts; a further immense hindrance results from their -incongruity; yet another immense hindrance results from -the frequency with which they are changed; while the -greatest hindrance of all results from the want of subordination -of the parts to their functions—from the fact that -the personal welfare of the legislator is not bound up with -the efficient performance of his political duty.</p> - -<p>These defects are inherent in the very nature of our -institutions; and they cannot fail to produce disastrous -mismanagement. If proofs be needed, they may be -furnished in abundance, both from the current history of -our central representative government, and from that of -local ones, public and private. Let us, before going on to -contemplate these evils as displayed on a great scale in our -legislature, glance at some of them in their simpler and -smaller manifestations.</p> - -<p>We will not dwell on the comparative inefficiency of -deputed administration in -mercantile affairs. The <span class="xxpn" id="p286">{286}</span> -untrustworthiness of directorial management might be afresh -illustrated by the recent joint-stock-bank catastrophies: -the recklessness and dishonesty of rulers whose interests -are not one with those of the concern they control, being -in these cases conspicuously displayed. Or we could enlarge -on the same truth as exhibited in the doings of railway-boards: -instancing the malversations proved against their -members; the carelessness which has permitted Robson -and Redpath frauds; the rashness perseveringly shown in -making unprofitable branches and extensions. But facts of -this kind are sufficiently familiar.</p> - -<p>Let us pass, then, to less notorious examples. Mechanics’ -Institutions will supply our first. The theory of these is -plausible enough. Artizans wanting knowledge, and benevolent -middle-class people wishing to help them to it, -constitute the raw material. By uniting their means they -propose to obtain literary and other advantages, which else -would be beyond their reach. And it is concluded that, -being all interested in securing the proposed objects, and -the governing body being chosen out of their number, the -results cannot fail to be such as were intended. In most -cases, however, the results are quite otherwise. Indifference, -stupidity, party-spirit, and religious dissension, nearly -always thwart the efforts of the promoters. It is thought -good policy to select as president some local notability; -probably not distinguished for wisdom, but whose donation -or prestige more than counterbalances his defect in this -respect. Vice-presidents are chosen with the same view: -a clergyman or two; some neighbouring squires, if they -can be had; an ex-mayor; several aldermen; half a dozen -manufacturers and wealthy tradesmen; and a miscellaneous -complement. While the committee, mostly elected more -because of their position or popularity than their intelligence -or fitness for co-operation, exhibit similar incongruities. -Causes of dissension quickly arise. A book much wished -for by the mass of the members, -is tabooed, because <span class="xxpn" id="p287">{287}</span> -ordering it would offend the clerical party in the institution. -Regard for the prejudices of certain magistrates and squires -who figure among the vice-presidents, forbids the engagement -of an otherwise desirable and popular lecturer, whose -political and religious opinions are somewhat extreme. -The selection of newspapers and magazines for the reading-room, -is a fruitful source of disputes. Should some, thinking -it would be a great boon to those for whom the institution -was established, propose to open the reading-room on -Sundays, there arises a violent fight; ending, perhaps, in -the secession of some of the defeated party. The question -of amusements, again, furnishes a bone of contention. Shall -the institution exist solely for instruction, or shall it add -gratification? The refreshment-question, also, is apt to be -raised, and to add to the other causes of difference. In -short, the stupidity, prejudice, party-spirit, and squabbling, -are such as eventually to drive away in disgust those who -should have been the administrators; and to leave the -control in the hands of a clique, who pursue some humdrum -middle course, satisfying nobody. Instead of that prosperity -which would probably have been achieved under the -direction of one good man-of-business, whose welfare was -bound up with its success, the institution loses its prestige, -and dwindles away: ceases almost entirely to be what was -intended—a <i>mechanics</i>’ institution; and becomes little more -than a middle-class lounge, kept up not so much by the -permanent adhesion of its members, as by the continual -addition of new ones in place of the old ones constantly -falling off. Meanwhile, the end originally proposed is -fulfilled, so far as it gets fulfilled at all, by private enterprise. -Cheap newspapers and cheap periodicals, provided -by publishers having in view the pockets and tastes of the -working-classes; coffee-shops and penny reading-rooms, -set up by men whose aim is profit; are the instruments of -the chief proportion of such culture as is going on.</p> - -<p>In higher-class institutions of the -same order—in Literary <span class="xxpn" id="p288">{288}</span> -Societies and Philosophical Societies, etc.—the like inefficiency -of representative government is generally displayed. -Quickly following the vigour of early enthusiasm, come -class and sectarian differences, the final supremacy of a -party, bad management, apathy. Subscribers complain they -cannot get what they want; and one by one desert to -private book-clubs or to Mudie.</p> - -<p>Turning from non-political to political institutions, we -might, had we space, draw illustrations from the doings of -the old poor-law authorities, or from those of modern boards -of guardians; but omitting these and others such, we will, -among local governments, confine ourselves to the reformed -municipal corporations.</p> - -<p>If, leaving out of sight all other evidences, and forgetting -that they are newly-organized bodies into which corruption -has scarcely had time to creep, we were to judge of these -municipal corporations by the town-improvements they have -effected, we might pronounce them successful. But, even -without insisting on the fact that such improvements are -more due to the removal of obstructions, and to that same -progressive spirit which has established railways and telegraphs, -than to the positive virtues of these civic governments; -it is to be remarked that the execution of numerous -public works is by no means an adequate test. With power -of raising funds limited only by a rebellion of ratepayers, -it is easy in prosperous, increasing towns, to make a display -of efficiency. The proper questions to be asked are:—Do -municipal elections end in the choice of the fittest men who -are to be found? Does the resulting administrative body, -perform well and economically the work which devolves on -it? And does it show sound judgment in refraining from -needless or improper work? To these questions the answers -are by no means satisfactory.</p> - -<p>Town-councils are not conspicuous for either intelligence -or high character. There are competent judges who think -that, on the average, their members are inferior -to those of <span class="xxpn" id="p289">{289}</span> -the old corporations they superseded. As all the world -knows, the elections turn mainly on political opinions. The -first question respecting any candidate is, not whether he -has great knowledge, judgment, or business-faculty—not -whether he has any special aptitude for the duty to be discharged; -but whether he is Whig or Tory. Even supposing -his politics to be unobjectionable, his nomination still does -not depend chiefly on his proved uprightness or capacity, -but much more on his friendly relations with the dominant -clique. A number of the town magnates, habitually meeting -probably at the chief hotel, and there held together as -much by the brotherhood of conviviality as by that of -opinion, discuss the merits of all whose names are before -the public, and decide which are the most suitable. This -gin-and-water caucus it is which practically determines the -choice of candidates; and, by consequence, the elections. -Those who will succumb to leadership—those who will -merge their private opinions in the policy of their party, of -course have the preference. Men too independent for this—too -far-seeing to join in the shibboleth of the hour, or too -refined to mix with the “jolly good fellows” who thus rule -the town, are shelved; notwithstanding that they are, -above all others, fitted for office. Partly from this underhand -influence, and partly from the consequent disgust -which leads them to decline standing if asked, the best -men are generally not in the governing body. It is -notorious that in London the most respectable merchants -will have nothing to do with the local government. And -in New York, “the exertions of its better citizens are still -exhausted in private accumulation, while the duties of -administration are left to other hands,” It cannot then be -asserted that in town-government, the representative -system succeeds in bringing the ablest and most honourable -men to the top.</p> - -<p>The efficient and economical discharge of duties is, of -course, hindered by this inferiority of -the deputies chosen; <span class="xxpn" id="p290">{290}</span> -and it is further hindered by the persistent action of party -and personal motives. Not whether he knows well how to -handle a level, but whether he voted for the popular candidate -at the last parliamentary election, is the question on -which may, and sometimes does, hang the choice of a town-surveyor; -and if sewers are ill laid out, it is a natural -consequence. When, a new public edifice having been -decided on, competition designs are advertised for; and -when the designs, ostensibly anonymous but really identifiable, -have been sent in; T. Square, Esq., who has an -influential relative in the corporation, makes sure of succeeding, -and is not disappointed: albeit his plans are not those -which would have been chosen by any one of the judges, -had the intended edifice been his own. Brown, who has -for many years been on the town-council and is one of the -dominant clique, has a son who is a doctor; and when, in -pursuance of an Act of Parliament, an officer of health -is to be appointed, Brown privately canvasses his fellow-councillors, -and succeeds in persuading them to elect his -son; though his son is by no means the fittest man the -place can furnish. Similarly with the choice of tradesmen -to execute work for the town. A public clock which is -frequently getting out of order, and Board-of-Health water-closets -which disgust those who have them (we state -facts), sufficiently testify that stupidity, favouritism, or -some sinister influence, is ever causing mismanagement. -The choice of inferior representatives, and by them of -inferior <i>employés</i>, joined with private interest and divided -responsibility, inevitably prevent the discharge of duties -from being satisfactory.</p> - -<p>Moreover, the extravagance which is now becoming a -notorious vice of municipal bodies, is greatly increased by -the practice of undertaking things which they ought not to -undertake; and the incentive to do this is, in many cases, -traceable to the representative origin of the body. The -system of compounding with -landlords for municipal <span class="xxpn" id="p291">{291}</span> -rates, leads the lower class of occupiers into the erroneous -belief that town-burdens do not fall in any degree on them; -and they therefore approve of an expenditure which seemingly -gives them gratis advantages while it creates employment. -As they form the mass of the constituency, lavishness -becomes a popular policy; and popularity-hunters vie with -one another in bringing forward new and expensive projects. -Here is a councillor who, having fears about his next -election, proposes an extensive scheme for public gardens—a -scheme which many who disapprove do not oppose, because -they, too, bear in mind the next election. There is another -councillor, who keeps a shop, and who raises and agitates -the question of baths and wash-houses; very well knowing -that his trade is not likely to suffer from such a course. -And so in other cases: the small direct interest which -each member of the corporation has in economical administration, -is antagonized by so many indirect interests of -other kinds, that he is not likely to be a good guardian -of the public purse.</p> - -<p>Thus, neither in respect of the deputies chosen, nor the -efficient performance of their work, nor the avoidance of -unfit work, can the governments of our towns be held satisfactory. -And if in these recently-formed bodies the defects -are so conspicuous, still more conspicuous are they where -they have had time to grow to their full magnitude: witness -the case of New York. According to the <i>Times</i> correspondent -in that city, the New York people pay “over a -million and a half sterling, for which they have badly-paved -streets, a police by no means as efficient as it should be, -though much better than formerly, the greatest amount of -dirt north of Italy, the poorest cab-system of any metropolis -in the world, and only unsheltered wooden piers for the -discharge of merchandize.”</p> - -<p class="padtopb">And now, having glanced at the general bearings of the -question in these minor cases, let us take the -major case of <span class="xxpn" id="p292">{292}</span> -our central government; and, in connexion with it, pursue -the inquiry more closely. Here the inherent faults of the -representative system are much more clearly displayed. -The greater multiplicity of rulers involves greater cumbrousness, -greater confusion, greater delay. Differences of -class, of aims, of prejudices, are both larger in number and -wider in degree; and hence arise dissensions still more -multiplied. The direct effect which each legislator is likely -to experience from the working of any particular measure, -is usually very small and remote; while the indirect influences -which sway him are, in this above all other cases, -numerous and strong: whence follows a marked tendency -to neglect public welfare for private advantage. But let us -set out from the beginning—with the constituencies.</p> - -<p>The representative theory assumes that if a number of -citizens, deeply interested as they all are in good government, -are endowed with political power, they will choose the -wisest and best men for governors. Seeing how greatly -they suffer from bad administration of public affairs, it is -considered self-evident that they must have the <i>will</i> -to select proper representatives; and it is taken for -granted that average common sense gives the <i>ability</i> to -select proper representatives. How does experience bear -out these assumptions? Does it not to a great degree -negative them?</p> - -<p>Several considerable classes of electors have little or no -<i>will</i> in the matter. Not a few of those on the register -pique themselves on taking no part in politics—claim credit -for having the sense not to meddle with things which they -say do not concern them. Many others there are whose -interest in the choice of a member of Parliament is so slight, -that they do not think it worth while to vote. A notable -proportion, too, shopkeepers especially, care so little about -the result, that their votes are determined by their wishes -to please their chief patrons or to avoid offending them. -In the minds of a yet larger class, small sums -of money, or <span class="xxpn" id="p293">{293}</span> -even <i>ad libitum</i> supplies of beer, outweigh any desires -they have to use their political powers independently. -Those who adequately recognize the importance of honestly -exercising their judgments in the selection of legislators, -and who give conscientious votes, form but a minority; and -the election usually hangs less upon their wills than upon -the illegitimate influences which sway the rest. Here, -therefore, the theory fails.</p> - -<p>Then, again, as to intelligence. Even supposing that the -mass of electors have a sufficiently decided <i>will</i> to choose -the best rulers, what evidence have we of their <i>ability</i>? -Is picking out the wisest man among them, a task within -the range of their capacities? Let any one listen to the -conversation of a farmer’s market-table, and then answer -how much he finds of that wisdom which is required to -discern wisdom in others. Or let him read the clap-trap -speeches made from the hustings with a view of pleasing -constituents, and then estimate the penetration of those -who are to be thus pleased. Even among the higher order -of electors he will meet with gross political ignorance—with -notions that Acts of Parliament can do whatever it is -thought well they should do; that the value of gold can be -fixed by law; that distress can be cured by poor-laws; -and so forth. If he descends a step, he will find in the -still-prevalent ideas that machinery is injurious to the -working-classes, and that extravagance is “good for trade,” -indices of a yet smaller insight. And in the lower and -larger class, formed by those who think that their personal -interest in good government is not worth the trouble -of voting, or is outbalanced by the loss of a customer, -or is of less value than a bribe, he will perceive an -almost hopeless stupidity. Without going the length of -Mr. Carlyle, and defining the people as “twenty-seven -millions, mostly fools,” he will confess that they are but -sparely gifted with wisdom.</p> - -<p>That these should succeed in -choosing the fittest <span class="xxpn" id="p294">{294}</span> -governors, would be strange; and that they do not so -succeed is manifest. Even as judged by the most -common-sense tests, their selections are absurd, as we -shall shortly see.</p> - -<p>It is a self-evident truth that we may most safely trust -those whose interests are identical with our own; and that -it is very dangerous to trust those whose interests are -antagonistic to our own. All the legal securities we take -in our transactions with one another, are so many recognitions -of this truth. We are not satisfied with <i>professions</i>. -If another’s position is such that he must be liable to -motives at variance with the promises he makes, we take -care, by introducing an artificial motive (the dread of legal -penalties), to make it his interest to fulfil these promises. -Down to the asking for a receipt, our daily business-habits -testify that, in consequence of the prevailing selfishness, it -it extremely imprudent to expect men to regard the claims -of others equally with their own: all asseverations of good -faith notwithstanding. Now it might have been thought -that even the modicum of sense possessed by the majority -of electors, would have led them to recognize this fact in -the choice of their representatives. But they show a -total disregard of it. While the theory of our Constitution, -in conformity with this same fact, assumes -that the three divisions composing the Legislature will -severally pursue each its own ends—while our history -shows that Monarch, Lords, and Commons, <i>have</i> all along -more or less conspicuously done this; our electors manifest -by their votes, the belief that their interests will be as -well cared for by members of the titled class as by members -of their own class. Though, in their determined opposition -to the Reform-Bill, the aristocracy showed how -greedy they were, not only of their legitimate power -but of their illegitimate power—though, by the enactment -and pertinacious maintenance of the Corn-Laws, -they proved how little popular welfare -weighed in the <span class="xxpn" id="p295">{295}</span> -scale against their own profits—though they have ever -displayed a watchful jealousy even of their smallest -privileges, whether equitable or inequitable (as witness the -recent complaint in the House of Lords, that the Mercantile -Marine Act calls on lords of manors to show their titles -before they can claim the wrecks thrown on the shores of -their estates, which before they had always done by prescription)—though -they have habitually pursued that self-seeking -policy which men so placed were sure to pursue; -yet constituencies have decided that members of the aristocracy -may fitly be chosen as representatives of the people. -Our present House of Commons contains 98 Irish peers -and sons of English peers; 66 blood-relations of peers; -and 67 connexions of peers by marriage: in all, 231 members -whose interests, or sympathies, or both, are with the -nobility rather than the commonalty. We are quite prepared -to hear the doctrine implied in this criticism condemned -by rose-water politicians as narrow and prejudiced. -To such we simply reply that they and their friends fully -recognize this doctrine when it suits them to do so. Why -do they wish to prevent the town-constituencies from predominating -over the county-ones; if they do not believe -that each division of the community will consult its own -welfare? Or what plea can there be for Lord John -Russell’s proposal to represent minorities, unless it be -the plea that those who have the opportunity will sacrifice -the interests of others to their own? Or how shall we -explain the anxiety of the upper class, to keep a tight -rein on the growing power of the lower class, save from -their consciousness that <i>bonâ fide</i> representatives of the -lower class would be less regardful of their privileges -than they are themselves? If there be any reason in the -theory of the Constitution, then, while the members of the -House of Peers should belong to the peerage, the members -of the House of Commons should belong to the commonalty. -Either the constitutional theory is sheer -nonsense, or else <span class="xxpn" id="p296">{296}</span> -the choice of lords as representatives of the people proves -the folly of constituencies.</p> - -<p>But this folly by no means ends here: it works out other -results quite as absurd. What should we think of a man -giving his servants equal authority with himself over the -affairs of his household? Suppose the shareholders in a -railway-company were to elect, as members of their board -of directors, the secretary, engineer, superintendent, traffic-manager, -and others such. Should we not be astonished -at their stupidity? Should we not prophesy that the -private advantage of officials would frequently override the -welfare of the company? Yet our parliamentary electors -commit a blunder of just the same kind. For what are -military and naval officers but servants of the nation; standing -to it in a relation like that in which the officers of a -railway-company stand to the company? Do they not perform -public work? do they not take public pay? And do not -their interests differ from those of the public, as the interests -of the employed from those of the employer? The impropriety -of admitting executive agents of the State into the -Legislature, has over and over again thrust itself into -notice; and in minor cases has been prevented by sundry -Acts of Parliament. Enumerating those disqualified for -the House of Commons, Blackstone says―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“No persons concerned in the management of any duties or taxes created -since 1692, except the commissioners of the treasury, nor any of the officers -following, <i>viz.</i> commissioners of prizes, transports, sick and wounded, wine -licences, navy, and victualling; secretaries or receivers of prizes; comptrollers -of the army accounts; agents for regiments; governors of plantations, -and their deputies; officers of Minorca or Gibraltar; officers of the excise -and customs; clerks and deputies in the several offices of the treasury, exchequer, -navy, victualling, admiralty, pay of the army and navy, secretaries -of state, salt, stamps, appeals, wine licences, hackney coaches, hawkers and -pedlars, nor any persons that hold any new office under the crown created -since 1705, are capable of being elected, or sitting as members.”</p></blockquote> - -<p class="pcontinue">In which list naval and military -officers would doubtless -have been included, had they not always been too powerful -a body and too closely identified with -the dominant classes. <span class="xxpn" id="p297">{297}</span> -Glaring, however, as is the impolicy of appointing public -servants to make the laws; and clearly as this impolicy is -recognized in the above-specified exclusions from time to -time enacted; the people at large seem totally oblivious of -it. At the last general election they returned 9 naval -officers, 46 military officers, and 51 retired military officers, -who, in virtue of education, friendship, and <i>esprit de corps</i>, -take the same views with their active comrades—in all 106: -not including 64 officers of militia and yeomanry, whose -sympathies and ambitions are in a considerable degree the -same. If any one thinks that this large infusion of officialism -is of no consequence, let him look in the division-lists. -Let him inquire how much it has had to do with the -maintenance of the purchase-system. Let him ask whether -the almost insuperable obstacles to the promotion of the -private soldier, have not been strengthened by it. Let -him see what share it had in keeping up those worn-out -practices, and forms, and mis-arrangements, which -entailed the disasters of our late war. Let him consider -whether the hushing-up of the Crimean Inquiry and the -whitewashing of delinquents were not aided by it. Yet, -though abundant experience thus confirms what common -sense would beforehand have predicted; and though, notwithstanding -the late disasters, exposures, and public -outcry for army-reform, the influence of the military caste -is so great that the reform has been staved-off; our constituencies -are stupid enough to send to Parliament as many -military officers as ever!</p> - -<p>Not even now have we reached the end of these impolitic -selections. The general principle on which we have been -insisting, and which is recognized by expounders of the -constitution when they teach that the legislative and -executive divisions of the Government should be distinct—this -general principle is yet further sinned against; though -not in so literal a manner. For though they do not take -State-pay, and are not -nominally Government-officers, yet, <span class="xxpn" id="p298">{298}</span> -practically, lawyers are members of the executive organization. -They form an important part of the apparatus for -the administration of justice. By the working of this -apparatus they make their profits; and their welfare -depends on its being so worked as to bring them profits, -rather than on its being so worked as to administer justice. -Exactly as military officers have interests distinct from, -and often antagonistic to, the efficiency of the army; so, -barristers and solicitors have interests distinct from, and -often antagonistic to, the cheap and prompt enforcement -of the law. And that they are habitually swayed by these -antagonistic interests, is notorious. So strong is the bias, -as sometimes even to destroy the power of seeing from any -other than the professional stand-point. We have ourselves -heard a lawyer declaiming on the damage which the -County-Courts-Act had done to the profession; and -expecting his non-professional hearers to join him in -condemning it there-for! And if, as all the world knows, -the legal conscience is not of the tenderest, is it wise to -depute lawyers to frame the laws which they will be concerned -in carrying out; and the carrying out of which must -affect their private incomes? Are barristers, who constantly -take fees for work which they do not perform, -and attorneys, whose bills are so often exorbitant that a -special office has been established for taxing them—are -these, of all others, to be trusted in a position which -would be trying even to the most disinterested? Nevertheless, -the towns and counties of England have returned -to the present House of Commons 98 lawyers—some -60 of them in actual practice, and the rest retired, but -doubtless retaining those class-views acquired during their -professional careers.</p> - -<p>These criticisms on the conduct of constituencies do not -necessarily commit us to the assertion that <i>none</i> belonging -to the official and aristocratic classes ought to be chosen. -Though it would be safer to carry out, -in these important <span class="xxpn" id="p299">{299}</span> -cases, the general principle which, as above shown, Parliament -has itself recognized and enforced in unimportant -cases; yet we are not prepared to say that occasional -exceptions might not be made, on good cause being shown. -All we aim to show is the gross impolicy of selecting so -large a proportion of representatives from classes having -interests different from those of the general public. That -in addition to more than a third taken from the dominant -class, who already occupy one division of the Legislature, -the House of Commons should contain nearly another third -taken from the naval, military, and legal classes, whose -policy, like that of the dominant class, is to maintain things -as they are; we consider a decisive proof of electoral misjudgment. -That out of the 654 members, of which the -People’s House now consists, there should be but 250 who, -as considered from a class point of view, are eligible, or -tolerably eligible (for we include a considerable number -who are more or less objectionable), is significant of anything -but popular good sense. That into an assembly -established to protect their interests, the commonalty of -England should have sent one-third whose interests are the -same as their own, and two-thirds whose interests are at -variance with their own, proves a scarcely credible lack -of wisdom; and seems an awkward fact for the representative -theory.</p> - -<p>If the intelligence of the mass is thus not sufficient even to choose -out men who by position and occupation are fit representatives, -still less is it sufficient to choose out men who are the fittest -in character and capacity. To see who will be liable to the bias -of private advantage is a very easy thing; to see who is wisest is -a very difficult thing; and those who do not succeed in the first -must necessarily fail in the last. The higher the wisdom the more -incomprehensible does it become by ignorance. It is a manifest fact -that the popular man or writer, is always one who is but little in -advance of the mass, and consequently <span class="xxpn" id="p300">{300}</span> understandable by them: -never the man who is far in advance of them and out of their sight. -Appreciation of another implies some community of thought. “Only the -man of worth can recognize worth in men. . . . . . The worthiest, if he -appealed to universal suffrage, would have but a poor chance. . . . . . -Alas! Jesus Christ, asking the Jews what <i>he</i> deserved—was not the -answer, Death on the gallows!” And though men do not now-a-days stone -the prophet, they, at any rate, ignore him. As Mr. Carlyle says in his -vehement way―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“If of ten men nine are recognisable as fools, which is a common -calculation, how, . . . in the name of wonder, will you ever get a -ballot-box to grind you out a wisdom from the votes of these ten men? -. . . . . I tell you a million blockheads looking authoritatively into -one man of what you call genius, or noble sense, will make nothing but -nonsense out of him and his qualities, and his virtues and defects, if -they look till the end of time.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>So that, even were electors content to choose the man -proved by general evidence to be the most far-seeing, and -refrained from testing him by the coincidence of his views -with their own, there would be small chance of their hitting -on the best. But judging of him, as they do, by asking him -whether he thinks this or that crudity which they think, it -is manifest that they will fix on one far removed from the -best. Their deputy will be truly representative;—representative, -that is, of the average stupidity.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">And now let us look at the assembly of representatives -thus chosen. Already we have noted the unfit composition -of this assembly as respects the interests of its members; -and we have just seen what the representative theory itself -implies as to their intelligence. Let us now, however, consider -them more nearly under this last head.</p> - -<p>And first, what is the work they undertake? Observe, -we do not say the work which they <i>ought</i> to do, but the -work which they <i>propose</i> to do, and <i>try</i> to do. This comprehends -the regulation of nearly all actions going on -throughout society. Besides devising -measures to prevent <span class="xxpn" id="p301">{301}</span> -the aggression of citizens on one another, and to secure each -the quiet possession of his own; and besides assuming the -further function, also needful in the present state of mankind, -of defending the nation as a whole against invaders; -they unhesitatingly take on themselves to provide for -countless wants, to cure countless ills, to oversee countless -affairs. Out of the many beliefs men have held respecting -God, Creation, the Future, etc., they presume to decide -which are true; and authorize an army of priests to perpetually -repeat them to the people. The distress resulting -from improvidence, they undertake to remove: they settle -the minimum which each ratepayer shall give in charity, -and how the proceeds shall be administered. Judging that -emigration will not naturally go on fast enough, they provide -means for carrying off some of the labouring classes to the -colonies. Certain that social necessities will not cause a -sufficiently rapid spread of knowledge, and confident that -they know what knowledge is most required, they use public -money for the building of schools and paying of teachers; -they print and publish State-school-books; they employ -inspectors to see that their standard of education is conformed -to. Playing the part of doctor, they insist that -every one shall use their specific, and escape the danger of -small-pox by submitting to an attack of cow-pox. Playing -the part of moralist, they decide which dramas are fit to be -acted and which are not. Playing the part of artist, they -prompt the setting up of drawing-schools, provide masters -and models; and, at Marlborough House, enact what shall -be considered good taste and what bad. Through their -lieutenants, the corporations of towns, they furnish appliances -for the washing of peoples’ skins and clothes; they, in -some cases, manufacture gas and put down water-pipes; -they lay out sewers and cover over cess-pools; they -establish public libraries and make public gardens. Moreover, -they determine how houses shall be built, and what is a -safe construction for a ship; they take -measures for the <span class="xxpn" id="p302">{302}</span> -security of railway-travelling; they fix the hour after which -public-houses may not be open; they regulate the prices -chargeable by vehicles plying in the London streets; they -inspect lodging-houses; they arrange for burial-grounds; -they fix the hours of factory hands. If some social process -does not seem to them to be going on fast enough, they -stimulate it; where the growth is not in the direction which -they think most desirable, they alter it; and so they seek -to realize some undefined ideal community.</p> - -<p>Such being the task undertaken, what, let us ask, are the -qualifications for discharging it? Supposing it possible to -achieve all this, what must be the knowledge and capacities -of those who shall achieve it? Successfully to prescribe -for society, it is needful to know the structure of society—the -principles on which it is organized—the natural laws of -its progress. If there be not a true understanding of what -constitutes social development, there must necessarily be -grave mistakes made in checking these changes and fostering -those. If there be lack of insight respecting the mutual -dependence of the many functions which, taken together, -make up the national life, unforeseen disasters will ensue -from not perceiving how an interference with one will affect -the rest. That is to say, there must be a due acquaintance -with the social science—the science involving all others; -the science standing above all others in complexity.</p> - -<p>And now, how far do our legislators possess this qualification? -Do they in any moderate degree display it? Do -they make even a distant approximation to it? That many -of them are very good classical scholars is beyond doubt: -not a few have written first-rate Latin verses, and can -enjoy a Greek play; but there is no obvious relation -between a memory well stocked with the words spoken -two thousand years ago, and an understanding disciplined -to deal with modern society. That in learning the languages -of the past they have learnt some of its history, is -true; but considering that this history -is mainly a <span class="xxpn" id="p303">{303}</span> -narrative of battles and plots and negociations and treacheries, -it does not throw much light on social philosophy—not -even the simplest principles of political economy have ever -been gathered from it. We do not question, either, that -a moderate per centage of members of Parliament are -fair mathematicians; and that mathematical discipline is -valuable. As, however, political problems are not susceptible -of mathematical analysis, their studies in this direction -cannot much aid them in legislation. To the large body -of military officers who sit as representatives, we would not -for a moment deny a competent knowledge of fortification, -of strategy, of regimental discipline; but we do not see -that these throw much light on the causes and cure of -national evils. Indeed, considering that war fosters anti-social -sentiments, and that the government of soldiers is -necessarily despotic, military education and habits are more -likely to unfit than to fit men for regulating the doings of -a free people. Extensive acquaintance with the laws, may -doubtless be claimed by the many barristers chosen by -our constituencies; and this seems a kind of information -having some relation to the work to be done. Unless, -however, this information is more than technical—unless it -is accompanied by knowledge of the ramified consequences -which laws have produced in times past and are producing -now (which nobody will assert), it cannot give much -insight into Social Science. A familiarity with laws is no -more a preparation for rational legislation, than would a -familiarity with all the nostrums men have ever used be a -preparation for the rational practice of medicine. Nowhere, -then, in our representative body, do we find appropriate -culture. Here is a clever novelist, and there a successful -maker of railways; this member has acquired a large -fortune in trade, and that member is noted as an agricultural -improver; but none of these achievements imply -fitness for controlling and adjusting social processes. -Among the many who have passed -through the public <span class="xxpn" id="p304">{304}</span> -school and university <i>curriculum</i>—including though they -may a few Oxford double-firsts and one or two Cambridge -wranglers—there are none who have received the discipline -required by the true legislator. None have that competent -knowledge of Science in general, culminating in the -Science of Life, which can alone form a basis for the -Science of Society. For it is one of those open secrets -which seem the more secret because they are so open, -that all phenomena displayed by a nation are phenomena -of Life, and are dependent on the laws of Life. There is -no growth, decay, evil, improvement, or change of any -kind, going on in the body politic, but what has its cause -in the actions of human beings; and there are no actions -of human beings but what conform to the laws of Life in -general, and cannot be truly understood until those laws -are understood.</p> - -<p>See, then, the immense incongruity between the end and -the means. See on the one hand the countless difficulties -of the task; and on the other hand the almost total -unpreparedness of those who undertake it. Need we -wonder that legislation is ever breaking down? Is it not -natural that complaint, amendment, and repeal, should -form the staple business of every session? Is there anything -more than might be expected in the absurd Jack-Cadeisms -which disgrace the debates? Even without -setting up so high a standard of qualification as that above -specified, the unfitness of most representatives for their duties -is abundantly manifest. You need but glance over the -miscellaneous list of noblemen, baronets, squires, merchants, -barristers, engineers, soldiers, sailors, railway-directors, etc., -and then ask what training their previous lives have given -them for the intricate business of legislation, to see at once -how extreme must be the incompetence. One would think -that the whole system had been framed on the sayings of -some political Dogberry:—“The art of healing is difficult; -the art of government easy. -The understanding of <span class="xxpn" id="p305">{305}</span> -arithmetic comes by study; while the understanding of -society comes by instinct. Watchmaking requires a long -apprenticeship; but there needs none for the making of -institutions. To manage a shop properly requires teaching; -but the management of a people may be undertaken without -preparation.” Were we to be visited by some wiser -Gulliver, or, as in the “Micromegas” of Voltaire, by some -inhabitant of another sphere, his account of our political -institutions might run somewhat as follows:―</p> - -<p>“I found that the English were governed by an assembly -of men, said to embody the ‘collective wisdom.’ This -assembly, joined with some other authorities which seem -practically subordinate to it, has unlimited power. I was -much perplexed by this. With us it is customary to define -the office of any appointed body; and, above all things, to -see that it does not defeat the ends for which it was -appointed. But both the theory and the practice of this -English Government imply that it may do whatever it -pleases. Though, by their current maxims and usages, the -English recognize the right of property as sacred—though -the infraction of it is considered by them one of the gravest -crimes—though the laws profess to be so jealous of it as to -punish even the stealing of a turnip; yet their legislators -suspend it at will. They take the money of citizens for -any project which they choose to undertake; though such -project was not in the least contemplated by those who -gave them authority—nay, though the greater part of the -citizens from whom the money is taken had no share in -giving them such authority. Each citizen can hold property -only so long as the 654 deputies do not want it. It -seemed to me that an exploded doctrine once current -among them of ‘the divine right of kings,’ had simply been -changed into the divine right of Parliaments.</p> - -<p>“I was at first inclined to think that the constitution of -things on the Earth was totally different from what it is -with us; for the current political -philosophy here, implies <span class="xxpn" id="p306">{306}</span> -that acts are not right or wrong in themselves but are -made one or the other by the votes of law-makers. In our -world it is considered manifest that if a number of beings -live together, there must, in virtue of their natures, be -certain primary conditions on which only they can work -satisfactorily in concert; and we infer that the conduct -which breaks through these conditions is bad. In the -English legislature, however, a proposal to regulate conduct -by any such abstract standard would be held absurd. I -asked one of their members of Parliament whether a -majority of the House could legitimize murder. He said, -No. I asked him whether it could sanctify robbery. He -thought not. But I could not make him see that if murder -and robbery are intrinsically wrong, and not to be made -right by decisions of statesmen, that similarly <i>all</i> actions -must be either right or wrong, apart from the authority of -the law; and that if the right and wrong of the law are -not in harmony with this intrinsic right and wrong, the -law itself is criminal. Some, indeed, among the English -think as we do. One of their remarkable men (<i>not</i> included -in their Assembly of Notables) writes thus:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“‘To ascertain better and better what the will of the Eternal was and is -with us, what the laws of the Eternal are, all Parliaments, Ecumenic -Councils, Congresses, and other Collective Wisdoms, have had this for their -object. . . . . Nevertheless, in the inexplicable universal votings and -debatings of these Ages, an idea or rather a dumb presumption to the -contrary has gone idly abroad; and at this day, over extensive tracts of the -world, poor human beings are to be found, whose practical belief it is that if -we “vote” this or that, so this or that will thenceforth <i>be</i>. . . . . Practically, -men have come to imagine that the Laws of this Universe, like the laws of -constitutional countries, are decided by voting. . . . It is an idle fancy. -The Laws of this Universe, of which if the Laws of England are not an -exact transcript, they should passionately study to become such, are fixed -by the everlasting congruity of things, and are not fixable or changeable -by voting!’</p></blockquote> - -<p>“But I find that, contemptuously disregarding all such -protests, the English legislators persevere in their -hyperatheistic -notion, that an Act of Parliament duly enforced by -State-officers, will work out any object: -no question being <span class="xxpn" id="p307">{307}</span> -put whether Laws of Nature permit. I forgot to ask whether -they considered that different kinds of food could be made -wholesome or unwholesome by State-decree.</p> - -<p>“One thing that struck me was the curious way in which -the members of their House of Commons judge of one -another’s capacities. Many who expressed opinions of the -crudest kinds, or trivial platitudes, or worn-out superstitions, -were civilly treated. Follies as great as that but a few -years since uttered by one of their ministers, who said that -free-trade was contrary to common sense, were received in -silence. But I was present when one of their number, who, -as I thought, was speaking very rationally, made a mistake -in his pronunciation—made what they call a wrong quantity; -and immediately there arose a shout of derision. It seemed -quite tolerable that a member should know little or nothing -about the business he was there to transact; but quite intolerable -that he should be ignorant on a point of no moment.</p> - -<p>“The English pique themselves on being especially -practical—have a great contempt for theorizers, and profess -to be guided exclusively by facts. Before making or altering -a law it is the custom to appoint a committee of inquiry, -who send for men able to give information concerning the -matter in hand, and ask them some thousands of questions. -These questions, and the answers given to them, are printed -in large books, and distributed among the members of the -Houses of Parliament; and I was told that they spent about -£100,000 a year in thus collecting and distributing evidence. -Nevertheless, it appeared to me that the ministers and -representatives of the English people, pertinaciously adhere -to theories long ago disproved by the most conspicuous -facts. They pay great respect to petty details of evidence, -but of large truths they are quite regardless. Thus, the -experience of age after age has shown that their state-management -is almost invariably bad. The national estates -are so miserably administered as often -to bring loss <span class="xxpn" id="p308">{308}</span> -instead of gain. The government ship-yards are uniformly -extravagant and inefficient. The judicial system works so -ill that most citizens will submit to serious losses rather -than run risks of being ruined by law-suits. Countless -facts prove the Government to be the worst owner, the -worst manufacturer, the worst trader: in fact, the worst -manager, be the thing managed what it may. But though -the evidence of this is abundant and conclusive—though, -during a recent war, the bunglings of officials were as glaring -and multitudinous as ever; yet the belief that any proposed -duties will be satisfactorily discharged by a new public -department appointed to them, seems not a whit the -weaker. Legislators, thinking themselves practical, cling -to the plausible theory of an officially-regulated society, -spite of overwhelming evidence that official regulation -perpetually fails.</p> - -<p>“Nay, indeed, the belief seems to gain strength among -these fact-loving English statesmen, notwithstanding the -facts are against it. Proposals for State-control over this -and the other, have been of late more rife than ever. And, -most remarkable of all, their representative assembly lately -listened with grave faces to the assertion, made by one of their -high authorities, that State-workshops are more economical -than private workshops. Their prime minister, in defending -a recently-established arms-factory, actually told them that, -at one of their arsenals, certain missiles of war were manufactured -not only better than by the trade, but at about -one-third the price; and added, ‘<i>so it would be in all things</i>.’ -The English being a trading people, who must be tolerably -familiar with the usual rates of profit among manufacturers, -and the margin for possible economy, the fact that they -should have got for their chief representative one so utterly -in the dark on these matters, struck me as a wonderful -result of the representative system.</p> - -<p>“I did not inquire much further, for it -was manifest that <span class="xxpn" id="p309">{309}</span> -if these were really their wisest men, the English were not -a wise people.”</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Representative government, then, cannot be called a success, -in so far as the choice of men is concerned. Those it -puts into power are the fittest neither in respect of their -interests, nor their culture, nor their wisdom. And as a -consequence, partly of this and partly of its complex and -cumbrous nature, representative government is anything -but efficient for administrative purposes. In these respects -it is manifestly inferior to monarchical government. This -has the advantage of simplicity, which is always conducive -to efficiency. And it has the further advantage that the -power is in the hands of one who is directly concerned in -the good management of national affairs; seeing that the -continued maintenance of his power—nay, often his very -life—depends on this. For his own sake a monarch chooses -the wisest councillors he can find, regardless of class-distinctions. -His interest in getting the best help is too -great to allow of prejudices standing between him and a -far-seeing man. We see this abundantly illustrated. Did -not the kings of France take Richelieu, and Mazarin, and -Turgot to assist them? Had not Henry VIII. his Wolsey, -Elizabeth her Burleigh, James his Bacon, Cromwell his -Milton? And were not these men of greater calibre than -those who hold the reins under our constitutional <i>régime?</i> -So strong is the motive of an autocrat to make use of ability -wherever it exists, that he will, like Louis XI., take even his -barber into council if he finds him a clever fellow. Besides -choosing them for ministers and advisers, he seeks out the -most competent men for other offices. Napoleon raised his -marshals from the ranks; and owed his military success in -great part to the readiness with which he saw and availed -himself of merit wherever found. We have recently seen -in Russia how prompt was the recognition and promotion of -engineering talent in the case of Todleben; -and know to <span class="xxpn" id="p310">{310}</span> -our cost how greatly the prolonged defence of Sebastopol -was due to this. In the marked contrast to these cases -supplied by our own army, in which genius is ignored while -muffs are honoured—in which wealth and caste make the -advance of plebeian merit next to impossible—in which -jealousies between Queen’s service and Company’s service -render the best generalship almost unavailable; we see that -the representative system fails in the officering of its -executive, as much as in the officering of its legislative. A -striking antithesis between the actions of the two forms of -government, is presented in the evidence given before the -Sebastopol Committee respecting the supply of huts to the -Crimean army—evidence showing that while, in his negotiations -with the English Government, the contractor for the -huts met with nothing but vacillation, delay, and official -rudeness, the conduct of the French Government was -marked by promptitude, decision, sound judgment, and -great civility. Everything goes to show that for administrative -efficiency, autocratic power is the best. If your aim -is a well-organized army—if you want to have sanitary -departments, and educational departments, and -charity-departments, -managed in a business-like way—if you would -have society actively regulated by staffs of State-agents; -then by all means choose that system of complete centralization -which we call despotism.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Probably, notwithstanding the hints dropped at the -outset, most have read the foregoing pages with surprise. -Very likely some have referred to the cover of the <i>Review</i>, -to see whether they have not, in mistake, taken up some -other than the “<i>Westminster</i>;” while some may, perhaps, -have accompanied their perusal by a running commentary -of epithets condemnatory of our seeming change of principles. -Let them not be alarmed. We have not in the -least swerved from the confession of faith set forth in our -prospectus. On the contrary, as we -shall shortly show, <span class="xxpn" id="p311">{311}</span> -our adhesion to free institutions is as strong as ever—nay, -has even gained strength through this apparently -antagonistic criticism.</p> - -<p>The subordination of a nation to a man, is not a wholesome -but a vicious state of things: needful, indeed, for a -vicious humanity; but to be outgrown as fast as may be. -The instinct which makes it possible is anything but a -noble one. Call it “hero-worship,” and it looks respectable. -Call it what it is—a blind awe and fear of power, no -matter of what kind, but more especially of the brutal -kind; and it is by no means to be admired. Watch it in -early ages deifying the cannibal chief; singing the praises -of the successful thief; commemorating the most blood-thirsty -warriors; speaking with reverence of those who -had shown undying revenge; and erecting altars to such -as carried furthest the vices which disgrace humanity; -and the illusion disappears. Read how, where it was -strongest, it immolated crowds of victims at the tomb of -the dead king—how, at the altars raised to its heroes, it -habitually sacrificed prisoners and children to satisfy their -traditional appetite for human flesh—how it produced that -fealty of subjects to rulers which made possible endless -aggressions, battles, massacres, and horrors innumerable—how -it has mercilessly slain those who would not lick the -dust before its idols;—read all this, and the feeling no -longer seems so worthy an one. See it in later days -idealizing the worst as well as the best monarchs; receiving -assassins with acclamation; hurrahing before successful -treachery; rushing to applaud the processions and shows -and ceremonies wherewith effete power strengthens itself; -and it looks far from laudable. Autocracy presupposes -inferiority of nature on the part of both ruler and subject: -on the one side a cold, unsympathetic sacrificing of other’s -wills to self-will; on the other side a mean, cowardly -abandonment of the claims of manhood. -Our very language <span class="xxpn" id="p312">{312}</span> -bears testimony to this. Do not <i>dignity</i>, <i>independence</i>, -and other words of approbation, imply a nature at variance -with this relation? Are not <i>tyrannical</i>, <i>arbitrary</i>, <i>despotic</i>, -epithets of reproach? and are not <i>truckling</i>, <i>fawning</i>, -<i>cringing</i>, epithets of contempt? Is not <i>slavish</i> a condemnatory -term? Does not <i>servile</i>, that is, serf-like, imply -littleness, meanness? And has not the word <i>villain</i>, which -originally meant bondsman, come to signify everything -which is hateful? That language should thus inadvertently -embody dislike for those who most display the -instinct of subordination, is alone sufficient proof that this -instinct is associated with evil dispositions. It has been -the parent of countless crimes. It is answerable for the -torturing and murder of the noble-minded who would not -submit—for the horrors of Bastiles and Siberias. It has -ever been the represser of knowledge, of free thought, of -true progress. In all times it has fostered the vices of -courts, and made those vices fashionable throughout -nations. With a George IV. on the throne, it weekly tells -ten thousand lies, in the shape of prayers for a “most -religious and gracious king.” Whether you read the -annals of the far past—whether you look at the various -uncivilized races dispersed over the globe—or whether -you contrast the existing nations of Europe; you equally -find that submission to authority decreases as morality and -intelligence increase. From ancient warrior-worship down -to modern flunkeyism, the sentiment has ever been strongest -where human nature has been vilest.</p> - -<p>This relation between barbarism and loyalty, is one of -those beneficent arrangements which “the servant and -interpreter of nature” everywhere meets with. The subordination -of many to one, is a form of society needful for -men so long as their natures are savage, or anti-social; -and that it may be maintained, it is needful that they -should have an extreme awe of the one. -Just in proportion <span class="xxpn" id="p313">{313}</span> -as their conduct to one another is such as to breed -perpetual antagonism, endangering social union; just in -that proportion must there be a reverence for the strong, -determined, cruel ruler, who alone can repress their -explosive natures and keep them from mutual destruction. -Among such a people any form of free government is an -impossibility. There must be a despotism as stern as the -people are savage; and, that such a despotism may exist, -there must be a superstitious worship of the despot. But -as fast as the discipline of social life modifies character—as -fast as, through lack of use, the old predatory instincts -dwindle—as fast as the sympathetic feelings grow; so -fast does this hard rule become less necessary; so fast -does the authority of the ruler diminish; so fast does the -awe of him disappear. From being originally god, or -demi-god, he comes at length to be a very ordinary person; -liable to be criticized, ridiculed, caricatured. Various -influences conspire to this result. Accumulating knowledge -gradually divests the ruler of those supernatural attributes -at first ascribed to him. The conceptions which developing -science gives of the grandeur of creation, as well as the -constancy and irresistibleness of its Omnipresent Cause, -make all feel the comparative littleness of human power; -and the awe once felt for the great man is, by degrees, -transferred to that Universe of which the great man is -seen to form but an insignificant part. Increase of -population, with its average per-centage of great men, -involves the comparative frequency of such; and the more -numerous they are the less respect can be given to each: -they dwarf one another. As society becomes settled and -organized, its welfare and progress become more and more -independent of any one. In a primitive society the death -of a chief may alter the whole course of things; but in a -society like ours, things go on much as before, no matter -who dies. Thus, many influences combine to diminish -autocratic power, whether political or other. -It is true, <span class="xxpn" id="p314">{314}</span> -not only in the sense in which Tennyson writes it, but also -in a higher sense, that―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"><div class="nowrap"> <p -class="pcontinue">. . . “the individual withers, and the -world is more and more.”</p></div></blockquote> - -<p>Further, it is to be noted that while the unlimited -authority of the greatest man ceases to be needful; and -while the superstitious awe which upholds that unlimited -authority decreases; it at the same time becomes impossible -to get the greatest man to the top. In a rude social -state, where might is right, where war is the business of -life, where the qualities required in the ruler, alike for -controlling his subjects and defeating his enemies, are -bodily strength, courage, cunning, will, it is easy to pick -out the best; or rather—he picks himself out. The -qualities which make him the fittest governor for the -barbarians around him, are the qualities by which he gets -the mastery over them. But in an advanced, complex, -and comparatively peaceful state like ours, these are not -the qualities needed; and even were they needed, the -firmly-organized arrangements of society do not allow the -possessor of them to break through to the top. For the -rule of a settled, civilized community, the characteristics -required are—not a love of conquest but a desire for the -general happiness; not undying hate of enemies but a -calm dispassionate equity; not artful manœuvring but -philosophic insight. How is the man most endowed with -these to be found? In no country is he ordinarily born -heir to the throne; and that he can be chosen out of -thirty millions of people none will be foolish enough to -think. The incapacity for recognizing the greatest worth, -we have already seen illustrated in our parliamentary -elections. And if the few thousands forming a constituency -cannot pick out from among themselves their -wisest man, still less can the millions forming a nation -do it. Just as fast as society becomes populous, complex, -peaceful; so fast does the political supremacy of the best -become impossible. <span class="xxpn" id="p315">{315}</span></p> - -<p>But even were the relation of autocrat and slave a -morally wholesome one; and even were it possible to find -the fittest man to be autocrat; we should still contend that -such a form of government is bad. We should not contend -this simply on the ground that self-government is a valuable -educator. But we should take the ground that no human -being, however wise and good, is fit to be sole ruler over -the doings of an involved society; and that, with the best -intentions, a benevolent despot is very likely to produce -the most terrible mischiefs which would else have been -impossible. We will take the case of all others the most -favourable to those who would give supreme power to the -best. We will instance Mr. Carlyle’s model hero—Cromwell. -Doubtless there was much in the manners of the -times when Puritanism arose, to justify its disgust. Doubtless -the vices and follies bequeathed by effete Catholicism -still struggling for existence, were bad enough to create a -reactionary asceticism. It is in the order of Nature, however, -that men’s habits and pleasures are not to be changed -suddenly. For any <i>permanent</i> effect to be produced it must -be produced slowly. Better tastes, higher aspirations, must -be developed; not enforced from without. Disaster is -sure to result from the withdrawal of lower gratifications -before higher ones have taken their places; for gratification -of some kind is a condition to healthful existence. -Whatever ascetic morality, or rather immorality, may say, -pleasures and pains are the incentives and restraints by -which Nature keeps her progeny from destruction. No -contemptuous title of “pig-philosophy” will alter the -eternal fact that Misery is the highway to Death; while -Happiness is added Life and the giver of Life. But indignant -Puritanism could not see this truth; and with the -extravagance of fanaticism sought to abolish pleasure in -general. Getting into power, it put down not only questionable -amusements but all others along -with them. And <span class="xxpn" id="p316">{316}</span> -for these repressions Cromwell, either as enacting, maintaining, -or allowing them, was responsible. What, now, -was the result of this attempt to dragoon men into virtue? -What came when the strong man who thought he was thus -“helping God to mend all,” died? A dreadful reaction -brought in one of the most degraded periods of our history. -Into the newly-garnished house entered “seven other spirits -more wicked than the first.” For generations the English -character was lowered. Vice was gloried in, virtue was -ridiculed; dramatists made marriage the stock-subject of -laughter; profaneness and obscenity flourished; high -aspirations ceased; the whole age was corrupt. Not until -George III. reigned was there a better standard of living. -And for this century of demoralization we have, in great -measure, to thank Cromwell. Is it, then, so clear that the -domination of one man, righteous though he may be, is -a blessing?</p> - -<p>Lastly, it is to be remarked that when the political -supremacy of the greatest no longer exists in an overt form, -it still continues in a disguised and more beneficent form. -For is it not manifest that in these latter days the wise man -eventually gets his edicts enforced by others, if not by himself. -Adam Smith, from his chimney-corner, dictated -greater changes than prime ministers do. A General -Thompson who forges the weapons with which the Anti-Corn-Law -battle is fought—a Cobden and a Bright who add -to and wield them, forward civilization much more than -those who hold sceptres. Repugnant as the fact may be to -statesmen, it is yet one not to be gainsayed. Whoever, -to the great effects already produced by Free-trade, joins -the far greater effects which will be hereafter produced, -must see that the revolution initiated by these men is far -wider than has been initiated by any potentate of modern -times. As Mr. Carlyle very well knows, those who elaborate -new truths and teach them to -their fellows, are <span class="xxpn" id="p317">{317}</span> -now-a-days the real rulers—“the unacknowledged legislators”—the -virtual kings. Thus we have the good which great -men can do us, while we are saved from the evil.</p> - -<p>No; the old <i>régime</i> has passed away. For ourselves at -least, the subordination of the many to the one has become -alike needless, repugnant, and impossible. Good for its -time, bad for ours, the ancient “hero-worship” is dead; -and happily no declamations, be they never so eloquent, -can revive it.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Here seem to be two irreconcileable positions—two -mutually-destructive arguments. First, a condemnatory -criticism on representative government, and then a still -more condemnatory criticism on monarchical government: -each apparently abolishing the other.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, the paradox is easily explicable. It is -quite possible to say all that we have said concerning the -defects of representative government, and still to hold that -it is the best form of government. Nay, it is quite possible -to derive a more profound conviction of its superiority from -the very evidence which appears so unfavourable to it.</p> - -<p>For nothing that we have urged tells against its goodness -as a means of securing justice between man and man, or -class and class. Abundant evidence shows that the maintenance -of equitable relations among its subjects, which -forms the essential business of a ruling power, is surest -when the ruling power is of popular origin; notwithstanding -the defects to which such a ruling power is liable. For -discharging the true function of a government, representative -government is shown to be the best, alike by its <i>origin</i>, -its <i>theory</i>, and its <i>results</i>. Let us glance at the facts under -these three heads.</p> - -<p>Alike in Spain, in England, and in France, popular -power embodied itself as a check upon kingly tyranny, -that is—kingly injustice. The earliest accounts we have of -the Spanish Cortes, say that it was their -office to advise <span class="xxpn" id="p318">{318}</span> -the King; and to follow their advice was his duty. They -petitioned, remonstrated, complained of grievances, and -supplicated for redress. The King, having acceded to -their requirements, swore to observe them; and it was -agreed that any act of his in contravention of the statutes -thus established, should be “respected as the King’s -commands, but not executed, as contrary to the rights and -privileges of the subject.” In all which we see very clearly -that the special aim of the Cortes was to get rectified the -injustices committed by the King or others; that the King -was in the habit of breaking the promises of amendment -he made to them; and that they had to adopt measures to -enforce the fulfilment of his promises. In England we -trace analogous facts. The Barons who bridled the tyranny -of King John, though not formally appointed, were virtually -impromptu representatives of the nation; and in -their demand that justice should neither be sold, denied, -nor delayed, we discern the social evils which led to this -taking of the power into their own hands. In early times -the knights and burgesses, summoned by the King with -the view of getting supplies from them, had for their -especial business to obtain from him the redress of grievances, -that is—the execution of justice; and in their -eventually-obtained and occasionally-exercised power of -withholding supplies until justice was granted, we see both -the need there was for remedying the iniquities of autocracy, -and the adaptation of representative institutions to this -end. And the further development of popular power -latterly obtained, originated from the demand for fairer laws—for -less class-privilege, class-exemption, class-injustice: -a fact which the speeches of the Reform-Bill agitation -abundantly prove. In France, again, representative government -grew into a definite form under the stimulus of -unbearable oppression. When the accumulated extortion -of centuries had reduced the mass of the people to misery—when -millions of haggard faces were -seen throughout the <span class="xxpn" id="p319">{319}</span> -land—when starving complainants were hanged on “a -gallows forty feet high”—when the exactions and cruelties -of good-for-nothing kings and vampire-nobles had brought -the nation to the eve of dissolution; there came, as a -remedy, an assembly of men elected by the people.</p> - -<p>That, considered <i>a priori</i>, representative government is -fitted for establishing just laws, is implied by the unanimity -with which Spanish, English, and French availed themselves -of it to this end; as well as by the endeavours latterly made -by other European nations to do the like. The <i>rationale</i> of -the matter is simple enough. Manifestly, on the average of -cases, a man will protect his own interests more solicitously -than others will protect them for him. Manifestly, where -regulations have to be made affecting the interests of -several men, they are most likely to be equitably made -when all those concerned are present, and have equal -shares in the making of them. And manifestly, where -those concerned are so numerous and so dispersed, that it -is physically impossible for them all to take part in the -framing of such regulations, the next best thing is for the -citizens in each locality to appoint one of their number to -speak for them, to care for their claims, to be their representative. -The general principle is that the welfare of all will -be most secure when each looks after his own welfare; and -the principle is carried out as directly as the circumstances -permit. It is inferable, alike from human nature and from -history, that a single man cannot be trusted with the -interests of a nation of men, where his real or imagined -interests clash with theirs. It is similarly inferable from -human nature and from history, that no small section of a -nation, as the nobles, can be expected to consult the welfare -of the people at large in preference to their own. And it -is further inferable that only in a general diffusion of -political power, is there a safeguard for the general -welfare. This has all along been the conviction under -which representative government -has been advocated, <span class="xxpn" id="p320">{320}</span> -maintained, and extended. From the early writs summoning the -members of the House of Commons—writs which declared it -to be a most equitable rule that the laws which concerned -all should be approved of by all—down to the reasons now -urged by the unenfranchised for a participation in political -power, this is the implied theory. Observe, nothing is said -about wisdom or administrative ability. From the beginning, -the end in view has been <i>justice</i>. Whether we -consider the question in the abstract, or whether we -examine the opinions men have entertained upon it from -old times down to the present day, we equally see the -theory of representative government to be, that it is the -best means of insuring equitable social relations.</p> - -<p>And do not the results justify the theory? Did not our -early Parliaments, after long-continued struggles, succeed -in curbing the licentious exercise of royal power, and in -establishing the rights of the subject? Are not the comparative -security and justice enjoyed under our form of -government, indicated by the envy with which other -nations regard it? Was not the election of the French -Constituent Assembly followed by the sweeping away of -the grievous burdens that weighed down the people—by -the abolition of tithes, seignorial dues, gabelle, excessive -preservation of game—by the withdrawal of numerous -feudal privileges and immunities—by the manumission of -the slaves in the French colonies?—And has not that -extension of our own electoral system embodied in the -Reform-Bill, brought about more equitable arrangements?—as -witness the repeal of the Corn-Laws, and the equalization -of probate and legacy duties. The proofs are undeniable. -It is clear, both <i>a priori</i> and <i>a posteriori</i>, that representative -government is especially adapted for the establishment -and maintenance of just laws.</p> - -<p>And now mark that the objections to representative -government awhile since urged, scarcely tell against it at all, -so long as it does not exceed -this comparatively limited <span class="xxpn" id="p321">{321}</span> -function. Though its mediocrity of intellect makes it -incompetent to oversee and regulate the countless involved -processes which make up the national life; it nevertheless -has quite enough intellect to enact and enforce those simple -principles of equity which underlie the right conduct of -citizens to one another. These are such that the commonest -minds can understand their chief applications. Stupid as -may be the average elector, he can see the propriety of -such regulations as shall prevent men from murdering and -robbing; he can understand the fitness of laws which enforce -the payment of debts; he can perceive the need of -measures to prevent the strong from tyrannizing over the -weak; and he can feel the rectitude of a judicial system that -is the same for rich and poor. The average representative -may be but of small capacity, but he is competent, under -the leadership of his wiser fellows, to devise appliances for -carrying out these necessary restraints; or rather—he is -competent to uphold the set of appliances slowly elaborated -by the many generations of his predecessors, and to do -something towards improving and extending them in those -directions where the need is most manifest. It is true that -even these small demands upon electoral and senatorial -wisdom are but imperfectly met. But though constituencies -are blind to the palpable truth that if they would -escape laws which favour the nobility at the expense of the -commonalty, they must cease to choose representatives -from among the nobility; yet when the injustice of this -class-legislation is glaring—as in the case of the Corn-Laws—they -have sense enough to use means for getting -it abolished. And though most legislators have not sufficient -penetration to perceive that the greater part of the -evils which they attempt to cure by official inspection and -regulation, would disappear were there a certain, prompt, -and cheap administration of justice; yet the County-Courts-Act -and other recent law-reforms, show that they do -eventually recognize the importance -of more efficient <span class="xxpn" id="p322">{322}</span> -judicial arrangements. While, therefore, the lower average -of intelligence which necessarily characterizes representative -government, unfits it for discharging the complex business -of regulating the entire national life; it does not unfit it for -discharging the comparatively simple duties of protector. -Again, in respect of this all-essential function of a government, -there is a much clearer identity of interest between -representative and citizen, than in respect of the multitudinous -other functions which governments undertake. -Though it is generally of but little consequence to the member -of Parliament whether state-teachers, state-preachers, -state-officers of health, state-dispensers of charity, etc., do -their work well, it is of great consequence to him that life -and property should be secure; and hence he is more likely -to care for the efficient administration of justice than for -the efficient administration of anything else. Moreover, the -complexity, incongruity of parts, and general cumbrousness -which deprive a representative government of that activity -and decision required for paternally-superintending the -affairs of thirty millions of citizens; do not deprive it of the -ability to establish and maintain the regulations by which -these citizens are prevented from trespassing against one -another. For the principles of equity are permanent as well -as simple; and once having been legally embodied in their -chief outlines, all that devolves on a government is to develop -them more perfectly, and improve the appliances for enforcing -them: an undertaking for which the slow and involved -action of a representative government does not unfit it. So -that while by its origin, theory, and results, representative -government is shown to be the best for securing justice -between class and class, as well as between man and man, -the objections which so strongly tell against it in all its -other relations to society, do not tell against it in this -fundamental relation.</p> - -<p>Thus, then, we reach the solution of the paradox. Here is -the reconciliation between -the two seemingly-contradictory <span class="xxpn" id="p323">{323}</span> -positions awhile since taken. To the question—What is -representative government good for? our reply is—It is -good, especially good, good above all others, for doing the -thing which a government should do. It is bad, especially -bad, bad above all others, for doing the things which a -government should not do.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">One point remains. We said, some distance back, that -not only may representative government be the best, notwithstanding -its many conspicuous deficiencies; but that it is -even possible to discern in these very deficiencies further -proofs of its superiority. The conclusion just arrived at, -implying, as it does, that these deficiencies tend to hinder it -from doing the things which no government should do, has -already furnished a key to this strange-looking assertion. -But it will be well here to make a more specific justification -of it. This brings us to the pure science of the matter.</p> - -<p>The ever-increasing complexity which characterizes advancing -societies, is a complexity that results from the -multiplication of different parts performing different duties. -The doctrine of the division of labour is now-a-days understood -by most to some extent; and most know that by -this division of labour each operative, each manufacturer, -each town, each district, is constantly more and more -restricted to one kind of work. Those who study the -organization of living bodies find the uniform process -of development to be, that each organ gradually acquires a -definite and limited function: there arises, step by step, -a more perfect “physiological division of labour.” And -in an article on “Progress: its Law and Cause,” published -in our April number, we pointed out that this increasing -specialization of functions which goes on in all organized -bodies, social as well as individual, is one of the manifestations -of a still more general process pervading creation, -inorganic as well as organic.</p> - -<p>Now this specialization of functions, which is -the law of <span class="xxpn" id="p324">{324}</span> -all organization, has a twofold implication. At the same -time that each part grows adapted to the particular duty -it has to discharge, it grows unadapted to all other duties. -The becoming especially fit for one thing, is a becoming -less fit than before for everything else. We have not -space here to exemplify this truth. Any modern work -on physiology, however, will furnish the reader with -abundant illustrations of it, as exhibited in the evolution -of living creatures; and as exhibited in the evolution of -societies, it may be studied in the writings of political -economists. All which we wish here to point out is, that -the governmental part of the body politic exemplifies this -truth equally with its other parts. In virtue of this -universal law, a government cannot gain ability to perform -its special work without losing such ability as it had to -perform other work.</p> - -<p>This then is, as we say, the pure science of the matter. -The original and essential office of a government is that of -protecting its subjects against aggression external and -internal. In low, undeveloped forms of society, where -yet there is but little differentiation of parts, and little -specialization of functions, this essential work, discharged -with extreme imperfection, is joined with endless other -work: the government has a controlling action over all -conduct, individual and social—regulates dress, food, -ablutions, prices, trade, religion—exercises unbounded -power. In becoming so constituted as to discharge better -its essential function, the government becomes more limited -alike in the power and the habit of doing other things. -Increasing ability to perform its true duty, involves -decreasing ability to perform all other kinds of actions. -And this conclusion, deducible from the universal law of -organization, is the conclusion to which inductive reasoning -has already led us. We have seen that, whether considered -in theory or practice, representative government is the -best for securing justice. We have also -seen that, whether <span class="xxpn" id="p325">{325}</span> -considered in theory or practice, it is the worst for all -other purposes. And here we find that this last characteristic -is a necessary accompaniment of the first. These -various incapacities, which seem to tell so seriously against -the goodness of representative government, are but the -inevitable consequences of its more complete adaptation -to its proper work; and, so understood, are themselves -indications that it is the form of government natural to a -more highly-organized and advanced social state.</p> - -<p>We do not expect this consideration to weigh much -with those whom it most concerns. Truths of so abstract -a character find no favour with senates. The metamorphosis -we have described is not mentioned in Ovid. -History, as at present written, makes no comments on it. -There is nothing about it to be found in blue-books and -committee-reports. Neither is it proved by statistics. -Evidently, then, it has but small chance of recognition by -the “practical” legislator. But to the select few who -study the Social Science, properly so called, we commend -this general fact as one of the highest significance. Those -who know something of the general laws of life, and who -perceive that these general laws of life underlie all social -phenomena, will see that this dual change in the character -of advanced governments, involves an answer to the first -of all political questions. They will see that this specialization -in virtue of which an advanced government gains -power to perform one function, while it loses power to -perform others, clearly indicates the true limitations of -State-duty. They will see that, even leaving out all other -evidence, this fact alone shows conclusively what is the -proper sphere of legislation.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> <div><span class="xxpn" -id="p326">{326}</span></div> <h2 class="h2nobreak">STATE-TAMPERINGS -WITH MONEY AND BANKS.</h2></div> - -<div class="dchappre"> -<p class="pfirst">[<i>First published in</i> The Westminster Review <i>for -January 1858</i>.]</p></div> - -<p>Among unmitigated rogues, mutual trust is impossible. -Among people of absolute integrity, mutual trust would be -unlimited. These are truisms. Given a nation made up of -liars and thieves, and all trade among its members must be -carried on either by barter or by a currency of intrinsic value: -nothing in the shape of <i>promises</i>-to-pay can pass in place of -<i>actual</i> payments; for, by the hypothesis, such promises -being never fulfilled, will not be taken. On the other -hand, given a nation of perfectly honest men—men as -careful of others’ rights as of their own—and nearly all -trade among its members may be carried on by memoranda -of debts and claims, eventually written off against one -another in the books of bankers; seeing that as, by the -hypothesis, no man will ever issue more memoranda of -debts than his goods and his claims will liquidate, his -paper will pass current for whatever it represents. Coin -will be needed only as a measure of value, and to facilitate -those small transactions for which it is physically the most -convenient. These we take to be self-evident truths.</p> - -<p>From them follows the corollary that in a nation neither -wholly honest nor wholly dishonest, there may, and eventually -will, be established a -mixed currency—a currency <span class="xxpn" id="p327">{327}</span> -partly of intrinsic value and partly of credit-value. The -ratio between the quantities of these two kinds of currency, -will be determined by a combination of several causes.</p> - -<p>Supposing that there is no legislative meddling to disturb -the natural balance, it is clear from what has already been -said, that, fundamentally, the proportion of coin to paper -will depend on the average conscientiousness of the people. -Daily experience must ever be teaching each citizen, which -other citizens he can put confidence in, and which not. -Daily experience must also ever be teaching him how far -this confidence may be carried. From personal experiment, -and from current opinion, which results from the experiments -of others, every one must learn, more or less truly, what credit -may safely be given. If all find that their neighbours are -little to be trusted, but few promises-to-pay will circulate. -And the circulation of promises-to-pay will be great, if all -find that the fulfilment of trading engagements is tolerably -certain. The degree of <i>honesty</i> characterizing a community, -being the first regulator of a credit-currency; the second is -the degree of <i>prudence</i>. Other things equal, it is manifest -that among a sanguine, speculative people, promissory -payments will be taken more readily, and will therefore -circulate more largely, than among a cautious people. Two -men having exactly the same experiences of mercantile -risks will, under the same circumstances, respectively give -credit and refuse it, if they are respectively rash and -circumspect. And two nations thus contrasted in prudence, -will be similarly contrasted in the relative quantities of -notes and bills in circulation among them. Nay, they will -be more than similarly contrasted in this respect; seeing -that the prevailing incautiousness, besides making each -citizen unduly ready to give credit, will also produce in him -an undue readiness to risk his own capital in speculations, -and a consequent undue demand for credit from other -citizens. There will be both an increased pressure for -credit and a diminished resistance; and -therefore a more <span class="xxpn" id="p328">{328}</span> -than proportionate excess of paper-currency. Of this -national characteristic and its consequences, we have a -conspicuous example in the United States.</p> - -<p>To these comparatively permanent moral causes, on which -the ordinary ratio of hypothetical to real money in a community -depends, have to be added certain temporary moral -and physical causes, which produce temporary variations in -the ratio. The prudence of any people is liable to more or -less fluctuation. In railway-manias and the like, we see -that irrational expectations may spread through a whole -nation, and lead its members to give and take credit almost -recklessly. But the chief causes of temporary variations are -those which directly affect the quantity of available capital. -Wars, deficient harvests, or losses consequent on the misfortunes -of other nations, will, by impoverishing the -community, inevitably lead to an increase in the ratio of -<i>promissory payments to actual payments</i>. For what must be -done by the citizen disabled by such causes from meeting his -engagements?—the shopkeeper whose custom has fallen off -in consequence of the high price of bread; or the manufacturer -whose goods lie in his ware-rooms unsaleable; or -the merchant whose foreign correspondents fail him? As -the proceeds of his business do not suffice to liquidate the -claims on him that are falling due, he is compelled either to -find other means of liquidating them, or to stop payment. -Rather than stop payment, he will, of course, make -temporary sacrifices—will give high terms to whoever will -furnish him with the desired means. If, by depositing -securities with his banker, he can get a loan at an advanced -rate of interest, well. If not, by offering an adequate -temptation, he may mortgage his property to some one -having good credit; who either gives bills, or draws on his -banker for the sum agreed to. In either case, extra -promises to pay are issued; or, if the difficulty is met by -accommodation-bills, the same result follows. And in proportion -to the number of citizens obliged to -resort to one <span class="xxpn" id="p329">{329}</span> -or other of these expedients, must be the increase of -promissory payments in circulation.</p> - -<p>Reduce this proposition to its most general terms, and -it becomes self-evident. Thus:—All bank-notes, cheques, -bills of exchange, etc., are so many <i>memoranda of claims</i>. -No matter what may be the technical distinctions among -them, on which upholders of the “currency principle” seek -to establish their dogma, they all come within this definition. -Under the ordinary state of things, the amount of -available wealth in the hands, or at the command, of those -concerned, suffices to meet these claims as they are severally -presented for payment; and they are paid either by equivalents -of intrinsic value, as coin, or by giving in place of -them other memoranda of claims on some body of undoubted -solvency. But now let the amount of available wealth in -the hands of the community be greatly diminished. Suppose -a large portion of the necessaries of life, or of coin, which -is the most exchangeable equivalent of such necessaries, -has been sent abroad to support an army, or to subsidize -foreign states; or, suppose that there has been a failure in -the crops of grain or potatoes. What follows? It follows -that part of the claims cannot be liquidated. And what -must happen from their non-liquidation? It must happen -that those unable to liquidate them will either fail, or they -will redeem them by directly or indirectly giving in exchange -certain memoranda of claims on their stock-in-trade, -houses, or land. That is, such of these claims as the -deficient <i>floating</i> capital does not suffice to meet, are replaced -by claims on <i>fixed</i> capital. The memoranda of -claims which should have <i>dis</i>appeared by liquidation, <i>re</i>-appear -in a new form; and the quantity of paper-currency -is increased. If the war, famine, or other cause of impoverishment, -continues, the process is repeated. Those who -have no further fixed capital to mortgage, become bankrupt; -while those whose fixed capital admits of it, mortgage -still further, and still further -increase the promissory <span class="xxpn" id="p330">{330}</span> -payments in circulation. Manifestly, if the members of a -community whose annual returns but little more than suffice -to meet their annual payments suddenly lose part of their -annual returns, they must become proportionately in debt -to one another; and the documents expressive of debt must -be proportionately multiplied.</p> - -<p>This <i>a priori</i> conclusion is in perfect harmony with mercantile -experience. The last hundred years have furnished -repeated illustrations of its truth. After the enormous -export of gold in 1795–6 for war-loans to Germany, and to -meet bills drawn on the Treasury by British agents abroad; -and after large advances made under a moral compulsion -by the Bank of England to the Government; there followed -an excessive issue of bank-notes. In 1796–7, there were -failures of the provincial banks; a panic in London; a run -on the nearly-exhausted Bank of England; and a suspension -of cash-payments—a State-authorized refusal to redeem -promises to pay. In 1800, the further impoverishment -consequent on a bad harvest, joined with the legalized -inconvertibility of bank-notes, entailed so great a multiplication -of them as to cause their depreciation. During the -temporary peace of 1802, the country partly recovered -itself; and the Bank of England would have liquidated -the claims on it had the Government allowed. On the -subsequent resumption of war, the phenomenon was repeated; -as in later times it has been on each occasion when -the community, carried away by irrational hopes, has locked -up an undue proportion of its capital in permanent works. -Moreover, we have still more conclusive illustrations—illustrations -of the sudden cessation of commercial distress -and bankruptcy, resulting from a sudden increase of credit-circulation. -When, in 1793, there came a general crash, -mainly due to an unsafe banking-system which had grown -up in the provinces <i>in consequence</i> of the Bank of England -monopoly—when the pressure, extending to London, became -so great as to alarm the Bank-directors -and to cause <span class="xxpn" id="p331">{331}</span> -them suddenly to restrict their issues, thereby producing a -frightful multiplication of bankruptcies; the Government -(to mitigate an evil indirectly produced by legislation) -determined to issue Exchequer-Bills to such as could give -adequate security. That is, they allowed hard-pressed -citizens to mortgage their fixed capitals for equivalents of -State-promises to pay, with which to liquidate the demands -on them. The effect was magical. £2,202,000 only of -Exchequer-Bills were required. The consciousness that -loans could be had, in many cases prevented them from -being needed. The panic quickly subsided; and all the -loans were very soon repaid. In 1825, again, when the -Bank of England, after having intensified a panic by extreme -restriction of its issues, suddenly changed its policy, and in -four days advanced £5,000,000 notes on all sorts of securities, -the panic at once ceased.</p> - -<p>And now, mark two important truths. As just implied, -those expansions of paper-circulation which naturally take -place in times of impoverishment or commercial difficulty, -are highly salutary. This issuing of securities for future -payment when there does not exist the wherewith for -immediate payment, is a means of mitigating national -disasters. The process amounts to a postponement of -trading-engagements which cannot at once be met. And the -alternative questions to be asked respecting it are—Shall -all the merchants, manufacturers, shopkeepers, etc., who, -by unwise investments, or war, or famine, or great losses -abroad, have been in part deprived of the means of meeting -the claims upon them, be allowed to mortgage their fixed -capital? or, by being debarred from issuing memoranda of -claims on their fixed capital, shall they be made bankrupts? -On the one hand, if they are permitted to avail themselves -of that credit which their fellow-citizens willingly give -them on the strength of the proffered securities, most of -them will tide over their difficulties; and in virtue of that -accumulation of surplus capital ever going on, -they will be <span class="xxpn" id="p332">{332}</span> -able, by-and-by, to liquidate their debts in full. On the -other hand, if they are forthwith bankrupted, carrying -with them others, and these again others, there follows a -disastrous loss to all the creditors: property to an immense -amount being peremptorily sold at a time when there can be -comparatively few able to buy, must go at a great sacrifice; -and those who in a year or two would have been paid in -full, must be content with 10<i>s.</i> in the pound. Added to -which evil comes the still greater one—an extensive damage -to the organization of society. Numerous importing, producing, -and distributing establishments are swept away; -tens of thousands of their dependents are left without -work; and before the industrial fabric can be repaired, a -long time must elapse, much labour must lie idle, and great -distress be borne. Between these alternatives, who, then, -can pause? Let this spontaneous remedial process follow -its own course, and the evil will either be in great measure -eventually escaped, or will be spread little by little over a -considerable period. Stop this remedial process, and the -whole evil, falling at once on society, will bring wide-spread -ruin and misery.</p> - -<p>The second of these important truths is, that an expanded -circulation of promises to pay, caused by absolute or -relative impoverishment, contracts to its normal limits as -fast as the need for expansion disappears. For the conditions -of the case imply that all who have mortgaged their -fixed capitals to obtain the means of meeting their engagements, -have done so on unfavourable terms; and are -therefore under a strong stimulus to pay off their mortgages -as quickly as possible. Every one who, at a time of commercial -pressure, gets a loan from a bank, has to give high -interest. Hence, as fast as prosperity returns, and his -profits accumulate, he gladly escapes this heavy tax by -repaying the loan; in doing which he, directly or indirectly, -takes back to the bank as large a number of its credit -documents as he originally received, and -so diminishes the <span class="xxpn" id="p333">{333}</span> -credit-circulation as much as his original transaction had -increased it. Considered apart from technical distinctions, -a banker performs, in such case, the function of an agent -in whose name traders issue negotiable memoranda of claims -on their estates. The agent is already known to the public -as one who issues memoranda of claims on capital that is -partly floating and partly fixed—memoranda of claims that -have an established character, and are convenient in their -amounts. What the agent does under the circumstances -specified, is to issue more such memoranda of claims, on the -security of more fixed, and partially-fixed, capital put in his -possession. His clients hypothecate their estates through -the banker, instead of doing it in their own names, simply -because of the facilities which he has and which they have -not. And as the banker requires to be paid for his agency -and his risk, his clients redeem their estates, and close these -special transactions with him, as quickly as they can: thereby -diminishing the amount of credit-currency.</p> - -<p>Thus we see that the balance of a mixed currency of -voluntary origin is, under all circumstances, self-adjusting. -Supposing considerations of physical convenience out of the -question, the average ratio of paper to coin is primarily -dependent on the average trustworthiness of the people, -and secondarily dependent on their average prudence. -When, in consequence of unusual prosperity, there is an -unusual increase in the number of mercantile transactions, -there is a corresponding increase in the quantity of currency, -both metallic and paper, to meet the requirement. And -when from war, famine, or over-investment, the available -wealth in the hands of citizens is insufficient to pay -their debts to one another, the memoranda of debts in -circulation acquire an increased ratio to the quantity of -gold: to decrease again as fast as the excess of debts can -be liquidated.</p> - -<p>That these self-regulating processes act but imperfectly, -is doubtless true. With an imperfect -humanity, they cannot <span class="xxpn" id="p334">{334}</span> -act otherwise than imperfectly. People who are dishonest, -or rash, or stupid, will inevitably suffer the penalties of dishonesty, -or rashness, or stupidity. If any think that by -some patent legislative mechanism, a society of bad citizens -can be made to work together as well as a society of good -ones, we shall not take pains to show them the contrary. -If any think that the dealings of men deficient in uprightness -and foresight, may be so regulated by cunningly-devised -Acts of Parliament as to secure the effects of -uprightness and foresight, we have nothing to say to them. -Or if there are any (and we fear there are numbers) who -think that in times of commercial difficulty, resulting from -impoverishment or other natural causes, the evil can be -staved-off by some ministerial sleight of hand, we despair -of convincing them that the thing is impossible. See it or -not, the truth is that the State can do none of these things. -As we shall show, the State can, and sometimes does, <i>produce</i> -commercial disasters. As we shall also show, it can, -and sometimes does, <i>exacerbate</i> the commercial disasters -otherwise produced. But while it can create and can make -worse, it cannot prevent.</p> - -<p>All which the State has to do in the matter is to discharge -its ordinary office—to administer justice. The enforcement -of contracts is one of the functions included in its general -function of maintaining the rights of citizens. And among -other contracts which it is called on to enforce, are the -contracts expressed in credit-documents—bills of exchange, -cheques, bank-notes. If any one issues a promise-to-pay, -either on demand or at specified date, and does not fulfil -that promise, the State, when appealed to by the creditor, -is bound in its protective capacity to obtain fulfilment of -the promise, at whatever cost to the debtor, or such partial -fulfilment of it as his effects suffice for. The State’s duty -in the case of the currency, as in other cases, is sternly to -threaten the penalty of bankruptcy on all who make engagements -which they cannot meet, and sternly -to inflict the <span class="xxpn" id="p335">{335}</span> -penalty when called on by those aggrieved. If it falls short -of this, mischief ensues. If it exceeds this, mischief ensues. -Let us glance at the facts.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Had we space to trace in detail the history of the Bank of -England—to show how the privileges contained in its first -charter were bribes given by a distressed Government in -want of a large loan—how, soon afterwards, the law which -forbad a partnership of more than six persons from becoming -bankers, was passed to prevent the issue of notes by the -South-Sea Company, and so to preserve the Bank-monopoly—how -the continuance of State-favours to the Bank, corresponded -with the continuance of the Bank’s claims on the -State; we should see that, from the first, banking-legislation -has been an organized injustice. But passing over earlier -periods, let us begin with the events that closed the last -century. Our rulers of that day had entered into a war—whether -with adequate reason needs not here be discussed. -They had lent vast sums in gold to their allies. They had -demanded large advances from the Bank of England, which -the Bank durst not refuse. They had thus necessitated an -excessive issue of notes by the Bank. That is, they had so -greatly diminished the floating capital of the community, -that engagements could not be met; and an immense -number of promises-to-pay took the place of actual payments. -Soon after, the fulfilment of these promises became -so difficult that it was forbidden by law; that is, cash-payments -were suspended. Now for these results—for the -national impoverishment and consequent abnormal condition -of the currency, the State was responsible. How much of -the blame lay with the governing classes and how much -with the nation at large, we do not pretend to say. What -it concerns us here to note is, that the calamity arose from -the acts of the ruling power. When, again, in 1802, after -a short peace, the available capital of the community had so -far increased that the redemption -of promises-to-pay became <span class="xxpn" id="p336">{336}</span> -possible, and the Bank of England was anxious to begin -redeeming them, the legislature interposed its veto; and so -continued the evils of an inconvertible paper-currency after -they would naturally have ceased. Still more disastrous, -however, were the results that by-and-by ensued from State-meddlings. -Cash-payments having been suspended—the -Government, instead of enforcing all contracts, having temporarily -cancelled a great part of them, by saying to every -banker, “You shall not be called on to liquidate in coin the -promises-to-pay which you issue;” the natural checks to -the multiplication of promises-to-pay, disappeared. What -followed? Banks being no longer required to cash their -notes in coin; and easily obtaining from the Bank of England, -supplies of its notes in exchange for fixed securities; -were ready to make advances to almost any extent. Not -being obliged to raise their rate of discount in consequence -of the diminution of their available capital; and reaping a -profit by every loan (of notes) made on fixed capital; there -arose both an abnormal facility of borrowing, and an abnormal -desire to lend. Thus were fostered the wild speculations -of 1809—speculations that were not only thus -fostered, but were in great measure <i>caused</i> by the previous -over-issue of notes; which, by further exaggerating the -natural rise of prices, increased the apparent profitableness -of investments. And all this, be it remembered, took -place at a time when there should have been rigid economy—at -a time of impoverishment consequent on continued -war—at a time when, but for law-produced illusions, there -would have been commercial straitness and a corresponding -carefulness. Just when its indebtedness was unusually -great, the community was induced still further to increase -its indebtedness. Clearly, then, the progressive accumulation -and depreciation of promises-to-pay, and the commercial -disasters which finally resulted from it in 1814–15–16, -when ninety provincial banks were broken and -more dissolved, were State-produced evils: -partly due to <span class="xxpn" id="p337">{337}</span> -a war which, whether necessary or not, was carried on by -the Government, and greatly exacerbated by the currency-regulations -which that Government had made.</p> - -<p>Before passing to more recent facts, let us parenthetically -notice the similarly-caused degradation of the -currency which had previously arisen in Ireland. When -examined by a parliamentary committee in 1804, Mr. -Colville, one of the directors of the Bank of Ireland, stated -that before the passing of the Irish Bank-Restriction-Bill -(the bill by which cash-payments were suspended) the -directors habitually met any unusual demand for gold by -diminishing their issues. That is to say, in the ordinary -course of business, they raised their rate of discount whenever -the demand enabled them; and so, both increased -their profits and warded-off the danger of bankruptcy. -During this unregulated period their note-circulation was -between £600,000 and £700,000. But as soon as they -were guaranteed by law against the danger of bankruptcy, -their circulation began rapidly to increase; and very soon -reached £3,000,000. The results, as proved before the -committee, were these:—The exchange with England -became greatly depressed; nearly all the good specie was -exported to England; it was replaced in Dublin (where -small notes could not be issued) by a base coinage, -adulterated to the extent of fifty per cent.; and elsewhere -it was replaced by notes payable at twenty-one days’ date, -issued by all sorts of persons, for sums down even as low -as sixpence. And this excessive multiplication of small -notes was <i>necessitated</i> by the impossibility of otherwise -carrying on retail trade, after the disappearance of the -silver coinage. For these disastrous effects, then, legislation -was responsible. The swarms of “silver-notes” -resulted from the exportation of silver; the exportation of -silver was due to the great depression of the exchange -with England; this great depression arose from the -excessive issue of notes by the Bank of -Ireland; and this <span class="xxpn" id="p338">{338}</span> -excessive issue followed from their legalized inconvertibility. -Yet, though these facts were long ago established -by a committee of the House of Commons, the defenders -of the “currency-principle” are actually blind enough to -cite this multiplication of sixpenny promises-to-pay, <i>as -proving the evils of an unregulated currency</i>!</p> - -<p>Returning now to the case of the Bank of England, let -us pass at once to the Act of 1844. While still a protectionist—while -still a believer in the beneficence of law -as a controller of commerce—Sir Robert Peel undertook to -stop the recurrence of monetary crises, like those of 1825, -1836, and 1839. Overlooking the truth that, when not -<i>caused</i> by the meddlings of legislators, a monetary crisis is -due, either to an absolute impoverishment, or to a relative -impoverishment consequent on speculative over-investment; -and that for the bad season, or the imprudence, causing -this, there is no remedy; he boldly proclaimed that “<i>it is -better to prevent the paroxysm than to excite it</i>:” and he -brought forward the Bank-Act of 1844 as the means of -prevention. How merciless has been Nature’s criticism on -this remnant of Protectionism, we all know. The monetary -sliding-scale has been as great a failure as its prototype. -Within three years arose one of these crises which were to -have been prevented. Within another ten years has arisen -a second of these crises. And on both occasions this -intended safeguard has so intensified the evil, that a -temporary repeal of it has been imperative.</p> - -<p>We should have thought that, even without facts, -every one might have seen that it is impossible, by Act of -Parliament, to prevent imprudent people from doing imprudent -things; and, if facts were needed, we should have -thought that our commercial history up to 1844 supplied a -sufficiency. But a superstitious faith in State-ordinances disregards -such facts. And we doubt not that even now, though -there have been two glaring failures of this professed check -on over-speculation—though -the evidence conclusively <span class="xxpn" id="p339">{339}</span> -shows that the late commercial catastrophes have had -nothing whatever to do with the issue of bank-notes, but, -as in the case of the Western Bank of Scotland, occurred -along with diminished issues—and though in Hamburg, -where the “currency principle” has been rigidly carried -out to the very letter, there has been a worse crisis than -anywhere else; yet there will remain plenty of believers in -the efficiency of Sir R. Peel’s prophylactic.</p> - -<p>But, as already said, the measure has not only failed; it -has made worse the panics it was to have warded-off. -And it was sure to do this. As shown at the outset, the -multiplication of promises-to-pay that occurs at a period of -impoverishment caused by war, famine, over-investment, or -losses abroad, is a salutary process of mitigation—is a -mode of postponing actual payments till actual payments -are possible—is a preventive of wholesale bankruptcy—is -a spontaneous act of self-preservation. We pointed out, -not only that this is an <i>a priori</i> conclusion, but that facts -in our own mercantile history illustrate at once the naturalness, -the benefits, the necessity of it. And if this conclusion -needs enforcing by further evidence, we have it in the recent -events at Hamburg. In that city, there are no notes in -circulation but such as are represented by actual equivalents -of bullion or jewels in the bank: no one is allowed, as with -us, to obtain bank-promises-to-pay in return for securities. -Hence it resulted that when the Hamburg merchants, -lacking their remittances from abroad, were suddenly -deprived of the wherewith to meet their engagements; and -were prevented by law from getting bank-promises-to-pay -by pawning their estates; bankruptcy swept them away -wholesale. And what finally happened? To prevent -universal ruin, the Government was obliged to decree that -all bills of exchange coming due, should have a month’s -grace; and that there should be immediately formed a -State-Discount-Bank—an office for issuing State-promises-to-pay -in return for securities. That is, having -first by its <span class="xxpn" id="p340">{340}</span> -restrictive law ruined a host of merchants, the Government -was obliged to legalize that postponement of payments -which, but for its law, would have spontaneously taken -place. With such further confirmation of an <i>a priori</i> -conclusion, can it be doubted that our late commercial -difficulties were intensified by the measure of 1844? Is it -not, indeed, notorious in the City, that the progressively-increasing -demand for accommodation, was in great part -due to the conviction that, in consequence of the Bank-Act, -there would shortly be no accommodation at all? Does not -every London merchant know that his neighbours who had -bills coming due, and who saw that by the time they were -due the Bank would discount only at still higher rates, -or not at all, decided to lay in beforehand the means of -meeting those bills? Is it not an established fact that the -hoarding thus induced, not only rendered the pressure on -the Bank greater than it would otherwise have been, but, -by taking both gold and notes out of circulation, made the -Bank’s issues temporarily useless to the general public? -Did it not happen in this case, as in 1793 and 1825, that -when at last restriction was removed, the mere consciousness -that loans could be had, itself prevented them from -being required? And, indeed, is not the simple fact that -the panic quickly subsided when the Act was suspended, -sufficient proof that the Act had, in great measure, -produced it.</p> - -<p>See, then, for what we have to thank legislative meddling. -During ordinary times Sir R. Peel’s Act, by obliging the -Bank of England, and occasionally provincial banks, to -keep more gold than they would otherwise have kept (and -if it has not done this it has done nothing), has inflicted a -tax on the nation to the extent of the interest on such -portion of the gold-currency as was in excess of the need: -a tax which, in the course of the last thirteen years, has -probably amounted to some millions. And then, on the two -occasions when there have arisen the crises -that were to <span class="xxpn" id="p341">{341}</span> -have been prevented, the Act, after having intensified the -pressure, made bankrupt a great number of respectable -firms which would else have stood, and increased the -distress not only of the trading but of the working population, -has been twice abandoned at the moment when its -beneficence was to have been conspicuous. It has been -a cost, a mischief, and a failure. Yet such is the -prevailing delusion that, judging from appearances, it will -be maintained!</p> - -<p>“But,” ask our opponents, “shall the Bank be allowed -to let gold drain out of the country without check? Shall -it have permission to let its reserve of gold diminish so -greatly as to risk the convertibility of its notes? Shall it -be enabled recklessly to increase its issues, and so produce -a depreciated paper-currency?”</p> - -<p>Really, in these Free-trade days, it seems strange to have -to answer questions like these; and, were it not for the confusion -of facts and ideas which legislation has produced, it -would be inexcusable to ask them.</p> - -<p>In the first place, the common notion that the draining of -gold out of the country is intrinsically, and in all cases, an -evil, is nothing but a political superstition—a superstition in -part descended from the antique fallacy that money is the -only wealth, and in part from the maxims of an artificial, -law-produced state of things, under which the exportation of -gold really <i>was</i> a sign of a corrupted currency: we mean, -during the suspension of cash-payments. Law having cancelled -millions of contracts which it was its duty to enforce—law -having absolved bankers from liquidating their -promises-to-pay in coin, having rendered it needless to keep -a stock of coin with which to liquidate them, and having -thus taken away that natural check which prevents the -over-issue and depreciation of notes—law having partly -suspended that <i>home</i> demand for gold which ordinarily -competes with and balances the <i>foreign</i> demand; there -resulted an abnormal exportation of -gold. By-and-by it <span class="xxpn" id="p342">{342}</span> -was seen that this efflux of gold was a consequence of the -over-issue of notes; and that the accompanying high price -of gold, as paid for in notes, proved the depreciation of -notes. And then it became an established doctrine that an -adverse state of the foreign exchanges, indicating a drain of -gold, was significant of an excessive circulation of notes; -and that the issue of notes should be regulated by the state -of the exchanges.</p> - -<p>This unnatural condition of the currency having continued -for a quarter of a century, the concomitant doctrine rooted -itself in the general mind. And now mark one of the multitudinous -evils of legislative meddling. This artificial test, -good only for an artificial state, has survived the return to a -natural state; and men’s ideas about currency have been -reduced by it to chronic confusion.</p> - -<p>The truth is that while, during a legalized inconvertibility -of bank-notes, an efflux of gold may, and often does, indicate -an excessive issue of bank-notes; under ordinary circumstances -an efflux of gold has little or nothing to do with the -issue of bank-notes, but is determined by merely mercantile -causes. And the truth is that far from being an evil, an -efflux of gold thus brought about by mercantile causes, is a -good. Leaving out of the question, as of course we must, -such exportations of gold as take place for the support -of armies abroad; the cause of efflux is either an actual -plethora of all commodities, gold included, which results -in gold being sent out of the country for the purpose of -foreign investment; or else an abundance of gold as -compared with other leading commodities. And while, in -this last case, the efflux of gold indicates some absolute -or relative impoverishment of the nation, it is a means of -mitigating the bad consequences of that impoverishment. -Consider the question as one of political economy, and -this truth becomes obvious. Thus:—The nation habitually -requires for use and consumption certain quantities of -commodities, of which gold is -one. These commodities <span class="xxpn" id="p343">{343}</span> -are severally and collectively liable to fall short; either -from deficient harvests, from waste in war, from losses -abroad, or from too great a diversion of labour or capital -in some special direction. When a scarcity of some chief -commodity or necessary occurs, what is the remedy? The -commodity of which there is an excess (or if none is in -excess, then that which can best be spared) is exported -in exchange for an additional supply of the deficient -commodity. And, indeed, the whole of our foreign trade, -alike in ordinary and extraordinary times, consists in this -process. But when it happens either that the commodity -which we can best spare is not wanted abroad; or (as -recently) that a chief foreign customer is temporarily -disabled from buying; or that the commodity which we -can best spare is gold; then gold itself is exported in -exchange for the thing which we most want. Whatever -form the transaction takes, it is nothing but bringing the -supplies of various commodities into harmony with the -demands for them. The fact that gold is exported, is -simply a proof that the need for gold is less than the need -for other things. Under such circumstances an efflux of -gold will continue, and <i>ought</i> to continue, until other -things have become relatively so abundant, and gold -relatively so scarce, that the demand for gold is equal to -other demands. And he who would prevent this process, -is about as wise as the miser who, finding his house -without food, chooses to starve rather than draw upon -his purse.</p> - -<p>The second question—“Shall the Bank have permission -to let its reserve of gold diminish so greatly as to risk the -convertibility of its notes?” is not more profound than -the first. It may fitly be answered by the more general -question—“Shall the merchant, the manufacturer, or the -shopkeeper, be allowed so to invest his capital as to risk -the fulfilment of his engagements?” If the answer to the -first be “No,” it must be “No” to the second. -If to the <span class="xxpn" id="p344">{344}</span> -second it be “Yes,” it must be “Yes” to the first. Any -one who proposed that the State should oversee the -transactions of every trader, so as to insure his ability to -cash all demands as they fell due, might with consistency -argue that bankers should be under like control. But -while no one has the folly to contend for the one, nearly -all contend for the other. One would think that the -banker acquired, in virtue of his occupation, some abnormal -desire to ruin himself—that while traders in other things -are restrained by a wholesome dread of bankruptcy, traders -in capital have a longing to appear in the <i>Gazette</i>, which -law alone can prevent them from gratifying! Surely the -moral checks which act on other men will act on bankers. -And if these moral checks do not suffice to produce perfect -security, we have ample proof that no cunning legislative -checks will supply their place. The current notion that -bankers can, and will, if allowed, issue notes to any extent, -is one of the absurdest illusions—an illusion, however, -which would never have arisen but for the vicious over-issues -induced by law. The truth is that, in the first -place, a banker <i>cannot</i> increase his issue of notes at will. -It has been proved by the unanimous testimony of all -bankers who have been examined before successive parliamentary -committees, that “the amount of their issues is -exclusively regulated by the extent of local dealings and -expenditure in their respective districts;” and that any -notes issued in excess of the demand are “immediately -returned to them.” And the truth is, in the second place, -that a banker <i>will not</i>, on the average of cases, issue -more notes than in his judgment it is safe to issue; seeing -that if his promises-to-pay in circulation, are much in -excess of his available means of paying them, he runs a -great risk of having to stop payment—a result of which he -has no less a horror than other men. If facts are needed -in proof of this, they are furnished by the history of both -the Bank of England and the Bank -of Ireland; which, <span class="xxpn" id="p345">{345}</span> -before they were debauched by the State, habitually regulated -their issues according to their stock of bullion, and -would probably always have been still more careful but for -the consciousness that there was the State-credit to fall -back upon.</p> - -<p>The third question—“Shall the Bank be allowed to issue -notes in such numbers as to cause their depreciation?” -has, in effect, been answered in answering the first two. -There can be no depreciation of notes so long as they are -exchangeable for gold on demand. And so long as the -State, in discharge of its duty, insists on the fulfilment of -contracts, the alternative of bankruptcy must ever be a -restraint on such over-issue of notes as endangers that -exchangeability. The bugbear of depreciation is one that -would have been unknown but for the sins of governments. -In the case of America, where there have been occasional -depreciations, the sin has been a sin of omission: the State -has not enforced the fulfilment of contracts—has not forthwith -bankrupted those who failed to cash their notes; and, -if accounts are true, has allowed those to be mobbed who -brought back far-wandering notes for payment.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn35" id="fnanch35">35</a> -In all -other cases the sin has been a sin of commission. The -depreciated paper-currency in France, during the revolution, -was a State-currency. The depreciated paper-currencies -of Austria and Russia have been State-currencies. And -the only depreciated paper-currency we have known, has -been to all intents and purposes a State-currency. It was -the State which, in 1795–6, <i>forced</i> upon the Bank of England -that excessive issue of notes which led to the suspension of -cash-payments. It was the State which, in 1802, <i>forbad</i> -the resumption of cash-payments, when the Bank of England -wished to resume them. It was the State which, -during a quarter of a century, <i>maintained</i> that suspension -of cash-payments from which the excessive multiplication -and depreciation of notes resulted. -The entire corruption <span class="xxpn" id="p346">{346}</span> -was entailed by State-expenditure, and established by -State-warrant. Yet now the State affects a virtuous -horror of the crime committed at its instigation! Having -contrived to shuffle-off the odium on to the shoulders of its -tools, the State gravely lectures the banking-community -upon its guilt; and with sternest face passes measures to -prevent it from sinning!</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch35" id="fn35">35</a> -This was written in 1858; when -“greenbacks” were unknown.</p></div> - -<p>We contend, then, that neither to restrain the efflux of -gold, nor to guard against the over-issue of bank-notes, -is legislative interference warranted. If Government will -promptly execute the law against all defaulters, the self-interest -of bankers and traders will do the rest: such evils -as would still result from mercantile dishonesties and -imprudences, being evils which legal regulation may -augment but cannot prevent. Let the Bank of England, -in common with every other bank, simply consult its own -safety and its own profits; and there will result just as -much check as should be put, on the efflux of gold or the -circulation of paper; and the only check that can be put -on the doings of speculators. Whatever leads to unusual -draughts on the resources of banks, immediately causes a -rise in the rate of discount—a rise dictated both by the -wish to make increased profits, and the wish to avoid a -dangerous decrease of resources. This raised rate of -discount prevents the demand from being so great as it -would else have been—alike checks undue expansion of the -note-circulation; stops speculators from making further -engagements; and, if gold is being exported, diminishes -the profit of exportation. Successive rises successively -increase these effects; until, eventually, none will give the -rate of discount asked, save those in peril of stopping -payment; the increase of the credit-currency ceases; and -the efflux of gold, if it is going on, is arrested by the -home-demand out-balancing the foreign demand. And if, -in times of great pressure, and under the temptation of -high discounts, banks allow their circulation -to expand to <span class="xxpn" id="p347">{347}</span> -a somewhat dangerous extent, the course is justified by the -necessities. As shown at the outset, the process is one by -which banks, on the deposit of good securities, loan their -credit to traders who but for loans would be bankrupt. -And that banks should run some risks to save hosts of -solvent men from inevitable ruin, few will deny. Moreover, -during a crisis which thus runs its natural course, -there will really occur that purification of the mercantile -world which many think can be effected only by some -Act-of-Parliament ordeal. Under the circumstances described, -men who have adequate securities to offer will -get bank-accommodation; but those who, having traded -without capital or beyond their means, have not, will be -denied it, and will fail. Under a free system the good -will be sifted from the bad; whereas the existing restrictions -on bank-accommodation, tend to destroy good and -bad together.</p> - -<p>Thus it is not true that there need special regulations to -prevent the inconvertibility and depreciation of notes. It -is not true that, but for legislative supervision, bankers -would let gold drain out of the country to an undue extent. -It is not true that these “currency theorists” have -discovered a place at which the body-politic would bleed -to death but for a State-styptic.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">What else we have to say on the general question, may -best be joined with some commentaries on provincial and -joint-stock banking, to which let us now turn.</p> - -<p>Government, to preserve the Bank of England-monopoly, -having enacted that no partnership exceeding six persons -should become bankers; and the Bank of England having -refused to establish branches in the provinces; it happened, -during the latter half of the last century, when the industrial -progress was rapid and banks much needed, that -numerous private traders, shopkeepers and others, began -to issue notes payable on demand. And when, -of the four <span class="xxpn" id="p348">{348}</span> -hundred small banks which had thus grown up in less -than fifty years, a great number gave way under the -first pressure—when, on several subsequent occasions, -like results occurred—when in Ireland, where the Bank -of Ireland-monopoly had been similarly guaranteed, it -happened that out of fifty private provincial banks, forty -became bankrupt—and when, finally, it grew notorious -that in Scotland, where there had been no law limiting the -number of partners, a whole century had passed with -scarcely a single bank-failure; legislators at once decided -to abolish the restriction which had entailed such mischiefs. -Having, to use Mr. Mill’s words, “actually made the -formation of safe banking-establishments a punishable -offence”—having, for one hundred and twenty years, maintained -a law which first caused great inconvenience and then -extensive ruin, time after time repeated—Government, in -1826, conceded the liberty of joint-stock banking: a liberty -which the good easy public, not distinguishing between a -right done and a wrong undone, regarded as a great boon!</p> - -<p>But the liberty was not without conditions. Having -previously, in anxiety for its <i>protégé</i>, the Bank of England, -been reckless of the banking-security of the community at -large, the State, like a repentant sinner rushing into -asceticism, all at once became extremely solicitous on this -point; and determined to put guarantees of its own -devising, in place of the natural guarantee of mercantile -judgment. To intending bank-shareholders it said—“You -shall not unite on such publicly-understood conditions as -you think fit, and get such confidence as will naturally -come to you on those conditions.” And to the public it -said—“You shall not put trust in this or that association -in proportion as, from the character of its members and -constitution, you judge it to be worthy of trust.” But to -both it said—“You shall the one give, and the other -receive, my infallible safeguards.”</p> - -<p>And now what have been the results? -Every one knows <span class="xxpn" id="p349">{349}</span> -that these safeguards have proved anything but infallible. -Every one knows that these banks with State-constitutions -have been especially characterized by instability. Every -one knows that credulous citizens, with a faith in legislation -which endless disappointments fail to diminish, have -trusted implicitly in these law-devised securities; and, not -exercising their own judgments, have been led into ruinous -undertakings. The evils of substituting artificial guarantees -for natural ones, which the clear-sighted long ago discerned, -have, by the late catastrophes, been made conspicuous to all.</p> - -<p>When commencing this article we had intended to dwell -on this point. For though the mode of business which -brought about these joint-stock-bank failures was, for weeks -after their occurrence, time after time clearly described; -yet nowhere did we see drawn the obvious corollary. -Though in three separate City-articles of <i>The Times</i>, it was -explained that, “relying upon the ultimate liability of large -bodies of infatuated shareholders, the discount houses -supply these banks with unlimited means, looking not to -the character of the bills sent up, but simply to the security -afforded by the Bank endorsement;” yet, in none of them -was it pointed out that, but for the law of unlimited -liability, this reckless trading would not have gone on. -More recently, however, this truth has been duly recognized, -alike in Parliament and in the Press; and it is -therefore needless further to elucidate it. We will simply -add that as, if there had been no law of unlimited liability, -the London houses would not have discounted these bad -bills; and as, in that case, these provincial joint-stock-banks -could not have given these enormous credits to insolvent -speculators; and as, if they had not done this, they would -not have been ruined; it follows, inevitably, that these -joint-stock-bank failures have been <i>law-produced disasters</i>.</p> - -<p>A measure for further increasing the safety of the provincial -public, was that which limited the circulation of -provincial bank-notes. At the same time -that it established <span class="xxpn" id="p350">{350}</span> -a sliding-scale for the issues of the Bank of England, the -Act of 1844 fixed the maximum circulation of every provincial -bank-of-issue; and forbad any further banks-of-issue. -We have not space to discuss at length the effects of this -restriction; which must have fallen rather hardly on those -especially-careful bankers who had, during the twelve -weeks preceding the 27th April, 1844, narrowed their -issues to meet any incidental contingencies; while it gave -a perennial license to such as had been incautious during -that period. All which we can notice is, that this rigorous -limitation of provincial issues to a low maximum (and a -low maximum was purposely fixed) effectually prevents -those local expansions of bank-note circulation which, as -we have shown, <i>ought</i> to take place in periods of commercial -difficulty. And further, that by transferring all -local demands to the Bank of England, as the only place -from which extra accommodation can be had, the tendency -is to concentrate a pressure which would else be diffused, -and so to create panic.</p> - -<p>Saying nothing more, however, respecting the impolicy -of the measure, let us mark its futility. As a means of -preserving the convertibility of the provincial bank-note, -it is useless unless it acts as some safeguard against bank-failures; -and that it does not do this is demonstrable. -While it diminishes the likelihood of failures caused by -over-issue of notes, it increases the likelihood of failures -from other causes. For what will be done by a provincial -banker whose issues are restricted by the Act of 1844, to a -level lower than that to which he would otherwise have let -them rise? If he would, but for the law, have issued more -notes than he now does—if his reserve is greater than, in -his judgment, is needful for the security of his notes; is it -not clear that he will simply extend his operations in other -directions? Will not the excess of his available capital be -to him a warrant either for entering into larger speculations -himself, or for allowing his customers -to draw on <span class="xxpn" id="p351">{351}</span> -him beyond the limit he would else have fixed? If, in the -absence of restriction, his rashness would have led him to -risk bankruptcy by over-issue, will it not now equally lead -him to risk bankruptcy by over-banking? And is not the -one kind of bankruptcy as fatal to the convertibility of -notes as the other?</p> - -<p>Nay, the case is even worse. There is reason to believe -that bankers are tempted into greater dangers under this -protective system. They can and will hypothecate their -capital in ways less direct than by notes; and may very -likely be led, by the unobtrusiveness of the process, to -commit themselves more than they would else do. A -trader, applying to his banker in times of commercial -difficulty, will often be met by the reply—“I cannot make -you any direct advances, having already loaned as much as -I can spare; but knowing you to be a safe man I will lend -you my name. Here is my acceptance for the sum you -require: they will discount it for you in London.” Now, -as loans thus made do not entail the same immediate -responsibilities as when made in notes (seeing that they are -neither at once payable, nor do they add to the dangers of -a possible run), a banker is under a temptation to extend -his liabilities in this way further than he would have done, -had not law forced him to discover a new channel through -which to give credit.</p> - -<p>And does not the evidence that has lately transpired go -to show that these roundabout ways of giving credit <i>do</i> -take the place of the interdicted ways; and that they <i>are</i> -more dangerous than the interdicted ways? Is it not -notorious that dangerous forms of paper-currency have had -an unexampled development since the Act of 1844? Do -not the newspapers and the debates give daily proofs of -this? And is not the process of causation obvious?</p> - -<p>Indeed it might have been known, <i>a priori</i>, that such a -result was sure to take place. It -has been shown <span class="xxpn" id="p352">{352}</span> -conclusively that, when uninterfered with, the amount of note-circulation -at any given time, is determined by the amount -of trade going on—the quantity of payments that are being -made. It has been repeatedly testified before committees, -that when any local banker contracts his issues, he simply -causes an equivalent increase in the issues of neighbouring -bankers. And in past times it has been more than once -complained, that when from prudential motives the Bank -of England withdrew part of its notes, the provincial -bankers immediately multiplied their notes to a proportionate -extent. Well, is it not manifest that this inverse -variation, which holds between one class of bank-notes and -another, also holds between bank-notes and other forms of -paper-currency? Will it not happen that just as diminishing -the note-circulation of one bank, merely adds to the -note-circulation of other banks; so, an artificial restriction -on the circulation of bank-notes in general, will simply -cause an increased circulation of some substituted kind of -promise-to-pay? And is not this substituted kind, in -virtue of its novelty and irregularity, likely to be a more -unsafe kind? See, then, the predicament. Over all the -bills of exchange, cheques, etc., which constitute nine-tenths -of the paper-currency of the kingdom, the State -exercises, and can exercise, no control. And the limit it -puts on the remaining tenth vitiates the other nine-tenths, -by causing an abnormal growth of new forms of credit, -which experience proves to be especially dangerous.</p> - -<p>Thus, all which the State does when it exceeds its true -duty is to hinder, to disturb, to corrupt. As already -pointed out, the quantity of credit men will give each -other, is determined by natural causes, moral and physical—their -average characters, their temporary states of -feeling, their circumstances. If the Government forbids -one mode of giving credit, they will find another, and -probably a worse. Be the degree of -mutual trust prudent <span class="xxpn" id="p353">{353}</span> -or imprudent, it must take its course. The attempt to -restrict it by law is nothing but a repetition of the old story -of keeping out the sea with a fork.</p> - -<p>And now mark that were it not for these worse than -futile State-safeguards, there might grow up certain natural -safeguards, which would really put a check on undue credit -and abnormal speculation. Were it not for the attempts to -insure security by law, it is very possible that, under our -high-pressure system of business, banks would compete with -each other in respect of the degree of security they offered—would -endeavour to outdo each other in the obtainment of -a legitimate public confidence. Consider the position of a -new joint-stock-bank with limited liability, and unchecked -by legal regulations. It can do nothing until it has gained -the general good opinion. In the way of this there stand -great difficulties. Its constitution is untried, and is sure to -be looked upon by the trading world with considerable -distrust. The field is already occupied by old banks with -established connexions and reputations. Out of a constituency -satisfied with the present accommodation, it has to -obtain supporters for a system which is apparently less -safe than the old. How shall it do this? Evidently it -must find some unusual mode of assuring the community of -its trustworthiness. And out of a number of new banks so -circumstanced, it is not too much to suppose that ultimately -one would hit on some mode. It might be, for instance, -that such a bank would give to all who held deposits over -£1000 the liberty of inspecting its books—of ascertaining -from time to time its liabilities and its investments. -Already this plan is frequently adopted by private traders, -as a means of assuring those who lend money to them; and -this extension of it might naturally take place under the -pressure of competition. We have put the question to a -gentleman who has had long and successful experience, as -manager of a joint-stock-bank, and his reply is, that some -such course would very probably be -adopted: adding that, <span class="xxpn" id="p354">{354}</span> -under this arrangement, a depositor would practically -become a partner with limited liability.</p> - -<p>Were a system of this kind to establish itself, it would -form a double check to unhealthy trading. Consciousness -that its rashness would become known to its chief clients, -would prevent the bank-management from being rash; and -consciousness that his credit would be damaged when his -large debt to the bank was whispered, would prevent the -speculator from contracting so large a debt. Both lender -and borrower would be restrained from reckless enterprize. -Very little inspection would suffice to effect this end. One -or two cautious depositors would be enough; seeing that -the mere expectation of immediate disclosure, in case of -misconduct, would mostly keep in order all those concerned.</p> - -<p>Should it however be contended, as by some it may, that -this safeguard would be of no avail—should it be alleged -that, having in their own hands the means of safety, citizens -would not use them, but would still put blind faith in -directors, and give unlimited trust to respectable names; -then we reply that they would deserve whatever bad consequences -fell on them. If they did not take advantage of -the proffered guarantee, the penalty be on their own heads. -We have no patience with the mawkish philanthropy which -would ward-off the punishment of stupidity. The ultimate -result of shielding men from the effects of folly, is to fill -the world with fools.</p> - -<div class="section"> -<p class="padtopb">A few words in conclusion respecting the attitude of our -opponents. Leaving joint-stock-bank legislation, on which -the eyes of the public are happily becoming opened; and -returning to the Bank-Charter, with its theory of currency-regulation; -we have to charge its supporters with gross, if -not wilful, misrepresentation. Their established policy is -to speak of all antagonism as identified with adhesion to -the vulgarest fallacies. They daily present, as the only -alternatives, their own dogma or some -wild doctrine too <span class="xxpn" id="p355">{355}</span> -absurd to be argued. “Side with us or choose anarchy,” -is the substance of their homilies.</p></div> - -<p>To speak specifically:—They boldly assert, in the first -place, that they are the upholders of “principle;” and on -all opposition they seek to fasten the title of “empiricism.” -Now we are at a loss to see what there is “empirical” in -the position, that a bank-note-circulation will regulate -itself in the same way that the circulation of other paper-currency -does. It seems to us anything but “empirical,” -to say that the natural check of prospective bankruptcy, -which restrains the trader from issuing too many promises-to-pay -at given dates, will similarly restrain the banker -from issuing too many promises-to-pay on demand. We -take him to be the very opposite of an “empiric,” who holds -that people’s characters and circumstances determine the -quantity of credit-memoranda in circulation; and that the -monetary disorders which their imperfect characters and -changing circumstances occasionally entail, can be exacerbated, -but cannot be prevented, by State-nostrums. On -the other hand, we do not see in virtue of what “principle” -it is, that the contract expressed on the face of a bank-note -must be dealt with differently from any other contract. -We cannot understand the “principle” which requires the -State to control the business of bankers, so that they may -not make engagements they cannot fulfil, but which does -<i>not</i> require the State to do the like with other traders. -To us it is a very incomprehensible “principle” which -permits the Bank of England to issue £14,000,000 on the -credit of the State; but which is broken if the State-credit -is mortgaged beyond this—a “principle” which implies -that £14,000,000 of notes may be issued without gold -to meet them, but insists on rigorous precautions for the -convertibility of every pound more. We are curious to -learn how it was inferred from this “principle” that the -average note-circulation of each provincial bank, during -certain twelve weeks in 1844, -was exactly the <span class="xxpn" id="p356">{356}</span> -note-circulation which its capital justified. So far from discerning a -“principle,” it seems to us that both the idea and its applications -are as empirical as they can well be.</p> - -<p>Still more astounding, however, is the assumption of these -“currency-theorists,” that their doctrines are those of Free-trade. -In the Legislature, Lord Overstone, and in the -press, the <i>Saturday Review</i>, have, among others, asserted -this. To call that a Free-trade measure, which has the -avowed object of restricting certain voluntary acts of exchange, -appears so manifest a contradiction in terms that it -is scarcely credible it should be made. The whole system -of currency-legislation is restrictionist from beginning to -end: equally in spirit and detail. Is that a Free-trade -regulation which has all along forbidden banks of issue -within sixty-five miles of London? Is that Free-trade -which enacts that none but such as have now the State-warrant, -shall henceforth give promises-to-pay on demand? -Is that Free-trade which at a certain point steps in between -the banker and his customer, and puts a veto on any -further exchange of credit-documents? We wonder what -would be said by two merchants, the one about to draw a -bill on the other in return for goods sold, who should be -stopped by a State-officer with the remark that, having -examined the buyer’s ledger, he was of opinion that ready -as the seller might be to take the bill, it would be unsafe -for him to do so; and that the law, in pursuance of the -principles of Free-trade, negatived the transaction! Yet -for the promise-to-pay in six months, it needs but to substitute -a promise-to-pay on demand, and the case becomes -substantially that of banker and customer.</p> - -<p>It is true that the “currency-theorists” have a colourable -excuse in the fact, that among their opponents are the -advocates of various visionary schemes, and propounders of -regulations quite as protectionist in spirit as their own. It -is true that there are some who contend for inconvertible -“labour-notes;” and others who argue that, -in times of <span class="xxpn" id="p357">{357}</span> -commercial pressure, banks should not raise their rates of -discount. But is this any justification for recklessly stigmatizing -all antagonism as coming from these classes, in the -face of the fact that the Bank-Act has been protested -against by the highest authorities in political economy? Do -not the defenders of the “currency-principle” know that -among their opponents are Mr. Thornton, long known as -an able writer on currency-questions; Mr. Tooke and -Mr. Newmarch, famed for their laborious and exhaustive -researches respecting currency and prices; Mr. Fullarton, -whose “Regulation of Currencies” is a standard work; -Mr. Macleod, whose just-issued book displays the endless -injustices and stupidities of our monetary history; Mr. -James Wilson, <span class="smmaj">M.P.</span>, who, in detailed knowledge of commerce, -currency, and banking, is probably unrivalled; and -Mr. John Stuart Mill, who both as logician and economist, -stands in the first rank? Do they not know that the alleged -distinction between bank-notes and other credit-documents, -which forms the professed basis of the Bank-Act (and for -which Sir R. Peel could quote only the one poor authority -of Lord Liverpool) is denied, not only by the gentlemen -above named, but also by Mr. Huskisson, Professor Storch, -Dr. Travers Twiss, and the distinguished French Professors, -M. Joseph Garnier and M. Michel Chevalier?<a class="afnanch" href="#fn36" id="fnanch36">36</a> -Do they -not know, in short, that both the profoundest thinkers and -the most patient inquirers are against them? If they do -not know this, it is time they studied the subject on which -they write with such an air of authority. If they do know -it, a little more respect for their opponents would not -be unbecoming.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch36" id="fn36">36</a> -See Mr. Tooke’s “Bank Charter Act -of 1844,” etc.</p></div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p358">{358}</span></div> - -<h2 class="h2nobreak">PARLIAMENTARY REFORM: THE DANGERS AND -THE SAFEGUARDS.</h2></div> - -<div class="dchappre"> -<p class="pfirst">[<i>First published in</i> -The Westminster Review <i>for April 1860</i>.]</p></div> - -<p>Thirty years ago, the dread of impending evils agitated -not a few breasts throughout England. Instinctive fear of -change, justified as it seemed by outbursts of popular -violence, conjured up visions of the anarchy which would -follow the passing of a Reform Bill. In scattered farm-houses -there was chronic terror, lest those newly endowed -with political power should in some way filch all the profits -obtained by rearing cattle and growing corn. The -occupants of halls and manors spoke of ten-pound householders -almost as though they formed an army of spoilers, -threatening to overrun and devastate the property of -landholders. Among townspeople there were some who -interpreted the abolition of old corruptions into the -establishment of mob-government; which they thought -equivalent to spoliation. And even in Parliament, such -alarms found occasional utterance: as, for instance, through -the mouth of Sir Robert Inglis, who hinted that the national -debt would not improbably be repudiated if the proposed -measure became law.</p> - -<p>There may perhaps be a few who regard the now pending -change in the representation with -similar dread—who think <span class="xxpn" id="p359">{359}</span> -that artizans and others of their grade are prepared, when -the power is given to them, to lay hands on property. We -presume, however, that such irrational alarmists form but a -small percentage of the nation. Not only throughout the -Liberal party, but among the Conservatives, there exists -a much fairer estimate of the popular character than is -implied by anticipations of so gloomy a kind. Many of the -upper and middle classes are conscious of the fact that, if -critically compared, the average conduct of the wealthy -would not be found to differ very widely in rectitude from -that of the poor. Making due allowance for differences in -the kinds and degrees of temptations to which they are -exposed, the respective grades of society are tolerably -uniform in their morals. That disregard of the rights of -property which, among the people at large, shows itself in -the direct form of petty thefts, shows itself among their -richer neighbours in various indirect forms, which are -scarcely less flagitious and often much more detrimental -to fellow-citizens. Traders, wholesale and retail, commit -countless dishonesties, ranging from adulteration and short -measure up to fraudulent bankruptcy—dishonesties of -which we sketched out some of the ramifications in a late -article on “The Morals of Trade.” The trickeries of the -turf; the bribery of electors; the non-payment of tradesmen’s -bills; the jobbing in railway-shares; the obtainment -of exorbitant prices for land from railway-companies; the -corruption that attends the getting of private bills through -Parliament—these, and other such illustrations, show that -the unconscientiousness of the upper class, manifested -though it is in different forms, is not less than that of the -lower class: bears as great a ratio to the size of the class, -and, if traced to its ultimate results, produces evils as great -if not greater.</p> - -<p>And if the facts prove that in uprightness of intentions -there is little to choose between one class of the community -and another, an extension of the -franchise cannot rationally <span class="xxpn" id="p360">{360}</span> -be opposed on the ground that property would be directly -endangered. There is no more reason to suppose that the -mass of artizans and labourers would use political power with -conscious injustice to their richer neighbours, than there is -reason to suppose that their richer neighbours now consciously -commit legal injustices against artizans and labourers.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">What, then, is the danger to be apprehended? If land, -and houses, and railways, and funds, and property of all -other kinds, would be held with no less security than now, -why need there be any fears that the franchise would be -misused? What are the misuses of it which are rationally -to be anticipated?</p> - -<p>The ways in which those to be endowed with political -power are likely to abuse it, may be inferred from the ways -in which political power has been abused by those who have -possessed it.</p> - -<p>What general trait has characterized the rule of the -classes hitherto dominant? These classes have not habitually -sought their own <i>direct</i> advantage at the expense of other -classes; but their measures have nevertheless frequently -been such as were <i>indirectly</i> advantageous to themselves. -Voluntary self-sacrifice has been the exception. The rule -has been so to legislate as to preserve private interests -from injury; whether public interests were injured or not. -Though, in equity, a landlord has no greater claim on a -defaulting tenant than any other creditor; yet landlords, -having formed the majority of the legislature, have made -laws giving them power to recover rent in anticipation of -other creditors. Though the duties payable to government -on the transfer of property to heirs and legatees, might -justly have been made to fall more heavily on the wealthy -than on the comparatively poor, and on real property rather -than on personal property; yet the reverse arrangement -was enacted and long maintained, and is even still partially -in force. Rights of presentation to places -in the Church, <span class="xxpn" id="p361">{361}</span> -obtained however completely in violation of the spirit of the -law, are yet tenaciously defended, with little or no regard -to the welfare of those for whom the Church ostensibly -exists. Were it not accounted for by the bias of personal -interests, it would be impossible to explain the fact that, on -the question of protection to agriculture, the landed classes -and their dependents were ranged against the other classes: -the same evidence being open to both. And if there needs -a still stronger illustration, we have it in the opposition -made to the repeal of the Corn-Laws by the established -clergy. Though, by their office, preachers of justice and -mercy—though constantly occupied in condemning selfishness -and holding up a supreme example of self-sacrifice; -yet so swayed were they by those temporal interests which -they thought endangered, that they offered to this proposed -change an almost uniform resistance. Out of some ten -thousand <i>ex officio</i> friends of the poor and needy, there was -but one (the Rev. Thomas Spencer), who took an active -part in abolishing this tax imposed on the people’s bread -for the maintenance of landlords’ rents.</p> - -<p>Such are a few of the ways in which, in modern times, -those who have the power seek their own benefit at the -expense of the rest. It is in analogous ways that we must -expect any section of the community which may be made -predominant by a political change, to sacrifice the welfare -of other sections to its own. While we do not see reason -to think that the lower classes are intrinsically less conscientious -than the upper classes, we do not see reason to -think that they are more conscientious. Holding, as we -do, that in each society and in each age, the morality is, -on the average, the same throughout all ranks; it seems to -us clear that if the rich, when they have the opportunity, -make laws which unduly favour themselves, the poor, if -their power was in excess, will do the like in similar ways -and to a similar extent. Without knowingly enacting -injustice, they will be unconsciously -biased by personal <span class="xxpn" id="p362">{362}</span> -considerations; and our legislation will err as much in a -new direction as it has hitherto done in the old.</p> - -<p>This abstract conclusion we shall find confirmed on contemplating -the feelings and opinions current among artizans -and labourers. What the working classes now wish done, -indicates what they would be likely to do, if a reform in the -representation made them preponderate. Judging from -their prevailing sentiments, they would doubtless do, or aid -in doing, many things which it is desirable to have done. -Such a question as that of Church-rates would have been -settled long ago had the franchise been wider. Any great -increase of popular influence, would go far to rectify the -present inequitable relation of the established religious sect -to the rest of the community. And other remnants of -class-legislation would be swept away. But besides ideas -likely to eventuate in changes which we should regard as -beneficial, the working classes entertain ideas that could -not be realized without gross injustice to other classes and -ultimate injury to themselves. There is among them a -prevailing enmity towards capitalists. The fallacy that -machinery acts to their damage, is still widely spread, both -among rural labourers and the inhabitants of towns. And -they show a wish, not only to dictate how long per day -men shall work, but to regulate all the relations between -employers and employed. Let us briefly consider the -evidence of this.</p> - -<p>When, adding another to the countless errors which it -has taught the people, the Legislature, by passing the Ten-Hours-Bill, -asserted that it is the duty of the State to limit -the duration of labour, there naturally arose among the -working classes the desire for further ameliorations to be -secured in the same way. First came the formidable strike -of the Amalgamated Engineers. The rules of this body -aim to restrict the supply of labour in various ways. No -member is allowed to work more than a fixed number of -hours per week; nor for less than a fixed -rate of wages. <span class="xxpn" id="p363">{363}</span> -No man is admitted into the trade who has not “earned a -right by probationary servitude.” There is a strict registration; -which is secured by fines on any one who neglects -to notify his marriage, removal, or change of service. The -council decides, without appeal, on all the affairs, individual -and general, of the body. How tyrannical are the regulations -may be judged from the fact, that members are -punished for divulging anything concerning the society’s -business; for censuring one another; for vindicating the -conduct of those fined, etc. And their own unity of action -having been secured by these coercive measures, the -Amalgamated Engineers made a prolonged effort to impose -on their employers, sundry restrictions which they supposed -would be beneficial to themselves. More recently, we have -seen similar objects worked for by similar means during -the strike of the Operative Builders. In one of their early -manifestoes, this body of men contended that they had “an -equal right to share with other workers, that large amount -of public sympathy which is now being so widely extended -in the direction of shortening the hours of labour:” thus -showing at once their delusion and its source. Believing, -as they had been taught by an Act of Parliament to believe, -that the relation between the quantity of labour given and -the wages received, is not a natural but an artificial one; -they demanded that while the wages remained the same, -the hours should be reduced from ten to nine. They -recommended their employers so to make their future -contracts, as to allow for this diminished day’s work: -saying they were “so sanguine as to consider the consummation -of their desire inevitable:” a polite way of hinting -that their employers must succumb to the irresistible power -of their organization. Referring to the threat of the master-builders -to close their works, they warned them against -“the responsibility of causing the public disaster” thus -indicated. And when the breach finally -took place, the <span class="xxpn" id="p364">{364}</span> -Unionists set in action the approved appliances for bringing -masters to terms; and would have succeeded had it not -been that their antagonists, believing that concessions -would be ruinous, made a united resistance. During -several previous years, master-builders had been yielding -to various extravagant demands, of which those recently -made were a further development. Had they assented to -the diminished day’s work, and abolished systematic overtime, -as they were required to do, there is no reason to -suppose the dictation would have ended. Success would -have presently led to still more exacting requirements; and -future years would have witnessed further extensions of -this mischievous meddling between capital and labour.</p> - -<p>Perhaps the completest illustration of the industrial -regulations which find favour with artizans, is supplied by -the Printers’ Union. With the exception of those engaged -in <i>The Times</i> office, and in one other large establishment, -the proprietors of which successfully resisted the combination, -the compositors, pressmen, etc., throughout the -kingdom, form a society which controls all the relations -between employers and employed. There is a fixed price -for setting up type—so much per thousand letters: no -master can give less; no compositor being allowed by the -Union to work for less. There are established rates for -press-work; and established numbers less than which you -cannot have printed without paying for work that is not -done. The scale rises by what are called “tokens” of 250; -and if but 50 copies are required, the charge is the same as -for printing 250; or if 300 are wanted, payment must be -made for 500. Besides regulating prices and modes of -charging to their own advantage, in these and other ways, -the members of the Union restrict competition by limiting -the number of apprentices brought into the business. So -well organized is this combination that the masters are -obliged to succumb. An infraction of the -rules in any <span class="xxpn" id="p365">{365}</span> -printing-office leads to a strike of the men; and as this is -supported by the Union at large, the employer has to yield.</p> - -<p>That in other trades artizans would, if they could, establish -restrictive systems equally complete with this, we take -to be sufficiently proved by their often-repeated attempts. -The Tin-plate-Workers’ strike, the Coventry-Weavers’ -strikes, the Engineers’ strike, the Shoemakers’ strike, the -Builders’ strike, all show a most decided leaning towards a -despotic regulation of trade-prices, hours, and arrangements—towards -an abolition of free trade between employers -and employed. Should the men engaged in our various -industries succeed in their aims, each industry would be so -shackled as seriously to raise the cost of production. The -chief penalty would thus fall on the working classes -themselves. Each producer, while protected in the exercise -of his own occupation, would on every commodity he bought -have to pay an extra price, consequent on the protection of -other producers. In short, there would be established, -under a new form, the old mischievous system of mutual -taxation. And a final result would be such a diminished -ability to compete with other nations as to destroy our -foreign trade.</p> - -<p>Against results like these it behoves us to guard. It -becomes a grave question how far we may safely give -political power to those who entertain views so erroneous -respecting fundamental social relations; and who so pertinaciously -struggle to enforce these erroneous views. Men -who render up their private liberties to the despotic rulers -of trades-unions, seem scarcely independent enough rightly -to exercise political liberties. Those who so ill understand -the nature of freedom, as to think that any man or body of -men has a right to prevent employer and employed from -making any contract they please, would almost appear to be -incapacitated for the guardianship of their own freedom and -that of their fellow-citizens. When their notions of rectitude -are so confused, that they think it a duty to -obey the arbitrary <span class="xxpn" id="p366">{366}</span> -commands of their union-authorities, and to abandon the -right of individually disposing of their labour on their own -terms—when, in conformity with this inverted sense of duty, -they even risk the starvation of their families—when they -call that an “odious document” which simply demands that -master and man shall be free to make their own bargains—when -their sense of justice is so obtuse that they are ready -to bully, to deprive of work, to starve, and even to kill, -members of their own class who rebel against dictation, and -assert their rights to sell their labour at such rates and to -such persons as they think fit—when in short they prove -themselves ready to become alike slaves and tyrants, we may -well pause before giving them the franchise.</p> - -<p>The objects which artizans have long sought to achieve by -their private organizations, they would, had they adequate -political power, seek to achieve by public enactments. If, -on points like those instanced, their convictions are so strong -and their determination so great, that they will time after -time submit to extreme privations in the effort to carry -them; it is a reasonable expectation that these convictions, -pushed with this determination, would soon be expressed in -law, if those who held them had predominant power. With -working men, questions concerning the regulation of labour -are of the highest interest. Candidates for Parliament -would be more likely to obtain their suffrages by pandering -to their prejudices on such questions, than in any other way. -Should it be said that no evil need be feared unless the -artizan-class numerically preponderated in the constituencies; -it may be rejoined that not unfrequently, where two -chief political parties are nearly balanced, some other party, -though much smaller, determines the election. When we -bear in mind that the trades-unions throughout the kingdom -number 600,000 members, and command a fund of £300,000—when -we remember that these trades-unions are in the -habit of aiding each other, and have even been incorporated -into one national association—when we -also remember that <span class="xxpn" id="p367">{367}</span> -their organization is very complete, and their power over -their members mercilessly exercised; it seems likely that at -a general election their combined action would decide the -result in many towns: even though the artizans in each case -formed but a moderate portion of the constituency. How -influential small but combined bodies are, the Irish Members -of our House of Commons prove to us; and still more -clearly the Irish emigrants in America. Certainly these -trade-combinations are not less perfectly organized; nor -are the motives of their members less strong. Judge then -how efficient their political action would be.</p> - -<p>It is true that in county-constituencies and rural towns, -the artizan class have no power; and that in the antagonism -of agriculturists there would be a restraint on their projects. -But, on the other hand, the artizans would, on these questions, -have the sympathy of many not belonging to their own body. -Numerous small shopkeepers and others who are in point of -means about on their level, would go with them in their -efforts to regulate the relations of capital and labour. -Among the middle classes, too, there are not a few kindly-disposed -men who are so ignorant of political economy as to -think the artizans justified in their aims. Even among the -landed class they might find supporters. We have but to -recollect the antipathy shown by landowners in Parliament -to the manufacturing interest, during the ten-hours’ agitation, -to see that it is quite possible for country squires to -join the working men in imposing restrictions unfavourable -to employers. True, the angry feeling which then prompted -them has in some measure died away. It is to be hoped, -too, that they have gained wisdom. But still, remembering -the past, we must take this contingency into account.</p> - -<p>Here, then, is one of the dangers to which an extension -of the franchise opens the door. While the fear that the -rights of property may be directly interfered with, is -absurd, it is a very rational fear that the rights of property -may be indirectly interfered with—that, -by cramping laws, <span class="xxpn" id="p368">{368}</span> -the capitalist may be prevented from using his money as -he finds best, and the workman from selling his labour as -he pleases. We are not prepared to say what widening of -the representation would bring about such results. We -profess neither to estimate what amount of artizan-power a -£6 or a £5 borough-franchise would give; nor to determine -whether the opposing powers would suffice to keep it in -check. Our purpose here is simply to indicate this establishment -of injurious industrial regulations, as one of the -dangers to be kept in view.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Turn we now to another danger, distinct from the foregoing -though near akin to it. Next after the evils of that -over-legislation which restricts the exchange of capital and -labour, come the evils of that over-legislation which provides -for the community, by State-agency, benefits which -capital and labour should be left spontaneously to provide. -And it naturally, though unfortunately, happens, that those -who lean to the one kind of over-legislation, lean also to -the other kind. Men leading laborious lives, relieved by -little in the shape of enjoyment, give willing ears to the -doctrine that the State should provide them with various -positive advantages and gratifications. The much-enduring -poor cannot be expected to deal very critically with those -who promise them gratis pleasures. As a drowning man -catches at a straw, so will one whose existence is burdensome -catch at anything, no matter how unsubstantial, -which holds out the slightest hope of a little happiness. -We must not, therefore, blame the working-classes for -being ready converts to socialistic schemes, or to a belief -in “the sovereign power of political machinery.”</p> - -<p>Not that the working-classes alone fall into these delusions. -Unfortunately they are countenanced, and have -been in part misled, by those above them. In Parliament -and out of Parliament, well-meaning men among the upper -and middle ranks, have been active apostles -of these false <span class="xxpn" id="p369">{369}</span> -doctrines. There has ever been, and continues to be, much -law-making based on the assumption, that it is the duty of -the State, not simply to insure each citizen fair play in the -battle of life, but to help him in fighting the battle of life: -having previously taken money from his, or some one else’s, -pocket to pay the cost of doing this. And we cannot -glance over the papers without seeing how active are the -agitations carried on out of doors in furtherance of this -policy; and how they threaten to become daily more active. -The doings of the Chadwick-school furnish one set of -illustrations. From those of the Shaftesbury-school other -illustrations may be gathered. And in the transactions of -the body, absurdly self-entitled “The National Association -for the Promotion of Social Science,” we find still more -numerous developments of this mischievous error.</p> - -<p>When we say that the working-classes, and more -especially the artizan-classes, have strong leanings towards -these Utopianisms which they have unhappily been encouraged -to entertain by many who should have known -better, we do not speak at random. We are not drawing -an <i>a priori</i> inference as to the doctrines likely to find -favour with men in their position. Nor are we guided -merely by evidence to be gathered from newspapers. We -have a basis of definite fact in the proceedings of reformed -municipal governments. These bodies have from year to -year extended their functions; and so heavy has in some -cases become the consequent local taxation, as to have -caused a reaction against the political party which was -responsible. Town-councils almost exclusively Whig, have -of late been made comparatively Conservative, by the -efforts of those richer classes who suffer most from municipal -extravagance. With whom, then, has this extravagance -been popular? With the poorer members of the constituencies. -Candidates for town-councillorships have found no -better means of obtaining the suffrages of the mass, than -the advocacy of this or the other -local undertaking. To <span class="xxpn" id="p370">{370}</span> -build baths and wash-houses at the expense of the town, -has proved a popular proposal. The support of public -gardens out of funds raised by local rates, has been applauded -by the majority. So, too, with the establishment -of free libraries, which has, of course, met with encouragement -from working-men, and from those who wish to find -favour with them. Should some one, taking a hint from -the cheap concerts now common in our manufacturing -towns, propose to supply music at the public cost, we doubt -not he would be hailed as a friend of the people. And -similarly with countless socialistic schemes, of which, when -once commenced, there is no end.</p> - -<p>Such being the demonstrated tendencies of municipal -governments, with their extended bases of representation, -is it not a fair inference that a Central Government having a -base of representation much wider than the present, would -manifest like tendencies? We shall see the more reason -for fearing this, when we remember that those who approve -of multiplied State-agencies, would generally ally themselves -with those who seek for the legislative regulation of labour. -The doctrines are near akin; and they are, to a considerable -extent, held by the same persons. If united the two bodies -would have a formidable power; and, appealed to, as they -would often be, by candidates expressing agreement on -both these points, they might, even though a minority, get -unduly represented in the legislature. Such, at least, -seems to us a further danger. Led by philanthropists -having sympathies stronger than their intellects, the -working-classes are very likely to employ their influence -in increasing over-legislation: not only by agitating for -industrial regulations, but in various other ways. What -extension of franchise would make this danger a serious -one, we do not pretend to say. Here, as before, we would -simply indicate a probable source of mischief.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">And now what are the safeguards? Not -such as we <span class="xxpn" id="p371">{371}</span> -believe will be adopted. To meet evils like those which -threaten to follow the impending political change, the -common plan is to devise special checks—minor limitations -and qualifications. Not to dry up the evil at its source but -to dam it out, is, in analogous cases, the usual aim. We -have no faith in such methods. The only efficient safeguard -lies in a change of convictions and motives. And, -to work a change of this kind, there is no certain way but -that of letting men directly feel the penalties which mistaken -legislation brings on them. “How is this to be -done?” the reader will doubtless ask. Simply by letting -causes and effects stand in their natural relations. Simply -by taking away those vicious arrangements which now -mostly prevent men from seeing the reactions that follow -legislative actions.</p> - -<p>At present the extension of public administrations is -popular, mainly because there has not been established -in the minds of the people, any distinct connexion between -the benefits to be gained and the expenses to be paid. -Of the conveniences or gratifications secured to them by -some new body of officials with a fund at its disposal, -they have immediate experience; but of the way in which -the costs fall on the nation, and ultimately on themselves, -they have no immediate experience. Our fiscal arrangements -dissociate the ideas of increased public expenditure -and increased burdens on all who labour; and thus -encourage the superstition that law can give gratis benefits. -This is clearly the chief cause of that municipal extravagance -to which we have above adverted. The working -men of our towns possess public power, while most of -them do not directly bear public burdens. On small -houses the taxes for borough-purposes are usually paid -by the landlords; and of late years, for the sake of -convenience and economy, there has grown up a system -of compounding with landlords of small houses even for -the poor-rates chargeable to their -tenants. Under this <span class="xxpn" id="p372">{372}</span> -arrangement, at first voluntary but now compulsory, a -certain discount off the total rates due from a number -of houses is allowed to the owner, in consideration of his -paying the rates, and thus saving the authorities trouble -and loss in collection. And he is supposed to raise his -rents by the full amount of the rates charged. Thus, -most municipal electors, not paying local taxes in a separate -form, are not constantly reminded of the connexion -between public expenditure and personal costs; and hence -it happens that any outlay made for local purposes, no -matter how extravagant and unreasonable, which brings -to them some kind of advantage, is regarded as pure gain. -If the corporation resolves, quite unnecessarily, to rebuild -a town-hall, the resolution is of course approved by the -majority. “It is good for trade and it costs us nothing,” -is the argument which passes vaguely through their minds. -If some one proposes to buy an adjoining estate and turn -it into a public park, the working classes naturally give -their support to the proposal; for ornamental grounds -cannot but be an advantage, and though the rates may be -increased that will be no affair of theirs. Thus necessarily -arises a tendency to multiply public agencies and increase -public outlay. It becomes an established policy with -popularity-hunters to advocate new works to be executed -by the town. Those who disapprove this course are in -fear that their seats may be jeopardized at the next -election, should they make a vigorous opposition. And -thus do these local administrations inevitably lean towards -abnormal developments.</p> - -<p>No one can, we think, doubt that were the rates levied -directly on all electors, a check would be given to this -municipal communism. If each small occupier found that -every new work undertaken by the authorities cost him -so many pence extra in the pound, he would begin to -consider with himself whether the advantage gained was -equivalent to the price paid; and would -often reach a <span class="xxpn" id="p373">{373}</span> -negative conclusion. It would become a question with -him whether, instead of letting the local government -provide him with certain remote advantages in return for -certain moneys, he might not himself purchase with such -moneys immediate advantages of greater worth; and, -generally, he would decide that he could do this. Without -saying to what extent such a restraint would act, we may -safely say that it would be beneficial. Every one must -admit that each inhabitant of a town ought constantly to -be reminded of the relation between the work performed -for him by the corporation and the sum he pays for it. -No one can deny that the habitual experience of this -relation would tend to keep the action of local governments -within proper bounds.</p> - -<p>Similarly with the Central Government. Here the effects -wrought by public agencies are still more dissociated from -the costs they entail on each citizen. The bulk of the -taxes being raised in so unobtrusive a way, and affecting -the masses in modes so difficult to trace, it is scarcely -possible for the masses to realize the fact that the sums -paid by Government for supporting schools, for facilitating -emigration, for inspecting mines, factories, railways, ships, -etc., have been in great part taken from their own pockets. -The more intelligent of them understand this as an abstract -truth; but it is not a truth present to their minds in such -a definite shape as to influence their actions. Quite -otherwise, however, would it be if taxation were direct; -and the expense of every new State-agency were felt by -each citizen as an additional demand made on him by the -tax-gatherer. Then would there be a clear, constantly-recurring -experience of the truth, that for everything -which the State gives with one hand it takes away -something with the other; and then would it be less easy -to propagate absurd delusions about the powers and duties -of Governments. No one can question this conclusion who -calls to mind the reason currently -given for maintaining <span class="xxpn" id="p374">{374}</span> -indirect taxation; namely, that the required revenue could -not otherwise be raised. Statesmen see that if instead of -taking from the citizen here a little and there a little, -in ways that he does not know or constantly forgets, the -whole amount were demanded in a lump sum, it would -scarcely be possible to get it paid. Grumbling and -resistance would rise probably to disaffection. Coercion -would in hosts of cases be needed to obtain this large -total tax; which, indeed, even with this aid, could not -be obtained from the majority of the people, whose -improvident habits prevent the accumulation of considerable -sums. And so the revenue would fall immensely short -of that expenditure which is supposed necessary. This -being assented to, it must perforce be admitted that under -a system of direct taxation, further extension of public -administrations, entailing further costs, would meet with -general opposition. Instead of multiplying the functions -of the State, the tendency would obviously be to reduce -their number.</p> - -<p>Here, then, is one of the safeguards. The incidence -of taxation must be made more direct in proportion as -the franchise is extended. Our changes ought not to be -in the direction of the Compound-Householders-Act of -1851, which makes it no longer needful for a Parliamentary -elector to have paid poor-rates before giving a vote; but -they ought to be in the opposite direction. The exercise -of power over the national revenue, should be indissolubly -associated with the <i>conscious</i> payment of contributions to -that revenue. Direct taxation instead of being limited, as -many wish, must be extended to lower and wider classes, -as fast as these classes are endowed with political power.</p> - -<p>Probably this proposal will be regarded with small favour -by statesmen. It is not in the nature of things for men -to approve a system which tends to restrict their powers. -We know, too, that any great extension of direct taxation -will be held at present impossible; and we -are not prepared <span class="xxpn" id="p375">{375}</span> -to assert the contrary. This, however, is no reason against -reducing the indirect taxation and augmenting the direct -taxation as far as circumstances allow. And if when the -last had been increased and the first decreased to the -greatest extent now practicable, it were made an established -principle that any additional revenue must be raised by -direct taxes, there would be an efficient check to one of the -evils likely to follow from further political enfranchisement.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">The other evil which we have pointed out as rationally -to be feared, cannot be thus met, however. Though an -ever-recurring experience of the relation between State-action -and its cost, would hinder the growth of those -State-agencies which undertake to supply citizens with -positive conveniences and gratifications; it would be no -restraint on that negative and inexpensive over-legislation -which trespasses on individual freedom—it would not prevent -mischievous meddling with the relations between labour -and capital. Against this danger the only safeguards -appear to be, the spread of sounder views among the -working classes, and the moral advance which such sounder -views imply.</p> - -<p>“That is to say, the people must be educated,” responds -the reader. Yes, education is the thing wanted; but not -the education for which most men agitate. Ordinary -school-training is not a preparation for the right exercise -of political power. Conclusive proof of this is given by the -fact that the artizans, from whose mistaken ideas the most -danger is to be feared, are the best informed of the working -classes. Far from promising to be a safeguard, the spread -of such education as is commonly given appears more likely -to increase the danger. Raising the working classes in -general to the artizan-level of culture, threatens to augment, -rather than to diminish, their power of working political -evil. The current faith in Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, -as fitting men for citizenship, seems -to us quite <span class="xxpn" id="p376">{376}</span> -unwarranted; as are, indeed, most other anticipations of -the benefits to be derived from learning lessons. There is -no connexion between the ability to parse a sentence, and -a clear understanding of the causes which determine the -rate of wages. The multiplication-table affords no aid in -seeing through the fallacy that the destruction of property -is good for trade. Long practice may have produced -extremely good penmanship without having given the least -power to understand the paradox that machinery eventually -increases the number of persons employed in the trades -into which it is introduced. Nor is it proved that smatterings -of mensuration, astronomy, or geography, fit men for -estimating the characters and motives of Parliamentary -candidates. Indeed we have only thus to bring together -the antecedents and the anticipated consequents, to see -how untenable is the belief in a relation between them. -When we wish a girl to become a good musician, we seat -her before the piano: we do not put drawing implements -into her hands, and expect music to come along with skill in -the use of pencils and colour-brushes. Sending a boy to pore -over law-books would be thought an extremely irrational way -of preparing him for civil engineering. And if in these and -all other cases, we do not expect fitness for any function -except through instruction and exercise in that function; -why do we expect fitness for citizenship to be produced by -a discipline which has no relation to the duties of the citizen? -Probably it will be replied that by making the working -man a good reader, we give him access to sources of information -from which he may learn how to use his electoral -power; and that other studies sharpen his faculties and -make him a better judge of political questions. This is -true; and the eventual tendency is unquestionably good. -But what if for a long time to come he reads only to obtain -confirmation of his errors? What if there exists a literature -appealing to his prejudices, and supplying him with fallacious -arguments for the mistaken beliefs which -he naturally takes <span class="xxpn" id="p377">{377}</span> -up? What if he rejects all teaching that aims to disabuse -him of cherished delusions? Must we not say that the -culture which thus merely helps the workman to establish -himself in error, rather unfits than fits him for citizenship? -And do not the trades’-unions furnish evidence of this?</p> - -<p>How little that which people commonly call education -prepares them for the use of political power, may be judged -from the incompetency of those who have received the -highest education the country affords. Glance back at the -blunders of our legislation, and then remember that the -men who committed them had mostly taken University-degrees; -and you must admit that the profoundest ignorance -of Social Science may accompany intimate acquaintance -with all which our cultivated classes regard as valuable -knowledge. Do but take a young member of Parliament, -fresh from Oxford or Cambridge, and ask him what he -thinks Law should do, and why? or what it should not do, -and why? and it will become manifest that neither his -familiarity with Aristotle nor his readings in Thucydides, -have prepared him to answer the very first question a -legislator ought to solve. A single illustration will suffice -to show how different an education from that usually given, -is required by legislators, and consequently by those who -elect them: we mean the illustration which the Free-trade -agitation supplies. By kings, peers, and members of -Parliament, mostly brought up at universities, trade had -been hampered by protections, prohibitions, and bounties. -For centuries had been maintained these legislative -appliances which a very moderate insight shows to be -detrimental. Yet, of all the highly-educated throughout -the nation during these centuries, scarcely a man saw how -mischievous such appliances were. Not from one who -devoted himself to the most approved studies, came the -work which set politicians right on these points; but from -one who left college without a degree, and prosecuted -inquiries which the established -education ignored. Adam <span class="xxpn" id="p378">{378}</span> -Smith examined for himself the industrial phenomena of -societies; contemplated the productive and distributive -activities going on around him; traced out their complicated -mutual dependences; and thus reached general -principles for political guidance. In recent days, those -who have most clearly understood the truths he enunciated, -and by persevering exposition have converted the nation -to their views, have not been graduates of universities. -While, contrariwise, those who have passed through the prescribed -<i>curriculum</i>, have commonly been the most bitter and -obstinate opponents of the changes dictated by politico-economical -science. In this all-important direction, right -legislation was urged by men deficient in the so-called -best education, and was resisted by the great majority -of men who had received this so-called best education!</p> - -<p>The truth for which we contend, and which is so -strangely overlooked, is, indeed, almost a truism. Does -not our whole theory of training imply that the right -preparation for political power is political cultivation? -Must not that teaching which can alone guide the citizen -in the fulfilment of his public actions, be a teaching that -acquaints him with the effects of his public actions?</p> - -<p>The second chief safeguard to which we must trust is, -then, the spread, not of that mere technical and miscellaneous -knowledge which men are so eagerly propagating, -but of political knowledge; or, to speak more accurately—knowledge -of Social Science. Above all, the essential -thing is the establishment of a true theory of government—a -true conception of what legislation is for, and what are -its proper limits. This question which our political discussions -habitually ignore, is a question of greater moment -than any other. Inquiries which statesmen deride as -speculative and unpractical, will one day be found infinitely -more practical than those which they wade through Blue -Books to master, and nightly spend many hours in debating. -The considerations that every morning fill -a dozen columns <span class="xxpn" id="p379">{379}</span> -of <i>The Times</i>, are mere frivolities when compared with the -fundamental consideration—What is the proper sphere of -government? Before discussing the way in which law -should regulate some particular thing, would it not be wise -to put the previous question—Whether law ought or ought -not to meddle with that thing? and before answering this, -to put the more general questions—What law should do? -and what it should leave undone? Surely, if there are any -limits at all to legislation, the settlement of these limits -must have effects far more profound than any particular -Act of Parliament can have; and must be by so much the -more momentous. Surely, if there is danger that the -people may misuse political power, it is of supreme importance -that they should be taught for what purpose political -power ought alone to be used.</p> - -<p>Did the upper classes understand their position they -would, we think, see that the diffusion of sound views on -this matter more nearly concerns their own welfare and -that of the nation at large, than any other thing whatever. -Popular influence will inevitably go on increasing. Should -the masses gain a predominant power while their ideas of -social arrangements and legislative action remain as crude -as at present, there will certainly result disastrous meddlings -with the relations of capital and labour, as well as a disastrous -extension of State-administrations. Immense damage -will be inflicted: primarily on employers; secondarily on -the employed; and eventually on the nation as a whole. -If these evils can be prevented at all, they can be prevented -only by establishing in the public mind a profound conviction -that there are certain definite limits to the functions of -the State; and that these limits ought on no account to be -transgressed. Having learned what these limits are, the -upper classes ought to use all means of making them -clear to the people.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">In No. XXIV. of this Review, for -October, 1857, we <span class="xxpn" id="p380">{380}</span> -endeavoured to show that while representative government -is, by its intrinsic nature, better than any other for administering -justice or insuring equitable relations among citizens, -it is, by its intrinsic nature, worse than any other for all the -various additional functions which governments commonly -undertake. To the question—What is representative -government good for? our reply was—“It is good, -especially good, good above all others, for doing the thing -which a government should do. It is bad, especially bad, -bad above all others, for doing the things which a government -should not do.”</p> - -<p>To this truth we may here add a correlative one. As -fast as a government, by becoming representative, grows -better fitted for maintaining the rights of citizens, it grows -not only unfitted for other purposes, but dangerous for -other purposes. In gaining adaptation for the essential -function of a government, it loses such adaptation as it had -for other functions; not only because its complexity is a -hindrance to administrative action, but also because in -discharging other functions it must be mischievously -influenced by class bias. So long as it is confined to the -duty of preventing the aggressions of individuals on one -another, and protecting the nation at large against external -enemies, the wider its basis the better; for all men are -similarly interested in the security of life, property, and -freedom to exercise the faculties. But let it undertake -to bring home positive benefits to citizens, or to interfere -with any of the special relations between class and -class, and there necessarily enters an incentive to injustice. -For in no such cases can the immediate interests of all -classes be alike. Therefore do we say that as fast as -representation is extended, the sphere of government must -be contracted.</p> - -<p class="padtopb"><span class="smcap">P<b>OSTSCRIPT</b>.</span>—Since the foregoing pages were written, -Lord John Russell has introduced his Reform -Bill; and in <span class="xxpn" id="p381">{381}</span> -application of the general principles we contend for, a few -words may fitly be added respecting it.</p> - -<p>Of the extended county-franchise most will approve, -save those whose illegitimate influence is diminished by it. -Adding to the rural constituencies a class less directly -dependent on large landowners, can scarcely fail to be -beneficial. Even should it not at first perceptibly affect -the choice of representatives, it will still be a good stimulus -to political education and to consequent future benefits. -Of the re-distribution of seats little is to be said, further -than that, however far short it may fall of an equitable -arrangement, it is perhaps as much as can at present -be obtained.</p> - -<p>Whether the right limit for the borough-franchise has -been chosen is, on the other hand, a question that admits -of much discussion. Some hesitation will probably be felt -by all who duly weigh the evidence on both sides. Believing, -as we do, that the guidance of abstract equity, however -much it may need qualification, must never be ignored, we -should be glad were it at once practicable more nearly to -follow it; since it is certain that only as fast as the injustice -of political exclusion is brought to an end, will the many -political injustices which grow out of it disappear. Nevertheless, -we are convinced that the forms which freedom -requires will not of themselves produce the reality of -freedom, in the absence of an appropriate national character; -any more than the most perfect mechanism will do its -work in the absence of a motive power. There seems -reason to think that the degree of liberty a people is -capable of in any given age, is a fixed quantity; and that -any artificial extension of it in one direction brings about -an equivalent limitation in some other direction. French -republics show scarcely any more respect for individual -rights than the despotisms they supplant; and French -electors use their freedom to put themselves again in -slavery. In America the feeble restraints -imposed by the <span class="xxpn" id="p382">{382}</span> -State are supplemented by the strong restraints of a public -opinion which, in many respects, holds the citizens in -greater bondage than here. And if there needs a demonstration -that representative equality is an insufficient safeguard -for freedom, we have it in the trades’-unions already -referred to; which, purely democratic as are their organizations, -yet exercise over their members a tyranny almost -Neapolitan in its rigour and unscrupulousness. The -greatest attainable amount of individual liberty being the -true end; and the diffusion of political power being -regarded mainly as a means to this end; the real question -when considering further extensions of the franchise, is—whether -the average freedom of action of citizens will be -increased?—whether men will be severally freer than -before to pursue the objects of life in their own way? Or, -in the present case, the question is—whether the good -which £7, £6, or £5 householders would do in helping to -abolish existing injustices, will be partly or wholly -neutralized by the evil they may do in establishing other -injustices? The desideratum is as large an increase in the -electorate as can be made without enabling the people to -carry out their delusive schemes of over-legislation. -Whether the increase proposed is greater or less than this, -is the essential point. Let us briefly consider the evidence -on each side.</p> - -<p>As shown by Lord J. Russell’s figures, the new borough-electors -will consist mainly of artizans; and these, as we -have seen, are in great part banded together by a common -wish to regulate the relations of capital and labour. As a -class, they are not as Lord J. Russell describes them, -“fitted to exercise the franchise freely and independently.” -On the contrary, there are no men in the community so -shackled. They are the slaves of the authorities they have -themselves set up. The dependence of farmers on landlords, -or of operatives on employers, is much less servile; -for they can carry their capital or -labour elsewhere. But <span class="xxpn" id="p383">{383}</span> -the penalty for disobedience to trades-union dictates, -pursues the rebel throughout the kingdom. Hence the -great mass of the new borough-electors must be expected -to act simultaneously, on the word of command being -issued from a central council of united trades. Even while -we write we meet with fresh reason for anticipating this -result. An address from the Conference of the Building -Trades to the working classes throughout the kingdom, -has just been published; thanking them for their support; -advising the maintenance of the organization; anticipating -future success in their aims; and intimating the propriety -of recommencing the nine-hours’ agitation. We must, -then, be prepared to see these industrial questions made -leading questions; for artizans have a much keener interest -in them than in any others. And we may feel certain that -many elections will turn upon them.</p> - -<p>How many? There are some thirty boroughs in which -the newly-enfranchised will form an actual majority—will, -if they act together, be able to outvote the existing electors; -even supposing the parties into which they are now -divided were to unite. In half-a-dozen other boroughs the -newly-enfranchised will form a virtual majority—will preponderate -unless the present liberal and conservative voters -co-operate with great unanimity, which they will be unlikely -to do. And the number proposed to be added to the constituency, -is one-half or more in nearly fifty other boroughs: -that is, in nearly fifty other boroughs, the new party will -be able to arbitrate between the two existing parties; and -will give its support to whichever of these promises most -aid to artizan-schemes. It maybe said that in this estimate -we assume the whole of the new borough-electors to belong -to the artizan-class, which they do not. This is true. But, -on the other hand, it must be remembered that among the -£10 householders there is a very considerable sprinkling of -this class, while the freemen chiefly consist of it; and hence -the whole artizan body in each -constituency will probably <span class="xxpn" id="p384">{384}</span> -be not smaller than we have assumed. If so, it follows -that should the trades-union organization be brought to -bear on borough-elections, as it is pretty certain to be, it -may prevail in some eighty or ninety places, and sway the -votes of representatives in from 100 to 150 seats—supposing, -that is, that it can obtain as many eligible candidates.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, the county-constituencies in their proposed -state, as much as in their existing state, not being under -trades-union influence, may be expected to stand in antagonism -to the artizan-constituencies; as may also the small -boroughs. It is just possible, indeed, that irritated by the -ever-growing power of a rich mercantile class, continually -treading closer on their heels, the landowners, carrying -with them their dependents, might join the employed in -their dictation to employers; just as, in past times, the -nobles joined the commonalty against the kings, or the -kings joined the commonalty against the nobles. But -leaving out this remote contingency, we may fairly expect -the rural constituencies to oppose the large urban ones -on these industrial questions. Thus, then, the point to be -decided is, whether the benefits that will result from this -extended suffrage—benefits which we doubt not will be -great—may not be secured while the accompanying evil -tendencies are kept in check. It may be that these new -artizan-electors will be powerful for good, while their -power to work evil will be in a great degree neutralized. -But this we should like to see well discussed.</p> - -<p>On one question, however, we feel no hesitation; namely, -the question of a ratepaying-qualification. From Lord -John Russell’s answer to Mr. Bright, and more recently -from his answer to Mr. Steel, we gather that on this -point there is to be no alteration—that £6 householders -will stand on the same footing that £10 householders do -at present. Now by the Compound-Householders-Act of -1851, to which we have already referred, it is provided -that tenants of £10 houses whose rates are -paid by their <span class="xxpn" id="p385">{385}</span> -landlords, shall, after having <i>once</i> tendered payment of -rates to the authorities, be thereafter considered as ratepayers, -and have votes accordingly. That is to say, the -ratepaying-qualification is made nominal; and that in -practice it has become so, is proved by the fact that -under this Act, 4000 electors were suddenly added to the -constituency of Manchester.</p> - -<p>The continuance and extension of this arrangement we -conceive to be wholly vicious. Already we have shown -that the incidence of taxation ought to be made more -direct as fast as popular power is increased, and that, as -diminishing the elector’s personal experience of the costs -of public administration, this abolition of a ratepaying-qualification -is a retrograde step. But this is by no means -the sole ground for disapproval. The ratepaying-qualification -is a valuable test—a test which tends to separate -the more worthy of the working classes from the less -worthy. Nay more, it tends to select for enfranchisement, -those who have the moral and intellectual qualities especially -required for judicious political conduct. For what -general mental characteristic does judicious political conduct -presuppose? The power of realizing remote consequences. -People who are misled by demagogues, are those who are -impressed with the proximate results set forth to them but -are not impressed by the distant results, even when these -are explained—regard them as vague, shadowy, theoretical, -and are not to be deterred by them from clutching at a -promised boon. Conversely, the wise citizen is the one -who conceives the distant evils so clearly that they are -practically present to him, and thus outweigh the immediate -temptation. Now these are just the respective characteristics -of the two classes of tenants whom a ratepaying-qualification -separates:—the one having their rates paid -by their landlords and so losing their votes; the other -paying their own rates that they may get votes:—the one -unable to resist present temptations, unable -to save money, <span class="xxpn" id="p386">{386}</span> -and therefore so inconvenienced by the payment of rates -as to be disfranchised rather than pay them; the other -resisting present temptations and saving money, with the -view, among other ends, of paying rates and becoming -electors. Trace these respective traits to their sources, -and it becomes manifest that, on the average, the pecuniarily -improvident must be also the politically improvident; -and that the politically provident must be far more -numerous among those who are pecuniarily provident. -Hence, it is folly to throw aside a regulation under which -these spontaneously separate themselves—severally disfranchise -themselves -and enfranchise themselves.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p387">{387}</span></div> -<h2 class="h2nobreak">“THE COLLECTIVE WISDOM.”</h2> - -<div class="dchappre"> -<p class="pfirst">[<i>First published in</i> -The Reader <i>for April 15, 1865</i>.]</p></div></div> - -<p>A test of senatorial capacity is a desideratum. We -rarely learn how near the mark or how wide of the mark -the calculations of statesmen are: the slowness and complexity -of social changes, hindering, as they do, the definite -comparisons of results with anticipations. Occasionally, -however, parliamentary decisions admit of being definitely -valued. One which was arrived at a few weeks ago furnished -a measure of legislative judgment too significant to -be passed by.</p> - -<p>On the edge of the Cotswolds, just above the valley of -the Severn, occur certain springs, which, as they happen -to be at the end of the longest of the hundred streams -which join to form the Thames, have been called by a -poetical fiction “the sources of the Thames.” Names, even -when poetical fictions, suggest conclusions; and conclusions -drawn from words instead of facts are equally apt to influence -conduct. Thus it happened that when, recently, there was -formed a company for supplying Cheltenham and some -other places from these springs, great opposition arose. -The <i>Times</i> published a paragraph headed “Threatened -Absorption of the Thames,” stating that -the application of <span class="xxpn" id="p388">{388}</span> -this company to Parliament had “caused some little consternation -in the city of Oxford, and will, doubtless, -throughout the valley of the Thames;” and that “such a -measure, if carried out, will diminish the water of that -noble river a million of gallons per day.” A million is -an alarming word—suggests something necessarily vast. -Translating words into thoughts, however, would have -calmed the fears of the <i>Times</i> paragraphist. Considering -that a million gallons would be contained by a room fifty-six -feet cube, the nobility of the Thames would not be -much endangered by the deduction. The simple fact is, -that the current of the Thames, above the point at which -the tides influence it, discharges in twenty-four hours eight -hundred times this amount!</p> - -<p>When the bill of this proposed water-company was brought -before the House of Commons for second reading, it became -manifest that the imaginations of our rulers were affected -by such expressions as the “sources of the Thames,” and -“a million gallons daily,” in much the same way as the -imaginations of the ignorant. Though the quantity of -water proposed to be taken bears, to the quantity which -runs over Teddington weir, about the same ratio that a yard -bears to half a mile, it was thought by many members that -its loss would be a serious evil. No method of measurement -would be accurate enough to detect the difference between -the Thames as it now is, and the Thames <i>minus</i> the Cerney -springs; and yet it was gravely stated in the House that, -were the Thames diminished in the proposed way, “the -proportion of sewage to pure water would be seriously increased.” -Taking a minute out of twelve hours, would be -taking as large a proportion as the Cheltenham people wish -to take from the Thames. Nevertheless, it was contended -that to let Cheltenham have this quantity would be “to rob -the towns along the banks of the Thames of their rights,” -Though, of the Thames flowing by each of these towns, -some 999 parts out of 1,000 pass by unused, -it was held <span class="xxpn" id="p389">{389}</span> -that a great injustice would be committed were one or two -of these 999 parts appropriated by the inhabitants of a -town who can now obtain daily but four gallons of foul -water per head!</p> - -<p>But the apparent inability thus shown to think of causes -and effects in something like their true quantitative relations, -was still more conspicuously shown. It was stated by -several members that the Thames Navigation Commissioners -would have opposed the bill if the commission had not been -bankrupt; and this hypothetical opposition appeared to -have weight. If we may trust the reports, the House of -Commons listened with gravity to the assertion of one of -its members, that, if the Cerney springs were diverted, -“shoals and flats would be created.” Not a laugh nor a -cry of “Oh! oh,” appears to have been produced by the -prophecy, that the volume and scouring power of the Thames -would be seriously affected by taking away from it twelve -gallons per second! The whole quantity which these -springs supply would be delivered by a current moving -through a pipe one foot in diameter at the rate of less than -two miles per hour. Yet, when it was said that the navigability -of the Thames would be injuriously affected by -this deduction, there were no shouts of derision. On the -contrary, the House rejected the Cheltenham Water Bill by -a majority of one hundred and eighteen to eighty-eight. It -is true that the data were not presented in the above shape. -But the remarkable fact is that, even in the absence of a -specific comparison, it should not have been at once seen -that the water of springs which drain but a few square miles -at most, can be but an inappreciable part of the water which -runs out of the Thames basin, extending over several -thousand square miles. In itself, this is a matter of small -moment. It interests us here simply as an example of -legislative judgment. The decision is one of those small -holes through which a wide prospect may be seen, and a -disheartening prospect it is. In a very -simple case there <span class="xxpn" id="p390">{390}</span> -is here displayed a scarcely credible inability to see how -much effect will follow so much cause; and yet the business -of the assembly exhibiting this inability is that of dealing -with causes and effects of an extremely involved kind. All -the processes going on in society arise from the concurrences -and conflicts of human actions, which are determined -in their nature and amounts by the human constitution as -it now is—are as much results of natural causation as any -other results, and equally imply definite quantitative relations -between causes and effects. Every legislative act -presupposes a diagnosis and a prognosis; both of them -involving estimations of social forces and the work done by -them. Before it can be remedied, an evil must be traced -to its source in the motives and ideas of men as they are, -living under the social conditions which exist—a problem -requiring that the actions tending toward the result shall -be identified, and that there shall be something like a true -idea of the quantities of their effects as well as the qualities. -A further estimation has then to be made of the kinds and -degrees of influence that will be exerted by the additional -factors which the proposed law will set in motion: what -will be the resultants produced by the new forces coöperating -with preëxisting forces—a problem still more -complicated than the other.</p> - -<p>We are quite prepared to hear the unhesitating reply, -that men incapable of forming an approximately true -judgment on a matter of simple physical causation may yet -be very good law-makers. So obvious will this be thought -by most, that a tacit implication to the contrary will seem -to them absurd; and that it will seem to them absurd -is one of the many indications of the profound ignorance -that prevails. It is true that mere empirical generalizations -which men draw from their dealings with their -fellows suffice to give them some ideas of the proximate -effects which new enactments will work; and, seeing these, -they think they see as far as needful. -Discipline in physical <span class="xxpn" id="p391">{391}</span> -science, however, would help to show them the futility of -calculating consequences based on such simple data. And -if there needs proof that calculations of consequences so -based are futile, we have it in the enormous labour annually -entailed on the Legislature in trying to undo the mischiefs -it has previously done.</p> - -<p>Should any say that it is useless to dwell on this incompetency, -seeing that the House of Commons contains -the select of the nation, than whose judgments no better -are to be had, we reply that there may be drawn two -inferences which have important practical bearings. In -the first place, we are shown how completely the boasted -intellectual discipline of our upper classes fails to give them -the power of following out in thought, with any correctness, -the sequences of even simple phenomena, much less those -of complex phenomena. And, in the second place, we -may draw the corollary, that if the sequences of those complex -phenomena which societies display, difficult beyond all -others to trace out, are so unlikely to be understood by -them, they may advantageously be restricted in their interferences -with such sequences.</p> - -<p>In one direction, especially, shall we see reason to resist -the extension of legislative action. There has of late been -urged the proposal that the class contemptuously described -as dividing its energies between business and bethels shall -have its education regulated by the class which might, with -equal justice, be described as dividing its energies between -club-rooms and game preserves. This scheme does not -seem to us a hopeful one. Considering that during the -last half century our society has been remoulded by ideas -that have come from the proposed pupil, and have had to -overcome the dogged resistance of the proposed teacher, -the propriety of the arrangement is not obvious. And if the -propriety of the arrangement is not obvious on the face of -it, still less obvious does it become when -the competency of <span class="xxpn" id="p392">{392}</span> -the proposed teacher comes to be measured. British -intelligence, as distilled through the universities and re-distilled -into the House of Commons, is a product admitting -of such great improvement in quality, that we should be -sorry to see the present method of manufacture extended -and permanently established.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p393">{393}</span></div> -<h2 class="h2nobreak">POLITICAL FETICHISM.</h2></div> - -<div class="dchappre"> -<p class="pfirst">[<i>First published in</i> -The Reader <i>for June 10, 1865</i>.]</p></div> - -<p>A Hindoo, who, before beginning his day’s work, salaams -to a bit of plastic clay, out of which, in a few moments, he -has extemporized a god in his own image, is an object -of amazement to the European. We read with surprise -bordering on scepticism of worship done by machinery, -and of prayers which owe their supposed efficacy to the -motion given by the wind to the papers they are written on. -When told how certain of the Orientals, if displeased with -their wooden deities, take them down and beat them, men -laugh and wonder.</p> - -<p>Why should men wonder? Kindred superstitions are -exhibited by their fellows every day—superstitions that -are, indeed, not so gross, but are intrinsically of the same -nature. There is an idolatry which, instead of carving the -object of its worship out of dead matter, takes humanity -for its raw material, and expects, by moulding a mass of -this humanity into a particular form, to give it powers or -properties quite different from those it had before it was -moulded. In the one case as in the other, the raw material -is, as much as may be, disguised. There are decorative -appliances by which the savage helps himself to think that -he has something more than wood before -him; and the <span class="xxpn" id="p394">{394}</span> -citizen gives to the political agencies he has helped to -create, such imposing externals and distinctive names -expressive of power, as serve to strengthen his belief in -the benefits prayed for. Some faint reflection of that -“divinity” which “doth hedge a king” spreads down -through every state department to the lowest ranks; so -that, in the eyes of the people, even the policeman puts on -along with his uniform a certain indefinable power. Nay, -the mere dead symbols of authority excite reverence in -spite of better knowledge. A legal form of words seems to -have something especially binding in it; and there is a -preternatural efficiency about a government stamp.</p> - -<p>The parallelism is still more conspicuous between the -persistency of faith in the two cases, notwithstanding perpetual -disappointments. It is difficult to perceive how -graven images, that have been thrashed for not responding -to their worshipper’s desires, should still be reverenced and -petitioned; but the difficulty of conceiving this is diminished -when we remember how, in their turns, all the idols in our -political pantheon undergo castigations for failing to do -what was expected of them, and are nevertheless daily -looked up to in the trustful hope that future prayers will be -answered. The stupidity, the slowness, the perversity, the -dishonesty of officialism, in one or other of its embodiments, -are demonstrated afresh in almost every newspaper that -issues. Probably half the leading articles written have for -texts some absurd official blunder, some exasperating official -delay, some astounding official corruption, some gross official -injustice, some incredible official extravagance. And yet -these whippings, in which balked expectation continually -vents itself, are immediately followed by renewed faith: -the benefits that have not come are still hoped for, and -prayers for others are put up. Along with proof that the -old State-machines are in themselves inert, and owe such -powers as they seem to have to the public opinion which -sets their parts in motion, there -are continually proposed <span class="xxpn" id="p395">{395}</span> -new State-machines of the same type as the old. This -inexhaustible credulity is counted on by men of the widest -political experience. Lord Palmerston, who probably -knows his public better than any other man, lately said, in -reply to a charge made in the House—“I am quite convinced -that no person belonging to the government, in -whatever department he may be, high or low, would be -guilty of any breach of faith in regard to any matter -confided to him.” To assert as much in the face of -facts continually disclosed, implies that Lord Palmerston -knows well that men’s faith in officialism survives all -adverse evidence.</p> - -<p>In which case are the hopes from State-agency realized? -One might have thought that the vital interests at stake -would have kept the all-essential apparatus for administering -justice up to its work; but they do not. On the one -hand, here is a man wrongly convicted, and afterward -proved to be innocent, who is “pardoned” for an offence -he did not commit; and has this as consolation for his -unmerited suffering. On the other hand, here is a man -whose grave delinquencies a Lord Chancellor overlooks, on -partial restitution being made—nay, more, countenances -the granting of a pension to him. Proved guilt is rewarded, -while proved innocence is left without compensation for -pains borne and fortunes blasted! This marvellous antithesis, -if not often fully paralleled in the doings of officialism -as administrator of justice, is, in endless cases, paralleled -in part. The fact that imprisonment is the sentence on a -boy for stealing a pennyworth of fruit, while thousands of -pounds may be transferred from a public into a private -purse without any positive punishment being adjudged, is -an anomaly kept in countenance by numerous other judicial -acts. Theoretically, the State is a protector of the rights of -subjects; practically, the State continually plays the part -of aggressor. Though it is a recognized principle of equity -that he who makes a false charge shall pay the -costs of the <span class="xxpn" id="p396">{396}</span> -defence, yet, until quite recently, the Crown has persisted -in refusing to pay the costs of citizens against whom it has -brought false charges. Nay, worse, deliberate attempts -used to be made to establish charges by corrupt means. -Within the memory of those now living, the Crown, in -excise-prosecutions, bribed juries. When the verdict was -for the Crown, the custom was to give double fees; and the -practice was not put an end to until the counsel for a -defendant announced in open court that the jury should -have double fees if their verdict was for his client!</p> - -<p>Not alone in the superior parts of our judicial apparatus -is this ill-working of officialism so thrust on men’s notice as -to have become proverbial; not alone in the life-long delays -and ruinous expenses which have made Chancery a word of -dread; not alone in the extravagances of bankruptcy courts, -which lead creditors carefully to shun them; not alone in -that uncertainty which makes men submit to gross injustice -rather than risk the still grosser injustice which the law -will, as likely as not, inflict on them; but down through the -lower divisions of the judicial apparatus are all kinds of -failures and absurdities daily displayed. If may be fairly -urged in mitigation of the sarcasms current respecting the -police, that among so many men cases of misconduct and -inefficiency must be frequent; but we might have expected -the orders under which they act to be just and well considered. -Very little inquiry shows that they are not. -There is a story current that, in the accounts of an Irish -official, a small charge for a telegram which an emergency -had called for, was objected to at the head office in London, -and, after a long correspondence, finally allowed, but with -the understanding that in future no such item would be -passed, unless the department in London had authorized it! -We cannot vouch for this story, but we can vouch for one -which gives credibility to it. A friend who had been -robbed by his cook went to the police-office, detailed the -case, gave good reasons for inferring the -direction of her <span class="xxpn" id="p397">{397}</span> -flight, and requested the police to telegraph, that she -might be intercepted. He was told, however, that they -could not do this without authority; and this authority was -not to be had without a long delay. The result was that -the thief, who had gone to the place supposed, escaped, -and has not since been heard of. Take another function -assumed by the police—the regulation of traffic. Daily, -all through London, ten thousand fast-going vehicles, with -hard-pressed men of business in them, are stopped by a -sprinkle of slow-going carts and wagons. Greater speed -in these comparatively few carts and wagons, or limitation -of them to early and late hours, would immensely diminish -the evil. But, instead of dealing with these really great -hinderances to traffic, the police deal with that which is -practically no hindrance. Men with advertisement-boards -were lately forbidden to walk about, on the groundless plea -that they are in the way; and incapables, prevented thus -from getting a shilling a day, were driven into the ranks of -paupers and thieves. Worse cases may be observed. For -years past there has been a feud between the police and -the orange-girls, who are chased hither and thither because -they are said to be obstructions to foot-passengers. Meanwhile, -in some of the chief thoroughfares, may constantly -be seen men standing with toys, which they delude children -and their parents into buying by pretending that the toys -make certain sounds which they themselves make; and -when the police, quietly watching this obtainment of money -under false pretences, are asked why they do not interfere, -they reply that they have no orders. Admirable contrast! -Trade dishonestly, and you may collect a small crowd on -the pavement without complaint being made that you -interrupt the traffic. Trade honestly, and you shall be -driven from the pavement-edge as an impediment—shall be -driven to dishonesty!</p> - -<p>One might have thought that the notorious inefficiency -of officialism as a protector against -injustice would have <span class="xxpn" id="p398">{398}</span> -made men sceptical of its efficiency in other things. If -here, where citizens have such intense interests in getting -a function well discharged, they have failed through all -these centuries in getting it well discharged—if this -agency, which is in theory the guardian of each citizen, is -in so many cases his enemy, that going to law is suggestive -of impoverishment and possible ruin; it might have been -supposed that officialism would scarcely be expected to -work well where the interests at stake are less intense. -But so strong is political fetichism, that neither these -experiences, nor the parallel experiences which every state-department -affords, diminish men’s faith. For years past -there has been thrust before them the fact that, of the -funds of Greenwich Hospital, one-third goes to maintain -the sailors, while two-thirds go in administration; but this -and other such facts do not stop their advocacy of more -public administrations. The parable of straining at gnats -and swallowing camels they see absolutely paralleled by -officialism, in the red-tape particularity with which all -minute regulations are enforced, and the astounding carelessness -with which the accounts of a whole department, -like the Patent Office, are left utterly uncontrolled; and -yet we continue to hear men propose government-audits -as checks for mercantile companies! No diminution of -confidence seems to result from disclosure of stupidities -which even a wild imagination would scarcely have thought -possible: instance the method of promotion lately made -public, under which a clerk in one branch of a department -takes the higher duties of some deceased superior clerk, -without any rise of salary, while some clerk in another -branch of the department gets the rise of salary without -any increase in his responsibilities!</p> - -<p>Endless as are these evils and absurdities, and surviving -generation after generation as they do, spite of commissions -and reports and debates, there is an annual crop of -new schemes for government agencies -which are expected <span class="xxpn" id="p399">{399}</span> -to work just as legislators propose they shall work. With -a system of army-promotion which insures an organized -incompetence, but which survives perpetual protests; with -a notoriously ill-constituted admiralty, of which the doings -are stock-subjects of ridicule; with a church that maintains -effete formulas, notwithstanding almost universal repudiation -of them; there are daily demands for more law-established -appliances. With building acts under which -arise houses less stable than those of the last generation; -with coal-mine inspection that does not prevent coal-mine -explosions; with railway inspection that has for its -accompaniment plenty of railway accidents—with these -and other such failures continually displayed, there still -prevails what M. Guizot rightly calls that “gross delusion, -a belief in the sovereign power of political machinery.”</p> - -<p>A great service would be done by any man who would -analyze the legislation, say of the last half century, and -compare the expected results of Acts of Parliament with -their proved results. He might make it an instructive -revelation by simply taking all the preambles, and observing -how many of the evils to be rectified were evils -produced by preceding enactments. His chief difficulty -would be that of getting within any moderate compass the -immense number of cases in which the benefits anticipated -were not achieved, while unanticipated disasters were -caused. And then he might effectively close his digest by -showing what immense advantages have, in instance after -instance, followed the entire cessation of legislative action. -Not, indeed, that such an accumulation of cases, however -multitudinous and however conclusive, would have an -appreciable effect on the average mind. Political fetichism -will continue so long as men remain without scientific -discipline—so long as they recognize only proximate -causes, and never think of the remoter and more general -causes by which their special agencies are set in motion. -Until the thing which now usurps the -name of education <span class="xxpn" id="p400">{400}</span> -has been dethroned by a true education, having for its end -to teach men the nature of the world they live in, new -political delusions will grow up as fast as old ones are -extinguished. But there is a select class existing, and a -larger select class arising, on whom a work of the kind -described would have an effect, and for whom it would be -well worth while -to write it.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p401">{401}</span></div> -<h2 class="h2nobreak">SPECIALIZED ADMINISTRATION.</h2></div> - -<div class="dchappre"> -<p class="pfirst">[<i>First published in</i> -The Fortnightly Review <i>for December 1871</i>.]</p></div> - -<p>It is contrary to common-sense that fish should be more -difficult to get at the sea-side than in London; but it is -true, nevertheless. No less contrary to common-sense -seems the truth that though, in the West Highlands, oxen -are to be seen everywhere, no beef can be had without -sending two or three hundred miles to Glasgow for it. -Rulers who, guided by common-sense, tried to suppress -certain opinions by forbidding the books containing them, -never dreamed that their interdicts would cause the -diffusion of these opinions; and rulers who, guided by -common-sense, forbade excessive rates of interest, never -dreamed that they were thereby making the terms harder -for borrowers than before. When printing replaced -copying, any one who had prophesied that the number -of persons engaged in the manufacture of books would -immensely increase, as a consequence, would have been -thought wholly devoid of common-sense. And equally -devoid of common-sense would have been thought any one -who, when railways were displacing coaches, said that the -number of horses employed in bringing passengers and -goods to and from railways, would be greater than the -number directly displaced by railways. -Such cases might <span class="xxpn" id="p402">{402}</span> -be multiplied. Whoso remembers that, among quite simple -phenomena, causes produce effects which are sometimes -utterly at variance with anticipation, will see how frequently -this must happen among complex phenomena. That a -balloon is made to rise by the same force which makes a -stone fall; that the melting of ice may be greatly retarded -by wrapping the ice in a blanket; that the simplest way of -setting potassium on fire is to throw it into the water; are -truths which those who know only the outside aspect of -things would regard as manifest falsehoods. And, if, when -the factors are few and simple, the results may be so -absolutely opposed to seeming probability, much more will -they be often thus opposed when the factors are many and -involved. The saying of the French respecting political -events, that “it is always the unexpected which happens”—a -saying which they have been abundantly re-illustrating -of late—is one which legislators, and those who urge on -schemes of legislation, should have ever in mind. Let us -pause a moment to contemplate a seemingly-impossible set -of results which social forces have wrought out.</p> - -<p>Up to quite recent days, Language was held to be of -supernatural origin. That this elaborate apparatus of -symbols, so marvellously adapted for the conveyance of -thought from mind to mind, was a miraculous gift, seemed -unquestionable. No possible alternative way could be -thought of by which there had come into existence these -multitudinous assemblages of words of various orders, -genera, and species, moulded into fitness for articulating -with one another, and capable of being united from -moment to moment into ever-new combinations, which -represent with precision each idea as it arises. The -supposition that, in the slow progress of things, Language -grew out of the continuous use of signs—at first mainly -mimetic, afterward partly mimetic, partly vocal, and at -length almost wholly vocal—was an hypothesis never even -conceived by men in early stages of -civilization; and when <span class="xxpn" id="p403">{403}</span> -the hypothesis was at length conceived, it was thought -too monstrous an absurdity to be even entertained. Yet -this monstrous absurdity proves to be true. Already the -evolution of Language has been traced back far enough -to show that all its particular words, and all its leading -traits of structure, have had a natural genesis; and day -by day investigation makes it more manifest that its -genesis has been natural from the beginning. Not only -has it been natural from the beginning, but it has been -spontaneous. No language is a cunningly-devised scheme -of a ruler or body of legislators. There was no council -of savages to invent the parts of speech, and decide on -what principles they should be used. Nay, more. Going -on without any authority or appointed regulation, this -natural process went on without any man observing that -it was going on. Solely under pressure of the need for -communicating their ideas and feelings—solely in pursuit -of their personal interests—men little by little developed -speech in absolute unconsciousness that they were doing -any thing more than pursuing their personal interests. -Even now the unconsciousness continues. Take the -whole population of the globe, and there is probably not -above one in a million who knows that in his daily talk -he is carrying on the process by which Language has -been evolved.</p> - -<p>I commence thus by way of giving the key-note to -the argument which follows. My general purpose, in -dwelling a moment on this illustration, has been that of -showing how utterly beyond the conceptions of common-sense, -literally so called, and even beyond the conceptions -of cultivated common-sense, are the workings-out of -sociological processes—how these workings-out are such -that even those who have carried to the uttermost “the -scientific use of the imagination,” would never have anticipated -them. And my more special purpose has been that -of showing how marvellous are the -results indirectly and <span class="xxpn" id="p404">{404}</span> -unintentionally achieved by the coöperation of men who -are severally pursuing their private ends. Let me pass -now to the particular topic to be here dealt with.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">I have greatly regretted to see Prof. Huxley strengthening, -by his deservedly high authority, a school of -politicians which can scarcely be held to need strengthening: -its opponents being so few. I regret it the more -because, thus far, men prepared for the study of Sociology -by previous studies of Biology and Psychology, have -scarcely expressed any opinions on the question at issue; -and that Prof. Huxley, who by both general and special -culture is so eminently fitted to judge, should have come -to the conclusions set forth in the last number of the -<i>Fortnightly Review</i>, will be discouraging to the small -number who have reached opposite conclusions. Greatly -regretting however, though I do, this avowed antagonism -of Prof. Huxley to a general political doctrine with which -I am identified, I do not propose to make any reply to -his arguments at large: being deterred partly by reluctance -to dwell on points of difference with one whom I so -greatly admire, and partly by the consciousness that what -I should say would be mainly a repetition of what I have -explicitly or implicitly said elsewhere. But with one point -raised I feel obliged to deal. Prof. Huxley tacitly puts to -me a question. By so doing he leaves me to choose -between two alternatives, neither of which is agreeable to -me. I must either, by leaving it unanswered, accept the -implication that it is unanswerable, and the doctrine I hold -untenable; or else I must give it an adequate answer. -Little as I like it, I see that the latter of these alternatives -is that which, on public as well as on personal grounds, I -must accept.</p> - -<p>Had I been allowed to elaborate more fully the Review-article -from which Prof. Huxley quotes, this question -would possibly not have been raised. -That article closes <span class="xxpn" id="p405">{405}</span> -with the following words:—“We had hoped to say something -respecting the different types of social organization, -and something also on social metamorphoses; but we have -reached our assigned limits.” These further developments -of the conception—developments to be hereafter set forth -in the <i>Principles of Sociology</i>—I must here sketch in -outline before my answer can be made intelligible. In -sketching them, I must say much that would be needless -were my answer addressed to Prof. Huxley only. Bare -allusions to general phenomena of organization, with which -he is immeasurably more familiar than I am, would suffice. -But, as the sufficiency of my answer has to be judged by -the general reader, the general reader must be supplied -with the requisite data: my presentation of them being -under correction from Prof. Huxley if it is inaccurate.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">The primary differentiation in organic structures, manifested -alike in the history of each organism and in the -history of the organic world as a whole, is the differentiation -between outer and inner parts—the parts which hold direct -converse with the environment and the parts which do -not hold direct converse with the environment. We see -this alike in those smallest and lowest forms improperly, -though suggestively, sometimes called unicellular, and also -in the next higher division of creatures which, with -considerable reason, are regarded as aggregations of the -lower. In these creatures the body is divisible into endoderm -and ectoderm, differing very little in their characters, -but serving the one to form the digestive sac, and the -other to form the outer wall of the body. As Prof. Huxley -describes them in his <i>Oceanic Hydrozoa</i>, these layers represent -respectively the organs of nutrition and the organs -of external relation—generally, though not universally; -for there are exceptions, especially among parasites. In -the embryos of higher types, these two layers severally -become double by the splitting of a -layer formed between <span class="xxpn" id="p406">{406}</span> -them; and from the outer double layer is developed the -body-wall with its limbs, nervous system, senses, muscles, -etc.; while from the inner double layer there arise the -alimentary canal and its appendages, together with the -heart and lungs. Though in such higher types these two -systems of organs, which respectively absorb nutriment -and expend nutriment, become so far connected by ramifying -blood-vessels and nerves that this division cannot -be sharply made, still the broad contrast remains. At -the very outset, then, there arises this separation, which -implies at once a coöperation and an antagonism—a co-operation, -because, while the outer organs secure for the -inner organs the crude food, the inner organs elaborate -and supply to the outer organs the prepared materials by -which they are enable to do their work; and an antagonism, -because each set of organs, living and growing at the cost -of these prepared materials, cannot appropriate any portion -of the total supply without diminishing by so much the -supply available for the other. This general coöperation -and general antagonism becomes complicated with special -coöperations and special antagonisms, as fast as these two -great systems of organs develop. The originally simple -alimentary canal, differentiating into many parts, becomes -a congeries of structures which, by coöperation, fulfil -better their general function, but between which there -nevertheless arise antagonisms; since each has to make -good its waste and to get matter for growth, at the cost of -the general supply of nutriment available for them all. -Similarly, as fast as the outer system develops into special -senses and limbs, there arise among these, also, secondary -coöperations and secondary antagonisms. By their variously-combined -actions, food is obtained more effectually; and -yet the activity of each set of muscles, or each directive -nervous structure, entails a draft upon the stock of prepared -nutriment which the outer organs receive, and is -by so much at the cost of the rest. Thus -the method of <span class="xxpn" id="p407">{407}</span> -organization, both in general and in detail, is a simultaneous -combination and opposition. All the organs unite in -subserving the interests of the organism they form; and -yet they have all their special interests, and compete with -one another for blood.</p> - -<p>A form of government, or control, or coördination, -develops as fast as these systems of organs develop. -Eventually this becomes double. A general distinction -arises between the two controlling systems belonging to -the two great systems of organs. Whether the inner controlling -system is or is not originally derived from the -outer, matters not to the argument—when developed it is -in great measure independent.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn37" id="fnanch37">37</a> -If we contemplate their -respective sets of functions, we shall perceive the origin of -this distinction. That the outer organs may coöperate -effectively for the purposes of catching prey, escaping -danger, etc., it is needful that they should be under a -government capable of directing their combined actions, -now in this way and now in that, according as outer -circumstances vary. From instant to instant there must -be quick adjustments to occasions that are more or less -new; and hence there requires a complex and centralized -nervous apparatus, to which all these organs are promptly -and completely obedient. The government -needful for the <span class="xxpn" id="p408">{408}</span> -inner system of organs is a different and much simpler one. -When the food obtained by the outer organs has been put -into the stomach, the coöperation required of the viscera, -though it varies somewhat as the quantity or kind of food -varies, has nevertheless a general uniformity; and it is -required to go on in much the same way whatever the -outer circumstances may be. In each case the food has -to be reduced to a pulp, supplied with various solvent -secretions, propelled onward, and its nutritive part taken -up by absorbent surfaces. That these processes may be -effective, the organs which carry them on must be supplied -with fit blood; and to this end the heart and the lungs -have to act with greater vigor. This visceral coöperation, -carried on with this comparative uniformity, is regulated -by a nervous system which is to a large extent independent -of that higher and more complex nervous system controlling -the external organs. The act of swallowing is, indeed, -mainly effected by the higher nervous system; but, being -swallowed, the food affects by its presence the local nerves, -through them the local ganglia, and indirectly, through -nervous connexions with other ganglia, excites the rest of -the viscera into coöperative activity. It is true that the -functions of the sympathetic or ganglionic nervous system, -or “nervous system of organic life,” as it is otherwise -called, are imperfectly understood. But, since we know -positively that some of its plexuses, as the cardiac, are -centres of local stimulation and coördination, which can -act independently, though they are influenced by higher -centres, it is fairly to be inferred that the other and still -larger plexuses, distributed among the viscera, are also -such local and largely independent centres; especially as -the nerves they send into the viscera, to join the many -subordinate ganglia distributed through them, greatly exceed -in quantity the cerebro-spinal fibres accompanying -them. Indeed, to suppose otherwise is to leave unanswered -the question—What are their functions? as -well as the <span class="xxpn" id="p409">{409}</span> -question—How are these unconscious visceral coördinations -effected? There remains only to observe the kind of co-operation -which exists between the two nervous systems. -This is both a general and a special coöperation. The -general coöperation is that by which either system of -organs is enabled to stimulate the other to action. The -alimentary canal yields through certain nervous connexions -the sensation of hunger to the higher nervous system; -and so prompts efforts for procuring food. Conversely, -the activity of the nervo-muscular system, or, at least, its -normal activity, sends inward to the cardiac and other -plexuses a gush of stimulus which excites the viscera to -action. The special coöperation is one by which it would -seem that each system puts an indirect restraint on the -other. Fibres from the sympathetic accompany every artery -throughout the organs of external relation, and exercise -on the artery a constrictive action; and the converse is -done by certain of the cerebro-spinal fibres which ramify -with the sympathetic throughout the viscera: through the -vagus and other nerves, an inhibitory influence is exercised -on the heart, intestines, pancreas, etc. Leaving doubtful -details, however, the fact which concerns us here is sufficiently -manifest. There are, for these two systems of organs, two -nervous systems, in great measure independent; and, if it -is true that the higher system influences the lower, it is no -less true that the lower very powerfully influences the -higher. The restrictive action of the sympathetic upon the -circulation, throughout the nervo-muscular system, is unquestionable; -and it is possibly through this that, when -the viscera have much work to do, the nervo-muscular -system is incapacitated in so marked a manner.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn38" id="fnanch38">38</a></p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch37" id="fn37">37</a> -Here, and throughout the discussion, I refer to these -controlling systems only as they exist in the <i>Vertebrata</i>, because -their relations are far better known in this great division of the -animal kingdom—not because like relations do not exist elsewhere. -Indeed, in the great sub-kingdom <i>Annulosa</i>, these controlling systems -have relations that are extremely significant to us here. For while an -inferior annulose animal has only a single set of nervous structures, -a superior annulose animal (as a moth) has a set of nervous structures -presiding over the viscera, as well as a more conspicuous set presiding -over the organs of external relation. And this contrast is analogous to -one of the contrasts between undeveloped and developed societies; for, -while among the uncivilized and incipiently civilized there is but a -single set of directive agencies, there are among the fully civilized, -as we shall presently see, two sets of directive agencies, for the -outer and inner structures respectively.</p> - -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch38" id="fn38">38</a> -To meet the probable objection that the experiments of -Bernard, Ludwig, and others, show that in the case of certain glands -the nerves of the cerebro-spinal system are those which set up the -secreting process, I would remark that in these cases, and in many -others where the relative functions of the cerebro-spinal nerves and -the sympathetic nerves have been studied, the -organs have been those in which <i>sensation</i> is either the -stimulus to activity or its accompaniment; and that from these cases no -conclusion can be drawn applying to the cases of those viscera which -normally perform their functions without sensation. Perhaps it may -even be that the functions of those sympathetic fibres which accompany -the arteries of the outer organs are simply ancillary to those of the -central parts of the sympathetic system, which stimulate and regulate -the viscera—ancillary in this sense, that they check the diffusion -of blood in external organs when it is wanted in internal organs: -cerebro-spinal inhibition (except in its action on the heart) working -the opposite way. And possibly this is the instrumentality for carrying -on that competition for nutriment which, as we saw, arises at the very -outset between these two great systems of organs.</p></div> - -<p>The one further fact here concerning -us is the contrast <span class="xxpn" id="p410">{410}</span> -presented in different kinds of animals, between the degrees -of development of these two great sets of structures that -carry on respectively the outer functions and the inner -functions. There are active creatures in which the locomotive -organs, the organs of sense, together with the -nervous apparatus which combines their actions, bear a -large ratio to the organs of alimentation and their appendages; -while there are inactive creatures in which these -organs of external relation bear a very small ratio to the -organs of alimentation. And a remarkable fact, here -especially instructive to us, is that very frequently there -occurs a metamorphosis, which has for its leading trait a -great change in the ratio of these two systems—a metamorphosis -which accompanies a great change in the mode -of life. The most familiar metamorphosis is variously -illustrated among insects. During the early or larval -stage of a butterfly, the organs of alimentation are largely -developed, while the organs of external relation are but -little developed; and then, during a period of quiescence, -the organs of external relation undergo an immense development, -making possible the creature’s active and varied -adjustments to the surrounding world, while the alimentary -system becomes relatively small. On the other hand, among -the lower invertebrate animals there is a very common -metamorphosis of an opposite kind. When young, the -creature, with scarcely any alimentary -system, but supplied <span class="xxpn" id="p411">{411}</span> -with limbs and sense organs, swims about actively. Presently -it settles in a <i>habitat</i> where food is to be obtained -without moving about, loses in great part its organs of -external relation, develops its visceral system, and, as it -grows, assumes a nature utterly unlike that which it originally -had—a nature adapted almost exclusively to alimentation -and the propagation of the species.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Let us turn now to the social organism, and the analogies -of structure and function which may be traced in it. Of -course these analogies between the phenomena presented -in a physically coherent aggregate forming an individual, -and the phenomena presented in a physically incoherent -aggregate of individuals distributed over a wide area, -cannot be analogies of a visible or sensible kind; but can -only be analogies between the systems, or methods, of -organization. Such analogies as exist result from the one -unquestionable community between the two organizations: -<i>there is in both a mutual dependence of parts</i>. This is the -origin of all organization; and determines what similarities -there are between an individual organism and a social -organism. Of course the similarities thus determined are -accompanied by transcendent differences, determined, as -above said, by the unlikenesses of the aggregates. One -cardinal difference is that, while in the individual organism -there is but one centre of consciousness capable of pleasure -or pain, there are, in the social organism, as many such -centres as there are individuals, and the aggregate of them -has no consciousness of pleasure or pain—a difference -which entirely changes the ends to be pursued. Bearing -in mind this qualification, let us now glance at the -parallelisms indicated.</p> - -<p>A society, like an individual, has a set of structures -fitting it to act upon its environment—appliances for attack -and defence, armies, navies, fortified and garrisoned places. -At the same time, a society has -an industrial organization <span class="xxpn" id="p412">{412}</span> -which carries on all those processes that make possible the -national life. Though these two sets of organs for external -activity and internal activity do not bear to one another -just the same relation which the outer and inner organs of -an animal do (since the industrial structures in a society -supply themselves with raw materials, instead of being -supplied by the external organs), yet they bear a relation -otherwise similar. There is at once a coöperation and an -antagonism. By the help of the defensive system the -industrial system is enabled to carry on its functions without -injury from foreign enemies; and by the help of the -industrial system, which supplies it with food and materials, -the defensive system is enabled to maintain this security. -At the same time the two systems are opposed in so far -that they both depend for their existence upon the common -stock of produce. Further, in the social organism, as in -the individual organism, this primary coöperation and -antagonism subdivides into secondary coöperations and -antagonisms. If we look at the industrial organization, -we see that its agricultural part and its manufacturing -part aid one another by the exchange of their products, -and are yet otherwise opposed to one another; since each -takes of the other’s products the most it can get in return -for its own products. Similarly throughout the manufacturing -system itself. Of the total returns secured by -Manchester for its goods, Liverpool obtains as much as -possible for the raw material, and Manchester gives as -little as possible—the two at the same time coöperating -in secreting for the rest of the community the woven -fabrics it requires, and in jointly obtaining from the rest of -the community the largest payment in other commodities. -And thus it is in all kinds of direct and indirect ways -throughout the industrial structures. Men prompted by -their own needs as well as those of their children, and -bodies of such men more or less aggregated, are quick to -find every unsatisfied need of their -fellow-men, and to <span class="xxpn" id="p413">{413}</span> -satisfy it in return for the satisfaction of their own needs; -and the working of this process is inevitably such that the -strongest need, ready to pay the most for satisfaction, is -that which draws most workers to satisfy it, so that there -is thus a perpetual balancing of the needs and of the appliances -which subserve them.</p> - -<p>This brings us to the regulative structures under which -these two systems of coöperating parts work. As in the -individual organism, so in the social organism, the outer -parts are under a rigorous central control. For adjustment -to the varying and incalculable changes in the environment, -the external organs, offensive and defensive, must -be capable of prompt combination; and that their actions -may be quickly combined to meet each exigency as it -arises, they must be completely subordinated to a supreme -executive power: armies and navies must be despotically -controlled. Quite otherwise is it with the regulative -apparatus required for the industrial system. This, which -carries on the nutrition of a society, as the visceral system -carries on the nutrition of an individual, has a regulative -apparatus in great measure distinct from that which -regulates the external organs. It is not by any “order -in council” that farmers are determined to grow so much -wheat and so much barley, or to divide their land in due -proportion between arable and pasture. There requires -no telegram from the Home Office to alter the production -of woollens in Leeds, so that it may be properly adjusted -to the stocks on hand and the forthcoming crop of wool. -Staffordshire produces its due quantity of pottery, and -Sheffield sends out cutlery with rapidity adjusted to the -consumption, without any legislative stimulus or restraint. -The spurs and checks to production which manufacturers -and manufacturing centres receive, have quite another -origin. Partly by direct orders from distributors and -partly by the indirect indications furnished by the market -reports throughout the kingdom, they -are prompted to <span class="xxpn" id="p414">{414}</span> -secrete actively or to diminish their rates of secretion. -The regulative apparatus by which these industrial organs -are made to coöperate harmoniously, acts somewhat as the -sympathetic does in a vertebrate animal. There is a -system of communications among the great producing -and distributing centres, which excites or retards as the -circumstances vary. From hour to hour messages pass -between all the chief provincial towns, as well as between -each of them and London; from hour to hour prices are -adjusted, supplies are ordered hither or thither, and -capital is drafted from place to place, according as there -is greater or less need for it. All this goes on without -any ministerial overseeing—without any dictation from -those executive centres which combine the actions of -the outer organs. There is, however, one all-essential -influence which these higher centres exercise over the -industrial activities—a restraining influence which prevents -aggression, direct and indirect. The condition under -which only these producing and distributing processes can -go on healthfully, is that, wherever there is work and -waste, there shall be a proportionate supply of materials -for repair. And securing this is nothing less than securing -fulfilment of contracts. Just in the same way that a -bodily organ which performs function, but is not adequately -paid in blood, must dwindle, and the organism as a whole -eventually suffer; so an industrial centre which has made -and sent out its special commodity, but does not get -adequately paid in other commodities, must decay. And -when we ask what is requisite to prevent this local -innutrition and decay, we find the requisite to be that -agreements shall be carried out; that goods shall be -paid for at the stipulated prices; that justice shall -be administered.</p> - -<p>One further leading parallelism must be described—that -between the metamorphoses which occur in the two -cases. These metamorphoses are analogous in -so far that <span class="xxpn" id="p415">{415}</span> -they are changes in the ratios of the inner and outer -systems of organs; and also in so far as they take place -under analogous conditions. At the one extreme we have -that small and simple type of society which a wandering -horde of savages presents. This is a type almost wholly -predatory in its organization. It consists of little else -than a coöperative structure for carrying on warfare—the -industrial part is almost absent, being represented only by -the women. When the wandering tribe becomes a settled -tribe, an industrial organization begins to show itself—especially -where, by conquest, there has been obtained a -slave-class that may be forced to labour. The predatory -structure, however, still for a long time predominates. -Omitting the slaves and the women, the whole body politic -consists of parts organized for offence and defence, and is -efficient in proportion as the control of them is centralized. -Communities of this kind, continuing to subjugate their -neighbours, and developing an organization of some complexity, -nevertheless retain a mainly-predatory type, with -just such industrial structures as are needful for supporting -the offensive and defensive structures. Of this Sparta -furnished a good example. The characteristics of such a -social type are these—that each member of the ruling -race is a soldier; that war is the business of life; that -every one is subject to a rigorous discipline fitting him for -this business; that centralized authority regulates all the -social activities, down to the details of each man’s daily -conduct; that the welfare of the State is every thing, and -that the individual lives for public benefit. So long as -the environing societies are such as necessitate and keep -in exercise the militant organization, these traits continue; -but when, mainly by conquest and the formation of large -aggregates, the militant activity becomes less constant, -and war ceases to be the occupation of every free man, -the industrial structures begin to predominate. Without -tracing the transition, it will suffice to take, -as a sample <span class="xxpn" id="p416">{416}</span> -of the pacific or industrial type, the Northern States of -America before the late war. Here military organization -had almost disappeared; the infrequent local assemblings -of militia had turned into occasions for jollity, and every -thing martial had fallen into contempt. The traits of -the pacific or industrial type are these—that the central -authority is relatively feeble; that it interferes scarcely -at all with the private actions of individuals; and that -the State, instead of being that for the benefit of which -individuals exist, has become that which exists for the -benefit of individuals.</p> - -<p>It remains to add that this metamorphosis, which takes -place in societies along with a higher civilization, very -rapidly retrogrades if the surrounding conditions become -unfavorable to it. During the late war in America, Mr. -Seward’s boast—“I touch this bell, and any man in the -remotest State is a prisoner of the Government” (a boast -which was not an empty one, and which was by many of -the Republican party greatly applauded)—shows us how -rapidly, along with militant activities, there tends to be -resumed the needful type of centralized structure; and -how there quickly grow up the corresponding sentiments -and ideas. Our own history since 1815 has shown a -double change of this kind. During the thirty years’ -peace, the militant organization dwindled, the military -sentiment greatly decreased, the industrial organization -rapidly developed, the assertion of the individuality of the -citizen became more decided, and many restrictive and -despotic regulations were got rid of. Conversely, since -the revival of militant activities and structures on the -Continent, our own offensive and defensive structures -have been re-developing; and the tendency toward increase -of that centralized control which accompanies such structures -has become marked.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">And now, closing this -somewhat elaborate introduction, <span class="xxpn" id="p417">{417}</span> -I am prepared to deal with the question put to me. Prof. -Huxley, after quoting some passages from that essay on -the “Social Organism” which I have supplemented in the -foregoing paragraphs; and after expressing a qualified -concurrence which I greatly value as coming from so highly -fitted a judge, proceeds, with characteristic acumen, to -comment on what seems an incongruity between certain -analogies set forth in that essay, and the doctrine I hold -respecting the duty of the State. Referring to a passage -in which I have described the function of the individual -brain as “that of <i>averaging</i> the interests of life, physical, -intellectual, moral, social,” and have compared it to the -function of Parliament as “that of <i>averaging</i> the interests -of the various classes in a community,” adding that “a -good Parliament is one in which the parties answering to -these respective interests are so balanced that their united -legislation concedes to each class as much as consists with -the claims of the rest;” Prof. Huxley proceeds to say:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“All this appears to be very just. But if the resemblances between the -body physiological and the body politic are any indication, not only of what -the latter is, and how it has become what it is, but what it ought to be, and -what it is tending to become, I cannot but think that the real force of the -analogy is totally opposed to the negative view of State function.</p> - -<p>“Suppose that, in accordance with this view, each muscle were to -maintain that the nervous system had no right to interfere with its -contraction, except to prevent it from hindering the contraction of another -muscle; or each gland, that it had a right to secrete, so long as its secretion -interfered with no other; suppose every separate cell left free to follow -its own “interests,” and <i>laissez-faire</i> Lord of all, what would become of the -body physiological?”</p></blockquote> - -<p>On this question the remark I have first to make is, that -if I held the doctrine of M. Proudhon, who deliberately -named himself an “anarchist,” and if along with this -doctrine I held the above-indicated theory of social -structures and functions, the inconsistency implied by the -question put would be clear, and the question would be -unanswerable. But since I entertain no such view as that of -Proudhon—since I hold that within -its proper limits <span class="xxpn" id="p418">{418}</span> -governmental action is not simply legitimate but all-important—I -do not see how I am concerned with a question which -tacitly supposes that I deny the legitimacy and the importance. -Not only do I contend that the restraining power -of the State over individuals, and bodies or classes of -individuals, is requisite, but I have contended that it should -be exercised much more effectually, and carried out much -further, than at present.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn39" id="fnanch39">39</a> -And as the maintenance of this -control implies the maintenance of a controlling apparatus, -I do not see that I am placed in any difficulty when I am -asked what would happen were the controlling apparatus -forbidden to interfere. Further, on this general aspect of -the question I have to say that, by comparing the deliberative -assembly of a nation to the deliberative nervous centre of a -vertebrate animal, as respectively averaging the interests -of the society and of the individual, and as both doing this -through processes of representation, I do not mean to -<i>identify</i> the two sets of interests; for these in a society (or -at least a peaceful society) refer mainly to interior actions, -while in an individual creature they refer mainly to exterior -actions. The “interests” to which I refer, as being -averaged by a representative governing body, are the -conflicting interests between class and class, as well as -between man and man—conflicting interests the balancing -of which is nothing but the preventing of aggression and -the administration of justice.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch39" id="fn39">39</a> -See <i>Social Statics</i> chap. xxi., -“The Duty of the State.” See also essay -on “Over-Legislation.”</p></div> - -<p>I pass now from this general aspect of the question, -which does not concern me, to a more special aspect which -does concern me. Dividing the actions of governing structures, -whether in bodies individual or bodies politic, into -the <i>positively regulative</i> and the <i>negatively regulative</i>, or -those which stimulate and direct, as distinguished from -those which simply restrain, I may say that if there is -raised the question—What will happen -when the controlling <span class="xxpn" id="p419">{419}</span> -apparatus does not act? there are quite different replies -according as one or other system of organs is referred to. -If, in the individual body, the muscles were severally -independent of the deliberative and executive centres, utter -impotence would result: in the absence of muscular -coördination, there would be no possibility of standing, -much less of acting on surrounding things, and the body -would be a prey to the first enemy. Properly to combine -the actions of these outer organs, the great nervous centres -must exercise functions that are both positively regulative -and negatively regulative—must both command action and -arrest action. Similarly with the outer organs of a political -body. Unless the offensive and defensive structures can -be despotically commanded by a central authority, there -cannot be those prompt combinations and adjustments -required for meeting the variable actions of external -enemies. But if, instead of asking what would happen -supposing the outer organs in either case were without -control from the great governing centres, we ask what -would happen were the inner organs (the industrial and -commercial structures in the one case, and the alimentary -and distributive in the other) without such control, the -answer is quite different. Omitting the respiratory and -some minor ancillary parts of the individual organism, to -which the social organism has nothing analogous; and -limiting ourselves to absorptive, elaborative, and distributive -structures, which are found in both; it may, I think, be -successfully contended that in neither the one case nor the -other do they require the positively regulative control of -the great governing centres, but only the negatively -regulative. Let us glance at the facts.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn40" id="fnanch40">40</a></p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch40" id="fn40">40</a> -Lest there should be any misunderstanding of the terms <i>positively -regulative</i> and <i>negatively regulative</i>, let me briefly illustrate them. If a man -has land, and I either cultivate it for him, partially or wholly, or dictate any -or all of his modes of cultivation, my action is positively regulative; but if, -leaving him absolutely unhelped and unregulated in his -farming, I simply prevent him from taking his neighbour’s crops, or from making approach-roads -over his neighbour’s land, or from depositing rubbish upon it, my action is -negatively regulative. There is a tolerably sharp distinction between the act -of securing a citizen’s ends for him or interfering with his mode of securing -them, and the act of checking him when he interferes with another citizen -in the pursuit -of his ends.</p></div> - -<p>Digestion and circulation go on very -well in lunatics <span class="xxpn" id="p420">{420}</span> -and idiots, though the higher nervous centres are either -deranged or partly absent. The vital functions proceed -properly during sleep, though less actively than when the -brain is at work. In infancy, while the cerebro-spinal -system is almost incapable, and cannot even perform such -simple actions as those of commanding the sphincters, the -visceral functions are active and regular. Nor in an adult -does that arrest of cerebral action shown by insensibility, -or that extensive paralysis of the spinal system which -renders all the limbs immovable, prevent these functions -from being carried on for a considerable time; though they -necessarily begin to flag in the absence of the demand -which an active system of outer organs makes upon them. -These internal organs are, indeed, so little under the -positively directive control of the great nervous centres, -that their independence is often very inconvenient. No -mandate sent into the interior stops an attack of diarrhœa; -nor, when an indigestible meal excites the circulation at -night, and prevents sleep, will the bidding of the brain -cause the heart to pulsate more quietly. It is doubtless -true that these vital processes are modified in important -ways, both by general stimulation and by inhibition, from -the cerebro-spinal system; but that they are mainly independent -cannot, I think, be questioned. The facts that -peristaltic motion of the intestines can go on when their -nervous connexions are cut, and that the heart (in cold-blooded -vertebrates, at least) continues to pulsate for some -time after being detached from the body, make it manifest -that the spontaneous activities of these vital organs subserve -the wants of the body at large without direction from -its higher governing centres. -And this is made even <span class="xxpn" id="p421">{421}</span> -more manifest if it be a fact, as alleged by Schmulewitsch -experimenting under Ludwig’s direction, that, under duly-adjusted -conditions, the secretion of bile may be kept up -for some time when blood is passed through the excised -liver of a newly-killed rabbit. There is an answer, not, I -think, unsatisfactory, even to the crucial part of the question—“Suppose -every separate cell left free to follow its -own interests, and <i>laissez faire</i> Lord of all, what would -become of the body physiological?” Limiting the application -of this question in the way above shown to the organs -and parts of organs which carry on vital actions, it seems -to me that much evidence may be given for the belief that, -when they follow their respective “interests” (limited here -to growing and multiplying), the general welfare will be -tolerably well secured. It was proved by Hunter’s experiments -on a kite and a sea-gull, that a part of the alimentary -canal which has to triturate harder food than that which the -creature naturally eats, acquires a thicker and harder lining. -When a stricture of the intestine impedes the passage of its -contents, the muscular walls of the intestine above, thicken -and propel the contents with greater force. When there -is somewhere in the course of the circulation a serious resistance -to the passage of blood, there habitually occurs -hypertrophy of the heart, or thickening of its muscular -walls; giving it greater power to propel the blood. And -similarly, when the duct through which it discharges its -contents is obstructed, the gall-bladder thickens and -strengthens. These changes go on without any direction -from the brain—without any consciousness that they are -going on. They are effected by the growth, or multiplication, -or adaptation, of the local units, be they cells or fibres, -which results from the greater action or modified action -thrown upon them. The only pre-requisite to this spontaneous -adaptive change is, that these local units shall be -supplied with extra blood in proportion as they perform -extra function—a pre-requisite answering -to that secured <span class="xxpn" id="p422">{422}</span> -by the administration of justice in a society; namely, that -more work shall bring more pay. If, however, direct proof -be called for that a system of organs may, by carrying on -their several independent activities uncontrolled, secure the -welfare of the aggregate they form, we have it in that -extensive class of creatures which do not possess any -nervous systems at all; and which nevertheless show, some -of them, considerable degrees of activity. The Oceanic -Hydrozoa supply good examples. Notwithstanding “the -multiplicity and complexity of the organs which some of -them possess,” these creatures have no nervous centres—no -regulative apparatus by which the actions of their organs -are coördinated. One of their higher kinds is composed of -different parts distinguished as cœnosarc, polypites, tentacles, -hydrocysts, nectocalyces, genocalyces, etc., and each -of these different parts is composed of many partially-independent -units—thread-cells, ciliated cells, contractile -fibres, etc.; so that the whole organism is a group of -heterogeneous groups, each one of which is itself a more or -less heterogeneous group. And, in the absence of a nervous -system, the arrangement must necessarily be such that these -different units, and different groups of units, severally -pursuing their individual lives without positive direction -from the rest, nevertheless do, by virtue of their constitutions, -and the relative positions into which they have grown, -coöperate for the maintenance of one another and the entire -aggregate. And if this can be so with a set of organs that -are not connected by nerves, much more can it be so with a -set of organs which, like the viscera of a higher animal, -have a special set of nervous communications for exciting -one another to coöperation.</p> - -<p>Let us turn now to the parallel classes of phenomena -which the social organism presents. In it, as in the -individual organism, we find that while the system of -external organs must be rigorously subordinated to a great -governing centre which positively regulates -it, the system <span class="xxpn" id="p423">{423}</span> -of internal organs needs no such positive regulation. The -production and interchange by which the national life is -maintained, go on as well while Parliament is not sitting as -while it is sitting. When the members of the Ministry are -following grouse or stalking deer, Liverpool imports, -Manchester manufactures, London distributes, just as -usual. All that is needful for the normal performance of -these internal social functions is, that the restraining or -inhibitory structures shall continue in action: these -activities of individuals, corporate bodies, and classes, must -be carried on in such ways as not to transgress certain conditions, -necessitated by the simultaneous carrying on of -other activities. So long as order is maintained, and the -fulfilment of contracts is everywhere enforced—so long as -there is secured to each citizen, and each combination of -citizens, the full return agreed upon for work done or commodities -produced; and so long as each may enjoy what he -obtains by labour, without trenching on his neighbour’s like -ability to enjoy; these functions will go on healthfully—more -healthfully, indeed, than when regulated in any other -way. Fully to recognize this fact, it is needful only to look -at the origins and actions of the leading industrial structures. -We will take two of them, the most remote from one -another in their natures.</p> - -<p>The first shall be those by which food is produced and -distributed. In the fourth of his <i>Introductory Lectures on -Political Economy</i>, Archbishop Whately remarks that:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“Many of the most important objects are accomplished by the joint -agency of persons who never think of them, nor have any idea of acting in -concert; and that, with a certainty, completeness, and regularity, which -probably the most diligent benevolence, under the guidance of the greatest -human wisdom, could never have attained.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>To enforce this truth he goes on to say:—“Let any one -propose to himself the problem of supplying with daily -provisions of all kinds such a city as our metropolis, -containing above a million of inhabitants.” And then he -points out the many immense difficulties -of the task <span class="xxpn" id="p424">{424}</span> -caused by inconstancy in the arrival of supplies; by the -perishable nature of many of the commodities; by the -fluctuating number of consumers; by the heterogeneity -of their demands; by variations in the stocks, immediate -and remote, and the need for adjusting the rate of consumption; -and by the complexity in the process of -distribution required to bring due quantities of these -many commodities to the homes of all citizens. And, -having dwelt on these many difficulties, he finishes his -picture by saying:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“Yet this object is accomplished far better than it could be by any effort -of human wisdom, through the agency of men who think each of nothing -beyond his own immediate interest—who, with that object in view, perform -their respective parts with cheerful zeal—and combine unconsciously to -employ the wisest means for effecting an object, the vastness of which it -would bewilder them even to contemplate.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>But though the far-spreading and complex organization -by which foods of all kinds are produced, prepared, and -distributed throughout the entire kingdom, is a natural -growth and not a State-manufacture; though the State -does not determine where and in what quantities cereals -and cattle and sheep shall be reared; though it does not -arrange their respective prices so as to make supplies last -until fresh supplies can come; though it has done nothing -toward causing that great improvement of quality which -has taken place in food since early times; though it has -not the credit of that elaborate apparatus by which bread, -and meat, and milk, come round to our doors with a daily -pulse that is as regular as the pulse of the heart; yet the -State has not been wholly passive. It has from time to -time done a great deal of mischief. When Edward I. -forbade all towns to harbour forestallers, and when -Edward VI. made it penal to buy grain for the purpose of -selling it again, they were preventing the process by which -consumption is adjusted to supply: they were doing all -that could be done to insure alternations of abundance and -starvation. Similarly with the -many legislative attempts <span class="xxpn" id="p425">{425}</span> -since made to regulate one branch or other of the food-industry, -down to the corn-law sliding-scale of odious -memory. For the marvellous efficiency of this organization -we are indebted to private enterprise; while the derangements -of it we owe to the positively-regulative action of -the Government. Meanwhile, its negatively-regulative -action, required to keep this organization in order, Government -has not duly performed. A quick and costless -remedy for breach of contract, when a trader sells, as the -commodity asked for, what proves to be wholly or in part -some other commodity, is still wanting.</p> - -<p>Our second case shall be the organization which so -immensely facilitates commerce by transfers of claims and -credits. Banks were not inventions of rulers or their -counsellors. They grew up by small stages out of the -transactions of traders with one another. Men who for -security deposited money with goldsmiths, and took -receipts; goldsmiths who began to lend out at interest -the moneys left with them, and then to offer interest at -lower rates to those who would deposit money; were the -founders of them. And when, as presently happened, the -receipt-notes became transferable by indorsement, banking -commenced. From that stage upward the development, -notwithstanding many hinderances, has gone on naturally. -Banks have sprung up under the same stimulus which has -produced all other kinds of trading bodies. The multiplied -forms of credit have been gradually differentiated from the -original form; and while the banking system has spread -and become complex, it has also become consolidated into -a whole by a spontaneous process. The clearing-house, -which is a place for carrying on the banking between -bankers, arose unobtrusively out of an effort to economize -time and money. And when, in 1862, Sir John Lubbock—not -in his legislative capacity but in his capacity as -banker—succeeded in extending the privileges of the -clearing-house to country banks, the -unification was made <span class="xxpn" id="p426">{426}</span> -perfect; so that now the transactions of any trader in -the kingdom with any other may be completed by the -writing off and balancing of claims in bankers’ books. -This natural evolution, be it observed, has reached with -us a higher phase than has been reached where the -positively-regulative control of the State is more decided. -They have no clearing-house in France; and in France -the method of making payments by checks, so dominant -among ourselves, is very little employed and in an imperfect -way. I do not mean to imply that in England the -State has been a mere spectator of this development. -Unfortunately, it has from the beginning had relations -with banks and bankers: not much, however, to their -advantage, or that of the public. The first kind of deposit-bank -was in some sense a State-bank: merchants left funds -for security at the Mint in the Tower. But when Charles -I. appropriated their property without consent, and gave -it back to them only under pressure, after a long delay, -he destroyed their confidence. Similarly, when Charles -II., in furtherance of State-business, came to have habitual -transactions with the richer of the private bankers; and -when, having got nearly a million and a half of their -money in the Exchequer, he stole it, ruined a multitude -of merchants, distressed ten thousand depositors, and -made some lunatics and suicides, he gave a considerable -shock to the banking system as it then existed. Though -the results of State-relations with banks in later times -have not been so disastrous in this direct way, yet they -have been indirectly disastrous—perhaps even in a greater -degree. In return for a loan, the State gave the Bank of -England special privileges; and for the increase and continuance -of this loan the bribe was the maintenance of -these privileges—privileges which immensely hindered the -development of banks. The State did worse. It led the -Bank of England to the verge of bankruptcy by a forced -issue of notes, and then authorized it to -break its promises <span class="xxpn" id="p427">{427}</span> -to pay. Nay, worse still, it prevented the Bank of -England from fulfilling its promises to pay when it wished -to fulfil them. The evils that have arisen from the -positively-regulative action of the State on banks are too -multitudinous to be here enumerated. They may be -found in the writings of Tooke, Newmarch, Fullarton, -Macleod, Wilson, J. S. Mill, and others. All we have -here to note is, that while the enterprise of citizens in the -pursuit of private ends has developed this great trading-process, -which so immensely facilitates all other trading-processes, -Governments have over and over again disturbed -it to an almost fatal extent; and that, while they have -done enormous mischief of one kind by their positively-regulative -action, they have done enormous mischief of -another kind by failing in their negatively-regulative -action. They have not done the one thing they had to do: -they have not uniformly insisted on fulfilment of contract -between the banker and the customer who takes his -promise to pay on demand.</p> - -<p>Between these two cases of the trade in food and the -trade in money, might be put the cases of other trades: -all of them carried on by organizations similarly evolved, -and similarly more or less deranged from time to time by -State-meddling. Passing over these, however, let us turn -from the positive method of elucidation to the comparative -method. When it is questioned whether the spontaneous -coöperation of men in pursuit of personal benefits will adequately -work out the general good, we may get guidance for -judgment by comparing the results achieved in countries -where spontaneous coöperation has been most active and -least regulated, with the results achieved in countries -where spontaneous coöperation has been less trusted and -State-action more trusted. Two cases, furnished by the -two leading nations on the Continent, will suffice.</p> - -<p>In France, the École des Ponts et Chaussées was founded -in 1747 for educating civil engineers; and -in 1795 was <span class="xxpn" id="p428">{428}</span> -founded the École Polytechnique, serving, among other -purposes, to give a general scientific training to those -who were afterward to be more specially trained for civil -engineering. Averaging the two dates, we may say that for -a century France has had a State-established and State-maintained -appliance for producing skilled men of this -class—a double gland, we may call it, to secrete engineering -faculty for public use. In England, until quite recently, -we have had no institution for preparing civil engineers. -Not by intention, but unconsciously, we left the furnishing -of engineering faculty to take place under the law of -supply and demand—a law which at present seems to be -no more recognized as applying to education, than it was -recognized as applying to commerce in the days of bounties -and restrictions. This, however, by the way. We have -here simply to note that Brindley, Smeaton, Rennie, -Telford, and the rest, down to George Stephenson, -acquired their knowledge, and got their experience, -without State-aid or supervision. What have been the -comparative results in the two nations? Space does not -allow a detailed comparison: the later results must suffice. -Railways originated in England, not in France. Railways -spread through England faster than through France. -Many railways in France were laid out and officered by -English engineers. The earlier French railways were -made by English contractors; and English locomotives -served the French makers as models. The first French -work written on locomotive engines, published about 1840 -(at least I had a copy at that date), was by the Comte de -Pambour, who had studied in England, and who gave in -his work nothing whatever but drawings and descriptions -of the engines of English makers.</p> - -<p>The second illustration is supplied to us by the model -nation, now so commonly held up to us for imitation. Let -us contrast London and Berlin in respect of an all-essential -appliance for the comfort and health -of citizens. When, <span class="xxpn" id="p429">{429}</span> -at the beginning of the seventeenth century, the springs -and local conduits, supplemented by water-carriers, failed -to supply the Londoners; and when the water-famine, for -a long time borne, had failed to make the Corporation do -more than propose schemes, and had not spurred the central -government to do any thing; Hugh Myddleton, a merchant -citizen, took in hand himself the work of bringing the -New River to Islington. When he had half completed the -work, the king came to his help—not, indeed, in his -capacity of ruler, but in the capacity of speculator, investing -his money with a view to profit: his share being -disposed of by his successor after the formation of the New -River Company, which finished the distributing system. -Subsequently, the formation of other water-companies, -utilizing other sources, has given London a water-supply -that has grown with its growth. What, meanwhile, -happened at Berlin? Did there in 1613, when Hugh -Myddleton completed his work, grow up there a like -efficient system? Not at all. The seventeenth century -passed, the eighteenth century passed, the middle of the -nineteenth century was reached, and still Berlin had no -water-supply like that of London. What happened then? -Did the paternal government at length do what had been -so long left undone? No. Did the citizens at length -unite to secure the desideratum? No. It was finally -achieved by the citizens of another nation, more accustomed -to coöperate in gaining their own profits by ministering -to public needs. In 1845 an English company was formed -for giving Berlin an adequate water-supply; and the -work was executed by English contractors—Messrs. Fox -and Crampton.</p> - -<p>Should it be said that great works of ancient nations, in -the shape of aqueducts, roads, etc., might be instanced in -proof that State agency secures such ends, or should it be -said that a comparison between the early growth of inland -navigation on the Continent, and its -later growth here, <span class="xxpn" id="p430">{430}</span> -would be to our disadvantage, I reply that, little as they -at first seem so, these facts are congruous with the general -doctrine. While the militant social type is dominant, and -the industrial organization but little developed, there is -but one coördinating agency for regulating both sets of -activities; just as we saw happens with the lower types -of individual organisms. It is only when a considerable -advance has been made in that metamorphosis which -develops the industrial structures at the expense of the -militant structures, and which brings along with it a -substantially-independent coördinating agency for the -industrial structures—it is only then that the efficiency of -these spontaneous coöperations for all purposes of internal -social life becomes greater than the efficiency of the central -governing agency.</p> - -<p>Possibly it will be said that though, for subserving -material needs, the actions of individuals, stimulated by -necessity and made quick by competition, are demonstrably -adequate, they are not adequate for subserving other -needs. I do not see, however, that the facts justify this -position. We have but to glance around to find in abundance -similarly-generated appliances for satisfying our -higher desires, as well as our lower desires. The fact that -the Fine Arts have not thriven here as much as in some -Continental countries, is ascribable to natural character, to -absorption of our energies in other activities, and to the -repressive influence of chronic asceticism, rather than to -the absence of fostering agencies: these the interests of -individuals have provided in abundance. Literature, in -which we are second to none, owes, with us, nothing to -State-aid. The poetry which will live is poetry which has -been written without official prompting; and though we -have habitually had a prize-poet, paid to write loyal verses, -it may be said, without disparaging the present one, that -a glance over the entire list does not show any benefit -derived by poetry from State-patronage. -Nor are other <span class="xxpn" id="p431">{431}</span> -forms of literature any more indebted to State-patronage. -It was because there was a public liking for fiction that -fiction began to be produced; and the continued public -liking causes a continued production, including, along -with much that is worthless, much that could not have -been made better by any academic or other supervision. -And the like holds of biographies, histories, scientific -books, etc. Or, as a still more striking case of an agency -that has grown up to meet a non-material want, take the -newspaper press. What has been the genesis of this -marvellous appliance, which each day gives us an abstract -of the world’s life the day before? Under what promptings -have there been got together its staffs of editors, sub-editors, -article-writers, reviewers; its reporters of parliamentary -debates, of public meetings, of law cases and police cases; -its critics of music, theatricals, paintings, etc.; its correspondents -in all parts of the world? Who devised and -brought to perfection this system which at six o’clock in -the morning gives the people of Edinburgh a report of the -debates that ended at two or three o’clock in the House of -Commons, and at the same time tells them of events that -occurred the day before in America? It is not a Government -invention. It is not a Government suggestion. It -has not been in anyway improved or developed by legislation. -On the contrary, it has grown up in spite of many hinderances -from the Government and burdens which the Government -has imposed on it. For a long time the reporting of -parliamentary debates was resisted; for generations censorships -and prosecutions kept newspapers down, and for -several subsequent generations the laws in force negatived -a cheap press, and the educational benefits accompanying -it. From the war-correspondent, whose letters give to the -very nations that are fighting their only trustworthy -accounts of what is being done, down to the newsboy who -brings round the third edition with the latest telegrams, -the whole organization is a -product of spontaneous <span class="xxpn" id="p432">{432}</span> -coöperation among private individuals, aiming to benefit -themselves by ministering to the intellectual needs of their -fellows—aiming also, not a few of them, to benefit their -fellows by giving them clearer ideas and a higher standard -of right. Nay, more than this is true. While the press is -not indebted to the Government, the Government is enormously -indebted to the press; without which, indeed, it -would stumble daily in the performance of its functions. -This agency which the State once did its best to put down, -and has all along impeded, now gives to the ministers news -in anticipation of their dispatches, gives to members of -Parliament a guiding knowledge of public opinion, enables -them to speak from the House of Commons benches to their -constituents, and gives to both legislative chambers a full -record of their proceedings.</p> - -<p>I do not see, therefore, how there can be any doubt -respecting the sufficiency of agencies thus originating. -The truth that in this condition of mutual dependence -brought about by social life, there inevitably grow up arrangements -such that each secures his own ends by -ministering to the ends of others, seems to have been for a -long time one of those open secrets which remain secret -because they are so open; and even now the conspicuousness -of this truth seems to cause an imperfect consciousness -of its full meaning. The evidence shows, however, that -even were there no other form of spontaneous coöperation -among men than that dictated by self-interest, it might be -rationally held that this, under the negatively-regulative -control of a central power, would work out, in proper -order, the appliances for satisfying all needs, and carrying -on healthfully all the essential social functions.</p> - -<p>But there is a further kind of spontaneous coöperation, -arising, like the other, independently of State-action, which -takes a large share in satisfying certain classes of needs. -Familiar though it is, this kind of spontaneous coöperation -is habitually ignored in sociological -discussions. Alike <span class="xxpn" id="p433">{433}</span> -from newspaper articles and parliamentary debates, it -might be inferred that, beyond the force due to men’s -selfish activities, there is no other social force than the -governmental force. There seems to be a deliberate omission -of the fact that, in addition to their selfish interests, -men have sympathetic interests, which, acting individually -and coöperatively, work out results scarcely less remarkable -than those which the selfish interests work out. It is true -that, during the earlier phases of social evolution, while yet -the type is mainly militant, agencies thus produced do not -exist: among the Spartans, I suppose, there were few, if -any, philanthropic agencies. But as there arise forms of -society leading toward the pacific type—forms in which the -industrial organization develops itself, and men’s activities -become of a kind that do not perpetually sear their sympathies; -these structures which their sympathies generate -become many and important. To the egoistic interests, -and the coöperations prompted by them, there come to be -added the altruistic interests and their coöperations; and -what the one set fails to do, the other does. That, in his -presentation of the doctrine he opposes, Prof. Huxley did -not set down the effects of fellow-feeling as supplementing -the effects of self-regarding feelings, surprises me the more, -because he displays fellow-feeling himself in so marked a -degree, and shows in his career how potent a social agency -it becomes. Let us glance rapidly over the results wrought -out among ourselves by individual and combined “altruism”—to -employ M. Comte’s useful word.</p> - -<p>Though they show a trace of this feeling, I will not -dwell upon the numerous institutions by which men are -enabled to average the chances throughout life by insurance -societies, which provide against the evils entailed by -premature deaths, accidents, fires, wrecks, etc.; for these -are mainly mercantile and egoistic in their origin. Nor -will I do more than name those multitudinous Friendly -Societies that have arisen -spontaneously among the <span class="xxpn" id="p434">{434}</span> -working-classes to give mutual aid in time of sickness, and -which the Commission now sitting is showing to be -immensely beneficial, notwithstanding their defects; for -these also, though containing a larger element of sympathy, -are prompted chiefly by anticipations of personal benefits. -Leaving these, let us turn to the organizations in which -altruism is more decided: taking first that by which -religious ministrations are carried on. Throughout Scotland -and England, cut away all that part of it which is -not established by law—in Scotland, the Episcopal Church, -the Free Church, the United Presbyterians, and other -Dissenting bodies; in England, the Wesleyans, Independents, -and the various minor sects. Cut off, too, from -the Established Church itself, all that part added in -recent times by voluntary zeal, made conspicuous enough -by the new steeples that have been rising on all sides; and -then also take out, from the remainder of the Established -Church, that energy which has during these three generations -been infused into it by competition with the -Dissenters: so reducing it to the degraded, inert state -in which John Wesley found it. Do this, and it becomes -manifest that more than half the organisation, and immensely -more than half its function, is extra-governmental. -Look round, again, at the multitudinous institutions for -mitigating men’s ills—the hospitals, dispensaries, alms-houses, -and the like—the various benevolent and mendicity -societies, etc., of which London alone contains between -six and seven hundred. From our vast St. Thomas’s, -exceeding the palace of the Legislature itself in bulk, -down to Dorcas societies and village clothing-clubs, we -have charitable agencies, many in kind and countless in -number, which supplement, perhaps too largely, the legally-established -one; and which, whatever evil they may have -done along with the good, have done far less evil than the -Poor-Law organization did before it was reformed in 1834. -Akin to these are still more striking examples -of power in <span class="xxpn" id="p435">{435}</span> -agencies thus originating, such as that furnished by the -Anti-slavery Society, which carried the emancipation of -the slaves, notwithstanding the class-opposition so predominant -in the Legislature. And if we look for more -recent like instances, we have them in the organization -which promptly and efficiently dealt with the cotton-famine -in Lancashire, and in that which last year ministered to -the wounded and distressed in France. Once more, -consider our educational system as it existed till within -these few years. Such part of it as did not consist of -private schools, carried on for personal profit, consisted of -schools or colleges set up or maintained by men for the -benefit of their fellows, and the posterity of their fellows. -Omitting the few founded or partially founded by kings, -the numerous endowed schools scattered throughout the -kingdom, originated from altruistic feelings (so far, at least, -as they were not due to egoistic desires for good places in -the other world). And then, after these appliances for -teaching the poor had been almost entirely appropriated by -the rich, whence came the remedy? Another altruistic -organization grew up for educating the poor, struggled -against the opposition of the Church and the governing -classes, eventually forced these to enter into competition -and produce like altruistic organizations, until by school -systems, local and general, ecclesiastical, dissenting, and -secular, the mass of the people had been brought from a -state of almost entire ignorance to one in which nearly all -of them possessed the rudiments of knowledge. But for -these spontaneously-developed agencies, ignorance would -have been universal. Not only such knowledge as the -poor now possess—not only the knowledge of the trading-classes—not -only the knowledge of those who write books -and leading articles; but the knowledge of those who carry -on the business of the country as ministers and legislators, -has been derived from these extra-governmental agencies, -egoistic or altruistic. Yet now, -strangely enough, the <span class="xxpn" id="p436">{436}</span> -cultured intelligence of the country has taken to spurning -its parent; and that to which it owes both its existence and -the consciousness of its own value is pooh-poohed as though -it had done, and could do, nothing of importance! One -other fact let me add. While such teaching organizations, -and their results in the shape of enlightenment, are due to -these spontaneous agencies, to such agencies also are due -the great improvements in the quality of the culture now -happily beginning to take place. The spread of scientific -knowledge, and of the scientific spirit, has not been brought -about by laws and officials. Our scientific societies have -arisen from the spontaneous coöperation of those interested -in the accumulation and diffusion of the kinds of truth they -respectively deal with. Though the British Association -has from time to time obtained certain small subsidies, -their results in the way of advancing science have borne -but an extremely small ratio to the results achieved without -any such aid. If there needs a conclusive illustration of -the power of agencies thus arising, we have it in the history -and achievements of the Royal Institution. From this, -which is a product of altruistic coöperation, and which has -had for its successive professors Young, Davy, Faraday, -and Tyndall, there has come a series of brilliant discoveries -which cannot be paralleled by a series from any State-nurtured -institution.</p> - -<p>I hold, then, that forced, as men in society are, to seek -satisfaction of their own wants by satisfying the wants of -others; and led as they also are by sentiments which social -life has fostered, to satisfy many wants of others irrespective -of their own; they are moved by two sets of forces which, -working together, will amply suffice to carry on all needful -activities; and I think the facts fully justify this belief. -It is true that, <i>a priori</i>, one would not have supposed that -by their unconscious coöperations men could have wrought -out such results, any more than one would have supposed, -<i>a priori</i>, that by their unconscious -coöperation they could <span class="xxpn" id="p437">{437}</span> -have evolved Language. But reasoning <i>a posteriori</i>, which -it is best to do when we have the facts before us, it becomes -manifest that they can do this; that they have done it in -very astonishing ways; and perhaps may do it hereafter -in ways still more astonishing. Scarcely any scientific -generalization has, I think, a broader inductive basis than -we have for the belief that these egoistic and altruistic -feelings are powers which, taken together, amply suffice -to originate and carry on all the activities which constitute -healthy national life: the only pre-requisite being, -that they shall be under the negatively-regulative control -of a central power—that the entire aggregate of individuals, -acting through the legislature and executive as -its agents, shall put upon each individual, and group -of individuals, the restraints needful to prevent aggression, -direct and indirect.</p> - -<p>And here I might go on to supplement the argument by -showing that the immense majority of the evils which -government aid is invoked to remedy, are evils which arise -immediately or remotely because it does not perform -properly its negatively-regulative function. From the -waste of, probably, £100,000,000 of national capital in unproductive -railways, for which the Legislature is responsible -by permitting the original proprietary contracts to be -broken,<a class="afnanch" href="#fn41" id="fnanch41">41</a> -down to the railway accidents and loss of life -caused by unpunctuality, which would never have grown -to its present height were there an easy remedy for breach -of contract between company and passenger; nearly all the -vices of railway management have arisen from the non-administration -of justice. And everywhere else we shall -find that, were the restraining action of the State prompt, -effective, and costless to those aggrieved, the pleas put in -for positive regulation would nearly all disappear.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch41" id="fn41">41</a> -See Essay on “Railway Morals -and Railway Policy.”</p></div> - -<p class="padtopb">I am thus brought naturally to remark on -the title given <span class="xxpn" id="p438">{438}</span> -to this theory of State-functions. That “Administrative -Nihilism” adequately describes the view set forth by Von -Humboldt, may be: I have not read his work. But I cannot -see how it adequately describes the doctrine I have -been defending; nor do I see how this can be properly -expressed by the more positive title, “police-government.” -The conception suggested by police-government does not -include the conception of an organization for external -protection. So long as each nation is given to burglary, I -quite admit each other nation must keep guards, under the -forms of army or navy, or both, to prevent burglars from -breaking in. And the title police-government does not, in -its ordinary acceptation, comprehend these offensive and -defensive appliances needful for dealing with foreign -enemies. At the other extreme, too, it falls short of the -full meaning to be expressed. While it duly conveys the -idea of an organization required for checking and punishing -criminal aggression, it does not convey any idea of the no -less important organization required for dealing with civil -aggression—an organization quite essential for properly -discharging the negatively-regulative function. Though -latent police-force may be considered as giving their -efficiency to legal decisions on all questions brought into -<i>nisi prius</i> courts, yet, since here police-force rarely comes -into visible play, police-government does not suggest this -very extensive part of the administration of justice. Far -from contending for a <i>laissez-faire</i> policy in the sense which -the phrase commonly suggests, I have contended for a more -active control of the kind distinguishable as negatively -regulative. One of the reasons I have urged for excluding -State-action from other spheres, is, that it may become -more efficient within its proper sphere. And I have argued -that the wretched performance of its duties within its -proper sphere continues, because its time is chiefly spent -over imaginary duties.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn42" id="fnanch42">42</a> -The facts that -often, in bankruptcy <span class="xxpn" id="p439">{439}</span> -cases, three-fourths and more of the assets go in costs; -that creditors are led by the expectation of great delay and -a miserable dividend to accept almost any composition -offered; and that so the bankruptcy-law offers a premium -to roguery; are facts which would long since have ceased -to be facts, had citizens been mainly occupied in getting an -efficient judicial system. If the due performance by the -State of its all-essential function had been the question on -which elections were fought, we should not see, as we now -do, that a shivering cottager who steals palings for -firewood, or a hungry tramp who robs an orchard, gets -punishment in more than the old Hebrew measure, while -great financial frauds which ruin their thousands bring no -punishments. Were the negatively-regulative function of -the State in internal affairs dominant in the thoughts of -men, within the Legislature and without, there would be -tolerated no such treatment as that suffered lately by -Messrs. Walker, of Cornhill; who, having been robbed of -£6,000 worth of property and having spent £950 in rewards -for apprehending thieves and prosecuting them, cannot get -back the proceeds of their property found on the thieves—who -bear the costs of administering justice, while the -Corporation of London makes £940 profit out of their loss. -It is in large measure because I hold that these crying -abuses and inefficiencies, which everywhere characterize -the administration of justice, need more than any other -evils to be remedied; and because I hold that remedy of -them can go on only as fast as the internal function of the -State is more and more restricted to the administration of -justice; that I take the view which I have been re-explaining. -<i>It is a law illustrated by organizations of every kind, that, -in proportion as there is to be efficiency, there must be -specialization, both of structure and function—specialization -which, of necessity, implies accompanying limitation.</i> And, -as I have elsewhere argued, the development of representative -government is the development of -a type of <span class="xxpn" id="p440">{440}</span> -government fitted above all others for this negatively-regulative -control, and, above all others, ill fitted for positively-regulative -control.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn43" id="fnanch43">43</a> -This doctrine, that while the -negatively-regulative control should be extended and -made better, the positively-regulative control should be -diminished, and that the one change implies the other, -may properly be called the doctrine of Specialized Administration—if -it is to be named from its administrative -aspect. I regret that my presentation of this doctrine has -been such as to lead to misinterpretation. Either it is that -I have not adequately explained it, which, if true, surprises -me, or else it is that the space occupied in seeking to show -what are not the duties of the State is so much greater -than the space occupied in defining its duties, that these -last make but little impression. In any case, that Prof. -Huxley should have construed my view in the way he has -done, shows me that it needs fuller exposition; since, had -he put upon it the construction I intended, he would not, I -think, have included it under the title he has used, nor -would he have seen it needful to raise the question I have -endeavoured to answer.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch42" id="fn42">42</a> -See Essay on “Over-Legislation.”</p> - -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch43" id="fn43">43</a> -See Essay on “Representative Government—What is -it good for?”</p></div> - -<p class="padtopb"><span class="smcap">P<b>OSTSCRIPT</b>.</span>—Since the above article was written, a fact -of some significance in relation to the question of State-management -has come under my notice. There is one -department, at any rate, in which the State succeeds well—the -Post-Office. And this department is sometimes -instanced as showing the superiority of public over -private administration.</p> - -<p>I am not about to call in question the general satisfactoriness -of our postal arrangements; nor shall I contend -that this branch of State-organization, now well-established, -could be replaced with advantage. Possibly the type of -our social structure has become, in this respect, so far -fixed that a radical change would be -injurious. In dealing <span class="xxpn" id="p441">{441}</span> -with those who make much of this success, I have contented -myself with showing that the developments which have -made the Post-Office efficient, have not originated with the -Government, but have been thrust upon it from without. -I have in evidence cited the facts that the mail-coach -system was established by a private individual, Mr. Palmer, -and lived down official opposition; that the reform originated -by Mr. Rowland Hill had to be made against the wills of -<i>employés</i>; and, further, I have pointed out that, even as it -is, a large part of the work is done by private enterprise—that -the Government gets railway-companies to do for it -most of the inland carriage, and steam-boat companies the -outland carriage: contenting itself with doing the local -collection and distribution.</p> - -<p>Respecting the general question whether, in the absence -of our existing postal system, private enterprise would -have developed one as good or better, I have been able -to say only that analogies like that furnished by our -newspaper-system, with its efficient news-vending organization, -warrant us in believing that it would. Recently, -however, I have been shown both that private enterprise -is capable of this, and that, but for a legal interdict, it -would have done long ago what the State has but lately -done. Here is the proof:―</p> - -<blockquote class="blktight"> - -<p>“To facilitate correspondence between one part of London and another -was not originally one of the objects of the Post-Office. But, in the reign of -Charles II., an enterprising citizen of London, William Dockwray, set up, -at great expense, a penny post, which delivered letters and parcels six or -eight times a-day in the busy and crowded streets near the Exchange, and -four times a-day in the outskirts of the capital. . . . As soon as it became -clear that the speculation would be lucrative, the Duke of York complained -of it as an infraction of his monopoly, and the courts of law decided in his -favour.”—<i>Macaulay</i>, <i>History of England</i>, 1866, i., 302–3.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Thus it appears that two centuries since, private enterprise -initiated a local postal system, similar, in respect -both of cheapness and frequency of distribution, to that -lately-established one boasted of as a State-success. Judging -by what has happened in other -cases with private <span class="xxpn" id="p442">{442}</span> -enterprises which had small beginnings, we may infer that the -system thus commenced, would have developed throughout -the kingdom as fast as the needs pressed and the possibilities -allowed. So far from being indebted to the State, we -have reason to believe that, but for State-repression, we -should have obtained a postal organization like our present -one generations ago!</p> - -<p class="padtopb"><span class="smcap">S<b>ECOND</b> -P<b>OSTSCRIPT.</b></span>—When the foregoing essay was -republished in the third series of my <i>Essays, Scientific, -Political, and Speculative</i>, I included, in the preface to -the volume, some comments upon Prof. Huxley’s reply. -In the absence of this preface, now no longer appropriate, -there seems no other fit place for these comments than -this. I therefore here append them.</p> - -<p>“On the brief rejoinder to my arguments which Prof. -Huxley makes in the preface to his <i>Critiques and Addresses</i>, -I may here say a few words. The reasons he gives for -still thinking that the name ‘Administrative Nihilism’ -fitly indicates the system which I have described as -‘negatively regulative,’ are, I think, adequately met by -asking whether ‘Ethical Nihilism’ would fitly describe -the remnant of the decalogue, were all its positive injunctions -omitted. If the eight commandments which, -substantially or literally, come under the form ‘thou shalt -not,’ constitute by themselves a set of rules which can -scarcely be called nihilistic; I do not see how an administrative -system limited to the enforcement of such rules can -be called nihilistic: especially if to the punishment of -murder, adultery, stealing, and false-witness, it adds the -punishment of assault, breach of contract, and all minor -aggressions, down to the annoyance of neighbours by -nuisances. Respecting the second and essential question, -whether limitation of the internal functions of government -to those which are negatively regulative, is consistent with -that theory of the social organism -and its controlling <span class="xxpn" id="p443">{443}</span> -agencies held by me, I may say that the insufficiency of -my reply has not, I think, been shown. I was tacitly -asked how the analogy I have drawn between those -governmental structures by which the parts of the body -politic have their actions regulated and those nervous -structures which regulate the organic actions of the individual -living body, is to be reconciled with my belief that -social activities will in the main adjust themselves. My -answer was this. I recognized as essential the positively-regulative -functions of the State in respect to the -offensive and defensive appliances needful for national -self-preservation, during the predatory phase of social -evolution; and I not only admitted the importance of its -negatively-regulative functions in respect to the internal -social activities, but insisted that these should be carried -out much more efficiently than now. Assuming always, -however, that the internal social activities continue subject -to that restraining action of the State which consists in -preventing aggressions, direct and indirect, I contended -that the coördination of these internal social activities -is effected by other structures of a different kind. I -aimed to show that my two beliefs are not inconsistent, by -pointing out that in the individual organism, also, those -vital activities which parallel the activities constituting -national life, are regulated by a substantially-independent -nervous system. Prof. Huxley does, indeed, remind me -that recent researches show increasingly the influence of -the cerebro-spinal nervous system over the processes of -organic life; against which, however, has to be set the -growing evidence of the power exercised by the visceral -nervous system over the cerebro-spinal. But, recognizing -the influence he names (which, indeed, corresponds to that -governmental influence I regard as necessary); I think -the consistency of my positions is maintainable so long -as it is manifest that the viscera, under the -control of their <span class="xxpn" id="p444">{444}</span> -own nervous system, can carry on the vital actions when -the control of the cerebro-spinal system is substantially -arrested by sleep, or by anæsthetics, or by other causes of -insensibility; and while it is shown that a considerable -degree of coördination may exist among the organs of a -creature which has no nervous -system at all.”</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p445">{445}</span></div> -<h2 class="h2nobreak">FROM FREEDOM TO BONDAGE.</h2></div> - -<div class="dchappre"> -<p class="pfirst">[<i>First published as the Introduction to a volume -entitled</i> A Plea for Liberty, &c.: <i>a series of anti-socialistic -essays, issued at the beginning of 1891</i>.]</p></div> - -<p>Of the many ways in which common-sense inferences -about social affairs are flatly contradicted by events (as -when measures taken to suppress a book cause increased -circulation of it, or as when attempts to prevent usurious -rates of interest make the terms harder for the borrower, -or as when there is greater difficulty in getting things at -the places of production than elsewhere) one of the most -curious is the way in which the more things improve the -louder become the exclamations about their badness.</p> - -<p>In days when the people were without any political -power, their subjection was rarely complained of; but -after free institutions had so far advanced in England that -our political arrangements were envied by continental -peoples, the denunciations of aristocratic rule grew gradually -stronger, until there came a great widening of the -franchise, soon followed by complaints that things were -going wrong for want of still further widening. If we trace -up the treatment of women from the days of savagedom, -when they bore all the burdens and after the men had -eaten received such food as remained, up through the -middle ages when they served the men at -their meals, to <span class="xxpn" id="p446">{446}</span> -our own day when throughout our social arrangements the -claims of women are always put first, we see that along -with the worst treatment there went the least apparent -consciousness that the treatment was bad; while now that -they are better treated than ever before, the proclaiming -of their grievances daily strengthens: the loudest outcries -coming from “the paradise of women,” America. A -century ago, when scarcely a man could be found who was -not occasionally intoxicated, and when inability to take one -or two bottles of wine brought contempt, no agitation arose -against the vice of drunkenness; but now that, in the course -of fifty years, the voluntary efforts of temperance societies, -joined with more general causes, have produced comparative -sobriety, there are vociferous demands for laws to prevent -the ruinous effects of the liquor traffic. Similarly again -with education. A few generations back, ability to read -and write was practically limited to the upper and middle -classes, and the suggestion that the rudiments of culture -should be given to labourers was never made, or, if made, -ridiculed; but when, in the days of our grandfathers, the -Sunday-school system, initiated by a few philanthropists, -began to spread and was followed by the establishment of -day-schools, with the result that among the masses those -who could read and write were no longer the exceptions, -and the demand for cheap literature rapidly increased, -there began the cry that the people were perishing for lack -of knowledge, and that the State must not simply educate -them but must force education upon them.</p> - -<p>And so is it, too, with the general state of the population in -respect of food, clothing, shelter, and the appliances of life. -Leaving out of the comparison early barbaric states, there -has been a conspicuous progress from the time when most -rustics lived on barley bread, rye bread, and oatmeal, down -to our own time when the consumption of white wheaten -bread is universal—from the days when coarse jackets -reaching to the knees left the legs bare, down -to the present <span class="xxpn" id="p447">{447}</span> -day when labouring people, like their employers, have the -whole body covered, by two or more layers of clothing—from -the old era of single-roomed huts without chimneys, -or from the 15th century when even an ordinary gentleman’s -house was commonly without wainscot or plaster on -its walls, down to the present century when every cottage -has more rooms than one and the houses of artizans -usually have several, while all have fire-places, chimneys, -and glazed windows, accompanied mostly by paper-hangings -and painted doors; there has been, I say, a conspicuous -progress in the condition of the people. And this progress -has been still more marked within our own time. Any one -who can look back 60 years, when the amount of pauperism -was far greater than now and beggars abundant, is struck -by the comparative size and finish of the new houses -occupied by operatives—by the better dress of workmen, -who wear broad-cloth on Sundays, and that of servant girls, -who vie with their mistresses—by the higher standard -of living which leads to a great demand for the best -qualities of food by working people: all results of the double -change to higher wages and cheaper commodities, and a distribution -of taxes which has relieved the lower classes at -the expense of the upper classes. He is struck, too, by the -contrast between the small space which popular welfare then -occupied in public attention, and the large space it now -occupies, with the result that outside and inside Parliament, -plans to benefit the millions form the leading topics, and -everyone having means is expected to join in some philanthropic -effort. Yet while elevation, mental and physical, of -the masses is going on far more rapidly than ever before—while -the lowering of the death-rate proves that the average -life is less trying, there swells louder and louder the -cry that the evils are so great that nothing short of a social -revolution can cure them. In presence of obvious improvements, -joined with that increase of longevity which even -alone yields conclusive proof of general -amelioration, it is <span class="xxpn" id="p448">{448}</span> -proclaimed, with increasing vehemence, that things are so -bad that society must be pulled to pieces and re-organized -on another plan. In this case, then, as in the previous -cases instanced, in proportion as the evil decreases the -denunciation of it increases; and as fast as natural causes -are shown to be powerful there grows up the belief that -they are powerless.</p> - -<p>Not that the evils to be remedied are small. Let no one -suppose that, by emphasizing the above paradox, I wish to -make light of the sufferings which most men have to bear. -The fates of the great majority have ever been, and doubtless -still are, so sad that it is painful to think of them. -Unquestionably the existing type of social organization is -one which none who care for their kind can contemplate -with satisfaction; and unquestionably men’s activities -accompanying this type are far from being admirable. -The strong divisions of rank and the immense inequalities -of means, are at variance with that ideal of human relations -on which the sympathetic imagination likes to dwell; and -the average conduct, under the pressure and excitement -of social life as at present carried on, is in sundry respects -repulsive. Though the many who revile competition -strangely ignore the enormous benefits resulting from it—though -they forget that most of the appliances and products -distinguishing civilization from savagery, and making -possible the maintenance of a large population on a small -area, have been developed by the struggle for existence—though -they disregard the fact that while every man, as -producer, suffers from the under-bidding of competitors, yet, -as consumer, he is immensely advantaged by the cheapening -of all he has to buy—though they persist in dwelling on -the evils of competition and saying nothing of its benefits; -yet it is not to be denied that the evils are great, and form -a large set-off from the benefits. The system under which -we at present live fosters dishonesty and lying. It prompts -adulterations of countless kinds; it is -answerable for the <span class="xxpn" id="p449">{449}</span> -cheap imitations which eventually in many cases thrust -the genuine articles out of the market; it leads to the use -of short weights and false measures; it introduces bribery, -which vitiates most trading relations, from those of the -manufacturer and buyer down to those of the shopkeeper -and servant; it encourages deception to such an extent -that an assistant who cannot tell a falsehood with a good -face is blamed; and often it gives the conscientious trader -the choice between adopting the malpractices of his competitors, -or greatly injuring his creditors by bankruptcy. -Moreover, the extensive frauds, common throughout the -commercial world and daily exposed in law-courts and -newspapers, are largely due to the pressure under which -competition places the higher industrial classes; and are -otherwise due to that lavish expenditure which, as implying -success in the commercial struggle, brings honour. -With these minor evils must be joined the major one, that -the distribution achieved by the system, gives to those who -regulate and superintend, a share of the total produce -which bears too large a ratio to the share it gives to the -actual workers. Let it not be thought, then, that in saying -what I have said above, I under-estimate those vices of our -competitive system which, 30 years ago, I described and -denounced.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn44" id="fnanch44">44</a> -But it is not a question of absolute evils; it -is a question of relative evils—whether the evils at present -suffered are or are not less than the evils which would -be suffered under another system—whether efforts for -mitigation along the lines thus far followed are not more -likely to succeed than efforts along utterly different lines.</p> - -<p>This is the question here to be considered. I must be -excused for first of all setting forth sundry truths which -are, to some at any rate, tolerably familiar, before proceeding -to draw inferences which are not so familiar.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch44" id="fn44">44</a> -See essay on “The -Morals of Trade.”</p></div> - -<p class="padtopb">Speaking broadly, every man works -that he may avoid <span class="xxpn" id="p450">{450}</span> -suffering. Here, remembrance of the pangs of hunger -prompts him; and there, he is prompted by the sight of the -slave-driver’s lash. His immediate dread may be the -punishment which physical circumstances will inflict, or -may be punishment inflicted by human agency. He must -have a master; but the master may be Nature or may be a -fellow man. When he is under the impersonal coercion of -Nature, we say that he is free; and when he is under the -personal coercion of some one above him, we call him, -according to the degree of his dependence, a slave, a serf, -or a vassal. Of course I omit the small minority who -inherit means: an incidental, and not a necessary, social -element. I speak only of the vast majority, both cultured -and uncultured, who maintain themselves by labour, bodily -or mental, and must either exert themselves of their own -unconstrained wills, prompted only by thoughts of naturally-resulting -evils or benefits, or must exert themselves with -constrained wills, prompted by thoughts of evils and benefits -artificially resulting.</p> - -<p>Men may work together in a society under either of -these two forms of control: forms which, though in many -cases mingled, are essentially contrasted. Using the word -coöperation in its wide sense, and not in that restricted -sense now commonly given to it, we may say that social -life must be carried on by either voluntary coöperation or -compulsory coöperation; or, to use Sir Henry Maine’s -words, the system must be that of <i>contract</i> or that of <i>status</i>—that -in which the individual is left to do the best he can -by his spontaneous efforts and get success or failure -according to his efficiency, and that in which he has his -appointed place, works under coercive rule, and has his -apportioned share of food, clothing, and shelter.</p> - -<p>The system of voluntary coöperation is that by which, -in civilized societies, industry is now everywhere carried -on. Under a simple form we have it on every farm, where -the labourers, paid by the farmer himself -and taking orders <span class="xxpn" id="p451">{451}</span> -directly from him, are free to stay or go as they please. -And of its more complex form an example is yielded by -every manufacturing concern, in which, under partners, -come managers and clerks, and under these, time-keepers -and over-lookers, and under these operatives of different -grades. In each of these cases there is an obvious working -together, or coöperation, of employer and employed, to -obtain in the one case a crop and in the other case a manufactured -stock. And then, at the same time, there is a far -more extensive, though unconscious, coöperation with -other workers of all grades throughout the society. For -while these particular employers and employed are severally -occupied with their special kinds of work, other employers -and employed are making other things needed for the -carrying on of their lives as well as the lives of all others. -This voluntary coöperation, from its simplest to its most -complex forms, has the common trait that those concerned -work together by consent. There is no one to force terms -or to force acceptance. It is perfectly true that in many -cases an employer may give, or an <i>employé</i> may accept, -with reluctance: circumstances he says compel him. But -what are the circumstances? In the one case there are -goods ordered, or a contract entered into, which he cannot -supply or execute without yielding; and in the other case he -submits to a wage less than he likes because otherwise he -will have no money wherewith to procure food and warmth. -The general formula is not—“Do this, or I will make -you;” but it is—“Do this, or leave your place and take -the consequences.”</p> - -<p>On the other hand compulsory coöperation is exemplified -by an army—not so much by our own army, the service in -which is under agreement for a specified period, but in a -continental army, raised by conscription. Here, in time of -peace, the daily duties—cleaning, parade, drill, sentry -work, and the rest—and in time of war the various actions -of the camp and the battle-field, are -done under command, <span class="xxpn" id="p452">{452}</span> -without room for any exercise of choice. Up from the -private soldier through the non-commissioned officers and -the half-dozen or more grades of commissioned officers, the -universal law is absolute obedience from the grade below -to the grade above. The sphere of individual will is such -only as is allowed by the will of the superior. Breaches of -subordination are, according to their gravity, dealt with by -deprivation of leave, extra drill, imprisonment, flogging, -and, in the last resort, shooting. Instead of the understanding -that there must be obedience in respect of specified -duties under pain of dismissal; the understanding now is—“Obey -in everything ordered under penalty of inflicted -suffering and perhaps death.”</p> - -<p>This form of coöperation, still exemplified in an army, -has in days gone by been the form of coöperation throughout -the civil population. Everywhere, and at all times, -chronic war generates a militant type of structure, not in -the body of soldiers only but throughout the community at -large. Practically, while the conflict between societies is -actively going on, and fighting is regarded as the only -manly occupation, the society is the quiescent army and -the army the mobilized society: that part which does not -take part in battle, composed of slaves, serfs, women, -&c., constituting the commissariat. Naturally, therefore, -throughout the mass of inferior individuals constituting the -commissariat, there is maintained a system of discipline -identical in nature if less elaborate. The fighting body being, -under such conditions, the ruling body, and the rest of the -community being incapable of resistance, those who control -the fighting body will, of course, impose their control upon -the non-fighting body; and the <i>régime</i> of coercion will be -applied to it with such modifications only as the different -circumstances involve. Prisoners of war become slaves. -Those who were free cultivators before the conquest of -their country, become serfs attached to the soil. Petty -chiefs become subject to superior chiefs; -these smaller lords <span class="xxpn" id="p453">{453}</span> -become vassals to over-lords; and so on up to the highest: -the social ranks and powers being of like essential nature with -the ranks and powers throughout the military organization. -And while for the slaves compulsory coöperation is the -unqualified system, a coöperation which is in part -compulsory is the system that pervades all grades above. -Each man’s oath of fealty to his suzerain takes the form—“I -am your man.”</p> - -<p>Throughout Europe, and especially in our own country, -this system of compulsory coöperation gradually relaxed in -rigour, while the system of voluntary coöperation step by -step replaced it. As fast as war ceased to be the business -of life, the social structure produced by war and appropriate -to it, slowly became qualified by the social structure -produced by industrial life and appropriate to it. In -proportion as a decreasing part of the community was -devoted to offensive and defensive activities, an increasing -part became devoted to production and distribution. -Growing more numerous, more powerful, and taking refuge -in towns where it was less under the power of the militant -class, this industrial population carried on its life under the -system of voluntary coöperation. Though municipal governments -and guild-regulations, partially pervaded by ideas -and usages derived from the militant type of society, were -in some degree coercive; yet production and distribution -were in the main carried on under agreement—alike -between buyers and sellers, and between masters and -workmen. As fast as these social relations and forms -of activity became dominant in urban populations, they -influenced the whole community: compulsory coöperation -lapsed more and more, through money commutation for -services, military and civil; while divisions of rank became -less rigid and class-power diminished. Until at length, -restraints exercised by incorporated trades having fallen -into desuetude, as well as the rule of rank over rank, -voluntary coöperation became -the universal principle. <span class="xxpn" id="p454">{454}</span> -Purchase and sale became the law for all kinds of services -as well as for all kinds of commodities.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">The restlessness generated by pressure against the conditions -of existence, perpetually prompts the desire to try a -new position. Everyone knows how long-continued rest in -one attitude becomes wearisome—everyone has found how -even the best easy chair, at first rejoiced in, becomes after -many hours intolerable; and change to a hard seat, previously -occupied and rejected, seems for a time to be a great -relief. It is the same with incorporated humanity. Having -by long struggles emancipated itself from the hard discipline -of the ancient <i>régime</i>, and having discovered that the new -<i>régime</i> into which it has grown, though relatively easy, is not -without stresses and pains, its impatience with these prompts -the wish to try another system: which other system is, in -principle if not in appearance, the same as that which during -past generations was escaped from with much rejoicing.</p> - -<p>For as fast as the <i>régime</i> of contract is discarded the -<i>régime</i> of status is of necessity adopted. As fast as -voluntary coöperation is abandoned compulsory coöperation -must be substituted. Some kind of organization labour -must have; and if it is not that which arises by agreement -under free competition, it must be that which is imposed by -authority. Unlike in appearance and names as it may be to -the old order of slaves and serfs, working under masters, -who were coerced by barons, who were themselves vassals -of dukes or kings, the new order wished for, constituted -by workers under foremen of small groups, overlooked by -superintendents, who are subject to higher local managers, -who are controlled by superiors of districts, themselves -under a central government, must be essentially the same -in principle. In the one case, as in the other, there must -be established grades, and enforced subordination of each -grade to the grades above. This is a truth which the -communist or the socialist does not -dwell upon. Angry <span class="xxpn" id="p455">{455}</span> -with the existing system under which each of us takes care -of himself, while all of us see that each has fair play, he -thinks how much better it would be for all of us to take -care of each of us; and he refrains from thinking of the -machinery by which this is to be done. Inevitably, if each -is to be cared for by all, then the embodied all must get the -means—the necessaries of life. What it gives to each must -be taken from the accumulated contributions; and it must -therefore require from each his proportion—must tell him -how much he has to give to the general stock in the shape -of production, that he may have so much in the shape of -sustentation. Hence, before he can be provided for, he must -put himself under orders, and obey those who say what -he shall do, and at what hours, and where; and who give -him his share of food, clothing, and shelter. If competition -is excluded, and with it buying and selling, there can be no -voluntary exchange of so much labour for so much produce; -but there must be apportionment of the one to the other by -appointed officers. This apportionment must be enforced. -Without alternative the work must be done, and without -alternative the benefit, whatever it may be, must be accepted. -For the worker may not leave his place at will and offer -himself elsewhere. Under such a system he cannot be -accepted elsewhere, save by order of the authorities. And -it is manifest that a standing order would forbid employment -in one place of an insubordinate member from another place: -the system could not be worked if the workers were severally -allowed to go or come as they pleased. With corporals and -sergeants under them, the captains of industry must carry -out the orders of their colonels, and these of their generals, -up to the council of the commander-in-chief; and obedience -must be required throughout the industrial army as throughout -a fighting army. “Do your prescribed duties, and -take your apportioned rations,” must be the rule of the one -as of the other.</p> - -<p>“Well, be it so;” replies the -socialist. “The workers <span class="xxpn" id="p456">{456}</span> -will appoint their own officers, and these will always be -subject to criticisms of the mass they regulate. Being thus -in fear of public opinion, they will be sure to act judiciously -and fairly; or when they do not, will be deposed by the -popular vote, local or general. Where will be the grievance -of being under superiors, when the superiors themselves -are under democratic control?” And in this attractive -vision the socialist has full belief.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Iron and brass are simpler things than flesh and blood, -and dead wood than living nerve; and a machine constructed -of the one works in more definite ways than an -organism constructed of the other,—especially when the -machine is worked by the inorganic forces of steam or -water, while the organism is worked by the forces of living -nerve-centres. Manifestly, then, the ways in which the -machine will work are much more readily calculable than -the ways in which the organism will work. Yet in how -few cases does the inventor foresee rightly the actions of -his new apparatus! Read the patent-list, and it will be found -that not more than one device in fifty turns out to be of any -service. Plausible as his scheme seemed to the inventor, -one or other hitch prevents the intended operation, and brings -out a widely different result from that which he wished.</p> - -<p>What, then, shall we say of these schemes which have -to do not with dead matters and forces, but with complex -living organisms working in ways less readily foreseen, -and which involve the coöperation of multitudes of such -organisms? Even the units out of which this re-arranged -body politic is to be formed are often incomprehensible. -Everyone is from time to time surprised by others’ behaviour, -and even by the deeds of relatives who are best known to -him. Seeing, then, how uncertainly anyone can foresee the -actions of an individual, how can he with any certainty foresee -the operation of a social structure? He proceeds on the -assumption that all concerned will judge -rightly and act <span class="xxpn" id="p457">{457}</span> -fairly—will think as they ought to think, and act as they -ought to act; and he assumes this regardless of the daily -experiences which show him that men do neither the one -nor the other, and forgetting that the complaints he makes -against the existing system show his belief to be that men -have neither the wisdom nor the rectitude which his plan -requires them to have.</p> - -<p>Paper constitutions raise smiles on the faces of those -who have observed their results; and paper social systems -similarly affect those who have contemplated the available -evidence. How little the men who wrought the French -revolution and were chiefly concerned in setting up the -new governmental apparatus, dreamt that one of the early -actions of this apparatus would be to behead them all! -How little the men who drew up the American Declaration -of Independence and framed the republic, anticipated that -after some generations the legislature would lapse into the -hands of wire-pullers; that its doings would turn upon the -contests of office-seekers; that political action would be -everywhere vitiated by the intrusion of a foreign element -holding the balance between parties; that electors, instead of -judging for themselves, would habitually be led to the polls -in thousands by their “bosses;” and that respectable men -would be driven out of public life by the insults and slanders -of professional politicians. Nor were there better previsions -in those who gave constitutions to the various other states of -the New World, in which unnumbered revolutions have shown -with wonderful persistence the contrasts between the -expected results of political systems and the achieved -results. It has been no less thus with proposed systems of -social re-organization, so far as they have been tried. Save -where celibacy has been insisted on, their history has been -everywhere one of disaster; ending with the history of -Cabet’s Icarian colony lately given by one of its members, -Madame Fleury Robinson, in <i>The Open Court</i>—a history of -splittings, re-splittings and -re-re-splittings, accompanied by <span class="xxpn" id="p458">{458}</span> -numerous individual secessions and final dissolution. And -for the failure of such social schemes, as for the failure of -the political schemes, there has been one general cause.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Metamorphosis is the universal law, exemplified throughout -the Heavens and on the Earth: especially throughout -the organic world; and above all in the animal division -of it. No creature, save the simplest and most minute, -commences its existence in a form like that which it -eventually assumes; and in most cases the unlikeness is -great—so great that kinship between the first and the last -forms would be incredible were it not daily demonstrated -in every poultry-yard and every garden. More than this -is true. The changes of form are often several: each of them -being an apparently complete transformation—egg, larva, -pupa, imago, for example. And this universal metamorphosis, -displayed alike in the development of a planet and -of every seed which germinates on its surface, holds also of -societies, whether taken as wholes or in their separate -institutions. No one of them ends as it begins; and the difference -between its original structure and its ultimate structure -is such that, at the outset, change of the one into the other -would have seemed incredible. In the rudest tribe the -chief, obeyed as leader in war, loses his distinctive position -when the fighting is over; and even where continued warfare -has produced permanent chieftainship, the chief, building -his own hut, getting his own food, making his own implements, -differs from others only by his predominant influence. -There is no sign that in course of time, by conquests and -unions of tribes, and consolidations of clusters so formed -with other such clusters, until a nation has been produced, -there will originate from the primitive chief, one who, as czar -or emperor, surrounded with pomp and ceremony, has despotic -power over scores of millions, exercised through hundreds of -thousands of soldiers and hundreds of thousands of officials. -When the early Christian -missionaries, having humble <span class="xxpn" id="p459">{459}</span> -externals and passing self-denying lives, spread over pagan -Europe, preaching forgiveness of injuries and the returning -of good for evil, no one dreamt that in course of time their -representatives would form a vast hierarchy, possessing -everywhere a large part of the land, distinguished by the -haughtiness of its members grade above grade, ruled by -military bishops who led their retainers to battle, and -headed by a pope exercising supreme power over kings. -So, too, has it been with that very industrial system which -many are now so eager to replace. In its original form -there was no prophecy of the factory-system or kindred -organizations of workers. Differing from them only as -being the head of his house, the master worked along with -his apprentices and a journeyman or two, sharing with -them his table and accommodation, and himself selling -their joint produce. Only with industrial growth did there -come employment of a larger number of assistants, and a -relinquishment, on the part of the master, of all other -business than that of superintendence. And only in the -course of recent times did there evolve the organizations -under which the labours of hundreds and thousands of men -receiving wages, are regulated by various orders of paid -officials under a single or multiple head. These originally -small, semi-socialistic, groups of producers, like the compound -families or house-communities of early ages, slowly -dissolved because they could not hold their ground: the -larger establishments, with better sub-division of labour, -succeeded because they ministered to the wants of society -more effectually. But we need not go back through the -centuries to trace transformations sufficiently great and -unexpected. On the day when £30,000 a year in aid of -education was voted as an experiment, the name of idiot -would have been given to an opponent who prophesied -that in 50 years the sum spent through imperial taxes and -local rates would amount to £10,000,000 or who said that the -aid to education would be followed by aids -to feeding and <span class="xxpn" id="p460">{460}</span> -clothing, or who said that parents and children, alike -deprived of all option, would, even if starving, be compelled -by fine or imprisonment to conform, and receive that -which, with papal assumption, the State calls education. -No one, I say, would have dreamt that out of so innocent-looking -a germ would have so quickly evolved this tyrannical -system, tamely submitted to by people who fancy -themselves free.</p> - -<p>Thus in social arrangements, as in all other things, -change is inevitable. It is foolish to suppose that new -institutions set up, will long retain the character given -them by those who set them up. Rapidly or slowly they -will be transformed into institutions unlike those intended—so -unlike as even to be unrecognizable by their -devisers. And what, in the case before us, will be the -metamorphosis? The answer pointed to by instances above -given, and warranted by various analogies, is manifest.</p> - -<p>A cardinal trait in all advancing organization is the -development of the regulative apparatus. If the parts of -a whole are to act together, there must be appliances by -which their actions are directed; and in proportion as the -whole is large and complex, and has many requirements -to be met by many agencies, the directive apparatus must -be extensive, elaborate, and powerful. That it is thus with -individual organisms needs no saying; and that it must be -thus with social organisms is obvious. Beyond the regulative -apparatus such as in our own society is required for -carrying on national defence and maintaining public order -and personal safety, there must, under the <i>régime</i> of -socialism, be a regulative apparatus everywhere controlling -all kinds of production and distribution, and everywhere -apportioning the shares of products of each kind required -for each locality, each working establishment, each individual. -Under our existing voluntary coöperation, with -its free contracts and its competition, production and -distribution need no official oversight. Demand and <span class="xxpn" id="p461">{461}</span> -supply, and the desire of each man to gain a living by -supplying the needs of his fellows, spontaneously evolve -that wonderful system whereby a great city has its food -daily brought round to all doors or stored at adjacent -shops; has clothing for its citizens everywhere at hand in -multitudinous varieties; has its houses and furniture and -fuel ready made or stocked in each locality; and has -mental pabulum from halfpenny papers hourly hawked -round, to weekly shoals of novels, and less abundant books -of instruction, furnished without stint for small payments. -And throughout the kingdom, production as well as distribution -is similarly carried on with the smallest amount of -superintendence which proves efficient; while the quantities -of the numerous commodities required daily in each -locality are adjusted without any other agency than the -pursuit of profit. Suppose now that this industrial <i>régime</i> -of willinghood, acting spontaneously, is replaced by a <i>régime</i> -of industrial obedience, enforced by public officials. Imagine -the vast administration required for that distribution of -all commodities to all people in every city, town and -village, which is now effected by traders! Imagine, again, -the still more vast administration required for doing all -that farmers, manufacturers, and merchants do; having -not only its various orders of local superintendents, but its -sub-centres and chief centres needed for apportioning the -quantities of each thing everywhere needed, and the -adjustment of them to the requisite times. Then add the -staffs wanted for working mines, railways, roads, canals; -the staffs required for conducting the importing and -exporting businesses and the administration of mercantile -shipping; the staffs required for supplying towns not only -with water and gas but with locomotion by tramways, -omnibuses, and other vehicles, and for the distribution of -power, electric and other. Join with these the existing -postal, telegraphic, and telephonic administrations; and -finally those of the police and army, by -which the dictates <span class="xxpn" id="p462">{462}</span> -of this immense consolidated regulative system are to be -everywhere enforced. Imagine all this and then ask what -will be the position of the actual workers! Already on the -continent, where governmental organizations are more -elaborate and coercive than here, there are chronic complaints -of the tyranny of bureaucracies—the <i>hauteur</i> and -brutality of their members. What will these become when -not only the more public actions of citizens are controlled, -but there is added this far more extensive control of -all their respective daily duties? What will happen -when the various divisions of this vast army of officials, -united by interests common to officialism—the interests -of the regulators <i>versus</i> those of the regulated—have -at their command whatever force is needful to suppress -insubordination and act as “saviours of society”? Where -will be the actual diggers and miners and smelters -and weavers, when those who order and superintend, -everywhere arranged class above class, have come, after -some generations, to inter-marry with those of kindred -grades, under feelings such as are operative in existing -classes; and when there have been so produced a series of -castes rising in superiority; and when all these, having -everything in their own power, have arranged modes of -living for their own advantage: eventually forming a new -aristocracy far more elaborate and better organized than -the old? How will the individual worker fare if he is -dissatisfied with his treatment—thinks that he has not -an adequate share of the products, or has more to do -than can rightly be demanded, or wishes to undertake -a function for which he feels himself fitted but which is -not thought proper for him by his superiors, or desires to -make an independent career for himself? This dissatisfied -unit in the immense machine will be told he must submit -or go. The mildest penalty for disobedience will be industrial -excommunication. And if an international organization -of labour is formed as proposed, exclusion -in one country <span class="xxpn" id="p463">{463}</span> -will mean exclusion in all others—industrial excommunication -will mean starvation.</p> - -<p>That things must take this course is a conclusion reached -not by deduction only, nor only by induction from those -experiences of the past instanced above, nor only from -consideration of the analogies furnished by organisms of -all orders; but it is reached also by observation of cases -daily under our eyes. The truth that the regulative -structure always tends to increase in power, is illustrated -by every established body of men. The history of each -learned society, or society for other purpose, shows how -the staff, permanent or partially permanent, sways the -proceedings and determines the actions of the society with -but little resistance, even when most members of the society -disapprove: the repugnance to anything like a revolutionary -step being ordinarily an efficient deterrent. So is it with -joint-stock companies—those owning railways for example. -The plans of a board of directors are usually authorized -with little or no discussion; and if there is any considerable -opposition, this is forthwith crushed by an overwhelming -number of proxies sent by those who always support the -existing administration. Only when the misconduct is extreme -does the resistance of shareholders suffice to displace the -ruling body. Nor is it otherwise with societies formed of -working men and having the interests of labour especially -at heart—the trades-unions. In these, too, the regulative -agency becomes all powerful. Their members, even when -they dissent from the policy pursued, habitually yield to the -authorities they have set up. As they cannot secede without -making enemies of their fellow workmen, and often losing -all chance of employment, they succumb. We are shown, -too, by the late congress, that already, in the general -organization of trades-unions so recently formed, there are -complaints of “wire-pullers” and “bosses” and “permanent -officials.” If, then, this supremacy of the regulators is -seen in bodies of quite modern origin, formed -of men who <span class="xxpn" id="p464">{464}</span> -have, in many of the cases instanced, unhindered powers -of asserting their independence, what will the supremacy of -the regulators become in long-established bodies, in bodies -which have become vast and highly organized, and in bodies -which, instead of controlling only a small part of the unit’s -life, control the whole of his life?</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Again there will come the rejoinder—“We shall guard -against all that. Everybody will be educated; and all, with -their eyes constantly open to the abuse of power, will be -quick to prevent it.” The worth of these expectations would -be small even could we not identify the causes which -will bring disappointment; for in human affairs the most -promising schemes go wrong in ways which no one anticipated. -But in this case the going wrong will be necessitated -by causes which are conspicuous. The working of institutions -is determined by men’s characters; and the existing -defects in their characters will inevitably bring about the -results above indicated. There is no adequate endowment -of those sentiments required to prevent the growth -of a despotic bureaucracy.</p> - -<p>Were it needful to dwell on indirect evidence, much might -be made of that furnished by the behaviour of the so-called -Liberal party—a party which, relinquishing the original -conception of a leader as a mouthpiece for a known and -accepted policy, thinks itself bound to accept a policy which -its leader springs upon it without consent or warning—a -party so utterly without the feeling and idea implied by -liberalism, as not to resent this trampling on the right of -private judgment, which constitutes the root of liberalism—nay, -a party which vilifies as renegade liberals, those of its -members who refuse to surrender their independence! But -without occupying space with indirect proofs that the mass -of men have not the natures required to check the development -of tyrannical officialism, it will suffice to contemplate -the direct proofs furnished by those -classes among whom <span class="xxpn" id="p465">{465}</span> -the socialistic idea most predominates, and who think -themselves most interested in propagating it—the operative -classes. These would constitute the great body of the -socialistic organization, and their characters would determine -its nature. What, then, are their characters as displayed -in such organizations as they have already formed?</p> - -<p>Instead of the selfishness of the employing classes and -the selfishness of competition, we are to have the unselfishness -of a mutually-aiding system. How far is this -unselfishness now shown in the behaviour of working men -to one another? What shall we say to the rules limiting -the numbers of new hands admitted into each trade, or -to the rules which hinder ascent from inferior classes of -workers to superior classes? One does not see in such -regulations any of that altruism by which socialism is to be -pervaded. Contrariwise, one sees a pursuit of private -interests no less keen than among traders. Hence, unless -we suppose that men’s natures will be suddenly exalted, -we must conclude that the pursuit of private interests -will sway the doings of all the component classes in a -socialistic society.</p> - -<p>With passive disregard of others’ claims goes active -encroachment on them. “Be one of us or we will cut off -your means of living,” is the usual threat of each trades-union -to outsiders of the same trade. While their members -insist on their own freedom to combine and fix the rates at -which they will work (as they are perfectly justified in -doing), the freedom of those who disagree with them is not -only denied but the assertion of it is treated as a crime. -Individuals who maintain their rights to make their own -contracts are vilified as “blacklegs” and “traitors,” and -meet with violence which would be merciless were there no -legal penalties and no police. Along with this trampling -on the liberties of men of their own class, there goes -peremptory dictation to the employing class: not prescribed -terms and working arrangements only -shall be conformed <span class="xxpn" id="p466">{466}</span> -to, but none save those belonging to their body shall be -employed—nay, in some cases, there shall be a strike if the -employer carries on transactions with trading bodies that -give work to non-union men. Here, then, we are variously -shown by trades-unions, or at any rate by the newer trades-unions, -a determination to impose their regulations without -regard to the rights of those who are to be coerced. So -complete is the inversion of ideas and sentiments that -maintenance of these rights is regarded as vicious and -trespass upon them as virtuous.<a class="afnanch" href="#fn45" id="fnanch45">45</a></p> - -<p>Along with this aggressiveness in one direction there -goes submissiveness in another direction. The coercion of -outsiders by unionists is paralleled only by their subjection -to their leaders. That they may conquer in the struggle -they surrender their individual liberties and individual -judgments, and show no resentment however dictatorial may -be the rule exercised over them. Everywhere we see such -subordination that bodies of workmen unanimously leave -their work or return to it as their authorities order them. -Nor do they resist when taxed all round to support strikers -whose acts they may or may not approve, but instead, ill-treat -recalcitrant members of their body -who do not subscribe. <span class="xxpn" id="p467">{467}</span></p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanch45" id="fn45">45</a> -Marvellous are the conclusions men reach when once they desert the -simple principle, that each man should be allowed to pursue the objects of -life, restrained only by the limits which the similar pursuits of their objects -by other men impose. A generation ago we heard loud assertions of ‘the -right to labour,’ that is, the right to have labour provided; and there are -still not a few who think the community bound to find work for each person. -Compare this with the doctrine current in France at the time when the -monarchical power culminated; namely, that ‘the right of working is a -royal right which the prince can sell and the subjects must buy.’ This -contrast is startling enough; but a contrast still more startling is being -provided for us. We now see a resuscitation of the despotic doctrine, -differing only by the substitution of Trades-Unions for kings. For now -that Trades-Unions are becoming universal, and each artisan has to pay -prescribed monies to one or another of them, with the alternative of being -a non-unionist to whom work is denied by force, it has come to this, that -the right to labour is a Trade-Union right, which the Trade-Union can sell -and the individual -worker must buy!</p></div> - -<p>The traits thus shown must be operative in any new -social organization, and the question to be asked is—What -will result from their operation when they are relieved -from all restraints? At present the separate bodies of men -displaying them are in the midst of a society partially -passive, partially antagonistic; are subject to the criticisms -and reprobations of an independent press; and are under -the control of law, enforced by police. If in these circumstances -these bodies habitually take courses which override -individual freedom, what will happen when, instead of -being only scattered parts of the community, governed by -their separate sets of regulators, they constitute the whole -community, governed by a consolidated system of such -regulators; when functionaries of all orders, including those -who officer the press, form parts of the regulative organization; -and when the law is both enacted and administered -by this regulative organization? The fanatical adherents -of a social theory are capable of taking any measures, no -matter how extreme, for carrying out their views: holding, -like the merciless priesthoods of past times, that the end -justifies the means. And when a general socialistic organization -has been established, the vast, ramified, and consolidated -body of those who direct its activities, using -without check whatever coercion seems to them needful in -the interests of the system (which will practically become -their own interests) will have no hesitation in imposing -their rigorous rule over the entire lives of the actual -workers; until, eventually, there is developed an official -oligarchy, with its various grades, exercising a tyranny more -gigantic and more terrible than any which the world has seen.</p> - -<p class="padtopb">Let me again repudiate an erroneous inference. Any -one who supposes that the foregoing argument implies -contentment with things as they are, makes a profound -mistake. The present social state is transitional, as past -social states have been transitional. There -will, I hope <span class="xxpn" id="p468">{468}</span> -and believe, come a future social state differing as much -from the present as the present differs from the past -with its mailed barons and defenceless serfs. In <i>Social -Statics</i>, as well as in <i>The Study of Sociology</i> and in <i>Political -Institutions</i>, is clearly shown the desire for an organization -more conducive to the happiness of men at large than -that which exists. My opposition to socialism results from -the belief that it would stop the progress to such a higher -state and bring back a lower state. Nothing but the slow -modification of human nature by the discipline of social -life, can produce permanently advantageous changes.</p> - -<p>A fundamental error pervading the thinking of nearly -all parties, political and social, is that evils admit of -immediate and radical remedies. “If you will but do this, -the mischief will be prevented.” “Adopt my plan and -the suffering will disappear.” “The corruption will unquestionably -be cured by enforcing this measure.” Everywhere -one meets with beliefs, expressed or implied, of these -kinds. They are all ill-founded. It is possible to remove -causes which intensify the evils; it is possible to change -the evils from one form into another; and it is possible, and -very common, to exacerbate the evils by the efforts made to -prevent them; but anything like immediate cure is impossible. -In the course of thousands of years mankind have, -by multiplication, been forced out of that original savage -state in which small numbers supported themselves on wild -food, into the civilized state in which the food required for -supporting great numbers can be got only by continuous -labour. The nature required for this last mode of life is -widely different from the nature required for the first; -and long-continued pains have to be passed through in -re-moulding the one into the other. Misery has necessarily -to be borne by a constitution out of harmony with its conditions; -and a constitution inherited from primitive men is -out of harmony with the conditions imposed on existing -men. Hence it is impossible to -establish forthwith a <span class="xxpn" id="p469">{469}</span> -satisfactory social state. No such nature as that which has -filled Europe with millions of armed men, here eager for -conquest and there for revenge—no such nature as that -which prompts the nations called Christian to vie with one -another in filibustering expeditions all over the world, -regardless of the claims of aborigines, while their tens of -thousands of priests of the religion of love look on approvingly—no -such nature as that which, in dealing with -weaker races, goes beyond the primitive rule of life for -life, and for one life takes many lives—no such nature, I -say, can, by any device, be framed into a harmonious community. -The root of all well-ordered social action is a -sentiment of justice, which at once insists on personal -freedom and is solicitous for the like freedom of others; -and there at present exists but a very inadequate amount -of this sentiment.</p> - -<p>Hence the need for further long continuance of a social -discipline which requires each man to carry on his activities -with due regard to the like claims of others to carry on -their activities; and which, while it insists that he shall -have all the benefits his conduct naturally brings, insists -also that he shall not saddle on others the evils his conduct -naturally brings: unless they freely undertake to bear them. -And hence the belief that endeavours to elude this discipline, -will not only fail, but will bring worse evils than -those to be escaped.</p> - -<p>It is not, then, chiefly in the interests of the employing -classes that socialism is to be resisted, but much more in -the interests of the employed classes. In one way or -other production must be regulated; and the regulators, -in the nature of things, must always be a small class as -compared with the actual producers. -Under voluntary coöperation -as at present carried on, the regulators, pursuing -their personal interests, take as large a share of the -produce as they can get; but, as we are daily shown by -trades-union successes, are restrained in -the selfish pursuit <span class="xxpn" id="p470">{470}</span> -of their ends. Under that compulsory coöperation which -socialism would necessitate, the regulators, pursuing their -personal interests with no less selfishness, could not be -met by the combined resistance of free workers; and their -power, unchecked as now by refusals to work save on -prescribed terms, would grow and ramify and consolidate -till it became irresistible. The ultimate result, as I have -before pointed out, must be a society like that of ancient -Peru, dreadful to contemplate, in which the mass of the -people, elaborately regimented in groups of 10, 50, 100, -500, and 1000, ruled by officers of corresponding grades, -and tied to their districts, were superintended in their -private lives as well as in their industries, and toiled -hopelessly for the support of -the governmental organization.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p471">{471}</span></div> -<h2 class="h2nobreak">THE AMERICANS:<br /> -A <span class="smcap">C<b>ONVERSATION</b></span> -<span class="smmaj">AND A</span> -<span class="smcap">S<b>PEECH</b>,</span> -<span class="smmaj">WITH AN</span> -<span class="smcap">A<b>DDITION.</b></span></h2></div> - -<div class="dchappre"> -<p class="pfirst">[<i>Originally published -in America and afterwards published in -England in</i> The Contemporary Review <i>for January 1883, preceded -by the following editorial note:—“The state of Mr. Spencer’s -health unfortunately not permitting him, to give in the form of -articles the results of his observations on American society, it is -thought useful to reproduce, under his own revision and with some -additional remarks, what he has said on the subject; especially as -the accounts of it which have appeared in this country are imperfect: -reports of the conversation having been abridged, and the -speech being known only by telegraphic summary.</i></p> - -<p><i>“The earlier paragraphs of the conversation, which refer to Mr. -Spencer’s persistent exclusion of reporters and his objections to the -interviewing system, are omitted, as not here concerning the reader. -There was no eventual yielding, as has been supposed. It was not -to a newspaper-reporter that the opinions which follow were expressed, -but to an intimate American friend: the primary purpose -being to correct the many misstatements to which the excluded interviewers -had given currency; and the occasion being taken for giving -utterance to impressions of American -affairs.</i>”—<span class="smcap">E<b>D.</b></span>]</p></div> - -<div class="dkeeptogether"> -<h3>I.—A <span class="smcap">C<b>ONVERSATION</b></span>: -<i>October 20, 1882</i>.</h3> - -<p>Has what you have seen answered your expectations ?</p></div> - -<p>It has far exceeded them. Such books about America -as I had looked into had given me no adequate idea of -the immense developments of -material civilization which <span class="xxpn" id="p472">{472}</span> -I have everywhere found. The extent, wealth, and magnificence -of your cities, and especially the splendour of -New York, have altogether astonished me. Though I have -not visited the wonder of the West, Chicago, yet some of -your minor modern places, such as Cleveland, have sufficiently -amazed me by the results of one generation’s activity. -Occasionally, when I have been in places of some ten -thousand inhabitants where the telephone is in general -use, I have felt somewhat ashamed of our own unenterprising -towns, many of which, of fifty thousand inhabitants -and more, make no use of it.</p> - -<p>I suppose you recognize in these results the great -benefits of free institutions ?</p> - -<p>Ah ! Now comes one of the inconveniences of interviewing. -I have been in the country less than two months, -have seen but a relatively small part of it, and but comparatively -few people, and yet you wish from me a definite -opinion on a difficult question.</p> - -<p>Perhaps you will answer, subject to the qualification that -you are but giving your first impressions ?</p> - -<p>Well, with that understanding, I may reply that though -the free institutions have been partly the cause, I think -they have not been the chief cause. In the first place, the -American people have come into possession of an unparalleled -fortune—the mineral wealth and the vast tracts -of virgin soil producing abundantly with small cost of -culture. Manifestly, that alone goes a long way towards -producing this enormous prosperity. Then they have profited -by inheriting all the arts, appliances, and methods, -developed by older societies, while leaving behind the -obstructions existing in them. They have been able to -pick and choose from the products of all past experience, -appropriating the good and rejecting the bad. Then, -besides these favours of fortune, there are factors proper -to themselves. I perceive in American faces generally a -great amount of determination—a kind of -“do or die” <span class="xxpn" id="p473">{473}</span> -expression; and this trait of character, joined with a power -of work exceeding that of any other people, of course produces -an unparalleled rapidity of progress. Once more, -there is the inventiveness which, stimulated by the need -for economizing labour, has been so wisely fostered. Among -us in England, there are many foolish people who, while -thinking that a man who toils with his hands has an equitable -claim to the product, and if he has special skill may -rightly have the advantage of it, also hold that if a man -toils with his brain, perhaps for years, and, uniting genius -with perseverance, evolves some valuable invention, the -public may rightly claim the benefit. The Americans have -been more far-seeing. The enormous museum of patents -which I saw at Washington is significant of the attention -paid to inventors’ claims; and the nation profits immensely -from having in this direction (though not in all others) -recognized property in mental products. Beyond question, -in respect of mechanical appliances the Americans are -ahead of all nations. If along with your material progress -there went equal progress of a higher kind, there would -remain nothing to be wished.</p> - -<p>That is an ambiguous qualification. What do you mean -by it ?</p> - -<p>You will understand me when I tell you what I was -thinking the other day. After pondering over what I have -seen of your vast manufacturing and trading establishments, -the rush of traffic in your street-cars and elevated railways, -your gigantic hotels and Fifth Avenue palaces, I was suddenly -reminded of the Italian Republics of the Middle Ages; -and recalled the fact that while there was growing up in -them great commercial activity, a development of the arts, -which made them the envy of Europe, and a building of -princely mansions which continue to be the admiration of -travellers, their people were gradually losing their freedom.</p> - -<p>Do you mean this as a suggestion that we are doing -the like ?</p> - -<p>It seems to me that you are. You retain -the forms of <span class="xxpn" id="p474">{474}</span> -freedom; but, so far as I can gather, there has been a -considerable loss of the substance. It is true that those who -rule you do not do it by means of retainers armed with -swords; but they do it through regiments of men armed -with voting papers, who obey the word of command as -loyally as did the dependants of the old feudal nobles, and -who thus enable their leaders to override the general will, -and make the community submit to their exactions as -effectually as their prototypes of old. It is doubtless true -that each of your citizens votes for the candidate he chooses -for this or that office, from President downwards; but his -hand is guided by an agency behind which leaves him -scarcely any choice. “Use your political power as we tell -you, or else throw it away,” is the alternative offered to the -citizen. The political machinery as it is now worked, has -little resemblance to that contemplated at the outset of -your political life. Manifestly, those who framed your Constitution -never dreamed that twenty thousand citizens would -go to the poll led by a “boss.” America exemplifies at the -other end of the social scale, a change analogous to that -which has taken place under sundry despotisms. You -know that in Japan, before the recent Revolution, the -divine ruler, the Mikado, nominally supreme, was practically -a puppet in the hands of his chief minister, the -Shogun. Here it seems to me that “the sovereign people” -is fast becoming a puppet which moves and speaks as wire-pullers -determine.</p> - -<p>Then you think that Republican institutions are a failure ?</p> - -<p>By no means: I imply no such conclusion. Thirty years -ago, when often discussing politics with an English friend, -and defending Republican institutions, as I always have -done and do still, and when he urged against me the ill-working -of such institutions over here, I habitually replied -that the Americans got their form of government by -a happy accident, not by normal progress, and that they -would have to go back before they could go forward. What -has since happened seems to me to -have justified that <span class="xxpn" id="p475">{475}</span> -view; and what I see now, confirms me in it. America -is showing, on a larger scale than ever before, that “paper -Constitutions” will not work as they are intended to -work. The truth, first recognized by Mackintosh, that -Constitutions are not made but grow, which is part -of the larger truth that societies, throughout their whole -organizations, are not made but grow, at once, when -accepted, disposes of the notion that you can work as -you hope any artificially-devised system of government. -It becomes an inference that if your political structure has -been manufactured and not grown, it will forthwith begin -to grow into something different from that intended—something -in harmony with the natures of the citizens, and -the conditions under which the society exists. And it -evidently has been so with you. Within the forms of your -Constitution there has grown up this organization of professional -politicians altogether uncontemplated at the outset, -which has become in large measure the ruling power.</p> - -<p>But will not education and the diffusion of political -knowledge fit men for free institutions ?</p> - -<p>No. It is essentially a question of character, and only in -a secondary degree a question of knowledge. But for the -universal delusion about education as a panacea for political -evils, this would have been made sufficiently clear by the -evidence daily disclosed in your papers. Are not the men -who officer and control your Federal, your State, and your -Municipal organizations—who manipulate your caucuses -and conventions, and run your partisan campaigns—all -educated men? And has their education prevented them -from engaging in, or permitting, or condoning, the -briberies, lobbyings, and other corrupt methods which -vitiate the actions of your administrations? Perhaps party -newspapers exaggerate these things; but what am I to -make of the testimony of your civil service reformers—men -of all parties? If I understand the matter aright, -they are attacking, as vicious and -dangerous, a system <span class="xxpn" id="p476">{476}</span> -which has grown up under the natural spontaneous working -of your free institutions—are exposing vices which -education has proved powerless to prevent?</p> - -<p>Of course, ambitious and unscrupulous men will secure -the offices, and education will aid them in their selfish -purposes. But would not those purposes be thwarted, and -better Government secured, by raising the standard of -knowledge among the people at large ?</p> - -<p>Very little. The current theory is that if the young are -taught what is right, and the reasons why it is right, they -will do what is right when they grow up. But considering -what religious teachers have been doing these two thousand -years, it seems to me that all history is against the conclusion, -as much as is the conduct of these well-educated -citizens I have referred to; and I do not see why you -expect better results among the masses. Personal interests -will sway the men in the ranks, as they sway the men -above them; and the education which fails to make the -last consult public good rather than private good, will fail to -make the first do it. The benefits of political purity are so -general and remote, and the profit to each individual is so -inconspicuous, that the common citizen, educate him as you -like, will habitually occupy himself with his personal affairs, -and hold it not worth his while to fight against each abuse -as soon as it appears. Not lack of information, but lack of -certain moral sentiment, is the root of the evil.</p> - -<p>You mean that people have not a sufficient sense of -public duty ?</p> - -<p>Well, that is one way of putting it; but there is a more -specific way. Probably it will surprise you if I say the -American has not, I think, a sufficiently quick sense of his -own claims, and, at the same time, as a necessary consequence, -not a sufficiently quick sense of the claims of others—for -the two traits are organically related. I observe that -they tolerate various small interferences and dictations -which Englishmen are prone to resist. I am -told that the <span class="xxpn" id="p477">{477}</span> -English are remarked on for their tendency to grumble in -such cases; and I have no doubt it is true.</p> - -<p>Do you think it worth while for people to make themselves -disagreeable by resenting every trifling aggression ? We -Americans think it involves too much loss of time and -temper, and doesn’t pay.</p> - -<p>Exactly; that is what I mean by character. It is this -easy-going readiness to permit small trespasses, because it -would be troublesome or profitless or unpopular to oppose -them, which leads to the habit of acquiescence in wrong, -and the decay of free institutions. Free institutions can be -maintained only by citizens, each of whom is instant to -oppose every illegitimate act, every assumption of supremacy, -every official excess of power, however trivial it may -seem. As Hamlet says, there is such a thing as “greatly -to find quarrel in a straw,” when the straw implies a -principle. If, as you say of the American, he pauses to -consider whether he can afford the time and trouble—whether -it will pay, corruption is sure to creep in. All -these lapses from higher to lower forms begin in trifling -ways, and it is only by incessant watchfulness that they can -be prevented. As one of your early statesmen said—“The -price of liberty is eternal vigilance.” But it is far less -against foreign aggressions upon national liberty that this -vigilance is required, than against the insidious growth of -domestic interferences with personal liberty. In some -private administrations which I have been concerned with, -I have often insisted that instead of assuming, as people -usually do, that things are going right until it is proved -that they are going wrong, the proper course is to assume -that they are going wrong until it is proved that they -are going right. You will find continually that private -corporations, such as joint-stock banking companies, come -to grief from not acting on this principle; and what holds -of these small and simple private administrations holds still -more of the great and -complex public administrations. <span class="xxpn" id="p478">{478}</span> -People are taught, and I suppose believe, that the heart -of man “is deceitful above all things, and desperately -wicked;” and yet, strangely enough, believing this, they -place implicit trust in those they appoint to this or that -function. I do not think so ill of human nature; but, on -the other hand, I do not think so well of human nature as -to believe it will go straight without being watched.</p> - -<p>You hinted that while Americans do not assert their own -individualities sufficiently in small matters, they, reciprocally, -do not sufficiently respect the individualities of others.</p> - -<p>Did I? Here, then, comes another of the inconveniences -of interviewing. I should have kept this opinion to myself -if you had asked me no questions; and now I must either -say what I do not think, which I cannot, or I must refuse -to answer, which, perhaps, will be taken to mean more than -I intend, or I must specify, at the risk of giving offence. -As the least evil, I suppose I must do the last. The trait I -refer to comes out in various ways, small and great. It is -shown by the disrespectful manner in which individuals are -dealt with in your journals—the placarding of public men -in sensational headings, the dragging of private people and -their affairs into print. There seems to be a notion that the -public have a right to intrude on private life as far as they -like; and this I take to be a kind of moral trespassing. -Then, in a larger way, the trait is seen in this damaging of -private property by your elevated railways without making -compensation; and it is again seen in the doings of railway -autocrats, not only when overriding the rights of shareholders, -but in dominating over courts of justice and State -governments. The fact is that free institutions can be -properly worked only by men, each of whom is jealous of -his own rights, and also sympathetically jealous of the -rights of others—who will neither himself aggress on his -neighbours in small things or great, nor tolerate aggression -on them by others. The Republican form of government -is the highest form of government; but because -of this it <span class="xxpn" id="p479">{479}</span> -requires the highest type of human nature—a type -nowhere at present existing. We have not grown up to it; -nor have you.</p> - -<p>But we thought, Mr. Spencer, you were in favour of -free government in the sense of relaxed restraints, and -letting men and things very much alone, or what is called -<i>laissez faire</i> ?</p> - -<p>That is a persistent misunderstanding of my opponents. -Everywhere, along with the reprobation of Government -intrusion into various spheres where private activities -should be left to themselves, I have contended that in its -special sphere, the maintenance of equitable relations -among citizens, governmental action should be extended -and elaborated.</p> - -<p>To return to your various criticisms, must I then understand -that you think unfavourably of our future ?</p> - -<p>No one can form anything more than vague and general -conclusions respecting your future. The factors are too -numerous, too vast, too far beyond measure in their quantities -and intensities. The world has never before seen social -phenomena at all comparable with those presented in the -United States. A society spreading over enormous tracts, -while still preserving its political continuity, is a new thing. -This progressive incorporation of vast bodies of immigrants -of various bloods, has never occurred on such a scale before. -Large empires, composed of different peoples, have, in -previous cases, been formed by conquest and annexation. -Then your immense <i>plexus</i> of railways and telegraphs -tends to consolidate this vast aggregate of States in a way -that no such aggregate has ever before been consolidated. -And there are many minor co-operating causes, unlike those -hitherto known. No one can say how it is all going to -work out. That there will come hereafter troubles of -various kinds, and very grave ones, seems highly probable; -but all nations have had, and will have, their troubles. -Already you have triumphed over one -great trouble, and <span class="xxpn" id="p480">{480}</span> -may reasonably hope to triumph over others. It may, I -think, be concluded that, both because of its size and the -heterogeneity of its components, the American nation will -be a long time in evolving its ultimate form, but that its -ultimate form will be high. One great result is, I think, -tolerably clear. From biological truths it is to be inferred -that the eventual mixture of the allied varieties of the -Aryan race forming the population, will produce a finer -type of man than has hitherto existed; and a type of man -more plastic, more adaptable, more capable of undergoing -the modifications needful for complete social life. I think -that whatever difficulties they may have to surmount, and -whatever tribulations they may have to pass through, the -Americans may reasonably look forward to a time when -they will have produced a civilization grander than any the -world has known.</p> - -<div class="section"> -<h3>II.—A <span class="smcap">S<b>PEECH</b></span>:</h3> - -<div class="dh3pre"> -<i>Delivered on the occasion of a Complimentary Dinner in -New York, on November 9, 1882.</i></div></div> - -<p>Mr. President and Gentlemen:—Along with your kindness -there comes to me a great unkindness from Fate; for, -now that, above all times in my life, I need full command -of what powers of speech I possess, disturbed health so -threatens to interfere with them that I fear I shall very -inadequately express myself. Any failure in my response -you must please ascribe, in part at least, to a greatly disordered -nervous system. Regarding you as representing -Americans at large, I feel that the occasion is one on which -arrears of thanks are due. I ought to begin with the time, -some two-and-twenty years ago, when my highly valued -friend Professor Youmans, making efforts to diffuse my -books here, interested on their behalf the Messrs. Appleton, -who have ever treated me so honourably and so handsomely; -and I ought to detail from that time -onward the various <span class="xxpn" id="p481">{481}</span> -marks and acts of sympathy by which I have been encouraged -in a struggle which was for many years disheartening. -But, intimating thus briefly my general indebtedness to my -numerous friends, most of them unknown, on this side of -the Atlantic, I must name more especially the many attentions -and proffered hospitalities met with during my late -tour, as well as, lastly and chiefly, this marked expression of -the sympathies and good wishes which many of you have -travelled so far to give, at great cost of that time which is -so precious to the American. I believe I may truly say, -that the better health which you have so cordially wished -me, will be in a measure furthered by the wish; since all -pleasurable emotion is conducive to health, and, as you will -fully believe, the remembrance of this event will ever continue -to be a source of pleasurable emotion, exceeded by -few, if any, of my remembrances.</p> - -<p>And now that I have thanked you, sincerely though too -briefly, I am going to find fault with you. Already, in some -remarks drawn from me respecting American affairs and -American character, I have passed criticisms, which have -been accepted far more good-humouredly than I could -have reasonably expected; and it seems strange that I -should now propose again to transgress. However, the -fault I have to comment upon is one which most will -scarcely regard as a fault. It seems to me that in one -respect Americans have diverged too widely from savages, -I do not mean to say that they are in general unduly -civilized. Throughout large parts of the population, even -in long-settled regions, there is no excess of those virtues -needed for the maintenance of social harmony. Especially -out in the West, men’s dealings do not yet betray too much -of the “sweetness and light” which we are told distinguish -the cultured man from the barbarian. Nevertheless, there -is a sense in which my assertion is true. You know that -the primitive man lacks power of application. Spurred by -hunger, by danger, by revenge, he -can exert himself <span class="xxpn" id="p482">{482}</span> -energetically for a time; but his energy is spasmodic. -Monotonous daily toil is impossible to him. It is otherwise -with the more developed man. The stern discipline of -social life has gradually increased the aptitude for persistent -industry; until, among us, and still more among you, work -has become with many a passion. This contrast of nature -has another aspect. The savage thinks only of present -satisfactions, and leaves future satisfactions uncared for. -Contrariwise, the American, eagerly pursuing a future good, -almost ignores what good the passing day offers him; and -when the future good is gained, he neglects that while -striving for some still remoter good.</p> - -<p>What I have seen and heard during my stay among you -has forced on me the belief that this slow change from -habitual inertness to persistent activity has reached an -extreme from which there must begin a counterchange—a -reaction. Everywhere I have been struck with the -number of faces which told in strong lines of the burdens -that had to be borne. I have been struck, too, with the -large proportion of gray-haired men; and inquiries have -brought out the fact, that with you the hair commonly -begins to turn some ten years earlier than with us. Moreover, -in every circle I have met men who had themselves -suffered from nervous collapse due to stress of business, or -named friends who had either killed themselves by overwork, -or had been permanently incapacitated, or had wasted long -periods in endeavours to recover health. I do but echo the -opinion of all the observant persons I have spoken to, that -immense injury is being done by this high-pressure life—the -physique is being undermined. That subtle thinker -and poet whom you have lately had to mourn, Emerson, -says, in his essay on the Gentleman, that the first requisite -is that he shall be a good animal. The requisite is a general -one—it extends to the man, to the father, to the citizen. -We hear a great deal about “the vile body;” and many -are encouraged by the phrase to transgress -the laws of <span class="xxpn" id="p483">{483}</span> -health. But Nature quietly suppresses those who treat thus -disrespectfully one of her highest products, and leaves the -world to be peopled by the descendants of those who are -not so foolish.</p> - -<p>Beyond these immediate mischiefs there are remoter -mischiefs. Exclusive devotion to work has the result that -amusements cease to please; and, when relaxation becomes -imperative, life becomes dreary from lack of its sole interest—the -interest in business. The remark current in England -that, when the American travels, his aim is to do the -greatest amount of sight-seeing in the shortest time, I find -current here also: it is recognized that the satisfaction of -getting on devours nearly all other satisfactions. When -recently at Niagara, which gave us a whole week’s pleasure, -I learned from the landlord of the hotel that most Americans -come one day and go away the next. Old Froissart, who -said of the English of his day that “they take their pleasures -sadly after their fashion,” would doubtless, if he lived now, -say of the Americans that they take their pleasures -hurriedly after their fashion. In large measure with us, -and still more with you, there is not that abandonment to -the moment which is requisite for full enjoyment; and this -abandonment is prevented by the ever-present sense of -multitudinous responsibilities. So that, beyond the serious -physical mischief caused by overwork, there is the further -mischief that it destroys what value there would otherwise -be in the leisure part of life.</p> - -<p>Nor do the evils end here. There is the injury to -posterity. Damaged constitutions reappear in children, and -entail on them far more of ill than great fortunes yield -them of good. When life has been duly rationalized by -science, it will be seen that among a man’s duties, care of -the body is imperative; not only out of regard for personal -welfare, but also out of regard for descendants. His constitution -will be considered as an entailed estate, which he -ought to pass on uninjured, if not improved, to those who -follow; and it will be held that millions -bequeathed by him <span class="xxpn" id="p484">{484}</span> -will not compensate for feeble health and decreased ability -to enjoy life. Once more, there is the injury to fellow-citizens, -taking the shape of undue disregard of competitors. -I hear that a great trader among you deliberately -endeavoured to crush out every one whose business competed -with his own; and manifestly the man who, making himself -a slave to accumulation, absorbs an inordinate share of the -trade or profession he is engaged in, makes life harder for -all others engaged in it, and excludes from it many who -might otherwise gain competencies. Thus, besides the -egoistic motive, there are two altruistic motives which should -deter from this excess in work.</p> - -<p>The truth is, there needs a revised ideal of life. Look -back through the past, or look abroad through the present, -and we find that the ideal of life is variable, and depends on -social conditions. Every one knows that to be a successful -warrior was the highest aim among all ancient peoples of -note, as it is still among many barbarous peoples. When -we remember that in the Norseman’s heaven the time was -to be passed in daily battles, with magical healing of -wounds, we see how deeply rooted may become the conception -that fighting is man’s proper business, and that -industry is fit only for slaves and people of low degree. -That is to say, when the chronic struggles of races necessitate -perpetual wars, there is evolved an ideal of life -adapted to the requirements. We have changed all that in -modern civilized societies; especially in England, and still -more in America. With the decline of militant activity, and -the growth of industrial activity, the occupations once -disgraceful have become honourable. The duty to work has -taken the place of the duty to fight; and in the one case, -as in the other, the ideal of life has become so well established -that scarcely any dream of questioning it. Practically, -business has been substituted for war as the purpose -of existence.</p> - -<p>Is this modern ideal to survive throughout the future? -I think not. While all other -things undergo continuous <span class="xxpn" id="p485">{485}</span> -change, it is impossible that ideals should remain fixed. The -ancient ideal was appropriate to the ages of conquest by -man over man, and spread of the strongest races. The -modern ideal is appropriate to ages in which conquest of the -earth and subjection of the powers of Nature to human use, -is the predominant need. But hereafter, when both these ends -have in the main been achieved, the ideal formed will probably -differ considerably from the present one. May we not foresee -the nature of the difference? I think we may. Some twenty -years ago, a good friend of mine, and a good friend of yours -too, though you never saw him, John Stuart Mill, delivered -at St. Andrews an inaugural address on the occasion of his -appointment to the Lord Rectorship. It contained much -to be admired, as did all he wrote. There ran through it, -however, the tacit assumption that life is for learning and -working. I felt at the time that I should have liked to -take up the opposite thesis. I should have liked to contend -that life is not for learning, nor is life for working, but -learning and working are for life. The primary use of -knowledge is for such guidance of conduct under all -circumstances as shall make living complete. All other -uses of knowledge are secondary. It scarcely needs saying -that the primary use of work is that of supplying the -materials and aids to living completely; and that any other -uses of work are secondary. But in men’s conceptions the -secondary has in great measure usurped the place of the -primary. The apostle of culture as it is commonly conceived, -Mr. Matthew Arnold, makes little or no reference -to the fact that the first use of knowledge is the right -ordering of all actions; and Mr. Carlyle, who is a good -exponent of current ideas about work, insists on its virtues -for quite other reasons than that it achieves sustentation. -We may trace everywhere in human affairs a tendency to -transform the means into the end. All see that the miser -does this when, making the accumulation of money his sole -satisfaction, he forgets that money is of -value only to <span class="xxpn" id="p486">{486}</span> -purchase satisfactions. But it is less commonly seen that -the like is true of the work by which the money is accumulated—that -industry too, bodily or mental, is but a -means; and that it is as irrational to pursue it to the -exclusion of that complete living it subserves, as it is for the -miser to accumulate money and make no use of it. Hereafter, -when this age of active material progress has yielded -mankind its benefits, there will, I think, come a better -adjustment of labour and enjoyment. Among reasons for -thinking this, there is the reason that the process of evolution -throughout the organic world at large, brings an -increasing surplus of energies that are not absorbed in -fulfilling material needs, and points to a still larger surplus -for the humanity of the future. And there are other reasons, -which I must pass over. In brief, I may say that we have -had somewhat too much of “the gospel of work.” It is -time to preach the gospel of relaxation.</p> - -<p>This is a very unconventional after-dinner speech. -Especially it will be thought strange that in returning -thanks I should deliver something very much like a homily. -But I have thought I could not better convey my thanks -than by the expression of a sympathy which issues in a fear. -If, as I gather, this intemperance in work affects more -especially the Anglo-American part of the population—if -there results an undermining of the physique, not only in -adults, but also in the young, who, as I learn from your -daily journals, are also being injured by overwork—if the -ultimate consequence should be a dwindling away of those -among you who are the inheritors of free institutions and -best adapted to them; then there will come a further -difficulty in the working out of that great future which lies -before the American nation. To my anxiety on this -account you must please ascribe the unusual character of -my remarks.</p> - -<p>And now I must bid you farewell. When I sail by the <i>Germanic</i> on -Saturday, I shall bear with me pleasant <span class="xxpn" id="p487">{487}</span> remembrances of my -intercourse with many Americans, joined with regrets that my state of -health has prevented me from seeing a larger number.</p> - -<p class="padtopb"><span class="smcap">P<b>OSTSCRIPT</b>.</span>—A few words may fitly be added respecting -the causes of this over-activity in American life—causes -which may be identified as having in recent times partially -operated among ourselves, and as having wrought kindred, -though less marked, effects. It is the more worth while to -trace the genesis of this undue absorption of the energies -in work, since it well serves to illustrate the general truth -which should be ever present to all legislators and politicians, -that the indirect and unforeseen results of any cause -affecting a society are frequently, if not habitually, greater -and more important than the direct and foreseen results.</p> - -<p>This high pressure under which Americans exist, and -which is most intense in places like Chicago, where the -prosperity and rate of growth are greatest, is seen by many -intelligent Americans themselves to be an indirect result of -their free institutions and the absence of those class-distinctions -and restraints existing in older communities. -A society in which the man who dies a millionaire is so -often one who commenced life in poverty, and in which (to -paraphrase a French saying concerning the soldier) every -news-boy carries a president’s seal in his bag, is, by -consequence, a society in which all are subject to a stress of -competition for wealth and honour, greater than can exist -in a society whose members are nearly all prevented from -rising out of the ranks in which they were born, and have -but remote possibilities of acquiring fortunes. In those -European societies which have in great measure preserved -their old types of structure (as in our own society up to the -time when the great development of industrialism began to -open ever-multiplying careers for the producing and distributing -classes) there is so little chance of overcoming the -obstacles to any great rise in position -or possessions, that <span class="xxpn" id="p488">{488}</span> -nearly all have to be content with their places: entertaining -little or no thought of bettering themselves. A manifest concomitant -is that, fulfilling, with such efficiency as a moderate -competition requires, the daily tasks of their respective -situations, the majority become habituated to making the best -of such pleasures as their lot affords, during whatever leisure -they get. But it is otherwise where an immense growth of -trade multiplies greatly the chances of success to the enterprising; -and still more is it otherwise where class-restrictions -are partially removed or wholly absent. Not only -are more energy and thought put into the time daily -occupied in work, but the leisure comes to be trenched -upon, either literally by abridgment, or else by anxieties -concerning business. Clearly, the larger the number who, -under such conditions, acquire property, or achieve higher -positions, or both, the sharper is the spur to the rest. A -raised standard of activity establishes itself and goes on -rising. Public applause given to the successful, becoming -in communities thus circumstanced the most familiar kind -of public applause, increases continually the stimulus to -action. The struggle grows more and more strenuous, -and there comes an increasing dread of failure—a dread of -being “left,” as the Americans say: a significant word, -since it is suggestive of a race in which the harder any one -runs, the harder others have to run to keep up with him—a -word suggestive of that breathless haste with which each -passes from a success gained to the pursuit of a further -success. And on contrasting the English of to-day with -the English of a century ago, we may see how, in a considerable -measure, the like causes have entailed here -kindred results.</p> - -<p>Even those who are not directly spurred on by this -intensified struggle for wealth and honour, are indirectly -spurred on by it. For one of its effects is to raise the -standard of living, and eventually to increase the average -rate of expenditure for all. Partly -for personal enjoyment, <span class="xxpn" id="p489">{489}</span> -but much more for the display which brings admiration, -those who acquire fortunes distinguish themselves by -luxurious habits. The more numerous they become, the -keener becomes the competition for that kind of public -attention given to those who make themselves conspicuous -by great expenditure. The competition spreads downwards -step by step; until, to be “respectable,” those having -relatively small means feel obliged to spend more on houses, -furniture, dress, and food; and are obliged to work the -harder to get the requisite larger income. This process of -causation is manifest enough among ourselves; and it is -still more manifest in America, where the extravagance in -style of living is greater than here.</p> - -<p>Thus, though it seems beyond doubt that the removal of -all political and social barriers, and the giving to each -man an unimpeded career, must be purely beneficial; yet -there is (at first) a considerable set-off from the benefits. -Among those who in older communities have by laborious -lives gained distinction, some may be heard privately to -confess that “the game is not worth the candle;” and -when they hear of others who wish to tread in their steps, -shake their heads and say—“If they only knew!” Without -accepting in full so pessimistic an estimate of success, -we must still say that very generally the cost of the candle -deducts largely from the gain of the game. That which in -these exceptional cases holds among ourselves, holds more -generally in America. An intensified life, which may be -summed up as—great labour, great profit, great expenditure—has -for its concomitant a wear and tear which considerably -diminishes in one direction the good gained in -another. Added together, the daily strain through many -hours and the anxieties occupying many other hours—the -occupation of consciousness by feelings that are either indifferent -or painful, leaving relatively little time for occupation -of it by pleasurable feelings—tend to lower its level more -than its level is raised by the -gratifications of achievement <span class="xxpn" id="p490">{490}</span> -and the accompanying benefits. So that it may, and in -many cases does, result that diminished happiness goes along -with increased prosperity. Unquestionably, as long as -order is fairly maintained, that absence of political and -social restraints which gives free scope to the struggles -for profit and honour, conduces greatly to material advance -of the society—develops the industrial arts, extends and -improves the business organizations, augments the wealth; -but that it raises the value of individual life, as measured -by the average state of its feeling, by no means follows. -That it will do so eventually, is certain; but that it does -so now seems, to say the least, very doubtful.</p> - -<p>The truth is that a society and its members act and -react in such wise that while, on the one hand, the nature -of the society is determined by the natures of its members; -on the other hand, the activities of its members (and -presently their natures) are re-determined by the needs -of the society, as these alter: change in either entails -change in the other. It is an obvious implication that, to -a great extent the life of a society so sways the wills of its -members as to turn them to its ends. That which is -manifest during the militant stage, when the social aggregate -coerces its units into co-operation for defence, and -sacrifices many of their lives for its corporate preservation -holds under another form during the industrial stage, as we -at present know it. Though the co-operation of citizens -is now voluntary instead of compulsory; yet the social forces -impel them to achieve social ends while apparently achieving -only their own ends. The man who, carrying out an invention, -thinks only of private welfare to be thereby secured, -is in far larger measure working for public welfare: instance -the contrast between the fortune made by Watt and the wealth -which the steam-engine has given to mankind. He who -utilizes a new material, improves a method of production, -or introduces a better way of carrying on business, and -does this for the purpose of -distancing competitors, gains <span class="xxpn" id="p491">{491}</span> -for himself little compared with that which he gains for -the community by facilitating the lives of all. Either -unknowingly or in spite of themselves, Nature leads men by -purely personal motives to fulfil her ends: Nature being one -of our expressions for the Ultimate Cause of things, and the -end, remote when not proximate, being the highest form of -human life.</p> - -<p>Hence no argument, however cogent, can be expected to -produce much effect: only here and there one may be -influenced. As in an actively militant stage of society it is -impossible to make many believe that there is any glory -preferable to that of killing enemies; so, where rapid -material growth is going on, and affords unlimited scope -for the energies of all, little can be done by insisting that -life has higher uses than work and accumulation. While -among the most powerful of feelings continue to be the -desire for public applause and dread of public censure—while -the anxiety to achieve distinction, now by conquering -enemies, now by beating competitors, continues predominant—while -the fear of public reprobation affects men more than -the fear of divine vengeance (as witness the long survival -of duelling in Christian societies); this excess of work which -ambition prompts, seems likely to continue with but small -qualification. The eagerness for the honour accorded to -success, first in war and then in commerce, has been indispensable -as a means to peopling the Earth with the higher -types of man, and the subjugation of its surface and its forces -to human use. Ambition may fitly come to bear a smaller -ratio to other motives, when the working out of these needs -is approaching completeness; and when also, by consequence, -the scope for satisfying ambition is diminishing. Those who -draw the obvious corollaries from the doctrine of Evolution—those -who believe that the process of modification upon -modification which has brought life to its present height -must raise it still higher, will anticipate that the “last -infirmity of noble mind” will in the -distant future slowly <span class="xxpn" id="p492">{492}</span> -decrease. As the sphere for achievement becomes smaller, -the desire for applause will lose that predominance which it -now has. A better ideal of life may simultaneously come to -prevail. When there is fully recognized the truth that -moral beauty is higher than intellectual power—when the -wish to be admired is in large measure replaced by the wish -to be loved; that strife for distinction which the present -phase of civilization shows us will be greatly moderated. -Along with other benefits may then come a rational proportioning -of work and relaxation; and the relative claims of -to-day and to-morrow may be properly balanced. -<span class="hsmall">THE END.</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p493">{493}</span></div> -<h2 class="h2nobreak">SUBJECT-INDEX.</h2> - -<div class="dh3pre">(For this Index the Author is indebted to -F. <span class="smcap">H<b>OWARD</b></span> -<span class="smcap">C<b>OLLINS</b></span>, Esq., -of Edgbaston, Birmingham.)</div></div> - -<div id="dndx"> -<ul> -<li><i>A priori</i>, method, III, - <a href="#p199" title="go to p. 199">199</a>–203.</li> - -<li>Absolute, The: -<ul> -<li>Martineau on, II, 250–8;</li> -<li>and relativity of knowledge, II, 260.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Abstract, definition of, II, 78.</li> - -<li>Abstract nouns, succeed concrete, I, 323.</li> - -<li>Abstraction, comparative psychology, I, 365–6.</li> - -<li>Accommodation bills: -<ul> -<li>morals of banking, III, - <a href="#p133" title="go to p. 133">133</a>–7;</li> -<li>state tamperings with money, III, - <a href="#p326" title="go to p. 326">326</a>–35, - <a href="#p335" title="go to p. 335">335</a>–47.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Acoustics: -<ul> -<li>genesis, II, 57, 60–1;</li> -<li>“beats,” II, 169–70.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Acquisitiveness, comparative psychology, I, 367.</li> - -<li>Action and reaction: -<ul> -<li>universal, III, - <a href="#p101" title="go to p. 101">101</a>;</li> -<li>the axiom, III, - <a href="#p221" title="go to p. 221">221</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Activity, relation to growth, I, 63–4.</li> - -<li>Adaptation: -<ul> -<li>individual and social, III, - <a href="#p277" title="go to p. 277">277</a>–8;</li> -<li>of alimentary canal, III, - <a href="#p421" title="go to p. 421">421</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Address, forms of, III, - <a href="#p015" title="go to p. 15">15</a>–6.</li> - -<li><i>Adelaide</i>, Admiralty certificate of, III, - <a href="#p239" title="go to p. 239">239</a>.</li> - -<li>Adjective, collocation of substantive, III, - <a href="#p340" title="go to p. 340">340</a>–1.</li> - -<li>Administrative Nihilism, the title, II, 438, 442.</li> - -<li>Admiralty, ship certificates, III, - <a href="#p239" title="go to p. 239">239</a>.</li> - -<li>Adulteration: -<ul> -<li>examples, III, - <a href="#p113" title="go to p. 113">113</a>;</li> -<li>silk, III, - <a href="#p124" title="go to p. 124">124</a>–7.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Æsthetics, and natural selection, I, 408.</li> - -<li>Agriculture, in France, III, - <a href="#p267" title="go to p. 267">267</a>–8.</li> - -<li>Air, expansion without pressure, I, 118.</li> - -<li>Alas! intonation of, II, 409.</li> - -<li>Albert, Prince, on representative government, III, - <a href="#p284" title="go to p. 284">284</a>.</li> - -<li><i>Algæ</i>: -<ul> -<li>development and homogeneity, I, 90;</li> -<li>cell membrane, I, 439;</li> -<li>cells, I, 446.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Algebra: -<ul> -<li>genesis, II, 56;</li> -<li>classification of sciences, II, 85;</li> -<li>subject matter, II, 113, 115;</li> -<li>evolution, II, 156;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Mathematics.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Alimentary canal: -<ul> -<li>evolution, III, - <a href="#p204" title="go to p. 204">204</a>;</li> -<li>differentiation, III, - <a href="#p406" title="go to p. 406">406</a>;</li> -<li>and nervous system, III, - <a href="#p409" title="go to p. 409">409</a>;</li> -<li>adaptation, III, - <a href="#p421" title="go to p. 421">421</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Allegory, compound metaphor, II, 354.</li> - -<li>Allotropism, complexity of elements, I, 155, 373.</li> - -<li>Alternative necessity, law of, II, 191–2.</li> - -<li>Altruism: -<ul> -<li>development, I, 346–50;</li> -<li>comparative psychology, I, 367–9.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Amazon</i>, burning of the ship, III, - <a href="#p239" title="go to p. 239">239</a>.</li> - -<li>America: -<ul> -<li>paleontological evidence, I, 17;</li> -<li>effects of subsidence, I, 42–3;</li> -<li>age of rocks, I, 200–5, 206, 209, 210;</li> -<li>admiration for wealth, III, - <a href="#p149" title="go to p. 149">149</a>–51;</li> -<li>progress in, III, - <a href="#p278" title="go to p. 278">278</a>;</li> -<li>paper currency, III, - <a href="#p328" title="go to p. 328">328</a>, - <a href="#p345" title="go to p. 345">345</a>;</li> -<li>liberty, III, - <a href="#p381" title="go to p. 381">381</a>–2;</li> -<li>militancy and industrialism, III, - <a href="#p415" title="go to p. 415">415</a>–6, - <a href="#p484" title="go to p. 484">484</a>–92;</li> -<li>politics, III, - <a href="#p457" title="go to p. 457">457</a>;</li> -<li>the Americans, III, - <a href="#p471" title="go to p. 471">471</a>–92;</li> -<li>New York, III, - <a href="#p472" title="go to p. 472">472</a>;</li> -<li>Cleveland, III, - <a href="#p472" title="go to p. 472">472</a>;</li> -<li>free institutions, III, - <a href="#p472" title="go to p. 472">472</a>;</li> -<li>patents, 473;</li> -<li>freedom, III, - <a href="#p473" title="go to p. 473">473</a>–4, - <a href="#p477" title="go to p. 477">477</a>;</li> -<li>republicanism, III, - <a href="#p474" title="go to p. 474">474</a>–5;</li> -<li>education, III, - <a href="#p475" title="go to p. 475">475</a>–6;</li> -<li>character, III, - <a href="#p476" title="go to p. 476">476</a>, - <a href="#p482" title="go to p. 482">482</a>–7;</li> -<li>railways, III, - <a href="#p478" title="go to p. 478">478</a>;</li> -<li>future, III, - <a href="#p479" title="go to p. 479">479</a>–80;</li> -<li>hair, III, - <a href="#p482" title="go to p. 482">482</a>;</li> -<li>health, III, - <a href="#p482" title="go to p. 482">482</a>, - <a href="#p483" title="go to p. 483">483</a>–4;</li> -<li>pleasures in, III, - <a href="#p482" title="go to p. 482">482</a>–3;</li> -<li>causes of over-activity, III, - <a href="#p487" title="go to p. 487">487</a>–92.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Amœba</i>, instability of homogeneous, I, 86.</li> - -<li>Amsterdam, English enterprise in, III, - <a href="#p278" title="go to p. 278">278</a>.</li> - -<li>Analysis, psychology and classification, I, 245–57.</li> - -<li>Anarchy, and despotism, III, - <a href="#p159" title="go to p. 159">159</a>.</li> - -<li>Anatomy: -<ul> -<li>transcendental, I, 63;</li> -<li>organic correlation, I, 96–101.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Andes, age of rocks, I, 200–1.</li> - -<li>Andrews, Prof. T., researches, I, 164–7.</li> - -<li>Anger: -<ul> -<li>natural language of, I, 340–50;</li> -<li>indications, II, 402, 404, 405;</li> -<li>and laughter, II, 462–3.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Anglesea, age of rocks, I, 198.</li> - -<li>Animals: -<ul> -<li>number of species, I, 1–2;</li> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 14–7, 35;</li> -<li>structure, I, 73, 76, 372–3;</li> -<li>form, I, 73, 76;</li> -<li>chemical composition, I, 74, 76;</li> -<li>specific gravity, I, 74, 76;</li> -<li>temperature, I, 74, 76;</li> -<li>self-mobility, I, 75, 76;</li> -<li>evolution and homogeneity, I, 83–4;</li> -<li>distribution and heat, I, 223–4;</li> -<li>also terrestrial change, I, 224–6;</li> -<li>social analogy, I, 272–7;</li> -<li>origin of worship, I, 308–30;</li> -<li>indistinguishable from plants, I, 375–6;</li> -<li>function, I, 392–3;</li> -<li>gracefulness, II, 381, 385;</li> -<li>muscular excitement, II, 400, 403.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Annulosa</i>: -<ul> -<li>integration, I, 67–71;</li> -<li>division of labour, I, 287–8;</li> -<li>nervous system, I, 300;</li> -<li>controlling system, III, - <a href="#p407" title="go to p. 407">407</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Anthropology, comparative psychology of man, I, 351–70.</li> - -<li>Antipodes, belief in, II, 199.</li> - -<li>Anti-realism, H. Sidgwick’s criticism, II, 242–50.</li> - -<li>Aphis, development, I, 65–6.</li> - -<li>Apoplexy: -<ul> -<li>belief in spirits, I, 311–2;</li> -<li>heart disease, I, 411.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Appleton, D. & Co., as publishers, III, - <a href="#p480" title="go to p. 480">480</a>.</li> - -<li>Approbation, love of, I, 36–7, II, 421.</li> - -<li>Arago, F. J. D.: -<ul> -<li>distribution of nebulæ, I, 112;</li> -<li>also forms, I, 122, 123, 124.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Architect, the State as, III, - <a href="#p239" title="go to p. 239">239</a>.</li> - -<li>Architecture: -<ul> -<li>relation to painting and sculpture, I, 24;</li> -<li>types, II, 375–80;</li> -<li>symmetry in buildings, II, 376–7;</li> -<li>Gothic type, II, 374, 377, 378;</li> -<li>Grecian, II, 376, 377, 378.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Argyll, Duke of, criticism of, I, 467–78.</li> - -<li>Arithmetic, and test of necessity, II, 196–7; (<i>See also</i> Mathematics.)</li> - -<li>Army: -<ul> -<li>maladministration, III, - <a href="#p233" title="go to p. 233">233</a>, - <a href="#p247" title="go to p. 247">247</a>, - <a href="#p257" title="go to p. 257">257</a>, - <a href="#p308" title="go to p. 308">308</a>, - <a href="#p310" title="go to p. 310">310</a>, - <a href="#p399" title="go to p. 399">399</a>;</li> -<li>parliamentary representatives, III, - <a href="#p297" title="go to p. 297">297</a>, - <a href="#p303" title="go to p. 303">303</a>, - <a href="#p304" title="go to p. 304">304</a>;</li> -<li>compulsory co-operation, III, - <a href="#p451" title="go to p. 451">451</a>–4.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Arrest, H. L. d’, planetoids, I, 174.</li> - -<li>Art: -<ul> -<li>recognition of likeness, II, 34;</li> -<li>interdependence of the arts, II, 68–71;</li> -<li>use and beauty in historical pictures, II, 373;</li> -<li>contrast in, II, 373–4;</li> -<li>English and continental, III, - <a href="#p430" title="go to p. 430">430</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Arthur, Sir G., Van Diemen’s Land convicts, III, - <a href="#p161" title="go to p. 161">161</a>.</li> - -<li><i>Articulata</i>, nervous system, I, 301.</li> - -<li>Assyrians: -<ul> -<li>language and painting, I, 25–6;</li> -<li>sculpture, I, 26, 29.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Astronomy: -<ul> -<li>evolution and increase in heterogeneity, I, 10–11, 35;</li> -<li>nebular hypothesis and multiplication of effects, I, 38–9, 59;</li> -<li>history and generalization in, I, 192;</li> -<li>geology and earth’s motion, I, 221–4;</li> -<li>analogy from survival of the fittest, I, 478;</li> -<li>science and common knowledge, II, 3;</li> -<li>Hegel’s classification, II, 13;</li> -<li>Comte’s, II, 21–7;</li> -<li>genesis, II, 48–9, 52, 55;</li> -<li>genesis of trigonometry, II, 55–6;</li> -<li>genesis of physical, II, 59;</li> -<li>interdependence of sciences, II, 66–7, 70–1;</li> -<li>and abstract science, II, 80;</li> -<li>and concrete, II, 88–92;</li> -<li>terrestrial evolution, II, 94–9;</li> -<li>deals with aggregates, II, 99;</li> -<li>Bain on classification of sciences, II, 111;</li> -<li>also Mill, II, 114;</li> -<li>discovery of laws, II, 149;</li> -<li>evolution, II, 152;</li> -<li>judgments of reason and common sense, II, 243–4;</li> -<li>laws of motion, II, 271–5, 283–8;</li> -<li>motion of system, II, 293;</li> -<li>exact science, III, - <a href="#p199" title="go to p. 199">199</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Australia: -<ul> -<li>size of the human limb, I, 17;</li> -<li>age of rocks, I, 206;</li> -<li>fauna, I, 216.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Australian</i>, the ship, and admiralty certificate, III, - <a href="#p239" title="go to p. 239">239</a>.</li> - -<li>Austria, paper currency, III, - <a href="#p345" title="go to p. 345">345</a>.</li> - -<li>Authority, and intelligence, III, - <a href="#p311" title="go to p. 311">311</a>.</li> - -<li>Axioms: -<ul> -<li>knowledge implied by, II, 270, 277–88;</li> -<li>origin of physical, II, 298–301, 313–4, 315–20;</li> -<li>Thomson and Tait on physical, III, - <a href="#p220" title="go to p. 220">220</a>–1.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Babinet, M., on nebular hypothesis, I, 121.</li> - -<li>Bach, J. S., and heredity, I, 407.</li> - -<li>Bacon, Francis, Viscount St. Alban’s: -<ul> -<li>organization of sciences, II, 121;</li> -<li>literary style, II, 365;</li> -<li>“A crowd is not company,” III, - <a href="#p044" title="go to p. 44">44</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Bacteria</i>, action of light, I, 465–6.</li> - -<li>Baer, C. von, formula of, and general evolution, I, 35, II, 137–8.</li> - -<li>Bail, prison discipline, III, - <a href="#p180" title="go to p. 180">180</a>–7.</li> - -<li>Baillie-Cochrane, Mr., on Munich prison, III, - <a href="#p172" title="go to p. 172">172</a>.</li> - -<li>Bain, A.: -<ul> -<li><i>Emotions and the Will</i>, I, 241–64;</li> -<li><i>Mental and Moral Science</i>, I, 332;</li> -<li>classification of sciences, II, 105–17;</li> -<li>on logic, II, 105–6;</li> -<li>mathematics, II, 106–7;</li> -<li>incongruities, II, 463.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Balfour, F. M.: -<ul> -<li>on invagination, I, 452;</li> -<li>development of nervous system, I, 454.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Ball, embryological analogy, I, 452.</li> - -<li>Balloon, reason for ascent, I, 427.</li> - -<li>Ballot, Carlyle on, III, - <a href="#p300" title="go to p. 300">300</a>.</li> - -<li>Balzac, H. de, quoted, II, 364.</li> - -<li>Bank notes: -<ul> -<li>forgery, III, - <a href="#p134" title="go to p. 134">134</a>;</li> -<li>issue, III, - <a href="#p349" title="go to p. 349">349</a>–50, - <a href="#p352" title="go to p. 352">352</a>, - <a href="#p355" title="go to p. 355">355</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Bank of England: -<ul> -<li>advances by, III, - <a href="#p330" title="go to p. 330">330</a>–5, - <a href="#p335" title="go to p. 335">335</a>–47;</li> -<li>note issue, III, - <a href="#p349" title="go to p. 349">349</a>–50.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Bankers, local integration, I, 103.</li> - -<li>Banking: -<ul> -<li>morals of trade, III, - <a href="#p131" title="go to p. 131">131</a>–7;</li> -<li>accommodation bills, III, - <a href="#p133" title="go to p. 133">133</a>–7;</li> -<li>evolution, III, - <a href="#p255" title="go to p. 255">255</a>–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Bankruptcy: -<ul> -<li>morals of trade, III, - <a href="#p129" title="go to p. 129">129</a>–31;</li> -<li>and Bank of England, III, - <a href="#p330" title="go to p. 330">330</a>–2, - <a href="#p341" title="go to p. 341">341</a>;</li> -<li>evils of law, III, - <a href="#p438" title="go to p. 438">438</a>–9.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Banks: -<ul> -<li>State tamperings, III, - <a href="#p326" title="go to p. 326">326</a>–57;</li> -<li>joint-stock, III, - <a href="#p347" title="go to p. 347">347</a>–54;</li> -<li>and free-trade, III, - <a href="#p355" title="go to p. 355">355</a>–7;</li> -<li>and government, III, - <a href="#p425" title="go to p. 425">425</a>–7.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Barbadoes, sugar, III, - <a href="#p122" title="go to p. 122">122</a>.</li> - -<li>Barnacle goose, myth of, II, 162.</li> - -<li>Barometer: -<ul> -<li>action, I, 426;</li> -<li>scientific knowledge, II, 3, 5.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Baron, the title, III, - <a href="#p015" title="go to p. 15">15</a>, - <a href="#p028" title="go to p. 28">28</a>.</li> - -<li>Barracks, maladministration, III, - <a href="#p233" title="go to p. 233">233</a>, - <a href="#p257" title="go to p. 257">257</a>.</li> - -<li>Barristers: -<ul> -<li>and traders, III, - <a href="#p139" title="go to p. 139">139</a>;</li> -<li>number in parliament, III, - <a href="#p298" title="go to p. 298">298</a>, - <a href="#p303" title="go to p. 303">303</a>, - <a href="#p304" title="go to p. 304">304</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Barter, and measures, II, 46; (<i>see also</i> Exchange.)</li> - -<li>Bas-relief, increase in heterogeneity, I, 26, 27.</li> - -<li>Beats, acoustical, II, 169–70.</li> - -<li>Beauty: -<ul> -<li>officialism, I, 335–6;</li> -<li>and use, II, 370–4;</li> -<li>personal, II, 387–99.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Bees: -<ul> -<li>sex of, I, 48;</li> -<li>analogy for distribution of nebulæ, I, 114.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Beethoven, L. von: -<ul> -<li>heredity, I, 406;</li> -<li>Adelaïde of, II, 447.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Beliefs: -<ul> -<li>and pedigree, I, 108;</li> -<li>different meaning of, II, 188–91, 193, 222.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Berkeley, Bishop, subject and object, II, 329.</li> - -<li>Berlin: -<ul> -<li>English enterprise, III, - <a href="#p278" title="go to p. 278">278</a>;</li> -<li>water supply, III, - <a href="#p429" title="go to p. 429">429</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Bills of accommodation, morals of banking, III, - <a href="#p133" title="go to p. 133">133</a>–7.</li> - -<li>Biluchis, robbery, III, - <a href="#p218" title="go to p. 218">218</a>, - <a href="#p221" title="go to p. 221">221</a>.</li> - -<li>Biology: -<ul> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 14–7, 35;</li> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 46–53;</li> -<li>concrete science, II, 89–92;</li> -<li>deals with aggregates, II, 103;</li> -<li>Bain on classification, II, 109–11;</li> -<li>origin of species, II, 131;</li> -<li>evolution of science, II, 153;</li> -<li>universality of law, II, 159;</li> -<li>organic matter and incident forces, II, 177;</li> -<li>organic differentiation, III, - <a href="#p405" title="go to p. 405">405</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Birds: -<ul> -<li>in newly discovered lands, I, 255–6;</li> -<li>use and disuse, I, 418;</li> -<li>colour as illustrating propositions, II, 205–8;</li> -<li>muscular excitement, II, 400, 403;</li> -<li>origin of music, II, 428;</li> -<li>evolution, II, 438.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Black horse, the phrase, II, 340.</li> - -<li>Blacksmith, arm and heredity, I, 475.</li> - -<li>Blackstone, Sir Wm., persons ineligible for parliament, III, - <a href="#p296" title="go to p. 296">296</a>.</li> - -<li>Blister: -<ul> -<li>effect on walking, I, 403;</li> -<li>action of medicine, I, 448.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Blood: -<ul> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 47;</li> -<li>nutrition and growth, I, 289;</li> -<li>function and supply, I, 290;</li> -<li>social analogy, I, 291–8;</li> -<li>mental mass and bodily state, I, 354.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Board-meetings, railway, III, - <a href="#p077" title="go to p. 77">77</a>–80.</li> - -<li>Bondage, from freedom to, III, - <a href="#p445" title="go to p. 445">445</a>–70.</li> - -<li>Bones: -<ul> -<li>evolution and ratio of, I, 17;</li> -<li>weight in duck, I, 417–8;</li> -<li>water hen, I, 418.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Bookkeeping: -<ul> -<li>railway, III, - <a href="#p059" title="go to p. 59">59</a>;</li> -<li>officialism, III, - <a href="#p253" title="go to p. 253">253</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Books, serial arrangement, II, 28.</li> - -<li>Botany: -<ul> -<li>classification, II, 64;</li> -<li>discovery of laws, II, 150.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Bow, the obeisance, III, - <a href="#p018" title="go to p. 18">18</a>, - <a href="#p019" title="go to p. 19">19</a>.</li> - -<li>Braid, morals of trade, III, - <a href="#p119" title="go to p. 119">119</a>.</li> - -<li>Brain: -<ul> -<li>effect on viscera, I, 290;</li> -<li>analogy to parliament, I, 302–5;</li> -<li>mental and bodily mass, I, 353–4;</li> -<li>size of jaw, I, 397;</li> -<li>embryo development, I, 454.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Bribery: -<ul> -<li>of buyers, III, - <a href="#p114" title="go to p. 114">114</a>–8;</li> -<li>of juries, III, - <a href="#p396" title="go to p. 396">396</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Bricks: -<ul> -<li>position of falling, I, 99;</li> -<li>and building, III, - <a href="#p239" title="go to p. 239">239</a>;</li> -<li>tax on, III, - <a href="#p243" title="go to p. 243">243</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>British Association, and government, III, - <a href="#p436" title="go to p. 436">436</a>.</li> - -<li><i>British Quarterly Review</i>, criticism, II, 267–301, 315–20.</li> - -<li>Bronze, multiplication of effects, I, 55–6.</li> - -<li>Brown-Séquard, E., epilepsy in guinea pigs, I, 415–6.</li> - -<li>Builders, strike of, III, - <a href="#p363" title="go to p. 363">363</a>–4, - <a href="#p365" title="go to p. 365">365</a>, - <a href="#p383" title="go to p. 383">383</a>.</li> - -<li>Buildings Acts: -<ul> -<li>failure, III, - <a href="#p239" title="go to p. 239">239</a>, - <a href="#p240" title="go to p. 240">240</a>–1, - <a href="#p275" title="go to p. 275">275</a>;</li> -<li>displacements caused by, III, - <a href="#p281" title="go to p. 281">281</a>;</li> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p301" title="go to p. 301">301</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Bull-dog, jaws of, I, 401.</li> - -<li>Burial, primitive ideas, III, - <a href="#p006" title="go to p. 6">6</a>–11.</li> - -<li>Buyers, in clothing trades, III, - <a href="#p114" title="go to p. 114">114</a>–8.</li> - -<li>Cabet, S., Icarian colony, III, - <a href="#p457" title="go to p. 457">457</a>.</li> - -<li>Cabs: -<ul> -<li>officialism, III, - <a href="#p250" title="go to p. 250">250</a>;</li> -<li>in New York, III, - <a href="#p291" title="go to p. 291">291</a>;</li> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p302" title="go to p. 302">302</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Cadence, defined, II, 422.</li> - -<li>Caird, Rev. Princ., reply to criticism, II, 219–21.</li> - -<li>Calculus: -<ul> -<li>implies absolute equality, II,38;</li> -<li>classification of sciences, II, 84;</li> -<li>evolution, II, 156.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Cambium, in plants, I, 450.</li> - -<li>Cambrian system, thickness, I, 231.</li> - -<li>Campbell, G., on style, II, 338–9.</li> - -<li>Canals: -<ul> -<li>first English, III, - <a href="#p257" title="go to p. 257">257</a>;</li> -<li>officialism, III, - <a href="#p267" title="go to p. 267">267</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Candles: -<ul> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 37;</li> -<li>morals of trade, III, - <a href="#p128" title="go to p. 128">128</a>;</li> -<li>Price’s school, III, - <a href="#p256" title="go to p. 256">256</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Cannibalism, in Fiji, III, - <a href="#p217" title="go to p. 217">217</a>–8.</li> - -<li>Cannon ball, disintegration, I, 436.</li> - -<li>Caoutchouc, effects of, I, 58.</li> - -<li>Capital: -<ul> -<li>direction of flow, III, - <a href="#p101" title="go to p. 101">101</a>–3, - <a href="#p264" title="go to p. 264">264</a>;</li> -<li>amount of railway, III, - <a href="#p108" title="go to p. 108">108</a>;</li> -<li>relative and absolute ethics, III, - <a href="#p155" title="go to p. 155">155</a>–7;</li> -<li>State tamperings with, III, - <a href="#p326" title="go to p. 326">326</a>–35, - <a href="#p335" title="go to p. 335">335</a>–47.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Captains, certificated, of ships, III, - <a href="#p241" title="go to p. 241">241</a>.</li> - -<li>Caradoc sandstone, age, I, 201.</li> - -<li>Carat, a small bean, II, 44.</li> - -<li>Carboniferous system, origin, I, 237.</li> - -<li>Carlyle, Thomas: -<ul> -<li>on people, III, - <a href="#p293" title="go to p. 293">293</a>;</li> -<li>the ballot, III, - <a href="#p300" title="go to p. 300">300</a>;</li> -<li>the real rulers, III, - <a href="#p316" title="go to p. 316">316</a>–7;</li> -<li>quotation from <i>Heroes and Hero-worship</i>, II, 357.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Carpenter, W. B., evolution and paleontology, I, 16.</li> - -<li>Carus, P., on Kantian ethics, III, - <a href="#p206" title="go to p. 206">206</a>–7.</li> - -<li>Castles: -<ul> -<li>use and beauty, II, 371;</li> -<li>situation, II, 376.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Cat, muscular excitement, II, 400–1, 403.</li> - -<li>Catalepsy, belief in spirits, I, 311–2.</li> - -<li>Caterpillar, mistake by, I, 419.</li> - -<li>Causation: -<ul> -<li>establishment of belief, I, 109;</li> -<li>ignorance of, III, - <a href="#p487" title="go to p. 487">487</a>–92.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Cause: -<ul> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 37;</li> -<li>consciousness of, II, 127;</li> -<li>proportionality to effect, II, 300–1, 302–5, 305–7, 310–11, 318–20.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Cell, doctrine of, I, 442–3.</li> - -<li>Centralization, French, III, - <a href="#p268" title="go to p. 268">268</a>.</li> - -<li>Cerebrum, consciousness of, representative, I, 303.</li> - -<li>Ceremony: -<ul> -<li>increase of heterogeneity, I, 20–1;</li> -<li>evolution, III, - <a href="#p011" title="go to p. 11">11</a>–6, - <a href="#p023" title="go to p. 23">23</a>, - <a href="#p050" title="go to p. 50">50</a>;</li> -<li>obeisances, III, - <a href="#p017" title="go to p. 17">17</a>–22;</li> -<li>primitive man, III, - <a href="#p024" title="go to p. 24">24</a>;</li> -<li>Chinese, III, - <a href="#p025" title="go to p. 25">25</a>;</li> -<li>evolution of governments, III, - <a href="#p027" title="go to p. 27">27</a>–8, - <a href="#p050" title="go to p. 50">50</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Cerney springs, III, - <a href="#p387" title="go to p. 387">387</a>–92.</li> - -<li>Chaldeans, prediction of eclipses, II, 48–9.</li> - -<li>Chalk, complexity of, III, - <a href="#p195" title="go to p. 195">195</a>–6.</li> - -<li>Chancery: -<ul> -<li>rules, III, - <a href="#p232" title="go to p. 232">232</a>;</li> -<li>maladministration, III, - <a href="#p247" title="go to p. 247">247</a>, - <a href="#p272" title="go to p. 272">272</a>;</li> -<li>dread of, III, - <a href="#p396" title="go to p. 396">396</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Change: -<ul> -<li>pleasure of, III, - <a href="#p454" title="go to p. 454">454</a>;</li> -<li>universal, III, - <a href="#p458" title="go to p. 458">458</a>–60.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Charity, and government, III, - <a href="#p434" title="go to p. 434">434</a>.</li> - -<li><i>Charlotte</i>, The, naval maladministration, III, - <a href="#p234" title="go to p. 234">234</a>.</li> - -<li>Cheek-bones, personal beauty, I, 390–2.</li> - -<li>Cheltenham, water supply, III, - <a href="#p387" title="go to p. 387">387</a>–92.</li> - -<li>Chemistry: -<ul> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 43–5, 59;</li> -<li>unstable equilibrium, I, 83;</li> -<li>organic evolution, I, 83–4;</li> -<li>complexity of elements, I, 155–9, 371–4;</li> -<li>organic synthesis, I, 374;</li> -<li>genesis, II, 51, 58, 60;</li> -<li>galvanic electricity, II, 61;</li> -<li>classification, II, 64;</li> -<li>abstract concrete science, II, 85–8;</li> -<li>terrestrial evolution, II, 95–9;</li> -<li>deals with properties, II, 102, 103;</li> -<li>Bain on classification, II, 107–11;</li> -<li>elements, II, 195;</li> -<li>development, II, 423.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Cheques (<i>see</i> Money).</li> - -<li>Chesil Beach, size of stones, I, 432.</li> - -<li>Chicken, evolution of mind, I, 377.</li> - -<li>Chiefs: -<ul> -<li>differentiation, I, 284–5;</li> -<li>duties and individual nervous system, I, 299–307;</li> -<li>primitive belief in spirits, I, 344.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Children: -<ul> -<li>emotions and expression, I, 339–50;</li> -<li>lack generalization, I, 354;</li> -<li>and traits of savage, I, 355;</li> -<li>mental variability, I, 356–7;</li> -<li>impulsiveness, I, 358;</li> -<li>vocabulary, II, 336;</li> -<li>poor law and illegitimate, III, - <a href="#p244" title="go to p. 244">244</a>;</li> -<li>old and new education, III, - <a href="#p277" title="go to p. 277">277</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>China, manners and fashion, III, - <a href="#p025" title="go to p. 25">25</a>.</li> - -<li>Chisholme, Mrs., colonization society, III, - <a href="#p258" title="go to p. 258">258</a>.</li> - -<li>Cholera, private and state enterprise, III, - <a href="#p238" title="go to p. 238">238</a>–9.</li> - -<li>Chopin, F., character, II, 417.</li> - -<li>Chrysalis, transformations, II, 163.</li> - -<li>Church: -<ul> -<li>differentiation from State, I, 21;</li> -<li>officialism, III, - <a href="#p251" title="go to p. 251">251</a>, - <a href="#p252" title="go to p. 252">252</a>;</li> -<li>corn laws, III, - <a href="#p361" title="go to p. 361">361</a>;</li> -<li>franchise and rates, III, - <a href="#p362" title="go to p. 362">362</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Circle, relation to hyperbola, I, 5.</li> - -<li>Circulars, morals of trade, III, - <a href="#p123" title="go to p. 123">123</a>–4.</li> - -<li><i>Cirrhipedia</i>, classification, I, 248.</li> - -<li>Civilization, development of sympathy, II, 425.</li> - -<li>Classification: -<ul> -<li>psychology and analysis, I, 245–57;</li> -<li>historical, I, 248;</li> -<li>non-linear of sciences, II, 27–9;</li> -<li>recognition of likeness and unlikeness, II, 29–31, 34;</li> -<li>and language, II, 31–3, 40;</li> -<li>and reasoning, II, 33, 34, 40;</li> -<li>genesis of science, II, 63–5, 72;</li> -<li>(<i>See also</i> Sciences, Classification of the.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Clearing house, banker’s, III, - <a href="#p425" title="go to p. 425">425</a>.</li> - -<li>Climate: -<ul> -<li>increase of heterogeneity, I, 13–4, 35;</li> -<li>and paleontological evidence, I, 221–4.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Coach: -<ul> -<li>and railway travelling, III, - <a href="#p110" title="go to p. 110">110</a>–2;</li> -<li>Palmer, III, - <a href="#p441" title="go to p. 441">441</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Coats of arms, derivation, I, 28.</li> - -<li>Cognitions, defined, I, 261–2, II, 241.</li> - -<li>Coleridge, S. T., sonnet quoted, II, 352.</li> - -<li>Colligation, the word, II, 368–9.</li> - -<li>Colloids, evolution of life, I, 374.</li> - -<li>Comets, origin, direction and constitution, I, 125–8, 153, 177–8.</li> - -<li>Common sense: -<ul> -<li>judgment of reason, II, 243–4;</li> -<li>anomalies, III, - <a href="#p401" title="go to p. 401">401</a>–4, - <a href="#p445" title="go to p. 445">445</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Companies (<i>see</i> Joint-stock companies.)</li> - -<li>Comparative Psychology (see Psychology.)</li> - -<li>Compass, faulty Admiralty, III, - <a href="#p234" title="go to p. 234">234</a>, - <a href="#p252" title="go to p. 252">252</a>.</li> - -<li>Competition: -<ul> -<li>effect of railway, III, - <a href="#p097" title="go to p. 97">97</a>, - <a href="#p106" title="go to p. 106">106</a>–7;</li> -<li>effects, III, - <a href="#p448" title="go to p. 448">448</a>–9;</li> -<li>American, III, - <a href="#p487" title="go to p. 487">487</a>–92.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Comte, A.: -<ul> -<li>classification of sciences, II, 15–29;</li> -<li>mathematics, II, 15–19;</li> -<li>astronomy, II, 21–3;</li> -<li>progress of mathematics, II, 56;</li> -<li>on gravitation, II, 65, 66;</li> -<li>on education, II, 72, 133;</li> -<li>Littré on classification of, II, 74–6;</li> -<li>abstract and concrete science, II, 79;</li> -<li>science and positivism, II, 118–22, 128, 139;</li> -<li>origin of knowledge, II, 122–5;</li> -<li>propositions of, II, 125–32;</li> -<li>and social statics, II, 134–7;</li> -<li>Mill on philosophy, II, 143;</li> -<li>Fouillée on, II, 143–4;</li> -<li>progress from simple to complex, II, 147;</li> -<li>positivism rejected by Mr. Spencer, II, 221.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Concrete: -<ul> -<li>precedes abstract, I, 323;</li> -<li>definition, II, 78.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Conduct (<i>see</i> Morals.)</li> - -<li>Conglomerate, origin, I, 444.</li> - -<li>Conic sections, relation of circle to hyperbola, I, 5.</li> - -<li>Conscience: -<ul> -<li>corporate and individual, III, - <a href="#p061" title="go to p. 61">61</a>–2;</li> -<li>Kant on human, III, - <a href="#p192" title="go to p. 192">192</a>;</li> -<li>Lubbock, III, - <a href="#p192" title="go to p. 192">192</a>–3;</li> -<li>and duty, III, - <a href="#p210" title="go to p. 210">210</a>–1.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Consciousness, the phrase, state of, II, 326–7.</li> - -<li>Conservatism: -<ul> -<li>and social state, I, 356;</li> -<li>of women, I, 363;</li> -<li>Emerson on, III, - <a href="#p035" title="go to p. 35">35</a>;</li> -<li>effects, III, - <a href="#p043" title="go to p. 43">43</a>–4.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Contract: -<ul> -<li>principle of, III, - <a href="#p090" title="go to p. 90">90</a>, - <a href="#p108" title="go to p. 108">108</a>;</li> -<li>and expediency, III, - <a href="#p095" title="go to p. 95">95</a>–6;</li> -<li>railway proprietary, III, - <a href="#p108" title="go to p. 108">108</a>–12;</li> -<li>enforcement in Spain, III, - <a href="#p218" title="go to p. 218">218</a>;</li> -<li>effect of breaches, III, - <a href="#p220" title="go to p. 220">220</a>;</li> -<li>State to enforce, III, - <a href="#p334" title="go to p. 334">334</a>, - <a href="#p336" title="go to p. 336">336</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Contractors: -<ul> -<li>sociological division of labour, I, 106;</li> -<li>railway, III, - <a href="#p072" title="go to p. 72">72</a>–4, - <a href="#p083" title="go to p. 83">83</a>, - <a href="#p088" title="go to p. 88">88</a>, - <a href="#p108" title="go to p. 108">108</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Contrast: -<ul> -<li>in literature and art, II, 373–4;</li> -<li>in music, II, 444, 446.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Convicts (<i>see</i> Prison Ethics.)</li> - -<li>Coöperation: -<ul> -<li>needful to social life, III, - <a href="#p450" title="go to p. 450">450</a>;</li> -<li>voluntary, III, - <a href="#p450" title="go to p. 450">450</a>–1;</li> -<li>compulsory, III, - <a href="#p451" title="go to p. 451">451</a>–4;</li> -<li>and socialism, III, - <a href="#p454" title="go to p. 454">454</a>–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Copernicus, N., solar theory, I, 193.</li> - -<li>Copula, arrangement of sentences, II, 342–4.</li> - -<li>Corn laws: -<ul> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p294" title="go to p. 294">294</a>;</li> -<li>and clergy, III, - <a href="#p361" title="go to p. 361">361</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Corporations, representative government, III, - <a href="#p289" title="go to p. 289">289</a>.</li> - -<li>Correlation, organic, I, 96–101.</li> - -<li>Costume: -<ul> -<li>and political opinion, III, - <a href="#p001" title="go to p. 1">1</a>–5, - <a href="#p030" title="go to p. 30">30</a>;</li> -<li>reform and custom, III, - <a href="#p030" title="go to p. 30">30</a>–6, - <a href="#p036" title="go to p. 36">36</a>–7;</li> -<li>development, III, - <a href="#p447" title="go to p. 447">447</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Cotton: -<ul> -<li>industry and locality, I, 104;</li> -<li>manufacture, II, 68.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Counterpoint, origin of music, II, 448.</li> - -<li>Counties, social development, I, 288.</li> - -<li>Courage, emotional expression, I, 343–50.</li> - -<li>Crabs, of Kentucky caves, I, 400–1, 402.</li> - -<li>Creation (<i>see</i> Special creation.)</li> - -<li>Credit, State tamperings with money, III, - <a href="#p326" title="go to p. 326">326</a>–35, - <a href="#p335" title="go to p. 335">335</a>–47.</li> - -<li>Creed: -<ul> -<li>fatal to science, I, 463;</li> -<li>use and beauty, II, 371.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Criminals (<i>see</i> Prison Ethics.)</li> - -<li>Critical point, of gases, I, 164–7.</li> - -<li>Critics, faith in, II, 322.</li> - -<li>Crofton, Captain, prison discipline, III, - <a href="#p186" title="go to p. 186">186</a>.</li> - -<li>Cromwell, O., and representative government, III, - <a href="#p315" title="go to p. 315">315</a>–6.</li> - -<li>Croshek, the name, I, 313.</li> - -<li>Crosse, A. F., on Hungarian music, II, 449.</li> - -<li>Croydon, board of health, III, - <a href="#p241" title="go to p. 241">241</a>.</li> - -<li><i>Crustacea</i>, integration, I, 68–71.</li> - -<li>Cubit, length of, II, 43, 44.</li> - -<li>Curiosity, comparative psychology, I, 364–5.</li> - -<li>Curtsy, obeisance, III, - <a href="#p018" title="go to p. 18">18</a>–9.</li> - -<li>Custom: -<ul> -<li>and political opinion, III, - <a href="#p001" title="go to p. 1">1</a>–5, - <a href="#p030" title="go to p. 30">30</a>;</li> -<li>Eastern, III, - <a href="#p025" title="go to p. 25">25</a>;</li> -<li>and reform, III, - <a href="#p030" title="go to p. 30">30</a>–6, - <a href="#p036" title="go to p. 36">36</a>–7;</li> -<li>effect on railways, III, - <a href="#p110" title="go to p. 110">110</a>–2.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Cuvier, Baron de, organic correlation, I, 96–101.</li> - -<li>D’Alembert, J. le R., composition of forces, II, 24.</li> - -<li>Damaras, ethics of the, III, - <a href="#p193" title="go to p. 193">193</a>.</li> - -<li>Dancing: -<ul> -<li>origin and differentiation, I, 30–2;</li> -<li>grace in, II, 381, 382;</li> -<li>and pleasure, II, 402;</li> -<li>evolution, II, 441.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Darwin, Charles: -<ul> -<li>natural selection of one variation, I, 407, 421;</li> -<li>natural selection and heredity, I, 408–12, 421;</li> -<li>on E. Darwin, I, 417;</li> -<li>inheritance of functionally produced changes, I, 417–21, 422;</li> -<li>origin of music, II, 426–37;</li> -<li>on the phrase natural selection, I, 429;</li> -<li>effect of changed conditions, I, 433.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Darwin, Dr. E., organic evolution, I, 390–1, 397.</li> - -<li>Davy, Sir H., chemical elements, III, - <a href="#p195" title="go to p. 195">195</a>.</li> - -<li>Dawn, as name, I, 318, 319, 324.</li> - -<li>Death: -<ul> -<li>primitive ideas, III, - <a href="#p006" title="go to p. 6">6</a>;</li> -<li>punishment and associations, III, - <a href="#p158" title="go to p. 158">158</a>, - <a href="#p187" title="go to p. 187">187</a>;</li> -<li>duty and inclination, III, - <a href="#p212" title="go to p. 212">212</a>, - <a href="#p213" title="go to p. 213">213</a>, - <a href="#p215" title="go to p. 215">215</a>;</li> -<li>rate in barracks, III, - <a href="#p257" title="go to p. 257">257</a>;</li> -<li>improvement in rate, III, - <a href="#p447" title="go to p. 447">447</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Deduction: -<ul> -<li>and physiology, I, 77–81, 107;</li> -<li>qualitative and quantitative science, II, 7.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Deer, growth of horns, I, 393.</li> - -<li>Defoe, D., <i>Complete English Tradesman</i>, III, - <a href="#p141" title="go to p. 141">141</a>.</li> - -<li>Deities, primitive ideas, III, - <a href="#p006" title="go to p. 6">6</a>–11, - <a href="#p012" title="go to p. 12">12</a>.</li> - -<li>De la Beche, Sir H., paleontological evidence, I, 205.</li> - -<li>Democracy, change inaugurated, III, - <a href="#p049" title="go to p. 49">49</a>.</li> - -<li>Desire, associated with talent, I, 54.</li> - -<li>Despotism: -<ul> -<li>and social state, I, 268, III, - <a href="#p313" title="go to p. 313">313</a>;</li> -<li>and anarchy, III, - <a href="#p159" title="go to p. 159">159</a>;</li> -<li>and representative government, III, - <a href="#p309" title="go to p. 309">309</a>–10.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Development: -<ul> -<li>hypothesis, I, 1–7;</li> -<li>relation to function, I, 63–4;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Evolution.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Devonian System, age of, I, 203–5, 210.</li> - -<li>Dewar, Prof., complexity of elements, I, 162.</li> - -<li>Differentiation, sociological, I, 102–7.</li> - -<li>Directors: -<ul> -<li>and railway companies, III, - <a href="#p052" title="go to p. 52">52</a>–63, - <a href="#p069" title="go to p. 69">69</a>;</li> -<li>and shareholder’s interests, III, - <a href="#p082" title="go to p. 82">82</a>–8, - <a href="#p108" title="go to p. 108">108</a>;</li> -<li>morals of banking, III, - <a href="#p131" title="go to p. 131">131</a>–7.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Disease: -<ul> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 47;</li> -<li>dissimilar effects, I, 100;</li> -<li>beliefs about, II, 153;</li> -<li>criminality, III, - <a href="#p167" title="go to p. 167">167</a>;</li> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p301" title="go to p. 301">301</a>, - <a href="#p304" title="go to p. 304">304</a>;</li> -<li>body and nerve functions, III, - <a href="#p419" title="go to p. 419">419</a>–22, - <a href="#p443" title="go to p. 443">443</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Distribution, individual and social, I, 291–8.</li> - -<li>Dividends, railway, III, - <a href="#p057" title="go to p. 57">57</a>, - <a href="#p098" title="go to p. 98">98</a>.</li> - -<li>Division of labour: -<ul> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 53–8;</li> -<li>sociological, I, 105–6, 292–3, III, - <a href="#p323" title="go to p. 323">323</a>;</li> -<li>illustrations and growth, I, 266;</li> -<li>social and individual nervous system, I, 299–307;</li> -<li>progress of science, II, 24–7.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Dixon, T. H., on Norfolk Island convicts, III, - <a href="#p176" title="go to p. 176">176</a>.</li> - -<li>Dogs: -<ul> -<li>size of jaws, I, 398–400, 401, 422;</li> -<li>use and disuse, I, 469–71;</li> -<li>simile of Hodgson, II, 231–3;</li> -<li>gracefulness, II, 381, 385;</li> -<li>muscular excitement, II, 400, 403;</li> -<li>origin of music, II, 428.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Don, the title, III, - <a href="#p014" title="go to p. 14">14</a>.</li> - -<li>Downes, Dr., on light and protoplasm, I, 465–6.</li> - -<li>Drama: -<ul> -<li>cause of laughter, II, 461;</li> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p301" title="go to p. 301">301</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Draper, honesty and bankruptcy, III, - <a href="#p129" title="go to p. 129">129</a>–31.</li> - -<li>Drawing, comparative psychology, I, 366.</li> - -<li>Dreams, belief in spirits, I, 310–3.</li> - -<li>Dress: -<ul> -<li>and political opinion, III, - <a href="#p001" title="go to p. 1">1</a>–5, - <a href="#p030" title="go to p. 30">30</a>;</li> -<li>custom and reform, III, - <a href="#p030" title="go to p. 30">30</a>–6, - <a href="#p036" title="go to p. 36">36</a>–7;</li> -<li>and extravagance, III, - <a href="#p036" title="go to p. 36">36</a>–7;</li> -<li>and enjoyment, III, - <a href="#p040" title="go to p. 40">40</a>–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Drunkenness, and temperance, III, - <a href="#p446" title="go to p. 446">446</a>.</li> - -<li>Duck, weight of bones, I, 417–8.</li> - -<li>Duty: -<ul> -<li>Kant and pursuit of happiness, III, - <a href="#p207" title="go to p. 207">207</a>–9;</li> -<li>and inclination, III, - <a href="#p209" title="go to p. 209">209</a>–13.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Dyeing, morals of trade, III, - <a href="#p125" title="go to p. 125">125</a>.</li> - -<li>Dymond, J., <i>Principles of Morality</i>, I, 346.</li> - -<li>Dynamics, Comte’s classification, II, 19.</li> - -<li>Ear, embryological development, I, 454.</li> - -<li>Earth: -<ul> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 11–4, 35;</li> -<li>rotatory movement, I, 135, 136;</li> -<li>number of satellites, I, 139;</li> -<li>density and heat, I, 144–8, 148–52;</li> -<li>size, I, 145;</li> -<li>paleontology and motion, I, 221–4;</li> -<li>laws of motion, II, 272, 283–8;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Geology.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Ease, and grace, II, 382.</li> - -<li>East Indies, effects of upheaval, I, 49–52.</li> - -<li>Echoes, belief in spirits, I, 310–3.</li> - -<li>Eclipse, prediction of, II, 48.</li> - -<li>Ectoderm: -<ul> -<li>development, I, 284;</li> -<li>social and individual analogy, I, 298–9;</li> -<li>differentiation, III, - <a href="#p405" title="go to p. 405">405</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Education: -<ul> -<li>comparative psychology, I, 370;</li> -<li>development of science, II, 72;</li> -<li>Comte’s views, II, 133;</li> -<li>and conservatism, III, - <a href="#p043" title="go to p. 43">43</a>;</li> -<li>old and new, III, - <a href="#p277" title="go to p. 277">277</a>;</li> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p301" title="go to p. 301">301</a>;</li> -<li>parliamentary reform, III, - <a href="#p375" title="go to p. 375">375</a>–9;</li> -<li>and government, III, - <a href="#p435" title="go to p. 435">435</a>–6;</li> -<li>development, III, - <a href="#p446" title="go to p. 446">446</a>, - <a href="#p459" title="go to p. 459">459</a>–60;</li> -<li>American, III, - <a href="#p475" title="go to p. 475">475</a>–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Effect: -<ul> -<li>proportionality to cause, II, 300–1, 302–5, 305–7, 310–11, 318–20;</li> -<li>relation to cause, III, - <a href="#p487" title="go to p. 487">487</a>–92.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Egg, evolution of mind, I, 377.</li> - -<li>Egyptians: -<ul> -<li>language and painting, I, 25–6;</li> -<li>sculpture, I, 26–7, 29, 30;</li> -<li>music, I, 32.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Electricity: -<ul> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 59;</li> -<li>genesis of galvanic, II, 61;</li> -<li>Whewell on progress of theory, II, 62;</li> -<li>abstract-concrete science, II, 88;</li> -<li>mode of molecular motion, II, 126;</li> -<li>what is? 168–72, 186–7;</li> -<li>also thermo-, II, 172–6;</li> -<li>statical and molecular motion, II, 180–3, 186–7;</li> -<li>induction, II, 183;</li> -<li>voltaic and molecular motion, II, 183–4, 186–7.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Elements, complexity of, I, 155–9, 162, 371–4.</li> - -<li>Ell, the measure, II, 44.</li> - -<li>Ellipse, relation to circle, I, 5.</li> - -<li>Embryo: -<ul> -<li>relation to adult, I, 6;</li> -<li>early changes in, I, 445;</li> -<li>development, I, 451–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Embryology: -<ul> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 17–9;</li> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 48;</li> -<li>organic correlation, I, 97;</li> -<li>importance of, II, 8–9;</li> -<li>von Baer’s formula, II, 137–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Emerson, R. W.: -<ul> -<li><i>Lectures on the Times</i>, II, 354;</li> -<li>use and ornament, II, 370;</li> -<li>on conservatism, III, - <a href="#p035" title="go to p. 35">35</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Emotion: -<ul> -<li>Bain’s definition, I, 258–60;</li> -<li>defined, I, 262;</li> -<li>of beauty, I, 335–6;</li> -<li>relation to idea, I, 336;</li> -<li>expression in children, I, 339–50;</li> -<li>and intellect, I, 353, II, 465;</li> -<li>sexual sentiment, I, 363–4;</li> -<li>sociality, freedom, approbation, and acquisitiveness, I, 366–7;</li> -<li>poetry and effect on language, II, 357–61;</li> -<li>demonstration of, II, 401–3;</li> -<li>nervous and muscular system, II, 453–8;</li> -<li>physiology of laughter, II, 458–64;</li> -<li>waste, repair, and language, II, 361–7;</li> -<li>and health, III, - <a href="#p481" title="go to p. 481">481</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Empiricism: -<ul> -<li>reasoning of, II, 201–5;</li> -<li>test of truth, II, 214–7.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Endoderm: -<ul> -<li>development, I, 284;</li> -<li>differentiation, III, - <a href="#p405" title="go to p. 405">405</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Endymion, the myth, I, 326, 327.</li> - -<li>Energy, conservation and persistence of force, II, 295.</li> - -<li>Engel, Carl, on ancient music, II, 414.</li> - -<li>Engineers: -<ul> -<li>and railways, III, - <a href="#p068" title="go to p. 68">68</a>–72, - <a href="#p083" title="go to p. 83">83</a>, - <a href="#p088" title="go to p. 88">88</a>, - <a href="#p108" title="go to p. 108">108</a>;</li> -<li>society, III, - <a href="#p362" title="go to p. 362">362</a>–3, - <a href="#p365" title="go to p. 365">365</a>;</li> -<li>English and French, III, - <a href="#p427" title="go to p. 427">427</a>–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Engines, dissimilarity of similar, I, 99.</li> - -<li>England: -<ul> -<li>government in, I, 302–5;</li> -<li>enterprise in, III, - <a href="#p278" title="go to p. 278">278</a>–80;</li> -<li>representative government in, III, - <a href="#p305" title="go to p. 305">305</a>–9, - <a href="#p318" title="go to p. 318">318</a>–9;</li> -<li>militancy and industrialism, III, - <a href="#p416" title="go to p. 416">416</a>;</li> -<li>political liberty, III, - <a href="#p445" title="go to p. 445">445</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>English language: -<ul> -<li>words, II, 336–8;</li> -<li>Latin and Greek words, II, 367–9.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Entomology, insect transformations, II, 163.</li> - -<li>Epiblast, development, I, 452–3.</li> - -<li>Epilepsy: -<ul> -<li>belief in spirits, I, 311–2;</li> -<li>in guinea pigs, I, 415–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Equality: -<ul> -<li>relations of likeness, I, 35–7, 40;</li> -<li>quantitative prevision, II, 41–9;</li> -<li>and barter, II, 46;</li> -<li>and mechanics, II, 50;</li> -<li>and law, II, 52;</li> -<li>and astronomy, II, 53;</li> -<li>hydrostatics, II, 57;</li> -<li>optics, II, 57;</li> -<li>acoustics, II, 57;</li> -<li>dynamics, II, 58.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Equity (<i>see</i> Justice.)</li> - -<li>Esquire, the title, III, - <a href="#p013" title="go to p. 13">13</a>, - <a href="#p028" title="go to p. 28">28</a>, - <a href="#p032" title="go to p. 32">32</a>.</li> - -<li>Ethics: -<ul> -<li>use and disuse, I, 463–5;</li> -<li>of lower races, II, 192–5;</li> -<li><i>Quarterly Review</i> criticisms, II, 259–65;</li> -<li>absolute politics, III, - <a href="#p217" title="go to p. 217">217</a>–28;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Kant, Morality, Morals, Prison Ethics.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Euclid: -<ul> -<li>test of necessity, II, 198;</li> -<li>axioms, II, 282–3.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Evidence, valuation of, II, 161–7.</li> - -<li>Evolution: -<ul> -<li>and special creation, I, 1–7;</li> -<li>of solar system, I, 128–31;</li> -<li>law of elements, I, 156;</li> -<li>Hugh Miller on, I, 219;</li> -<li>geological record, I, 226–32, 232–40;</li> -<li>emotional, I, 250–7;</li> -<li>of mind, I, 263, 376–8;</li> -<li>of animal worship, I, 329;</li> -<li>comparative psychology of man, I, 352;</li> -<li>mental and bodily mass, 353–4;</li> -<li>rate of mental, I, 355;</li> -<li>mental variability, I, 356–7;</li> -<li>impulsiveness, I, 357–9;</li> -<li>Martineau on, I, 371–88;</li> -<li>complexity of elements, I, 371–4;</li> -<li>of life from not life, I, 374–5;</li> -<li>plants and animals indistinguishable, I, 375–6;</li> -<li>the word, I, 380;</li> -<li>and originating mind, I, 381–6;</li> -<li>materialism, I, 386–8;</li> -<li>and catastrophism in geology, I, 389–90;</li> -<li>Dr. Darwin and Lamarck, I, 390–1,397;</li> -<li>and reproductive system, I, 409, 412, 422–5;</li> -<li>summary on use and disuse, I, 421–5;</li> -<li>effect of conditions, I, 427–35;</li> -<li>of life, I, 458–60, 460–2;</li> -<li>Huxley on, I, 462–3;</li> -<li>terrestrial, II, 94–9;</li> -<li>von Baer’s formula, II, 137–8;</li> -<li>outline of synthetic philosophy, II, 140–2;</li> -<li>advance in complexity of science, II, 150–7;</li> -<li>Quarterly Reviewer on, II, 261–5;</li> -<li>Prof. Tait on, II, 274–5;</li> -<li>relation of thoughts to things, II, 320;</li> -<li>Prof. Green on, II, 323;</li> -<li>limitation of traits, II, 438;</li> -<li>of musical scales, II, 440–1;</li> -<li>of dancing, II, 441;</li> -<li>of music, II, 448–9;</li> -<li>Kant and, III, - <a href="#p197" title="go to p. 197">197</a>–9, - <a href="#p206" title="go to p. 206">206</a>–7;</li> -<li>and Kantian assumptions, III, - <a href="#p203" title="go to p. 203">203</a>–6, - <a href="#p206" title="go to p. 206">206</a>–7;</li> -<li>officialism, III, - <a href="#p255" title="go to p. 255">255</a>;</li> -<li>individual and social, III, - <a href="#p263" title="go to p. 263">263</a>–5;</li> -<li>railways, III, - <a href="#p266" title="go to p. 266">266</a>;</li> -<li>language, III, - <a href="#p402" title="go to p. 402">402</a>–3;</li> -<li>universal, III, - <a href="#p458" title="go to p. 458">458</a>;</li> -<li>industrialism, III, - <a href="#p459" title="go to p. 459">459</a>;</li> -<li>education, III, - <a href="#p459" title="go to p. 459">459</a>–60;</li> -<li>prospective, III, - <a href="#p491" title="go to p. 491">491</a>–2.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Exchange: -<ul> -<li>origin, I, 54, II, 46;</li> -<li>State tamperings with money, III, - <a href="#p326" title="go to p. 326">326</a>–35, - <a href="#p335" title="go to p. 335">335</a>–47.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Exchequer bills, and Bank of England, III, - <a href="#p331" title="go to p. 331">331</a>.</li> - -<li>Excitement, poetry and effect on language, II, 357–61.</li> - -<li>Excluded middle, law of, II, 191–2.</li> - -<li>Expediency: -<ul> -<li>doctrine of, III, - <a href="#p095" title="go to p. 95">95</a>–6;</li> -<li>relative and absolute ethics, III, - <a href="#p152" title="go to p. 152">152</a>–7, - <a href="#p188" title="go to p. 188">188</a>, - <a href="#p333" title="go to p. 333">333</a>;</li> -<li>and penal code, III, - <a href="#p159" title="go to p. 159">159</a>–63, - <a href="#p188" title="go to p. 188">188</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Experience hypothesis: -<ul> -<li>origin of knowledge, II, 122–5;</li> -<li>reasoning of empiricism, II, 201–5;</li> -<li>consciousness of object, II, 211–4;</li> -<li>and <i>a priori</i> truths, II, 287–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Extravagance: -<ul> -<li>and fashion, III, - <a href="#p036" title="go to p. 36">36</a>–7;</li> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p290" title="go to p. 290">290</a>–1;</li> -<li>good for trade, III, - <a href="#p293" title="go to p. 293">293</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Eyes: -<ul> -<li>position in development, I, 71–2, 454;</li> -<li>brighter from good news, II, 402.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Factors of organic evolution, I, 389–478.</li> - -<li>Faculties, exhausted by exercise, II, 361–7.</li> - -<li>Fainting, belief in spirits, I, 311–2.</li> - -<li>Farming, by owner and bailiff, III, - <a href="#p246" title="go to p. 246">246</a>.</li> - -<li>Fashion: -<ul> -<li>origin, III, - <a href="#p028" title="go to p. 28">28</a>;</li> -<li>extravagance of, III, - <a href="#p036" title="go to p. 36">36</a>–7;</li> -<li>social intercourse and pleasure, III, - <a href="#p036" title="go to p. 36">36</a>–46;</li> -<li>need of change, III, - <a href="#p046" title="go to p. 46">46</a>–51;</li> -<li>prospect, III, - <a href="#p051" title="go to p. 51">51</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Father, the title, III, - <a href="#p012" title="go to p. 12">12</a>, - <a href="#p013" title="go to p. 13">13</a>, - <a href="#p021" title="go to p. 21">21</a>.</li> - -<li>Faye, M.: -<ul> -<li>solar constitution, I, 182;</li> -<li>solar spots, I, 183–4, 188–9.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Feathers, structure and function, I, 392.</li> - -<li>Features, and personal beauty, II, 387–99.</li> - -<li>Feelings: -<ul> -<li>definition, I, 262–4;</li> -<li>evolution, I, 263–4;</li> -<li>indications of, II, 400–3;</li> -<li>loudness of voice, II, 404–5;</li> -<li>also timbre, II, 405, 411;</li> -<li>and pitch, II, 406, 411;</li> -<li>and intervals, II, 406–9, 411;</li> -<li>variability of pitch, II, 409, 411;</li> -<li>emphasis and time in music, II, 412–3;</li> -<li>relation of music to sympathy, II, 424–6;</li> -<li>nervous and muscular system, II, 453–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Feet, obeisance of uncovering, III, - <a href="#p017" title="go to p. 17">17</a>.</li> - -<li>Fetichism, political, III, - <a href="#p393" title="go to p. 393">393</a>–400.</li> - -<li>Figures of speech, II, 350–5.</li> - -<li>Fiji: -<ul> -<li>ethics in, III, - <a href="#p193" title="go to p. 193">193</a>;</li> -<li>life in, III, - <a href="#p217" title="go to p. 217">217</a>–8, - <a href="#p221" title="go to p. 221">221</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Fingers: -<ul> -<li>heredity and number, I, 413–4, 475;</li> -<li>and memory, II, 465.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Fire, indirect effects, III, - <a href="#p242" title="go to p. 242">242</a>.</li> - -<li><i>First Principles</i>: -<ul> -<li>Martineau on, II, 250–8;</li> -<li>data of philosophy, II, 286.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Fish: -<ul> -<li>evolution and heterogeneity, I, 15–7;</li> -<li>temperature, I, 75, 76;</li> -<li>self-mobility, I, 76;</li> -<li>paleontological remains, I, 227, 235, 240;</li> -<li>eating of, III, - <a href="#p047" title="go to p. 47">47</a>;</li> -<li>anomalies, III, - <a href="#p401" title="go to p. 401">401</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Flint implements, discovery, I, 413.</li> - -<li>Flocculi, appearance of nebulæ, I, 118–25.</li> - -<li>Food: -<ul> -<li>absorption and deductive biology, I, 77–81;</li> -<li>for the dead, I, 311–2;</li> -<li>nutrition, III, - <a href="#p408" title="go to p. 408">408</a>;</li> -<li>and government, III, - <a href="#p423" title="go to p. 423">423</a>–4.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Foot, the measure, II, 44.</li> - -<li>Force: -<ul> -<li>cognition of its persistence, II, 269, 275;</li> -<li>Tait on central forces, II, 290–3;</li> -<li>persistence and conservation of energy, II, 295;</li> -<li>relation to motion, II, 310–4.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Forgery, III, - <a href="#p134" title="go to p. 134">134</a>.</li> - -<li>Forms of thought, consciousness of object, II, 211–4.</li> - -<li>Fossils (<i>see</i> Paleontology.)</li> - -<li>Fouillée, Alfred, on Comte’s philosophy, II, 143–4.</li> - -<li>Fowls, use and disuse, I, 418.</li> - -<li>France: -<ul> -<li>English and French sheep, II, 396, 398;</li> -<li>agriculture and officialism, III, - <a href="#p267" title="go to p. 267">267</a>–8;</li> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p318" title="go to p. 318">318</a>–9, - <a href="#p320" title="go to p. 320">320</a>;</li> -<li>paper currency, III, - <a href="#p345" title="go to p. 345">345</a>;</li> -<li>liberty in, III, - <a href="#p381" title="go to p. 381">381</a>;</li> -<li>banks in, III, - <a href="#p426" title="go to p. 426">426</a>;</li> -<li>engineering, III, - <a href="#p427" title="go to p. 427">427</a>–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Franchise (<i>see</i> Parliamentary Reform.)</li> - -<li id="p501">Freedom: -<ul> -<li>manners and customs, III, - <a href="#p030" title="go to p. 30">30</a>–6, - <a href="#p036" title="go to p. 36">36</a>–7, - <a href="#p046" title="go to p. 46">46</a>–51;</li> -<li>to bondage, III, - <a href="#p445" title="go to p. 445">445</a>–70;</li> -<li>loss of American, III, - <a href="#p473" title="go to p. 473">473</a>–4, - <a href="#p477" title="go to p. 477">477</a>, - <a href="#p478" title="go to p. 478">478</a>–9.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Free trade: -<ul> -<li>effects on industry, I, 22–3;</li> -<li>and officialism, III, - <a href="#p268" title="go to p. 268">268</a>–70;</li> -<li>and banking, III, - <a href="#p356" title="go to p. 356">356</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Friendly societies, and individualism, III, - <a href="#p433" title="go to p. 433">433</a>–4.</li> - -<li>Frog, reflex action, II, 308.</li> - -<li>Fugue, origin, I, 33.</li> - -<li>Function: -<ul> -<li>relation to growth, I, 63–4;</li> -<li>and to integration of parts, I, 73;</li> -<li>and to structure, I, 249.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Galactic circle, nebular distribution, I, 112.</li> - -<li>Galton, F., <i>English Men of Science</i>, I, 360.</li> - -<li>Ganglia (<i>see</i> Nervous System.)</li> - -<li>Gas: -<ul> -<li>heat and liquifaction, I, 164–7;</li> -<li>English enterprise, III, - <a href="#p278" title="go to p. 278">278</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Gastrula stage, of embryos, I, 452, 457.</li> - -<li>General: -<ul> -<li>Comte’s use of word, II, 20;</li> -<li>definition, II, 79.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Generalization: -<ul> -<li>universal tendency, I, 192;</li> -<li>absent in children, I, 354;</li> -<li>comparative psychology, I, 365–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Generosity, comparative psychology, I, 368.</li> - -<li>Genius: -<ul> -<li>literary style, II, 365–7;</li> -<li>non-recognition, III, - <a href="#p299" title="go to p. 299">299</a>–300.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Geology: -<ul> -<li>special creation and evolution, I, 6–7;</li> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 11–4, 14–7, 35;</li> -<li>life and multiplication of effects, I, 39–46, 49–53;</li> -<li>illogical, I, 192–240;</li> -<li>evolution of, I, 192–8;</li> -<li>Wernerian, I, 194–7;</li> -<li>Huttonian, I, 195–7;</li> -<li>age of systems, I, 198–205;</li> -<li>and paleontological evidence, I, 205–12;</li> -<li>past and present changes, I, 212–8;</li> -<li>Hugh Miller’s doctrines, I, 218–20;</li> -<li>breaks in record, I, 220–6, 226–32, 232–40;</li> -<li>original object of Geological Society, I, 241;</li> -<li>catastrophism and evolution, I, 389–90;</li> -<li>genesis, II, 60;</li> -<li>concrete science, II, 89–92;</li> -<li>terrestrial evolution, II, 95–9;</li> -<li>deals with aggregates, II, 100;</li> -<li>English map, II, 257;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Earth.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Geometry: -<ul> -<li>Comte’s classification, II, 16–21;</li> -<li>origin, II, 40, 151;</li> -<li>genesis, II, 48–50, 59;</li> -<li>genesis of trigonometry, II, 55–6;</li> -<li>interdependence of science and art, II, 69;</li> -<li>and abstract science, II, 79–80;</li> -<li>classification of sciences, II, 84;</li> -<li>the name, II, 113, 115;</li> -<li>evolution, II, 155;</li> -<li>test of necessity, II, 198–200.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Gerard, E., Hungarian music, II, 450–1.</li> - -<li>Gesticulation, and language, II, 335.</li> - -<li>Ghost: -<ul> -<li>the word misleading, I, 311;</li> -<li>outline of theory, III, - <a href="#p008" title="go to p. 8">8</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Giraffe, correlation of parts, I, 402–5.</li> - -<li>Glück, C. W. von, Handel on, II, 448.</li> - -<li>Gnomon, use, II, 53–4.</li> - -<li>God: -<ul> -<li>belief in personal, II, 223;</li> -<li>primitive ideas, III, - <a href="#p006" title="go to p. 6">6</a>–11, - <a href="#p012" title="go to p. 12">12</a>, - <a href="#p023" title="go to p. 23">23</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Gold: -<ul> -<li>digging for, and evolution, III, - <a href="#p264" title="go to p. 264">264</a>;</li> -<li>efflux of, III, - <a href="#p341" title="go to p. 341">341</a>–3;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Money.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Good, meaning of word, III, - <a href="#p202" title="go to p. 202">202</a>.</li> - -<li>Gothic, allied to vegetative style, II, 376, 377, 378.</li> - -<li>Gould, J., on colour of birds, I, 433.</li> - -<li>Gout, and heredity, II, 395.</li> - -<li>Government: -<ul> -<li>differentiation of, I, 21;</li> -<li>ideal society, II, 131–2;</li> -<li>evolution and divergence of, III, - <a href="#p022" title="go to p. 22">22</a>, - <a href="#p024" title="go to p. 24">24</a>–30, - <a href="#p050" title="go to p. 50">50</a>;</li> -<li>criminal code, III, - <a href="#p157" title="go to p. 157">157</a>;</li> -<li>what is representative government good for? III, - <a href="#p283" title="go to p. 283">283</a>–325;</li> -<li>belief in English, III, - <a href="#p284" title="go to p. 284">284</a>;</li> -<li>flaws, &c., III, - <a href="#p284" title="go to p. 284">284</a>–91;</li> -<li>selection of representatives, III, - <a href="#p291" title="go to p. 291">291</a>–300;</li> -<li>individualism and the state, III, - <a href="#p416" title="go to p. 416">416</a>–37, - <a href="#p442" title="go to p. 442">442</a>–4;</li> -<li>and food supply, III, - <a href="#p423" title="go to p. 423">423</a>–4;</li> -<li>banks, III, - <a href="#p425" title="go to p. 425">425</a>–6;</li> -<li>engineering, III, - <a href="#p427" title="go to p. 427">427</a>–8;</li> -<li>water supply, III, - <a href="#p429" title="go to p. 429">429</a>;</li> -<li>art and literature, III, - <a href="#p430" title="go to p. 430">430</a>–1;</li> -<li>and churches, III, - <a href="#p434" title="go to p. 434">434</a>;</li> -<li>charity, III, - <a href="#p434" title="go to p. 434">434</a>;</li> -<li>education, III, - <a href="#p435" title="go to p. 435">435</a>–6;</li> -<li>railways, III, - <a href="#p437" title="go to p. 437">437</a>;</li> -<li>post-office, III, - <a href="#p440" title="go to p. 440">440</a>–2;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Over-legislation.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Gracefulness, II, 381–6.</li> - -<li>Grand, the word great, II, 368.</li> - -<li>Granite: -<ul> -<li>metamorphism, I, 229;</li> -<li>at Philæ, I, 437.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Gravitation: -<ul> -<li>Newton and law of, II, 26–7;</li> -<li>discovery of laws, II, 148.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Great, and the word grand, II, 367–9.</li> - -<li>Great Western Railway: -<ul> -<li><i>versus</i> Rushout, III, - <a href="#p094" title="go to p. 94">94</a>;</li> -<li>and South Western, III, - <a href="#p097" title="go to p. 97">97</a>–8;</li> -<li>and North Western, III, - <a href="#p107" title="go to p. 107">107</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Greece: -<ul> -<li>sculpture, I, 27, 30;</li> -<li>dancing, I, 31;</li> -<li>poetry, I, 31;</li> -<li>music, I, 33;</li> -<li>architecture, II, 376, 377, 378;</li> -<li>personal beauty, II, 391–3;</li> -<li>early poems, II, 414–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Greek language: -<ul> -<li>Latin and English words, II, 367–9;</li> -<li>sociology and knowledge of, III, - <a href="#p377" title="go to p. 377">377</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Green, Prof. T. H., criticism, II, 322–32.</li> - -<li>Greenwich Hospital, funds, III, - <a href="#p398" title="go to p. 398">398</a>.</li> - -<li>Greyhounds, use and disuse in, I, 469–71.</li> - -<li>Grief, voice of, II, 405.</li> - -<li>Grocers, morals of trade, III, - <a href="#p121" title="go to p. 121">121</a>–3.</li> - -<li>Grotz, A., on science and religion, II, 225.</li> - -<li>Growth: -<ul> -<li>relation to activity, I, 63–4;</li> -<li>various forms, I, 65–7;</li> -<li>social, I, 265–9, 306.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Guinea pigs, epilepsy in, I, 415–6.</li> - -<li>Guizot, M.: -<ul> -<li>social aggregation, I, 282;</li> -<li>and specialization, I, 287;</li> -<li>political machinery, III, - <a href="#p276" title="go to p. 276">276</a>, - <a href="#p399" title="go to p. 399">399</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Gulliver, L., an imaginary, on English institutions, III, - <a href="#p305" title="go to p. 305">305</a>–9.</li> - -<li>Gurney, E., on origin of music, II, 437–43.</li> - -<li>Habit (<i>see</i> Heredity.)</li> - -<li>Hair: -<ul> -<li>and political opinion, III, - <a href="#p001" title="go to p. 1">1</a>–5;</li> -<li>obeisance of offering, III, - <a href="#p021" title="go to p. 21">21</a>;</li> -<li>colour of American, III, - <a href="#p482" title="go to p. 482">482</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Hallo! intonation of, II, 407.</li> - -<li>Hamburg, currency, III, - <a href="#p339" title="go to p. 339">339</a>.</li> - -<li>Hamilton, Sir W.: -<ul> -<li>on space, II, 191–2;</li> -<li>the word belief, II, 222–3;</li> -<li>Grotz on, II, 225;</li> -<li>necessity of causation, II, 320;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Mill.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Hampstead Heath, II, 370.</li> - -<li>Hand: -<ul> -<li>the measure, II, 44;</li> -<li>ribbing of skin, I, 448;</li> -<li>rubbing together of hands, II, 402.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Handel, G. F., on Glück, II, 448.</li> - -<li>Happiness, Kant and pursuit of, III, - <a href="#p207" title="go to p. 207">207</a>–9; (<i>see also</i> Kant.)</li> - -<li>Harmony, origin of music, II, 448.</li> - -<li>Harp, strings in ancient, II, 415.</li> - -<li>Harris, Mr., on Norfolk Island convicts, III, - <a href="#p176" title="go to p. 176">176</a>.</li> - -<li>Hastings, railway service, II, 97.</li> - -<li>Hat, obeisance of removal, III, - <a href="#p020" title="go to p. 20">20</a>, - <a href="#p027" title="go to p. 27">27</a>, - <a href="#p047" title="go to p. 47">47</a>.</li> - -<li>Hayward, R. B., criticism, II, 307–14.</li> - -<li>Head: -<ul> -<li>obeisance of uncovering, III, - <a href="#p020" title="go to p. 20">20</a>;</li> -<li>putting dust on, III, - <a href="#p021" title="go to p. 21">21</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Health: -<ul> -<li>and criminality, III, - <a href="#p167" title="go to p. 167">167</a>;</li> -<li>failure of boards of, III, - <a href="#p241" title="go to p. 241">241</a>, - <a href="#p248" title="go to p. 248">248</a>, - <a href="#p290" title="go to p. 290">290</a>;</li> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p301" title="go to p. 301">301</a>, - <a href="#p304" title="go to p. 304">304</a>;</li> -<li>body and nerve functions, III, - <a href="#p419" title="go to p. 419">419</a>–22, - <a href="#p443" title="go to p. 443">443</a>;</li> -<li>and feeling, III, - <a href="#p481" title="go to p. 481">481</a>;</li> -<li>in America, III, - <a href="#p482" title="go to p. 482">482</a>, - <a href="#p483" title="go to p. 483">483</a>–4.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Heart.: -<ul> -<li>integration, I, 67;</li> -<li>disease, I, 410–11;</li> -<li>effect of emotion, II, 454, 455, 464;</li> -<li>and nervous system, III, - <a href="#p420" title="go to p. 420">420</a>–1.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Heat: -<ul> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 37, 38, 39, 47, 59;</li> -<li>terrestrial effects of diminishing, I, 40–6;</li> -<li>cause of heterogeneity, I, 82;</li> -<li>nebular change, I, 118;</li> -<li>liquefaction of gases, I, 164–7;</li> -<li>terrestrial motion and paleontological evidence, I, 221–4;</li> -<li>rock metamorphism, I, 229–30, 232;</li> -<li>action on bodies, I, 436;</li> -<li>genesis of science, II, 62, 63;</li> -<li>abstract concrete science, II, 88;</li> -<li>what is thermo-electricity? II, 172–6;</li> -<li>effect on compound molecules, II, 178–80, 186;</li> -<li>insensible motion, II, 266–8, 276.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Hegel, G. W. F.: -<ul> -<li>“to philosophize on Nature,” II, 10, 11;</li> -<li>classification of sciences, II, 12–5.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Heraldry, and manners and fashion, III, - <a href="#p026" title="go to p. 26">26</a>, - <a href="#p027" title="go to p. 27">27</a>–8.</li> - -<li>Heredity: -<ul> -<li>the general law, I, 64, 103, 104;</li> -<li>organic development, I, 90–2;</li> -<li>moral sentiments, I, 338;</li> -<li>effect of sex, I, 362;</li> -<li>size of jaw, I, 397–400, 422;</li> -<li>musical faculty, I, 406–7;</li> -<li>natural selection, I, 408–12;</li> -<li>functional modifications, I, 415–7;</li> -<li>Darwin’s belief in their inheritance, I, 417–21, 422;</li> -<li>summary on use and disuse, I, 421–5;</li> -<li>also their bearing on ethics, psychology, and sociology, I, 463–5;</li> -<li>Duke of Argyll’s criticism, I, 467–78;</li> -<li>personal beauty, II, 387–99;</li> -<li>officialism, III, - <a href="#p255" title="go to p. 255">255</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Hero-worship, III, - <a href="#p317" title="go to p. 317">317</a>.</li> - -<li>Herr, the title, III, - <a href="#p014" title="go to p. 14">14</a>.</li> - -<li>Herschel, Sir J.: -<ul> -<li>Magellanic clouds, I, 116–7;</li> -<li>form of nebulæ, I, 122, 124;</li> -<li>variation of terrestrial temperature, I, 222, 223;</li> -<li>complexity of elements, I, 372;</li> -<li>cause and effect, II, 306, 319.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Herschel, Sir W.: -<ul> -<li>on nebulous matter, I, 110;</li> -<li>stellar magnitude and distance, I, 115;</li> -<li>stellar genesis, I, 129;</li> -<li>solar surface, I, 185, 187.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Heterogeneity: -<ul> -<li>increase in, displayed by astronomy, I, 10–11, 35;</li> -<li>geology, I, 11–14, 35;</li> -<li>meteorology, I, 13–4, 35;</li> -<li>biology, I, 14–7, 35;</li> -<li>man, I, 17–9, 35;</li> -<li>society, I, 19–23, 35;</li> -<li>ceremony, I, 20–1;</li> -<li>religion, I, 20–3;</li> -<li>language, I, 23–6;</li> -<li>writing, I, 24–6;</li> -<li>the arts, I, 24–30;</li> -<li>poetry, music and drama, I, 30–2;</li> -<li>literature and science, I, 34–5;</li> -<li>development, I, 67;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Multiplication of Effects.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>History, measure of time, II, 45–9.</li> - -<li>Hobbes, T., commonwealth of, I, 270–2.</li> - -<li>Hodgson, S. H.: -<ul> -<li>criticism of, II, 225–34;</li> -<li>reply to Prof. Green, II, 321–2, 329.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Homogeneous: -<ul> -<li>instability of the, I, 81–4, 459–60;</li> -<li>orderly heterogeneity, I, 84–93.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Honesty: -<ul> -<li>in trade and bankruptcy, III, - <a href="#p129" title="go to p. 129">129</a>–31, - <a href="#p138" title="go to p. 138">138</a>;</li> -<li>of lower races, III, - <a href="#p194" title="go to p. 194">194</a>;</li> -<li>state tamperings with money, III, - <a href="#p326" title="go to p. 326">326</a>–35, - <a href="#p335" title="go to p. 335">335</a>–47;</li> -<li>and social grade, III, - <a href="#p359" title="go to p. 359">359</a>;</li> -<li>and officialism, III, - <a href="#p397" title="go to p. 397">397</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Hornbills, head excrescences of, I, 392.</li> - -<li>Horns, evolution of, I, 395.</li> - -<li>Horse, the phrase black, II, 340.</li> - -<li>Hoskins, G. A., on Valencia prison, III, - <a href="#p177" title="go to p. 177">177</a>–8.</li> - -<li>Huguenots, Smiles on the, I, 360.</li> - -<li>Humboldt, A. von, distribution of nebulæ, I, 113, 114, 115.</li> - -<li>Hume, D.: -<ul> -<li>subject and object, II, 329;</li> -<li>law codification, III, - <a href="#p258" title="go to p. 258">258</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Hungary, music in, II, 449.</li> - -<li>Hutton, James, geological theory, I, 195, 197.</li> - -<li>Hutton, Richard H., “a questionable parentage for morals,” I, 331–50.</li> - -<li>Huxley, T. H.: -<ul> -<li>evolution and biological heterogeneity, I, 17;</li> -<li>organic correlation, I, 96–101;</li> -<li>belief in double personality, I, 310;</li> -<li>on “Origin of Species,” I, 389–90;</li> -<li>on evolution, I, 462–3;</li> -<li>a creed fatal to science, I, 463;</li> -<li>specialized administration, III, - <a href="#p404" title="go to p. 404">404</a>–5;</li> -<li>endoderm and ectoderm, III, - <a href="#p405" title="go to p. 405">405</a>;</li> -<li>function of parliament, III, - <a href="#p417" title="go to p. 417">417</a>;</li> -<li>and altruism, III, - <a href="#p433" title="go to p. 433">433</a>;</li> -<li>administrative nihilism, III, - <a href="#p438" title="go to p. 438">438</a>, - <a href="#p442" title="go to p. 442">442</a>–4.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Hybrids, origin of worship, I, 320–2, 329.</li> - -<li><i>Hydra</i>, the, naval maladministration, III, - <a href="#p234" title="go to p. 234">234</a>.</li> - -<li>Hydrogen, liquefaction, I, 160.</li> - -<li>Hydrostatics, genesis, II, 57, 59.</li> - -<li><i>Hydrozoa</i>: -<ul> -<li>analogy to social organism, I, 280–3;</li> -<li>development, I, 284;</li> -<li>circulation, I, 291;</li> -<li>nervous system, III, - <a href="#p422" title="go to p. 422">422</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Hyperbola, relation to circle, I, 5.</li> - -<li><i>Hyperion</i>, verse from, II, 344.</li> - -<li>Hypoblast, embryo development, I, 452–3, 455.</li> - -<li>Hypothesis, effect on observation, II, 162–7.</li> - -<li>Ice, temperature as illustrating propositions, II, 205–8.</li> - -<li>Idealism: -<ul> -<li>reasoning of, II, 201;</li> -<li>Sidgwick’s criticism, II, 242–50.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Ideas: -<ul> -<li>relation to emotions, I, 336–8;</li> -<li>comparative psychology, I, 365–6;</li> -<li>actual and pseud-, I, 383.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Idols, worship of, III, - <a href="#p393" title="go to p. 393">393</a>.</li> - -<li>Imitativeness, comparative psychology, I, 364.</li> - -<li>Impatience, indications of, II, 402.</li> - -<li>Impulsiveness, comparative psychology, I, 357–9.</li> - -<li>Inclination, and duty, III, - <a href="#p210" title="go to p. 210">210</a>–1.</li> - -<li>Inconceivability, Mill on, II, 193–200.</li> - -<li>Incongruities, Bain on, II, 463.</li> - -<li>Incuriosity, comparative psychology, I, 364–5.</li> - -<li>Indeed! intonation of, II, 408.</li> - -<li>India: -<ul> -<li>prisons of, III, - <a href="#p189" title="go to p. 189">189</a>–91;</li> -<li>ethics in, III, - <a href="#p193" title="go to p. 193">193</a>–5;</li> -<li>failure of government, III, - <a href="#p249" title="go to p. 249">249</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Individual, and the State, III, - <a href="#p416" title="go to p. 416">416</a>–37, - <a href="#p442" title="go to p. 442">442</a>–4.</li> - -<li>Induction: -<ul> -<li>qualitative and quantitative science, II, 7;</li> -<li>electrical, II, 183.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Industrialism: -<ul> -<li>and social organism, III, - <a href="#p412" title="go to p. 412">412</a>–6;</li> -<li>development of, III, - <a href="#p459" title="go to p. 459">459</a>;</li> -<li>and unionism, III, - <a href="#p465" title="go to p. 465">465</a>;</li> -<li>in America, III, - <a href="#p487" title="go to p. 487">487</a>–92.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Industry: -<ul> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 53–8;</li> -<li>effects of railways, I, 57;</li> -<li>boundaries ignored by, I, 289.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Infant: -<ul> -<li>relation to ovum, I, 6;</li> -<li>resemblance to uncivilized, I, 18.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Infusoria</i>, cell membrane, I, 441.</li> - -<li>Insanity: -<ul> -<li>and heredity, I, 416, II, 396;</li> -<li>Pentonville Prison, III, - <a href="#p162" title="go to p. 162">162</a>;</li> -<li>and life, III, - <a href="#p164" title="go to p. 164">164</a>;</li> -<li>and bodily functions, III, - <a href="#p419" title="go to p. 419">419</a>–20.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Insects: -<ul> -<li>temperature, I, 75;</li> -<li>self-mobility, I, 76;</li> -<li>mimicry, I, 396;</li> -<li>colours of, I, 433;</li> -<li>metamorphosis, III, - <a href="#p410" title="go to p. 410">410</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Intaglio, increase of heterogeneity, I, 26.</li> - -<li>Integration: -<ul> -<li>longitudinal and tranverse, I, 67–73;</li> -<li>relation to function, I, 73;</li> -<li>sociological, I, 102–7.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Intellect, effect of emotion, II, 465.</li> - -<li>Intelligence: -<ul> -<li>relation to sexual sentiment, I, 363–4;</li> -<li>and authority, III, - <a href="#p311" title="go to p. 311">311</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Intonation, origin in churches, II, 416.</li> - -<li>Invagination, Balfour on, I, 452.</li> - -<li>Involution, and evolution, I, 380.</li> - -<li>Ireland: -<ul> -<li>prison discipline, III, - <a href="#p174" title="go to p. 174">174</a>;</li> -<li>and bad legislation, III, - <a href="#p275" title="go to p. 275">275</a>;</li> -<li>currency in, III, - <a href="#p337" title="go to p. 337">337</a>, - <a href="#p344" title="go to p. 344">344</a>–5;</li> -<li>bank of, III, - <a href="#p348" title="go to p. 348">348</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Irish elk, correlation of parts, I, 402.</li> - -<li>Iron: -<ul> -<li>analogy from cutting, I, 97–8;</li> -<li>industry and locality, I, 104;</li> -<li>complexity of, I, 373.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Isomerism: -<ul> -<li>complexity of elements, I, 155;</li> -<li>evolution of life, I, 374–5.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Italy, language, II, 423.</li> - -<li>Jam, association of ideas, I, 337.</li> - -<li>Jaw: -<ul> -<li>personal beauty, II, 389–90, 391;</li> -<li>size, I, 397–400, 473;</li> -<li>size of teeth, I, 401;</li> -<li>drooping from excitement, II, 464.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Joint-stock companies: -<ul> -<li>history, III, - <a href="#p052" title="go to p. 52">52</a>, - <a href="#p108" title="go to p. 108">108</a>;</li> -<li>failure of Act, III, - <a href="#p241" title="go to p. 241">241</a>;</li> -<li>importance of, III, - <a href="#p257" title="go to p. 257">257</a>;</li> -<li>maladministration, III, - <a href="#p286" title="go to p. 286">286</a>;</li> -<li>banking, III, - <a href="#p347" title="go to p. 347">347</a>–54;</li> -<li>regulative system, III, - <a href="#p463" title="go to p. 463">463</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Jupiter: -<ul> -<li>rotatory movement, I, 135, 136;</li> -<li>motion of satellites, I, 137, 141–2;</li> -<li>number of satellites, I, 139–40;</li> -<li>density and heat, I, 144–8, 148–52;</li> -<li>size, I, 145;</li> -<li>luminosity, I, 150;</li> -<li>orbit, I, 169.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Juries, bribery of, III, - <a href="#p396" title="go to p. 396">396</a>.</li> - -<li>Justice: -<ul> -<li>re-representative sentiment, I, 263;</li> -<li>development of sympathy, I, 347–50;</li> -<li>comparative psychology, I, 368;</li> -<li>and equity, II, 52;</li> -<li>and prison ethics, III, - <a href="#p165" title="go to p. 165">165</a>, - <a href="#p167" title="go to p. 167">167</a>, - <a href="#p180" title="go to p. 180">180</a>, - <a href="#p181" title="go to p. 181">181</a>;</li> -<li>political ethics, III, - <a href="#p225" title="go to p. 225">225</a>, - <a href="#p228" title="go to p. 228">228</a>;</li> -<li>faulty administration, III, - <a href="#p232" title="go to p. 232">232</a>, - <a href="#p235" title="go to p. 235">235</a>;</li> -<li>over-legislation, III, - <a href="#p272" title="go to p. 272">272</a>;</li> -<li>and representative government, III, - <a href="#p317" title="go to p. 317">317</a>–23, - <a href="#p324" title="go to p. 324">324</a>, - <a href="#p380" title="go to p. 380">380</a>;</li> -<li>duty of state, III, - <a href="#p334" title="go to p. 334">334</a>;</li> -<li>and officialism, III, - <a href="#p395" title="go to p. 395">395</a>–400;</li> -<li>needful to society, III, - <a href="#p469" title="go to p. 469">469</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Kames, Lord, arrangement of sentences, II, 343.</li> - -<li>Kant, I.: -<ul> -<li>forms of thought, II, 77;</li> -<li>space and time, II, 226–7, 229–32, III, - <a href="#p197" title="go to p. 197">197</a>–9;</li> -<li>form and matter, II, 230–1, 232;</li> -<li>and experientialism, II, 234–5;</li> -<li>Max Müller on Spencer and, II, 235–8;</li> -<li>Spencer’s disagreement from, II, 238;</li> -<li>ethics, III, - <a href="#p192" title="go to p. 192">192</a>–216;</li> -<li>on lower races, III, - <a href="#p192" title="go to p. 192">192</a>–5;</li> -<li>examples of unaided perception, III, - <a href="#p195" title="go to p. 195">195</a>–7;</li> -<li>reasoning of, III, - <a href="#p199" title="go to p. 199">199</a>–203;</li> -<li>space, III, - <a href="#p203" title="go to p. 203">203</a>, - <a href="#p207" title="go to p. 207">207</a>;</li> -<li>on good will, III, - <a href="#p201" title="go to p. 201">201</a>–3, - <a href="#p207" title="go to p. 207">207</a>;</li> -<li>and evolution, III, - <a href="#p203" title="go to p. 203">203</a>–6, - <a href="#p207" title="go to p. 207">207</a>;</li> -<li>Carus on ethics, III, - <a href="#p206" title="go to p. 206">206</a>–7;</li> -<li>pursuit of happiness, III, - <a href="#p207" title="go to p. 207">207</a>–9;</li> -<li>duty and inclination, III, - <a href="#p209" title="go to p. 209">209</a>–13;</li> -<li>ethical principles, III, - <a href="#p213" title="go to p. 213">213</a>–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Kent, W. S., on <i>infusoria</i>, I, 440.</li> - -<li>Kepler, J: -<ul> -<li>laws of, I, 36;</li> -<li>belief in planetary spirits, I, 108;</li> -<li>solar theory, I, 193.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Kid, laughter caused by, II, 461–2.</li> - -<li>Kirchhoff, solar spots, I, 187.</li> - -<li>Kissing, obeisance of, III, - <a href="#p018" title="go to p. 18">18</a>.</li> - -<li>Kneeling, obeisance of, III, - <a href="#p019" title="go to p. 19">19</a>.</li> - -<li>Knight, the title, III, - <a href="#p015" title="go to p. 15">15</a>, - <a href="#p028" title="go to p. 28">28</a>.</li> - -<li>Knowledge: -<ul> -<li>common and scientific, II, 1–8, 29;</li> -<li>dependent on experience, II, 122;</li> -<li>relativity, II, 122, 220–1;</li> -<li>and word belief, II, 188–91;</li> -<li>Quarterly Reviewer on, II, 260;</li> -<li>and reasoning, III, - <a href="#p199" title="go to p. 199">199</a>, - <a href="#p201" title="go to p. 201">201</a>;</li> -<li>and political ethics, III, - <a href="#p225" title="go to p. 225">225</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Labour: -<ul> -<li>division of, I, 19–23, 283–91;</li> -<li>right to, III, - <a href="#p466" title="go to p. 466">466</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Lady, the title, III, - <a href="#p014" title="go to p. 14">14</a>.</li> - -<li><i>Lady of the Lake</i>, quoted, II, 351.</li> - -<li>Laing, Mr., on railway construction, III, - <a href="#p105" title="go to p. 105">105</a>–6.</li> - -<li>Lamarck, J. B. P. A. de M., organic evolution, I, 390–1, 397.</li> - -<li>Lancashire: -<ul> -<li>cotton industry, I, 266;</li> -<li>effect of railway competition, III, - <a href="#p097" title="go to p. 97">97</a>, - <a href="#p106" title="go to p. 106">106</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Landowners, railway policy, III, - <a href="#p063" title="go to p. 63">63</a>–7.</li> - -<li>Landscape, appreciation of, I, 335–6.</li> - -<li>Language: -<ul> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 23–6, II, 366–7;</li> -<li>belief in spirits, I, 311–2;</li> -<li>poverty of Australian, I, 315;</li> -<li>precedence of concrete nouns, I, 323;</li> -<li>comparative psychology, I, 365–6;</li> -<li>classification, II, 31–3, 34, 40;</li> -<li>Saxon words, II, 336–8;</li> -<li>under excitement, and poetry, II, 357–61;</li> -<li>emotional waste and repair, II, 361–7;</li> -<li>Latin, Greek, and old English, II, 367–9;</li> -<li>duality and development, II, 421–3;</li> -<li>sociology and knowledge, III, - <a href="#p302" title="go to p. 302">302</a>;</li> -<li>of subordination, III, - <a href="#p312" title="go to p. 312">312</a>;</li> -<li>evolution, III, - <a href="#p402" title="go to p. 402">402</a>–3.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Lankester, Prof. E. Ray, on heredity, I, 476.</li> - -<li>Laplace, P. S. Marquis de: -<ul> -<li>genesis and structure of solar system, I, 128–9, 130, 131;</li> -<li>planetary axial movements, I, 132–6;</li> -<li>lunar axial motion, I, 141;</li> -<li>motion of satellites, I, 142;</li> -<li>planetoids, I, 168, 174, 178.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Latham, R. G., on grammar, II, 333.</li> - -<li>Latin, Greek and English words, II, 367–9.</li> - -<li>Laugel, M., on <i>First Principles</i>, II, 118.</li> - -<li>Laughter, physiology of, II, 452–66.</li> - -<li>Law: -<ul> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 37;</li> -<li>genesis of science, II, 51;</li> -<li>belief in natural, II, 123;</li> -<li>conditions affecting discovery, II, 145–8, 148–50;</li> -<li>evolution of sciences, II, 150–7;</li> -<li>prospective, II, 157–9;</li> -<li>universality of, II, 159–60;</li> -<li>religion and manners, III, - <a href="#p004" title="go to p. 4">4</a>, - <a href="#p023" title="go to p. 23">23</a>;</li> -<li>and morality, III, - <a href="#p010" title="go to p. 10">10</a>–11, - <a href="#p023" title="go to p. 23">23</a>, - <a href="#p050" title="go to p. 50">50</a>;</li> -<li>for primitive man, III, - <a href="#p024" title="go to p. 24">24</a>;</li> -<li>officialism and reform, III, - <a href="#p252" title="go to p. 252">252</a>, - <a href="#p258" title="go to p. 258">258</a>–9;</li> -<li>and over-legislation, III, - <a href="#p272" title="go to p. 272">272</a>;</li> -<li>legal verbiage, III, - <a href="#p273" title="go to p. 273">273</a>;</li> -<li>cost, III, - <a href="#p308" title="go to p. 308">308</a>;</li> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p317" title="go to p. 317">317</a>–23;</li> -<li>knowledge of, and parliamentary reform, III, - <a href="#p375" title="go to p. 375">375</a>–9;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Over-legislation.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Lawyers: -<ul> -<li>and railways, III, - <a href="#p067" title="go to p. 67">67</a>–72, - <a href="#p083" title="go to p. 83">83</a>, - <a href="#p088" title="go to p. 88">88</a>, - <a href="#p108" title="go to p. 108">108</a>;</li> -<li>in parliament, III, - <a href="#p298" title="go to p. 298">298</a>, - <a href="#p303" title="go to p. 303">303</a>, - <a href="#p304" title="go to p. 304">304</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Leather, morals of trade, III, - <a href="#p123" title="go to p. 123">123</a>.</li> - -<li>Leaves, cells in, I, 446.</li> - -<li>Legislation, and social growth, I, 265–9; (<i>see also</i> Over-legislation.)</li> - -<li>Length, morals of trade, III, - <a href="#p118" title="go to p. 118">118</a>–9.</li> - -<li>Lepchas, ethics, III, - <a href="#p193" title="go to p. 193">193</a>, - <a href="#p194" title="go to p. 194">194</a>.</li> - -<li>Liability (<i>see</i> Banks <i>and</i> Joint-Stock Companies).</li> - -<li>Liberalism, behaviour of party, III, - <a href="#p464" title="go to p. 464">464</a>.</li> - -<li>Liberty: -<ul> -<li>French idea of, II, 343;</li> -<li>traits of reform, III, - <a href="#p030" title="go to p. 30">30</a>–6;</li> -<li>social use, III, - <a href="#p046" title="go to p. 46">46</a>–51;</li> -<li>degree of, for people, III, - <a href="#p381" title="go to p. 381">381</a>;</li> -<li>in America, III, - <a href="#p473" title="go to p. 473">473</a>–4, - <a href="#p477" title="go to p. 477">477</a>, - <a href="#p478" title="go to p. 478">478</a>–9.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Libraries, free, III, - <a href="#p370" title="go to p. 370">370</a>.</li> - -<li>Licensing law, failure, III, - <a href="#p244" title="go to p. 244">244</a>.</li> - -<li>Liebig, J. von, analogy from blood corpuscles, I, 293–4.</li> - -<li>Life: -<ul> -<li>evolution from not-life, I, 374–5;</li> -<li>plants and animals indistinguishable, I, 375–6;</li> -<li>evolution of mind, I, 376–8;</li> -<li>survival and degree of, I, 405–8, 421;</li> -<li>evolution and action of medium, I, 458–60, 460–2;</li> -<li>primitive ideas of, III, - <a href="#p006" title="go to p. 6">6</a>–11;</li> -<li>maintenance and prison ethics, III, - <a href="#p163" title="go to p. 163">163</a>–71;</li> -<li>failure of assurance act, III, - <a href="#p241" title="go to p. 241">241</a>–2;</li> -<li>sociology and knowledge of, III, - <a href="#p304" title="go to p. 304">304</a>;</li> -<li>and pleasure, III, - <a href="#p315" title="go to p. 315">315</a>;</li> -<li>and sociology, III, - <a href="#p325" title="go to p. 325">325</a>;</li> -<li>increase in longevity, III, - <a href="#p447" title="go to p. 447">447</a>;</li> -<li>Mill and Spencer on, III, - <a href="#p485" title="go to p. 485">485</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Life Drama</i>, quoted, II, 351, 353.</li> - -<li>Light: -<ul> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 37, 38, 39, 59;</li> -<li>action on bodies, I, 436;</li> -<li>and on protoplasm, I, 465–6;</li> -<li>genesis of science, II, 61;</li> -<li>polarization, II, 63;</li> -<li>effect on molecules, II, 178;</li> -<li>perception of white, III, - <a href="#p196" title="go to p. 196">196</a>;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Optics).</li></ul></li> - -<li>Likeness: -<ul> -<li>of classification, II, 29–31, 34;</li> -<li>of language, II, 31–3, 34;</li> -<li>of reasoning, II, 33–4;</li> -<li>of art, II, 34;</li> -<li>relation to equality, II, 35–7.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Lindsay, W. S.</i>, Admiralty certificate, III, - <a href="#p239" title="go to p. 239">239</a>.</li> - -<li>Literature: -<ul> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 34–5;</li> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 57;</li> -<li>use and beauty, II, 371;</li> -<li>contrast in, II, 373–4;</li> -<li>popularity of authors, III, - <a href="#p299" title="go to p. 299">299</a>–300;</li> -<li>and sociology, III, - <a href="#p376" title="go to p. 376">376</a>–7;</li> -<li>English and continental, III, - <a href="#p430" title="go to p. 430">430</a>–1.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Littré, E., on Comte’s classification, II, 74–6, 81–3.</li> - -<li>Liver: -<ul> -<li>development, I, 106;</li> -<li>use and disuse, I, 419.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Liverpool, and Manchester railway, III, - <a href="#p063" title="go to p. 63">63</a>, - <a href="#p266" title="go to p. 266">266</a>.</li> - -<li>Liverworts, cells in, I, 446.</li> - -<li>Locke, J.: -<ul> -<li>and experientialism, II, 234–5;</li> -<li>and evolution, II, 237.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Locomotive engine: -<ul> -<li>effects of, I, 56–8;</li> -<li>balance weight, II, 383.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Logic: -<ul> -<li>Hegel’s classification, II, 12–5;</li> -<li>implies equality, II, 40;</li> -<li>abstract science, II, 77, 81–5;</li> -<li>terrestrial evolution, II, 99;</li> -<li>Bain on relation to psychology, II, 105–6;</li> -<li>Sidgwick’s criticism, II, 241;</li> -<li>Tristram Shandy on, II, 333.</li></ul></li> - -<li>London: -<ul> -<li>and Birmingham railway, III, - <a href="#p063" title="go to p. 63">63</a>;</li> -<li>New River to, III, - <a href="#p257" title="go to p. 257">257</a>;</li> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p289" title="go to p. 289">289</a>;</li> -<li>water supply, III, - <a href="#p429" title="go to p. 429">429</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Lord, the title, III, - <a href="#p012" title="go to p. 12">12</a>–5, - <a href="#p021" title="go to p. 21">21</a>.</li> - -<li>Love: -<ul> -<li>Darwin and origin of music, II, 426–37;</li> -<li>also Gurney, II, 437–43.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Loyalty, and social state, III, - <a href="#p312" title="go to p. 312">312</a>.</li> - -<li>Lubbock, Sir John: -<ul> -<li>derivation of tribal names, I, 314;</li> -<li><i>Origin of Civilization</i>, I, 331;</li> -<li>conscience of lower races, III, - <a href="#p192" title="go to p. 192">192</a>–3;</li> -<li>banker’s clearing house, III, - <a href="#p425" title="go to p. 425">425</a>–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Lungs: -<ul> -<li>development, I, 67, 106;</li> -<li>use and disuse, I, 419;</li> -<li>relation to voice, II, 404–5.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Lyell, Sir C.: -<ul> -<li>age of rocks, I, 204;</li> -<li>paleontological evidence, I, 205, 208–12;</li> -<li>geological hiatus, I, 220–1;</li> -<li>uniformitarianism and geological record, I, 227, 229.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Lyre, increase in heterogeneity, I, 32, II, 415.</li> - -<li>Machine, and organism, III, - <a href="#p456" title="go to p. 456">456</a>–8.</li> - -<li>Machinery, disliked by labourers, III, - <a href="#p362" title="go to p. 362">362</a>, - <a href="#p376" title="go to p. 376">376</a>.</li> - -<li>Macaulay, Lord, on Post-office, III, - <a href="#p441" title="go to p. 441">441</a>.</li> - -<li>Mackintosh, Sir J., on constitutions, I, 265, 269.</li> - -<li>MacLennan, J. F., plant and animal worship, I, 308–9, 320.</li> - -<li>Maconochie, Captain, “mark” prison system, III, - <a href="#p175" title="go to p. 175">175</a>–7.</li> - -<li>Madam, the title, II, 14, 26.</li> - -<li>Magellanic clouds, Sir J. Herschel on, I, 116–7.</li> - -<li>Magnetism, abstract concrete science, II, 88.</li> - -<li>Magnificent, and the word grand, II, 367–9.</li> - -<li>Magnitudes, relation of thought, II, 252–3.</li> - -<li>Maize, transformation of, I, 434.</li> - -<li>Majority, right of, III, - <a href="#p089" title="go to p. 89">89</a>, - <a href="#p094" title="go to p. 94">94</a>.</li> - -<li><i>Mammalia</i>: -<ul> -<li>evolution and heterogeneity, I, 15–7;</li> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 17–9;</li> -<li>temperature, I, 75, 76;</li> -<li>self-mobility, I, 76;</li> -<li>organic correlation, I, 97;</li> -<li>paleontological remains, I, 227, 238, 240;</li> -<li>imitation of evolution, II, 438.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Mammary glands, evolution, I, 395.</li> - -<li>Man: -<ul> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 17–9, 35;</li> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 52–3;</li> -<li>traits of primitive, III, - <a href="#p024" title="go to p. 24">24</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Manchester, electors in, III, - <a href="#p385" title="go to p. 385">385</a>.</li> - -<li>Manners: -<ul> -<li>and fashion, III, - <a href="#p001" title="go to p. 1">1</a>–51;</li> -<li>evolution of ceremonies, III, - <a href="#p011" title="go to p. 11">11</a>–6, - <a href="#p023" title="go to p. 23">23</a>, - <a href="#p050" title="go to p. 50">50</a>;</li> -<li>origin, III, - <a href="#p028" title="go to p. 28">28</a>;</li> -<li>Swift on, III, - <a href="#p044" title="go to p. 44">44</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Mansel, Dean H. L.: -<ul> -<li>criticism, II, 221–5;</li> -<li>Grotz on, II, 225.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Marchantia</i>, cells in, I, 446.</li> - -<li><i>Mariana</i>, quoted, II, 356.</li> - -<li><i>Marmion</i>, quoted, II, 343.</li> - -<li>Mars: -<ul> -<li>rotatory motion, I, 135, 136;</li> -<li>number of satellites, I, 139–40;</li> -<li>and motion, I, 142;</li> -<li>density and heat, I, 144–8, 148–52.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Marsupialia</i>, integration, I, 69–70.</li> - -<li>Martineau, Rev. J.: -<ul> -<li>on evolution, I, 371–88;</li> -<li>criticism, II, 250–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Master, the title, III, - <a href="#p015" title="go to p. 15">15</a>, - <a href="#p016" title="go to p. 16">16</a>.</li> - -<li>Materialism, and evolution, I, 386–8.</li> - -<li>Mathematics: -<ul> -<li>things learnt, II, 1;</li> -<li>Oken on, II, 10–11;</li> -<li>Comte’s classification, II, 16–21;</li> -<li>implies equality, II, 40;</li> -<li>genesis, II, 48–50;</li> -<li>abstract science, II, 77, 84–5;</li> -<li>terrestrial evolution, II, 99;</li> -<li>deals with relations, II, 102, 103;</li> -<li>Bain on nature of, II, 105–6;</li> -<li>origin, II, 151;</li> -<li>evolution, II, 156;</li> -<li>ultimate truths, II, 283;</li> -<li>exact science, III, - <a href="#p199" title="go to p. 199">199</a>–200;</li> -<li>and political ethics, III, - <a href="#p225" title="go to p. 225">225</a>;</li> -<li>mental development, III, - <a href="#p255" title="go to p. 255">255</a>;</li> -<li>and sociology, III, - <a href="#p303" title="go to p. 303">303</a>, - <a href="#p305" title="go to p. 305">305</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Matter: -<ul> -<li>discovery of laws, II, 148;</li> -<li>inscrutable, II, 247;</li> -<li>Martineau’s criticism, II, 257;</li> -<li>properties, II, 277, 315–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Mayer, J., as physicist, II, 269, 314.</li> - -<li>Measurement: -<ul> -<li>origin of weight, II, 43–5;</li> -<li>of time, II, 45–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Mechanics: -<ul> -<li>Comte’s classification, II, 19;</li> -<li>genesis, II, 50, 56, 59;</li> -<li>abstract concrete science, II, 85–8,101;</li> -<li>terrestrial evolution, II, 97;</li> -<li>Bain on science classification, II, 112;</li> -<li>science classification, II, 117;</li> -<li>origin, II, 151;</li> -<li>evolution, II, 155, 156;</li> -<li>real and ideal, III, - <a href="#p222" title="go to p. 222">222</a>–3.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Mechanics’ Institutes, representative government, III, - <a href="#p286" title="go to p. 286">286</a>.</li> - -<li>Medicine, association of ideas, I, 337.</li> - -<li><i>Medusa</i>, vascular system, I, 79.</li> - -<li><i>Megœra</i>, naval maladministration, III, - <a href="#p234" title="go to p. 234">234</a>.</li> - -<li><i>Melbourne</i>, the, and Admiralty certificate, III, - <a href="#p239" title="go to p. 239">239</a>.</li> - -<li>Memory: -<ul> -<li>and test of truth, II, 215;</li> -<li>and emotion, II, 465.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Mendelejeff, D., complexity of elements, I, 155.</li> - -<li>Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, F., character, II, 417.</li> - -<li>Mercantile Marine Act, failure of, III, - <a href="#p260" title="go to p. 260">260</a>, - <a href="#p276" title="go to p. 276">276</a>, - <a href="#p295" title="go to p. 295">295</a>.</li> - -<li>Mercury: -<ul> -<li>rotatory movement, I, 135, 136;</li> -<li>number of satellites, I, 139;</li> -<li>density, I, 144;</li> -<li>density and heat, I, 144–8, 148–52.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Mesoblast, embryo development, I, 453, 455.</li> - -<li>Metallurgy, genesis, II, 51.</li> - -<li>Metamorphic rocks, age, I, 198.</li> - -<li>Metamorphosis, universal, III, - <a href="#p458" title="go to p. 458">458</a>–60.</li> - -<li>Metaphor, and simile, II, 352–4.</li> - -<li>Metaphysics: -<ul> -<li>Comte on, II, 123;</li> -<li>reasoning of, II, 201–5;</li> -<li>relation to physics, II, 268.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Metaphyta</i>, origin, I, 444.</li> - -<li><i>Metazoa</i>: -<ul> -<li>origin, I, 444;</li> -<li>embryo development, I, 451–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Meteorology: -<ul> -<li>increase in heterogeneity of climates, I, 13–4, 35;</li> -<li>effect of American subsidence, I, 43;</li> -<li>concrete science, II, 92.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Meteors: -<ul> -<li>constitution of comets, I, 127;</li> -<li>origin, I, 174–7.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Metonymy, effectiveness, II, 350.</li> - -<li>Mettray, reformatory, III, - <a href="#p173" title="go to p. 173">173</a>.</li> - -<li>Militancy: -<ul> -<li>political ethics, III, - <a href="#p227" title="go to p. 227">227</a>–8;</li> -<li>and industrialism, III, - <a href="#p416" title="go to p. 416">416</a>;</li> -<li>in America, III, - <a href="#p484" title="go to p. 484">484</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Milky way, distribution of nebulæ, I, 112.</li> - -<li>Mill, J. S.: -<ul> -<li>letter on morals to, I, 333;</li> -<li>classification of science, II, 114;</li> -<li>on Comte’s philosophy, II, 143;</li> -<li>on Hamilton and word belief, II, 188–91;</li> -<li>noumenal existence, II, 191–2;</li> -<li>inconceivable and unbelievable, II, 193–200;</li> -<li>test of necessity, II, 196;</li> -<li>general agreement with, II, 217;</li> -<li>on the State and banks, III, - <a href="#p348" title="go to p. 348">348</a>, - <a href="#p357" title="go to p. 357">357</a>;</li> -<li>on life, III, - <a href="#p485" title="go to p. 485">485</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Miller, Hugh: -<ul> -<li>life and doctrines, I, 218–20;</li> -<li>terrestrial life, I, 220.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Mimicry: -<ul> -<li>of savages, I, 364;</li> -<li>evolution, I, 396.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Mineralogy, and classification, II, 64, 92, 108.</li> - -<li>Mind (<i>see</i> Psychology.)</li> - -<li>Missionaries, development, III, - <a href="#p458" title="go to p. 458">458</a>–9.</li> - -<li>Mivart, Prof. St. George, genesis of species, I, 332.</li> - -<li>Mole, pelvis in, I, 97.</li> - -<li>Molecules, mutual action and electricity, II, 178–84, 184–7.</li> - -<li>Molesworth, Sir W., on buildings acts, III, - <a href="#p240" title="go to p. 240">240</a>.</li> - -<li><i>Mollusca</i>: -<ul> -<li>great age of, I, 217;</li> -<li>circulation, I, 296.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Molluscoida</i>, social analogy, I, 281.</li> - -<li><i>Monaclinæ</i>, cell membrane, I, 440.</li> - -<li>Monarchy, and representative government, III, - <a href="#p309" title="go to p. 309">309</a>–10, - <a href="#p310" title="go to p. 310">310</a>–7, - <a href="#p317" title="go to p. 317">317</a>–23.</li> - -<li>Money: -<ul> -<li>analogy to blood corpuscles, I, 293–4;</li> -<li>trading with bad, III, - <a href="#p141" title="go to p. 141">141</a>;</li> -<li>state tamperings with, III, - <a href="#p326" title="go to p. 326">326</a>–57;</li> -<li>and joint-stock banks, III, - <a href="#p347" title="go to p. 347">347</a>–54;</li> -<li>and free trade, III, - <a href="#p355" title="go to p. 355">355</a>–7; anomaly</li> -<li>of interest, III, - <a href="#p401" title="go to p. 401">401</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Monkeys, origin of music, II, 432.</li> - -<li><i>Monotremata</i>, integration, I, 69–70.</li> - -<li>Monsieur, the title, III, - <a href="#p014" title="go to p. 14">14</a>, - <a href="#p015" title="go to p. 15">15</a>.</li> - -<li>Montesinos, Captain, prison discipline, III, - <a href="#p177" title="go to p. 177">177</a>–8.</li> - -<li>Month, measure of time, II, 45–9.</li> - -<li>Moon: -<ul> -<li>axial motion, I, 141;</li> -<li>heat and contraction, I, 149;</li> -<li>as name, I, 317, 327.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Moquin-Tandon, A., plant leaves, I, 433.</li> - -<li>Morality: -<ul> -<li><i>Quarterly Review</i> criticism, II, 259–65;</li> -<li>and law, III, - <a href="#p010" title="go to p. 10">10</a>–11, - <a href="#p023" title="go to p. 23">23</a>, - <a href="#p050" title="go to p. 50">50</a>;</li> -<li>and awe of authority, III, - <a href="#p311" title="go to p. 311">311</a>;</li> -<li>average social, III, - <a href="#p359" title="go to p. 359">359</a>, - <a href="#p360" title="go to p. 360">360</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Morals: -<ul> -<li>and moral sentiments, I, 331–50;</li> -<li>parentage of, I, 331–4, 334–50;</li> -<li>the science of right conduct, I, 333;</li> -<li>relation to expediency, I, 333;</li> -<li>prospect, III, - <a href="#p030" title="go to p. 30">30</a>, - <a href="#p051" title="go to p. 51">51</a>;</li> -<li>average of, and trade, III, - <a href="#p137" title="go to p. 137">137</a>–40.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Moray, Sir R., on Barnacle geese, II, 162.</li> - -<li>Mosses, cell membrane, I, 439.</li> - -<li>Motion: -<ul> -<li>of animals and plants, I, 75, 76;</li> -<li>discovery of laws, II, 148;</li> -<li>implies thing moving, II, 205–6, 207;</li> -<li>inscrutable, II, 247;</li> -<li>insensible forms, II, 266, 276;</li> -<li>Tait on laws of, II, 271–5;</li> -<li>Spencer on laws of, II, 297–320;</li> -<li>axioms and laws of, II, 298–301, 315–20;</li> -<li>relation to force, II, 310–4;</li> -<li>and gracefulness, II, 381–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Mouat, Dr. F. J., on prisons, III, - <a href="#p189" title="go to p. 189">189</a>–91.</li> - -<li>Moulton, J. F., <i>British Quarterly Review</i>, II, 307.</li> - -<li>Mountains: -<ul> -<li>age and altitude, I, 13;</li> -<li>formation, I, 40;</li> -<li>as name, I, 318.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Mozart, J. C. W. T.: -<ul> -<li>heredity, I, 406;</li> -<li>character, II, 417;</li> -<li><i>Addio</i> of, II, 447.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Mucous membrane, effect of surroundings, I, 449, 450.</li> - -<li>Müller, F. Max: -<ul> -<li>misinterpretation of names, I, 315, 327;</li> -<li>on abstract nouns, I, 323, 324;</li> -<li>criticism, II, 235–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Multiplication, various forms, I, 65–7.</li> - -<li>Multiplication of effects: -<ul> -<li>general, I, 35–8;</li> -<li>astronomy, I, 38–9;</li> -<li>geology, I, 39–46;</li> -<li>biology, I, 46–53;</li> -<li>sociology, I, 53–8;</li> -<li>science, literature and art, I, 59.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Munich, prison, III, - <a href="#p171" title="go to p. 171">171</a>–3</li> - -<li>Murchison, Sir R.: -<ul> -<li>Silurian system, I, 199, 231;</li> -<li>paleontological evidence, I, 206;</li> -<li>azoic rocks, I, 228.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Murder, social co-operation, III, - <a href="#p217" title="go to p. 217">217</a>–20, - <a href="#p224" title="go to p. 224">224</a>.</li> - -<li>Muscle: -<ul> -<li>waste and repair, I, 362;</li> -<li>evolution, I, 396;</li> -<li>size of jaws, I, 398–400, 422;</li> -<li>origin of music, II, 403–4;</li> -<li>nervous system and action of, II, 453–8;</li> -<li>laughter and action of, II, 458–64.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Music: -<ul> -<li>origin, I, 30–1;</li> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, 31–4;</li> -<li>comparative psychology, I, 366;</li> -<li>development of faculty, I, 406–7;</li> -<li>Kantian ideas of space, II, 227;</li> -<li>contrast in, II, 373;</li> -<li>origin and function, II, 400–51;</li> -<li>originally vocal, II, 403–4;</li> -<li>feelings and loudness of voice, II, 404, 410;</li> -<li>and timbre, II, 405, 411;</li> -<li>pitch, II, 406, 411;</li> -<li>intervals, II, 406–9, 411;</li> -<li>variability of pitch, II, 409, 411;</li> -<li>tremolo, staccato, and slur, II, 412;</li> -<li>time in, II, 412–3;</li> -<li>slow divergence from speech, II, 414–8;</li> -<li>indirect evidence of theory, II, 418–20;</li> -<li>function, II, 420–4;</li> -<li>relation to sympathy, II, 424–6;</li> -<li>Darwin on origin, II, 426–37;</li> -<li>of lowest tribes, II, 433–7;</li> -<li>Gurney on origin, II, 437–43;</li> -<li>evolution of scales, II, 440–1;</li> -<li>sensational effects, II, 443–4;</li> -<li>perceptional, II, 445–7;</li> -<li>emotional, II, 447;</li> -<li>harmony, II, 448;</li> -<li>counterpoint, II, 448;</li> -<li>and evolution, II, 448–9;</li> -<li>Hungarian, II, 449–51;</li> -<li>and social intercourse, III, - <a href="#p041" title="go to p. 41">41</a>, - <a href="#p042" title="go to p. 42">42</a>;</li> -<li>sensation of sound, III, - <a href="#p197" title="go to p. 197">197</a>;</li> -<li>indirect effects, III, - <a href="#p245" title="go to p. 245">245</a>;</li> -<li>free, III, - <a href="#p370" title="go to p. 370">370</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Myddelton, Sir Hugh, New River, III, - <a href="#p257" title="go to p. 257">257</a>, - <a href="#p429" title="go to p. 429">429</a>.</li> - -<li>Mythology, primitive, III, - <a href="#p006" title="go to p. 6">6</a>–11.</li> - -<li>Myths, origin of animal worship, I, 322–8.</li> - -<li>Nails, heredity and negro blood, II, 396.</li> - -<li>Names: -<ul> -<li>origin of animal worship, I, 311–7, 317–20, 328;</li> -<li>of hybrids, I, 320–2;</li> -<li>misinterpretation of nicknames, I, 325–8, 328–30;</li> -<li>classification, II, 31–3, 34, 40;</li> -<li>and evolution of ceremonies, III, - <a href="#p011" title="go to p. 11">11</a>–6, - <a href="#p023" title="go to p. 23">23</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Napoleon I., and his marshals, III, - <a href="#p309" title="go to p. 309">309</a>.</li> - -<li>Natural selection: -<ul> -<li>essay on progress, I. 53;</li> -<li>the phrase, I, 428–30;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Survival of the fittest).</li></ul></li> - -<li>Navy: -<ul> -<li>maladministration, III, - <a href="#p233" title="go to p. 233">233</a>–4, - <a href="#p247" title="go to p. 247">247</a>, - <a href="#p248" title="go to p. 248">248</a>, - <a href="#p249" title="go to p. 249">249</a>, - <a href="#p251" title="go to p. 251">251</a>, - <a href="#p252" title="go to p. 252">252</a>, - <a href="#p399" title="go to p. 399">399</a>;</li> -<li>officers in parliament, III, - <a href="#p297" title="go to p. 297">297</a>, - <a href="#p304" title="go to p. 304">304</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Naylor, Rev. B., on Norfolk Island convicts, III, - <a href="#p176" title="go to p. 176">176</a>.</li> - -<li>Nebulæ: -<ul> -<li>appearance, I, 118–25;</li> -<li>Sir J. Herschel on regular and irregular, I, 122;</li> -<li>origin, direction and constitution of comets, I, 125–8, 153;</li> -<li>origin, I, 153.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Nebular hypothesis: -<ul> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 10–11;</li> -<li>discoveries of Herschel and Rosse, I, 110–2;</li> -<li>and ultimate mystery, I, 154;</li> -<li>evolution of heat and condensation, I, 159–63;</li> -<li>essay on, I, 108–84;</li> -<li>distance and distribution, I, 112–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Necessity, Mill on test of, II, 196–200.</li> - -<li>Negro, heredity and nails, II, 396.</li> - -<li>Neptune: -<ul> -<li>axial motion, I, 133–6;</li> -<li>density, I, 144;</li> -<li>heat, I, 144–8, 148–52.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Nervous system: -<ul> -<li>of savage and civilized, I, 18;</li> -<li>integration, I, 68–71;</li> -<li>analogous to government, I, 299–307;</li> -<li>development from epidermis, I, 454;</li> -<li>Sidgwick’s criticism, II, 238;</li> -<li>muscular action, II, 453–8;</li> -<li>differentiation, III, - <a href="#p406" title="go to p. 406">406</a>;</li> -<li>sympathetic, III, - <a href="#p408" title="go to p. 408">408</a>–9;</li> -<li>and society, III, - <a href="#p418" title="go to p. 418">418</a>;</li> -<li>positive and negative regulation, III, - <a href="#p419" title="go to p. 419">419</a>, - <a href="#p443" title="go to p. 443">443</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>New River Company, origin, III, - <a href="#p429" title="go to p. 429">429</a>.</li> - -<li>New York, government, III, - <a href="#p289" title="go to p. 289">289</a>, - <a href="#p291" title="go to p. 291">291</a>.</li> - -<li>New Zealanders, belief in another world, II, 223.</li> - -<li>Newcomb, Prof. S.: -<ul> -<li>nebular hypothesis, I, 121;</li> -<li>planetoids, I, 167–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Newspapers, evolution, III, - <a href="#p431" title="go to p. 431">431</a>.</li> - -<li>Newton, Sir I.: -<ul> -<li>expansion of air, I, 118;</li> -<li>solar theory, I, 193;</li> -<li>gravity, II, 26–7, 291–3;</li> -<li>genesis of science, II, 59–60;</li> -<li>problem of three bodies, II, 112;</li> -<li>laws of motion, II, 271, 274, 277–88, 297–320.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Nitrogen: -<ul> -<li>compounds, I, 157;</li> -<li>molecules, I, 158.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Nod, as obeisance, III, - <a href="#p018" title="go to p. 18">18</a>.</li> - -<li>Nomenclature, genesis of science, II, 63–5, 72.</li> - -<li>Norfolk Island, prison, III, - <a href="#p175" title="go to p. 175">175</a>–7.</li> - -<li><i>North British Review</i>, on <i>Social Statics</i>, II, 134.</li> - -<li>Nose, personal beauty, II, 391.</li> - -<li>Nottingham, Enclosure act, III, - <a href="#p240" title="go to p. 240">240</a>.</li> - -<li>Nubecula, Sir J. Herschel on, I, 116–7.</li> - -<li>Number and classification, II, 37.</li> - -<li>Nummulites, Lyell on, I, 208.</li> - -<li>Nutrition: -<ul> -<li>individual and social, I, 289–90;</li> -<li>process, III, - <a href="#p408" title="go to p. 408">408</a>;</li> -<li>social, III, - <a href="#p413" title="go to p. 413">413</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Oak, acorn and music, II, 442.</li> - -<li>Obeisance, forms of, III, - <a href="#p017" title="go to p. 17">17</a>–22, III, - <a href="#p025" title="go to p. 25">25</a>.</li> - -<li>Obermair, M., on prisons, III, - <a href="#p171" title="go to p. 171">171</a>.</li> - -<li>Object: -<ul> -<li>consciousness of, II, 211–4;</li> -<li>relation to subject, II, 323–32.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Observation and hypothesis, II, 160–7.</li> - -<li>Officialism: -<ul> -<li>failure, III, - <a href="#p394" title="go to p. 394">394</a>, - <a href="#p395" title="go to p. 395">395</a>;</li> -<li>Lord Palmerston on, III, - <a href="#p395" title="go to p. 395">395</a>;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Over-legislation).</li></ul></li> - -<li>Offspring, and parents’ qualities, II, 395, 398.</li> - -<li>Oken, L., classification of sciences, II, 9–12.</li> - -<li>Olbers, H. W. M., hypothesis, I, 167, 171, 173.</li> - -<li>Old Red Sandstone (<i>see</i> Devonian System.)</li> - -<li>Omnibus, and officialism, III, - <a href="#p250" title="go to p. 250">250</a>.</li> - -<li>Oolite, age of, I, 202–5.</li> - -<li id="p509">Opium, dissimilar effects, I, 100.</li> - -<li>Optics: -<ul> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 59;</li> -<li>genesis, II, 57, 59, 61;</li> -<li>interdependence of sciences, II, 66;</li> -<li>abstract concrete science, II, 85–8;</li> -<li>Bain on classification of sciences, II, 107.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Orange, planet analogy, I, 133–4.</li> - -<li>Orders, signature of, III, - <a href="#p120" title="go to p. 120">120</a>.</li> - -<li>Organic matter: -<ul> -<li>chemistry, I, 83–4;</li> -<li>evolution, I, 458–60.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Organisms: -<ul> -<li>differentiation, III, - <a href="#p405" title="go to p. 405">405</a>;</li> -<li>social and individual, III, - <a href="#p411" title="go to p. 411">411</a>–6;</li> -<li>and machinery, III, - <a href="#p456" title="go to p. 456">456</a>–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Organs, rudimentary, III, - <a href="#p204" title="go to p. 204">204</a>.</li> - -<li><i>Origin of Species</i>: -<ul> -<li>Huxley on, I, 389–90;</li> -<li>effect of, I, 393–4.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Originality, literary style, II, 365–7.</li> - -<li><i>Ossian</i>, quoted, II, 355.</li> - -<li>Osteology, correlation, I, 96–101.</li> - -<li>Over-legislation: -<ul> -<li>essay on, III, - <a href="#p229" title="go to p. 229">229</a>–82;</li> -<li>individual uncertainty, III, - <a href="#p229" title="go to p. 229">229</a>–31;</li> -<li>examples of failure in legislation, III, - <a href="#p231" title="go to p. 231">231</a>–45;</li> -<li>probability of success, III, - <a href="#p245" title="go to p. 245">245</a>–6;</li> -<li>slowness of, III, - <a href="#p246" title="go to p. 246">246</a>–7;</li> -<li>stupidity, III, - <a href="#p247" title="go to p. 247">247</a>–9;</li> -<li>unadaptive, III, - <a href="#p249" title="go to p. 249">249</a>;</li> -<li>corruptness, III, - <a href="#p250" title="go to p. 250">250</a>–2;</li> -<li>fixity, III, - <a href="#p252" title="go to p. 252">252</a>;</li> -<li>officialism and trade contrasted, III, - <a href="#p253" title="go to p. 253">253</a>–9;</li> -<li>is there a sphere for officialism? III, - <a href="#p259" title="go to p. 259">259</a>–68;</li> -<li>free trade, III, - <a href="#p268" title="go to p. 268">268</a>–70;</li> -<li>negative evils, III, - <a href="#p270" title="go to p. 270">270</a>–6;</li> -<li>enervation of, III, - <a href="#p276" title="go to p. 276">276</a>–80;</li> -<li>faith in governments, III, - <a href="#p280" title="go to p. 280">280</a>–2;</li> -<li>dangers, III, - <a href="#p368" title="go to p. 368">368</a>–70;</li> -<li>and collective wisdom, III, - <a href="#p391" title="go to p. 391">391</a>–2.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Ovum, relation to infant, I, 6.</li> - -<li>Owen, Prof. Sir R.: -<ul> -<li>evolution and paleontology, I, 16;</li> -<li>organic correlation, I, 96–101.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Oxygen: -<ul> -<li>deductive biology, I, 77–81;</li> -<li>liquefaction, I, 160;</li> -<li>action on protoplasm, I, 465–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Pacific Ocean, upheaval and geological record, I, 232–40.</li> - -<li>Pain: -<ul> -<li>expression in children, I, 339–50;</li> -<li>indications of, II, 401–3, 404;</li> -<li>loudness of voice, II, 404–5.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Painting: -<ul> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 24–30;</li> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 59.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Palmerston, Lord, III, - <a href="#p395" title="go to p. 395">395</a>.</li> - -<li>Palæozoic, the title, I, 15.</li> - -<li>Paleontology: -<ul> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 14–7;</li> -<li>life and multiplication of effects, I, 49–53;</li> -<li>organic correlation, I, 96–101;</li> -<li>age of strata, I, 205–12;</li> -<li>past and present geological changes, I, 212–8;</li> -<li>gaps in record, I, 220–1, 226–32;</li> -<li>effect of climate on evidence, I, 221–4;</li> -<li>and of terrestrial change, I, 224–6;</li> -<li>effect of upheaval, I, 232–40.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Panama Canal, III, - <a href="#p267" title="go to p. 267">267</a>.</li> - -<li>Pantheism, rejected by H. Spencer, II, 221.</li> - -<li>Paper tax, III, - <a href="#p243" title="go to p. 243">243</a>; (<i>see also</i> Money.)</li> - -<li>Parents and offspring, II, 395–6, 398.</li> - -<li>Parabola, relation to circle, I, 5.</li> - -<li><i>Paradise Lost</i>, quoted, II, 346.</li> - -<li>Parasites, natural selection, I, 379–80.</li> - -<li>Parkhurst, criminals at, III, - <a href="#p258" title="go to p. 258">258</a>.</li> - -<li>Parliament: -<ul> -<li>analogy to brain, I, 302–5;</li> -<li>railways and members of, III, - <a href="#p065" title="go to p. 65">65</a>–7, - <a href="#p074" title="go to p. 74">74</a>–7, - <a href="#p083" title="go to p. 83">83</a>, - <a href="#p086" title="go to p. 86">86</a>;</li> -<li>and parliamentary agents, III, - <a href="#p067" title="go to p. 67">67</a>–71, - <a href="#p108" title="go to p. 108">108</a>;</li> -<li>right of majority, III, - <a href="#p094" title="go to p. 94">94</a>;</li> -<li>belief in acts, III, - <a href="#p109" title="go to p. 109">109</a>, - <a href="#p306" title="go to p. 306">306</a>–7;</li> -<li>20,000 statutes, III, - <a href="#p232" title="go to p. 232">232</a>;</li> -<li>officialism and acts of, III, - <a href="#p258" title="go to p. 258">258</a>–9;</li> -<li>badly drawn acts, III, - <a href="#p273" title="go to p. 273">273</a>;</li> -<li>selection of members, III, - <a href="#p291" title="go to p. 291">291</a>;</li> -<li>members of, III, - <a href="#p295" title="go to p. 295">295</a>–9;</li> -<li>ineligible members, III, - <a href="#p296" title="go to p. 296">296</a>;</li> -<li>bank act, III, - <a href="#p338" title="go to p. 338">338</a>, - <a href="#p339" title="go to p. 339">339</a>, - <a href="#p340" title="go to p. 340">340</a>;</li> -<li>private bills, III, - <a href="#p359" title="go to p. 359">359</a>;</li> -<li>Thames water supply, III, - <a href="#p387" title="go to p. 387">387</a>–92;</li> -<li>function, III, - <a href="#p417" title="go to p. 417">417</a>;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Over-legislation.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Parliamentary reform: -<ul> -<li>essay on, III, - <a href="#p358" title="go to p. 358">358</a>–86;</li> -<li>apprehended dangers, III, - <a href="#p360" title="go to p. 360">360</a>–8, - <a href="#p368" title="go to p. 368">368</a>–70;</li> -<li>direct and indirect taxation, III, - <a href="#p370" title="go to p. 370">370</a>–5;</li> -<li>value of representative government, III, - <a href="#p380" title="go to p. 380">380</a>;</li> -<li>Reform Bill, III, - <a href="#p380" title="go to p. 380">380</a>–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Passengers Act, failure, III, - <a href="#p241" title="go to p. 241">241</a>.</li> - -<li>Passion, social analogy, I, 269–71.</li> - -<li>Patent-office, accounts, III, - <a href="#p398" title="go to p. 398">398</a>.</li> - -<li>Patents: -<ul> -<li>failure, III, - <a href="#p456" title="go to p. 456">456</a>;</li> -<li>American, III, - <a href="#p473" title="go to p. 473">473</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Patterns, piracy, III, - <a href="#p126" title="go to p. 126">126</a></li> - -<li>Pedigree, importance, I, 108; (<i>see also</i> Heredity.)</li> - -<li>Peel, Sir Robert: -<ul> -<li>on legislation, III, - <a href="#p280" title="go to p. 280">280</a>–1;</li> -<li>Bank Act, III, - <a href="#p338" title="go to p. 338">338</a>, - <a href="#p339" title="go to p. 339">339</a>, - <a href="#p340" title="go to p. 340">340</a>, - <a href="#p357" title="go to p. 357">357</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Penal code (<i>see</i> Prison ethics.)</li> - -<li>Pentonville, treatment at, III, - <a href="#p161" title="go to p. 161">161</a>–2.</li> - -<li>Perception: -<ul> -<li>relation to science, II, 1–8;</li> -<li>presentative-representative, I, 261.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Perseverance, of savages, I, 375.</li> - -<li>Personal beauty, essay, II, 387–99.</li> - -<li>Perthes, B. de, flint implements, I, 413.</li> - -<li>Peru, social organization, III, - <a href="#p470" title="go to p. 470">470</a>.</li> - -<li>Pestalozzi, H. L., school name, III, - <a href="#p002" title="go to p. 2">2</a>.</li> - -<li>Phanerogams, pollen, I, 439.</li> - -<li>Philæ, granite at, I, 437.</li> - -<li>Philosophy, relation to religion, I, 60–2; (<i>see also</i> Comte.)</li> - -<li id="p510">Phosphorus, allotropic, I, 373.</li> - -<li>Physics: -<ul> -<li>Comte’s classification, II, 21–3;</li> -<li>genesis, II, 57, 59, 60, 61;</li> -<li>interdependence of sciences, II, 67;</li> -<li>abstract-concrete science, II, 85–8;</li> -<li>deals with properties, II, 101, 103;</li> -<li>relation to chemistry, II, 109–11;</li> -<li>evolution, II, 152, 156;</li> -<li><i>British Quarterly</i> Reviewer on, II, 267–301;</li> -<li>relation to metaphysics, II, 268;</li> -<li>axioms, II, 270, 277–88, 297;</li> -<li>their origin, II, 298–301, 313–4, 315–20.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Physiology: -<ul> -<li>transcendental, I, 63–107;</li> -<li>deductive, I, 76–81;</li> -<li>organic correlation, I, 96–101;</li> -<li>individual and social organism, I, 101–7;</li> -<li>concrete science, II, 92;</li> -<li>development, II, 423.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Picnic, interest in, II, 374.</li> - -<li>Pictures, subjects of historical, II, 373; (<i>see also</i> Painting.)</li> - -<li>Pigeons: -<ul> -<li>beak and tongue, I, 401;</li> -<li>heredity and variation, I, 414–5;</li> -<li>use and disuse, I, 418;</li> -<li>origin of music, II, 428.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Pigs, use and disuse, I, 419.</li> - -<li>Pins, stellar analogy, I, 161.</li> - -<li>Pitcher plant, evolution, I, 394.</li> - -<li>Pity, comparative psychology, I, 368.</li> - -<li>Placards, derivation, I, 28.</li> - -<li>Planetoids: -<ul> -<li>origin, I, 167–80;</li> -<li>number, I, 168, 171, 179;</li> -<li>distances, I, 169, 172, 179;</li> -<li>orbits, I, 169–70, 173–4, 179;</li> -<li>distribution, I, 171;</li> -<li>magnitudes, I, 172;</li> -<li>periods, I, 177;</li> -<li>velocity, I, 180.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Planets: -<ul> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 11;</li> -<li>origin, I, 39, 153;</li> -<li>direction, I, 127, 129, 153;</li> -<li>planes of, and solar equator, I, 131–2;</li> -<li>axial movements, I, 132–6, 153;</li> -<li>arrangement and number of satellites, I, 137, 139–41;</li> -<li>density and heat, I, 144–8, 148–52;</li> -<li>structure, I, 163–7, 182;</li> -<li>origin of minor, I, 167–80;</li> -<li>origin of meteors, I, 174–7;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Astronomy.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Plants: -<ul> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 14–7, 35;</li> -<li>structure, I, 73, 76, 391–2;</li> -<li>form, I, 73, 76;</li> -<li>chemical composition, I, 74, 76;</li> -<li>specific gravity, I, 74, 70;</li> -<li>temperature, I, 74, 76;</li> -<li>self-mobility, I, 75, 76;</li> -<li>evolution and homogeneity I, 83–4;</li> -<li>heat and distribution, I, 223–4;</li> -<li>also terrestrial change, I, 224–6;</li> -<li>and animals, I, 375–6;</li> -<li>evolution and sensitive, I, 377;</li> -<li>cambium, I, 449–50.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Plateau, J. A. F., fluid rotation, I, 131.</li> - -<li>Plato, Republic, 269–72.</li> - -<li>Pleasure: -<ul> -<li>expression in children, I, 339–50;</li> -<li>indications of, II, 401–3, 404;</li> -<li>loudness of voice, II, 404–5;</li> -<li>bodily effect, II, 454–8;</li> -<li>destroyed by formality, III, - <a href="#p036" title="go to p. 36">36</a>–46;</li> -<li>and life, III, - <a href="#p315" title="go to p. 315">315</a>;</li> -<li>social and individual organism, III, - <a href="#p411" title="go to p. 411">411</a>;</li> -<li>American life, III, - <a href="#p489" title="go to p. 489">489</a>–90.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Plough, Hindoo worship of, II, 354.</li> - -<li>Plumber, action of pump, I, 425.</li> - -<li>Poetry: -<ul> -<li>origin and differentiation, I, 30–2;</li> -<li>and prose, II, 357–61;</li> -<li>development of epic and lyric, II, 416;</li> -<li>and government, III, - <a href="#p430" title="go to p. 430">430</a>–1.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Pointers, use and disuse, I, 470–1.</li> - -<li>Police, officialism, III, - <a href="#p396" title="go to p. 396">396</a>–7.</li> - -<li>Political economy: -<ul> -<li>and railways, III, - <a href="#p101" title="go to p. 101">101</a>–3;</li> -<li>flow of capital, III, - <a href="#p264" title="go to p. 264">264</a>;</li> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p303" title="go to p. 303">303</a>;</li> -<li>efflux of gold, III, - <a href="#p341" title="go to p. 341">341</a>–3.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Politics: -<ul> -<li>use and disuse, I, 463–5;</li> -<li>and costume, III, - <a href="#p001" title="go to p. 1">1</a>–5, - <a href="#p030" title="go to p. 30">30</a>;</li> -<li>definition, III, - <a href="#p226" title="go to p. 226">226</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Polyzoa</i>: -<ul> -<li>form, I, 73;</li> -<li>composition, I, 74;</li> -<li>not sea-weeds, I, 248;</li> -<li>analogy to social organism, I, 281.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Poor law, action of, III, - <a href="#p244" title="go to p. 244">244</a>.</li> - -<li>Pope, A., literary style, II, 365.</li> - -<li>Porcupine, evolution of quills, I, 394–5.</li> - -<li>Positivism (<i>see</i> Comte.)</li> - -<li>Post-office: -<ul> -<li>and officialism, III, - <a href="#p252" title="go to p. 252">252</a>;</li> -<li>and government, III, - <a href="#p440" title="go to p. 440">440</a>–2.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Potato, complexity, III, - <a href="#p196" title="go to p. 196">196</a>.</li> - -<li>Poverty, effect of, III, - <a href="#p143" title="go to p. 143">143</a>–9.</li> - -<li>Predicate, arrangement of sentences, II, 342–4.</li> - -<li>Preference stock, effect, III, - <a href="#p086" title="go to p. 86">86</a>–8, - <a href="#p108" title="go to p. 108">108</a>.</li> - -<li>Prevision: -<ul> -<li>and science, II, 1–8;</li> -<li>origin of quantitative, II, 41–9.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Printing: -<ul> -<li>increase of heterogeneity, I, 26;</li> -<li>analogy from press, I, 98, II, 33;</li> -<li>printer’s union rules, III, - <a href="#p364" title="go to p. 364">364</a>–5;</li> -<li>anomaly, III, - <a href="#p401" title="go to p. 401">401</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Prison Ethics: -<ul> -<li>essay on, III, - <a href="#p152" title="go to p. 152">152</a>–91;</li> -<li>relative and absolute ethics, III, - <a href="#p152" title="go to p. 152">152</a>–7, - <a href="#p188" title="go to p. 188">188</a>;</li> -<li>treatment of criminals, III, - <a href="#p157" title="go to p. 157">157</a>–63;</li> -<li>laws of life, III, - <a href="#p163" title="go to p. 163">163</a>–71;</li> -<li>self-maintenance, III, - <a href="#p168" title="go to p. 168">168</a>–71;</li> -<li>foreign prisons and reformatories, III, - <a href="#p172" title="go to p. 172">172</a>–8;</li> -<li>evils of excessive punishment, III, - <a href="#p178" title="go to p. 178">178</a>–80;</li> -<li>improved system of discipline, III, - <a href="#p180" title="go to p. 180">180</a>–7, - <a href="#p189" title="go to p. 189">189</a>–91;</li> -<li>and social state, III, - <a href="#p187" title="go to p. 187">187</a>–9;</li> -<li>Indian prisons, III, - <a href="#p189" title="go to p. 189">189</a>–91.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Procter, R.A., nebular distance, I, 118.</li> - -<li>Profit, defined, I, 290.</li> - -<li>Progress: -<ul> -<li>its law and cause, I, 8–62, 81, III, - <a href="#p323" title="go to p. 323">323</a>;</li> -<li>current conception, I, 8–9;</li> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 9–10.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Prometheus Unbound</i>, quoted, II, 353.</li> - -<li>Promissory notes, State tamperings with money, III, - <a href="#p326" title="go to p. 326">326</a>–35, - <a href="#p335" title="go to p. 335">335</a>–47, - <a href="#p356" title="go to p. 356">356</a>.</li> - -<li>Property: -<ul> -<li>emotion of possession, I, 253, 263, 307, II, 421;</li> -<li>and parliamentary reform, III, - <a href="#p358" title="go to p. 358">358</a>–60, - <a href="#p367" title="go to p. 367">367</a>–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Propositions: -<ul> -<li>the thinkable, I, 383;</li> -<li>ultimate test, II, 14;</li> -<li>states of consciousness, II, 205–8;</li> -<li>testing of reasoning, II, 208–11;</li> -<li>arrangement of sentences, II, 344.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Prose: -<ul> -<li>and poetry, II, 357–61;</li> -<li>contrast in, II, 374.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Protection, and officialism, III, - <a href="#p268" title="go to p. 268">268</a>–70.</li> - -<li><i>Protophyta</i>: -<ul> -<li>composition, I, 74;</li> -<li>self-mobility, I, 75;</li> -<li>instability of homogeneous, I, 86;</li> -<li>social analogy, I, 277;</li> -<li>cell membrane, I, 439.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Protoplasm, action of light, I, 465–6.</li> - -<li><i>Protozoa</i>: -<ul> -<li>differentiation from environment, I, 73;</li> -<li>self-mobility, I, 75;</li> -<li>instability of homogeneous, I, 86;</li> -<li>social analogy, I, 277–83;</li> -<li>cell membrane, I, 440;</li> -<li>development, I, 452.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Proudhon, P. J., policy, III, - <a href="#p417" title="go to p. 417">417</a>.</li> - -<li>Proxies, railway, III, - <a href="#p076" title="go to p. 76">76</a>, - <a href="#p078" title="go to p. 78">78</a>.</li> - -<li>Psychology: -<ul> -<li>relation of science to religion, I, 61–2;</li> -<li><i>The Emotions and The Will</i>, I, 241–64;</li> -<li>organization provisional, I, 241–5;</li> -<li>classification of emotions, I, 245–57;</li> -<li>evolution of emotions, I, 250–7;</li> -<li>Bain’s definition of emotion and volition, I, 258–60;</li> -<li>also feeling and sensation, I, 260;</li> -<li>classification of mind, I, 260–4;</li> -<li>comparative, of man in outline, I, 351, 353;</li> -<li>mental and bodily mass, I, 353–4;</li> -<li>mental complexity, I, 354–5;</li> -<li>rate of development, I, 355;</li> -<li>relative plasticity, I, 355–6;</li> -<li>variability, I, 356–7;</li> -<li>impulsiveness, I, 357–9;</li> -<li>effect of race inter-mixture, I, 359–60;</li> -<li>effect of sex, I, 361–4;</li> -<li>imitativeness, I, 364;</li> -<li>curiosity, I, 364–5;</li> -<li>peculiar aptitudes, I, 366;</li> -<li>sociality, freedom, approbation, and acquisitiveness, I, 366–7;</li> -<li>altruistic sentiments, I, 367–9;</li> -<li>evolution of mind, I, 376–8, 381–6;</li> -<li>use and disuse, I, 463–5;</li> -<li>Hegel’s classification, II, 12–5;</li> -<li>concrete science, II, 92, 100;</li> -<li>terrestrial evolution, II, 96;</li> -<li>Bain on logic, II, 105–6;</li> -<li>origin of knowledge, II, 122–5;</li> -<li>Comte on, II, 131;</li> -<li>Sidgwick on <i>Principles</i>, II, 238–50.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Publishers, local integration, I, 103.</li> - -<li>Pump, action of, I, 425–6.</li> - -<li>Punishment (<i>see</i> Prison Ethics.)</li> - -<li>Pyramids, architectural types, II, 379.</li> - -<li>Quakers: -<ul> -<li>intonation, II, 416;</li> -<li>nonconformity, III, - <a href="#p002" title="go to p. 2">2</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Quarterly Review</i>, criticism, II, 259–65.</li> - -<li>Rabbits, use and disuse, I, 418.</li> - -<li>Railways: -<ul> -<li>effects, I, 56–8;</li> -<li>distributing systems, I, 296–8;</li> -<li>morals and policy, III, - <a href="#p052" title="go to p. 52">52</a>–112;</li> -<li>directors, III, - <a href="#p052" title="go to p. 52">52</a>–63, - <a href="#p069" title="go to p. 69">69</a>;</li> -<li>extensions, III, - <a href="#p056" title="go to p. 56">56</a>–9, - <a href="#p071" title="go to p. 71">71</a>–2, - <a href="#p082" title="go to p. 82">82</a>–8, - <a href="#p091" title="go to p. 91">91</a>, - <a href="#p094" title="go to p. 94">94</a>, - <a href="#p096" title="go to p. 96">96</a>, - <a href="#p101" title="go to p. 101">101</a>–7, - <a href="#p107" title="go to p. 107">107</a>–8;</li> -<li>dividends, III, - <a href="#p057" title="go to p. 57">57</a>, - <a href="#p098" title="go to p. 98">98</a>–9, - <a href="#p105" title="go to p. 105">105</a>–6;</li> -<li>book-keeping, III, - <a href="#p059" title="go to p. 59">59</a>;</li> -<li>and land-owners, III, - <a href="#p063" title="go to p. 63">63</a>–7;</li> -<li>and members of parliament, III, - <a href="#p065" title="go to p. 65">65</a>–7, - <a href="#p074" title="go to p. 74">74</a>–7, - <a href="#p083" title="go to p. 83">83</a>;</li> -<li>and lawyers, III, - <a href="#p067" title="go to p. 67">67</a>–72, - <a href="#p083" title="go to p. 83">83</a>, - <a href="#p088" title="go to p. 88">88</a>, - <a href="#p108" title="go to p. 108">108</a>;</li> -<li>and engineers, III, - <a href="#p068" title="go to p. 68">68</a>–72, - <a href="#p083" title="go to p. 83">83</a>, - <a href="#p088" title="go to p. 88">88</a>, - <a href="#p108" title="go to p. 108">108</a>;</li> -<li>contractors, III, - <a href="#p072" title="go to p. 72">72</a>–4, - <a href="#p083" title="go to p. 83">83</a>;</li> -<li>boards, 77–8;</li> -<li>shares, 80–2, 108;</li> -<li>effect of competing lines, III, - <a href="#p097" title="go to p. 97">97</a>–8, - <a href="#p107" title="go to p. 107">107</a>;</li> -<li>safety, III, - <a href="#p099" title="go to p. 99">99</a>–100;</li> -<li>cause and remedy of corruptions, III, - <a href="#p088" title="go to p. 88">88</a>–96;</li> -<li>secondary organizations, III, - <a href="#p092" title="go to p. 92">92</a>–3;</li> -<li>and political economy, III, - <a href="#p101" title="go to p. 101">101</a>–3;</li> -<li>capital, III, - <a href="#p108" title="go to p. 108">108</a>;</li> -<li>proprietary contract, III, - <a href="#p108" title="go to p. 108">108</a>–112;</li> -<li>and coaching, III, - <a href="#p110" title="go to p. 110">110</a>–2, - <a href="#p255" title="go to p. 255">255</a>;</li> -<li>relative and absolute ethics, III, - <a href="#p155" title="go to p. 155">155</a>–7;</li> -<li>state inspection, III, - <a href="#p239" title="go to p. 239">239</a>–40;</li> -<li>individualism, III, - <a href="#p249" title="go to p. 249">249</a>;</li> -<li>evolution, III, - <a href="#p256" title="go to p. 256">256</a>, - <a href="#p266" title="go to p. 266">266</a>;</li> -<li>diffusion of literature, III, - <a href="#p262" title="go to p. 262">262</a>;</li> -<li>winding up act, III, - <a href="#p273" title="go to p. 273">273</a>;</li> -<li>legislature and accidents, III, - <a href="#p275" title="go to p. 275">275</a>;</li> -<li>English enterprise, III, - <a href="#p279" title="go to p. 279">279</a>;</li> -<li>maladministration, III, - <a href="#p285" title="go to p. 285">285</a>–6;</li> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p296" title="go to p. 296">296</a>, - <a href="#p302" title="go to p. 302">302</a>, - <a href="#p304" title="go to p. 304">304</a>;</li> -<li>inspection, III, - <a href="#p399" title="go to p. 399">399</a>;</li> -<li>anomaly, III, - <a href="#p401" title="go to p. 401">401</a>;</li> -<li>English and French, III, - <a href="#p428" title="go to p. 428">428</a>;</li> -<li>and government, III, - <a href="#p437" title="go to p. 437">437</a>;</li> -<li>in America, III, - <a href="#p478" title="go to p. 478">478</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Rainbow, beliefs about, II, 154.</li> - -<li>Ramsgate, harbour, III, - <a href="#p248" title="go to p. 248">248</a>.</li> - -<li>Realism, Sidgwick’s criticism, II, 242–50.</li> - -<li>Reason: -<ul> -<li>social analogy, I, 269–71;</li> -<li>limited sphere, II, 221;</li> -<li>judgment of common sense, II, 243–4.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Reasoning: -<ul> -<li>recognition of likeness, II, 33–4, 37, 40;</li> -<li>of Kant, III, - <a href="#p199" title="go to p. 199">199</a>–203;</li> -<li>of metaphysicians, II, 201–5, 208–11;</li> -<li>a testing of conclusions, II, 208–11;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Logic.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Recitative: -<ul> -<li>ancient and modern, II, 415–8;</li> -<li>Gurney on, II, 439.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Reflection, belief in spirits, I, 310–3.</li> - -<li>Reflex action: -<ul> -<li>and emotion, I, 258;</li> -<li>impulsiveness, I, 358;</li> -<li>indication of feelings, II, 403;</li> -<li>examples, III, - <a href="#p453" title="go to p. 453">453</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Reform: -<ul> -<li>and costume, III, - <a href="#p001" title="go to p. 1">1</a>–5;</li> -<li>and custom, III, - <a href="#p031" title="go to p. 31">31</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Reform bill: -<ul> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p294" title="go to p. 294">294</a>;</li> -<li>fear of, III, - <a href="#p358" title="go to p. 358">358</a>;</li> -<li>of Lord Russell, III, - <a href="#p380" title="go to p. 380">380</a>–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Reformation, change by, III, - <a href="#p049" title="go to p. 49">49</a>.</li> - -<li>Regulative system, social, III, - <a href="#p458" title="go to p. 458">458</a>–64.</li> - -<li>Relative, Martineau on the, II, 250–8.</li> - -<li>Religion: -<ul> -<li>increase of heterogeneity, I, 20–3;</li> -<li>relation to early art, I, 27;</li> -<li>and to science, I, 60–2;</li> -<li>rudimentary form of all, I, 309;</li> -<li>object of sentiment, II, 132;</li> -<li>and science, Caird on, II, 219–21;</li> -<li>Mansel’s criticism, II, 221–5;</li> -<li>Grotz on, II, 225;</li> -<li>manners and law, III, - <a href="#p004" title="go to p. 4">4</a>, - <a href="#p023" title="go to p. 23">23</a>;</li> -<li>primitive ideas, III, - <a href="#p006" title="go to p. 6">6</a>–11;</li> -<li>and state, III, - <a href="#p011" title="go to p. 11">11</a>;</li> -<li>for primitive man, III, - <a href="#p024" title="go to p. 24">24</a>;</li> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p301" title="go to p. 301">301</a>;</li> -<li>and government, III, - <a href="#p434" title="go to p. 434">434</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Repair, and waste, II, 362–7.</li> - -<li>Representative government: -<ul> -<li>knowledge of representatives, III, - <a href="#p300" title="go to p. 300">300</a>–9;</li> -<li>and despotism, III, - <a href="#p309" title="go to p. 309">309</a>–10;</li> -<li>and monarchy, III, - <a href="#p310" title="go to p. 310">310</a>–7;</li> -<li>superiority, III, - <a href="#p317" title="go to p. 317">317</a>–23, - <a href="#p323" title="go to p. 323">323</a>–5;</li> -<li>value of, III, - <a href="#p380" title="go to p. 380">380</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Reproductive system, and organic evolution, I, 409, 412, 422–5.</li> - -<li>Reptiles: -<ul> -<li>evolution and heterogeneity, I, 15–7;</li> -<li>paleontological remains, I, 227, 237, 240.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Republicanism, American, III, - <a href="#p474" title="go to p. 474">474</a>–5, - <a href="#p478" title="go to p. 478">478</a>–9.</li> - -<li>Respiration, effect of emotion, II, 459.</li> - -<li>Reviewing, morals of trade, III, - <a href="#p139" title="go to p. 139">139</a>.</li> - -<li>Rhythm, in speech, II, 440.</li> - -<li>Ribbon, morals of trade, III, - <a href="#p127" title="go to p. 127">127</a>.</li> - -<li>Right (<i>see</i> Ethics.)</li> - -<li>Roads, distributing system, I, 296–8.</li> - -<li>Robbery: -<ul> -<li>social co-operation, III, - <a href="#p217" title="go to p. 217">217</a>–20;</li> -<li>of Messrs. Walker, III, - <a href="#p439" title="go to p. 439">439</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Roberts, I., photographs of, I, 180.</li> - -<li>Robinson, F., Icarian colony, III, - <a href="#p457" title="go to p. 457">457</a>.</li> - -<li>Rocking stone, origin, I, 437.</li> - -<li>Rocks, age of, I, 198–205.</li> - -<li><i>Rodentia</i>, transverse integration, I, 69.</li> - -<li>Romilly, Sir S., on judicial system, III, - <a href="#p272" title="go to p. 272">272</a>.</li> - -<li>Rooks, cawing of, I, 337, 338.</li> - -<li>Roots, imbedded and exposed, I, 447.</li> - -<li>Rosse, Lord, nebular hypothesis, I, 110–1.</li> - -<li>Rossini, G. A., heredity, I, 406.</li> - -<li>Royal Institution, III, - <a href="#p436" title="go to p. 436">436</a>.</li> - -<li>Royal Society, published barnacle goose myth, II, 162.</li> - -<li>Ruskin, J., effects of art, I, 59.</li> - -<li>Russell, Lord John: -<ul> -<li>on minorities, III, - <a href="#p295" title="go to p. 295">295</a>;</li> -<li>reform bill, III, - <a href="#p380" title="go to p. 380">380</a>–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Russia: -<ul> -<li>age of rocks in, I, 200–1, 206;</li> -<li>paper currency, III, - <a href="#p345" title="go to p. 345">345</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Sachs, J., on cell membranes, I, 438–9.</li> - -<li>Safety, in railways, III, - <a href="#p099" title="go to p. 99">99</a>–100.</li> - -<li>Satellites: -<ul> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 11;</li> -<li>origin, I, 39;</li> -<li>arrangement and number, I, 137–8;</li> -<li>distribution, I, 138;</li> -<li>number and forces, I, 139–40;</li> -<li>motion, I, 141–3, 153–4.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Saturn: -<ul> -<li>origin of rings, I, 39;</li> -<li>rotatory movement, I, 135, 136;</li> -<li>motion of satellites, I, 137;</li> -<li>their distance, I, 138;</li> -<li>their number, I, 139–40;</li> -<li>rotation of rings, I, 142;</li> -<li>location, I, 143;</li> -<li>density and heat, I, 144–8, 148–52.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Saxon words, II, 336–8.</li> - -<li>Scales, unstable equilibrium of, I, 82.</li> - -<li>Scepticism, reasoning of, II, 201.</li> - -<li>Schleiden, M. J., cell doctrine, I, 443.</li> - -<li>School, Price’s, III, - <a href="#p256" title="go to p. 256">256</a>.</li> - -<li>Schopenhauer, A., ethics, III, - <a href="#p212" title="go to p. 212">212</a>.</li> - -<li>Schwann, T., cell doctrine, I, 443.</li> - -<li>Science: -<ul> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 34–5;</li> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 59;</li> -<li>relation to religion, I, 60–2;</li> -<li>establishment of causation, I, 109;</li> -<li>creed fatal to, I, 463;</li> -<li>and common knowledge, II, 1–8, 29, 71;</li> -<li>Oken’s classification, II, 9–12;</li> -<li>Hegel’s, II, 12–5;</li> -<li>Comte’s, II, 15–29;</li> -<li>progress analytic and synthetic, II, 24–7;</li> -<li>linear arrangement, II, 27–9;</li> -<li>interdependent with arts, II, 67–71, 94–9;</li> -<li>summary of genesis, II, 71–3;</li> -<li>interdependence of, II, 94–9;</li> -<li>Comte and Positivism, II, 118–22, 128, 139;</li> -<li>origin and evolution, II, 150–7;</li> -<li>“practical,” II, 151;</li> -<li>Caird on religion and science, II, 219–21;</li> -<li>exact, III, - <a href="#p199" title="go to p. 199">199</a>–200.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Sciences, Classification of the: -<ul> -<li>Littré on Comte’s, II, 74–6;</li> -<li>characteristics of a true, II, 76;</li> -<li>abstract concrete, II, 77–8, 85–88, 92–4;</li> -<li>concrete, II, 77–81, 88–92, 92–4;</li> -<li>divisions of abstract, II, 81–5, 92–4;</li> -<li>needs three dimensions, II, 92–4;</li> -<li>concrete deals with aggregates, II, 99–103;</li> -<li>abstract-concrete, with properties, II, 101–3;</li> -<li>abstract with relations, II, 102–3;</li> -<li>Bain, II, 105–17;</li> -<li>Mill, II, 114;</li> -<li>Comte, II, 130.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Scotch, dialect, II, 424.</li> - -<li>Scotland: -<ul> -<li>age of rocks, I, 198–205;</li> -<li>bank success, III, - <a href="#p348" title="go to p. 348">348</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li id="p513">Scott, Sir W., anecdote of, II, 466.</li> - -<li>Scrofula, heredity, II, 395.</li> - -<li>Sculpture, heterogeneity of, I, 24–30.</li> - -<li>Sea, action on: -<ul> -<li>geological formations, I, 212, 213;</li> -<li>upheaved land, I, 232–40;</li> -<li>shores, I, 431–2, 444.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Selene, the myth, I, 326.</li> - -<li>Senior wrangler, criticism of, II, 302–5, 305–7.</li> - -<li>Sensations: -<ul> -<li>defined, I, 260, 262;</li> -<li>evolution, I, 264;</li> -<li>demonstration of, II, 401–3;</li> -<li>pleasure of music, II, 444–5;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Psychology.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Sense, disablement of organs, III, - <a href="#p116" title="go to p. 116">116</a>–7.</li> - -<li>Sentences, arrangement of, II, 341–50.</li> - -<li>Settlement, failure of law of, III, - <a href="#p244" title="go to p. 244">244</a>.</li> - -<li>Sewers commission, III, - <a href="#p238" title="go to p. 238">238</a>, - <a href="#p248" title="go to p. 248">248</a>.</li> - -<li>Sex: -<ul> -<li>mental development, I, 355;</li> -<li>comparative psychology, I, 361–4.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Shadows: -<ul> -<li>belief in spirits, I, 310–5;</li> -<li>colour, II, 165–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Shares: -<ul> -<li>railway, III, - <a href="#p080" title="go to p. 80">80</a>–2, - <a href="#p108" title="go to p. 108">108</a>;</li> -<li>directors and holders of, III, - <a href="#p082" title="go to p. 82">82</a>–8;</li> -<li>preference, III, - <a href="#p086" title="go to p. 86">86</a>;</li> -<li>depressed by rail extension, III, - <a href="#p094" title="go to p. 94">94</a>, - <a href="#p098" title="go to p. 98">98</a>–9, - <a href="#p106" title="go to p. 106">106</a>;</li> -<li>morals of banking, III, - <a href="#p131" title="go to p. 131">131</a>–7;</li> -<li>relative and absolute ethics, III, - <a href="#p155" title="go to p. 155">155</a>–7.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Shakespeare, W., I, 317, III, - <a href="#p283" title="go to p. 283">283</a>.</li> - -<li>Shears, analogy from iron, I, 97–8.</li> - -<li>Sheep, English and French, II, 396, 398.</li> - -<li>Shell, use and beauty, II, 370.</li> - -<li>Ships: -<ul> -<li>naval maladministration, III, - <a href="#p233" title="go to p. 233">233</a>–4, - <a href="#p247" title="go to p. 247">247</a>, - <a href="#p248" title="go to p. 248">248</a>, - <a href="#p251" title="go to p. 251">251</a>, - <a href="#p252" title="go to p. 252">252</a>, - <a href="#p258" title="go to p. 258">258</a>, - <a href="#p259" title="go to p. 259">259</a>;</li> -<li>private administration, III, - <a href="#p234" title="go to p. 234">234</a>, - <a href="#p238" title="go to p. 238">238</a>;</li> -<li>and Admiralty certificate, III, - <a href="#p239" title="go to p. 239">239</a>, - <a href="#p241" title="go to p. 241">241</a>;</li> -<li>tonnage law, III, - <a href="#p244" title="go to p. 244">244</a>;</li> -<li>officialism, III, - <a href="#p253" title="go to p. 253">253</a>;</li> -<li>mercantile marine acts, III, - <a href="#p260" title="go to p. 260">260</a>;</li> -<li>screw propeller, III, - <a href="#p261" title="go to p. 261">261</a>;</li> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p301" title="go to p. 301">301</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Shoes, removing, III, - <a href="#p017" title="go to p. 17">17</a>.</li> - -<li>Shooting stars, origin, I, 174–7.</li> - -<li>Shopkeepers, lying and believing, III, - <a href="#p118" title="go to p. 118">118</a>.</li> - -<li>Sidgwick, H., criticism, II, 238–50.</li> - -<li>Sight: -<ul> -<li>and exercise, II, 362, 363;</li> -<li>and state of faculties, II, 364.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Signature, of orders, III, - <a href="#p120" title="go to p. 120">120</a>.</li> - -<li>Signor, the title, III, - <a href="#p014" title="go to p. 14">14</a>, - <a href="#p021" title="go to p. 21">21</a>.</li> - -<li>Signs, force of gesticulative, II, 335.</li> - -<li>Silk, trade morals, III, - <a href="#p120" title="go to p. 120">120</a>, - <a href="#p124" title="go to p. 124">124</a>–7.</li> - -<li>Silurian system: -<ul> -<li>age, I, 198–205;</li> -<li>paleontological evidence, I, 206–7;</li> -<li>thickness, I, 231.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Simile: -<ul> -<li>use and position, II, 350–2;</li> -<li>and metaphor, II, 354.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Singing, II, 410–4; (<i>see also</i> Music.)</li> - -<li>Sir, the title, III, - <a href="#p014" title="go to p. 14">14</a>, - <a href="#p015" title="go to p. 15">15</a>, - <a href="#p016" title="go to p. 16">16</a>, - <a href="#p021" title="go to p. 21">21</a>, - <a href="#p026" title="go to p. 26">26</a>.</li> - -<li>Sirius, distance from sun, I, 113, 114.</li> - -<li>Skating, grace in, II, 385.</li> - -<li>Skin, action of medicine, I, 448, 450.</li> - -<li>Skull, personal beauty, II, 389–90, 391.</li> - -<li>Slave trade, former opinion, III, - <a href="#p141" title="go to p. 141">141</a>.</li> - -<li>Small-pox, effects, I, 47.</li> - -<li>Smell, sense of: -<ul> -<li>and eye position, I, 72;</li> -<li>in dogs, I, 470;</li> -<li>exercise, II, 362.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Smith, Adam: -<ul> -<li>theory of morals, I, 346;</li> -<li>importance, III, - <a href="#p316" title="go to p. 316">316</a>;</li> -<li>non-university training, III, - <a href="#p377" title="go to p. 377">377</a>–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Smoke bill, of London, III, - <a href="#p250" title="go to p. 250">250</a>.</li> - -<li>Sneeze, and laughter, II, 460.</li> - -<li>Snow, officialism, II, 249–50.</li> - -<li>Soap: -<ul> -<li>adulterant, III, - <a href="#p125" title="go to p. 125">125</a>;</li> -<li>tax, III, - <a href="#p243" title="go to p. 243">243</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Social organism: -<ul> -<li>the, I, 265–307;</li> -<li>analogy to individual, I, 269–72, 272–3, 277, 291–8, 306–7, III, - <a href="#p411" title="go to p. 411">411</a>–16;</li> -<li>difference, I, 273–7;</li> -<li>analogy to lower animal forms, I, 277–83;</li> -<li>division of labour, I, 283–91.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Social Statics</i>: -<ul> -<li>origin of morals, I, 332–3;</li> -<li>of sympathy, I, 317;</li> -<li>Comte and title of, II, 134–7;</li> -<li>thesis of, II, 262.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Socialism: -<ul> -<li>compulsory co-operation, III, - <a href="#p454" title="go to p. 454">454</a>–6;</li> -<li>and regulative system, III, - <a href="#p460" title="go to p. 460">460</a>–4;</li> -<li>effect, III, - <a href="#p467" title="go to p. 467">467</a>;</li> -<li>evils, III, - <a href="#p467" title="go to p. 467">467</a>–70.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Sociality, and psychology, I, 366–7, 368.</li> - -<li>Society: -<ul> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 19–23, 35;</li> -<li>a growth, I, 265–9, 306;</li> -<li>the ideal, II, 131–2;</li> -<li>self-conscious, III, - <a href="#p141" title="go to p. 141">141</a>;</li> -<li>influence of wealth, III, - <a href="#p143" title="go to p. 143">143</a>–9;</li> -<li>political ethics and the individual, III, - <a href="#p226" title="go to p. 226">226</a>–8;</li> -<li>evolution, III, - <a href="#p263" title="go to p. 263">263</a>–5;</li> -<li>increasing complexity, III, - <a href="#p323" title="go to p. 323">323</a>–5;</li> -<li>average morality, III, - <a href="#p359" title="go to p. 359">359</a>;</li> -<li>and individual organism, III, - <a href="#p411" title="go to p. 411">411</a>–6;</li> -<li>regulative system, III, - <a href="#p463" title="go to p. 463">463</a>;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Prison Ethics, Sociology.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Sociology: -<ul> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 53–60;</li> -<li>homogeneity unstable, I, 83;</li> -<li>individual and social organism, I, 101–7;</li> -<li>psychical traits and social state, I, 354, 355;</li> -<li>conservatism, I, 356;</li> -<li>mental variability, I, 356–7;</li> -<li>impulsiveness, I, 357–9;</li> -<li>effect of mixing races, I, 359–60;</li> -<li>and of sexes, I, 361–4;</li> -<li>curiosity, I, 361–5;</li> -<li>imitativeness, I, 364;</li> -<li>peculiar aptitudes, I, 366;</li> -<li>sociality, freedom, approbation, and acquisitiveness, I, 366–7;</li> -<li>altruistic sentiments, 367–9;</li> -<li>use and disuse, I, 463–5;</li> -<li>genesis, II, 57;</li> -<li>concrete science, II, 92;</li> -<li>terrestrial evolution, II, 96;</li> -<li>deals with aggregates, II, 100, 103;</li> -<li>a word of Comte’s, II, 133;</li> -<li>universality of law, II, 159;</li> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p302" title="go to p. 302">302</a>;</li> -<li>life, III, - <a href="#p325" title="go to p. 325">325</a>;</li> -<li>education, III, - <a href="#p375" title="go to p. 375">375</a>–9;</li> -<li>cause and effect, III, - <a href="#p487" title="go to p. 487">487</a>–92.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Solar system: -<ul> -<li>heterogeneity, I, 10–11;</li> -<li>origin, I, 108–10;</li> -<li>Laplace on, I, 128–9;</li> -<li>evolution, I, 128–31.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Solicitor, and trader, III, - <a href="#p139" title="go to p. 139">139</a>.</li> - -<li>Sound: -<ul> -<li>multiplication of effects, I, 37;</li> -<li>Kantian ideas of space, II, 227;</li> -<li>as illustrating crude and transfigured realism, II, 245–6;</li> -<li>velocity, II, 267;</li> -<li>sensation, III, - <a href="#p197" title="go to p. 197">197</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Space: -<ul> -<li>concept of, I, 247;</li> -<li>Hutton on intuitions of, I, 339;</li> -<li>classification of science, II, 77, 81–5;</li> -<li>Bain on nature of mathematics, II, 105–6;</li> -<li>Hamilton II, 191–2;</li> -<li>Hodgson, II, 220–34;</li> -<li>Kant, II, 220–7, 229–32, 236–8;</li> -<li>Martineau, II, 257;</li> -<li>consciousness, II, 308;</li> -<li>Kant and evolution, III, - <a href="#p197" title="go to p. 197">197</a>–9, - <a href="#p203" title="go to p. 203">203</a>, - <a href="#p207" title="go to p. 207">207</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Spain: -<ul> -<li>contracts in, III, - <a href="#p218" title="go to p. 218">218</a>;</li> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p317" title="go to p. 317">317</a>–9.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Spalding, D., experiments of, II, 226.</li> - -<li>Sparta, social type, III, - <a href="#p415" title="go to p. 415">415</a>.</li> - -<li>Special creation: -<ul> -<li>lack of facts, I, 1;</li> -<li>and evolution, I, 1–7;</li> -<li>conception of, I, 265.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Specialized administration, III, - <a href="#p401" title="go to p. 401">401</a>–44.</li> - -<li>Species: -<ul> -<li>number of, I, 1;</li> -<li>evolution and creation, I, 1–7;</li> -<li>effect of upheavals, I, 49–52;</li> -<li>of climate, I, 221–4;</li> -<li>of terrestrial change, I, 224–6;</li> -<li>fertility of varieties, II, 397–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Specific gravity: -<ul> -<li>of animals and plants, I, 74, 76;</li> -<li>of planets, I, 144–8, 154;</li> -<li>solar system, I, 163.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Spectrum analysis, complexity of elements, I, 372–4.</li> - -<li>Speech, figures of, II, 350–5; (<i>see also</i> Language.)</li> - -<li>Spencer, Herbert, propositions held by, II, 125–32.</li> - -<li>Spencer, Rev. Thomas, III, - <a href="#p361" title="go to p. 361">361</a>.</li> - -<li>Spheroid, ring formation, I, 133–4.</li> - -<li>Spine, and evolution, III, - <a href="#p205" title="go to p. 205">205</a>.</li> - -<li>Spirit, the word misleading, I, 311.</li> - -<li>Spirits, belief in, I, 311–2, 344.</li> - -<li>Sponges: -<ul> -<li>form of, I, 73;</li> -<li>instability of homogeneous, I, 87.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Staccato, in singing, II, 412.</li> - -<li>Staffordshire, potteries, I, 266.</li> - -<li>Stage coach, III, - <a href="#p110" title="go to p. 110">110</a>–2, - <a href="#p255" title="go to p. 255">255</a>.</li> - -<li>Stars: -<ul> -<li>distribution of nebulæ, I, 112–8;</li> -<li>magnitude and distance, I, 115–8;</li> -<li>Sir W. Herschel on genesis, I, 129;</li> -<li>distance apart, I, 161;</li> -<li>star as name, I, 317, 326;</li> -<li>Kant’s awe of universe, III, - <a href="#p192" title="go to p. 192">192</a>, - <a href="#p195" title="go to p. 195">195</a>;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Astronomy.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>State, the: -<ul> -<li>duty of, III, - <a href="#p236" title="go to p. 236">236</a>;</li> -<li>and religion, III, - <a href="#p011" title="go to p. 11">11</a>, - <a href="#p023" title="go to p. 23">23</a>, - <a href="#p050" title="go to p. 50">50</a>;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Over-legislation.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Statics, Comte’s classification, II, 19.</li> - -<li>Steam power, effects, I, 56–8.</li> - -<li>Stephenson, R., on railways, III, - <a href="#p105" title="go to p. 105">105</a>–6.</li> - -<li>Stereoscope, analogy from, II, 265.</li> - -<li>Stick, equilibrium of, I, 82.</li> - -<li>Stocking trade, and officialism, III, - <a href="#p262" title="go to p. 262">262</a>.</li> - -<li>Stonehenge, use and beauty, II, 371–2.</li> - -<li>Strikes, III, - <a href="#p362" title="go to p. 362">362</a>–4, - <a href="#p365" title="go to p. 365">365</a>, - <a href="#p383" title="go to p. 383">383</a>.</li> - -<li>Strings, in musical instruments, II, 415.</li> - -<li>Structure: -<ul> -<li>animal and vegetal, I, 73–7;</li> -<li>relation to function, I, 249.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Style: -<ul> -<li>philosophy of, II, 333–69;</li> -<li>forcibleness of Saxon, II, 336–7;</li> -<li>and brevity, II, 337–8;</li> -<li>specific expression, II, 338–9;</li> -<li>sequence of words, II, 339–41;</li> -<li>arrangement of sentences, II, 341–7;</li> -<li>direct and indirect, II, 347–50;</li> -<li>figures of speech, II, 350–5.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Subject: -<ul> -<li>consciousness of, II, 211–4;</li> -<li>relation to object, II, 323–32;</li> -<li>arrangement of sentences, II, 342–4.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Substantive and adjective, II, 340–1.</li> - -<li>Sugar, morals of trade, III, - <a href="#p121" title="go to p. 121">121</a>–3, - <a href="#p125" title="go to p. 125">125</a>.</li> - -<li>Suicide, belief in another world, II, 223.</li> - -<li>Sun: -<ul> -<li>origin, I, 39;</li> -<li>distance from Sirius, I, 113, 114;</li> -<li>density and heat, I, 144–8, 148–52;</li> -<li>content of, I, 151;</li> -<li>atmosphere, I, 151;</li> -<li>temperature, I, 151;</li> -<li>constitution, I, 153, 182–91;</li> -<li>duration of heat, I, 101;</li> -<li>willow-leaves and rice grains, I, 186, 188;</li> -<li>faculæ I, 186–7;</li> -<li>Faye’s sun-spot theory, I, 183–4, 188–9;</li> -<li>cyclonic theory, I, 187–91;</li> -<li>as name, I, 317, 326, 327, 328.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Survival of the fittest: -<ul> -<li>Martineau on evolution, I, 379–81;</li> -<li>a factor only of evolution, I, 397–400, 400–5, 405–8, 421–5;</li> -<li>and heredity, I, 408–12, 412–5;</li> -<li>the phrase, I, 429–30;</li> -<li>and effect of medium, I, 444–5;</li> -<li>and nervous system, I, 457–8;</li> -<li>early action of, I, 460–2;</li> -<li>Huxley on, I, 462–3;</li> -<li>Duke of Argyll’s criticism, I, 467–78;</li> -<li>three factors, I, 472.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Swift, J., on manners, III, - <a href="#p044" title="go to p. 44">44</a>.</li> - -<li>Swiss, architecture, II, 379.</li> - -<li>Syllables, style and length, II, 337–8.</li> - -<li>Syllogism, Hodgson on, II, 231.</li> - -<li>Symbolization, infrequent, I, 322.</li> - -<li>Symmetry, in buildings and animals, II, 376–7.</li> - -<li>Sympathy: -<ul> -<li>altruism, I, 346;</li> -<li>comparative psychology, I, 368–9;</li> -<li>and gracefulness, II, 386;</li> -<li>music, II, 424–6;</li> -<li>morals of trade, III, - <a href="#p142" title="go to p. 142">142</a>–3.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Syncrypta</i>, life in, I, 443.</li> - -<li>Synecdoche, effective, II, 350.</li> - -<li>Synthesis, chemical, I, 374.</li> - -<li>Synthetic philosophy, outline, II, 140–2.</li> - -<li>Tailor, morals of trade, III, - <a href="#p117" title="go to p. 117">117</a>.</li> - -<li>Tait, P. G.: -<ul> -<li>on natural philosophy, II, 269, 315–20;</li> -<li>axioms, II, 270, 298–301, 315–20;</li> -<li>laws of motion, II, 271–5, 277–88, 299–320;</li> -<li>ultimate scientific ideas, II, 289;</li> -<li>central forces, II, 290–93;</li> -<li>on synthetic philosophy, II, 294–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Talent, relation to desire, I, 54.</li> - -<li>Tamberlik, E., ut de poitrine, II, 442.</li> - -<li>Tanner, Prof. E., use and disuse, I, 419.</li> - -<li>Tape, morals of trade, III, - <a href="#p118" title="go to p. 118">118</a>, - <a href="#p119" title="go to p. 119">119</a>.</li> - -<li>Taste, exhausted by exercise, II, 362.</li> - -<li>Taxes, and parliament, III, - <a href="#p371" title="go to p. 371">371</a>–5.</li> - -<li>Teeth: -<ul> -<li>organic correlation, I, 96–101;</li> -<li>size of jaw, I, 401.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Telegrams, officialism, III, - <a href="#p396" title="go to p. 396">396</a>–7.</li> - -<li>Telegraphs: -<ul> -<li>analogous to nerves, I, 306;</li> -<li>private enterprise, III, - <a href="#p234" title="go to p. 234">234</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Telephone, in America, III, - <a href="#p472" title="go to p. 472">472</a>.</li> - -<li>Temperance society, III, - <a href="#p446" title="go to p. 446">446</a>.</li> - -<li>Temperature: -<ul> -<li>of solar system, I, 11;</li> -<li>animal and vegetal, I, 74, 76;</li> -<li>vegetal density, I, 144–8, 148–52;</li> -<li>solar, I, 151;</li> -<li>chemical unions, I, 159;</li> -<li>duration of solar, I, 161–3;</li> -<li>evolution of, and nebular hypothesis, I, 159–63.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Ten hours bill, III, - <a href="#p362" title="go to p. 362">362</a>, - <a href="#p365" title="go to p. 365">365</a>.</li> - -<li>Tenby, sea shore, I, 432.</li> - -<li>Tennyson, Lord, quoted, II, 356, III, - <a href="#p314" title="go to p. 314">314</a>.</li> - -<li><i>Thalassicolla</i>, instability of homogeneous, I, 87.</li> - -<li>Thames: -<ul> -<li>sewers commission, III, - <a href="#p238" title="go to p. 238">238</a>;</li> -<li>water supply, III, - <a href="#p387" title="go to p. 387">387</a>–92.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Theft, punishment, III, - <a href="#p233" title="go to p. 233">233</a>.</li> - -<li>Thermo-electricity, what is? II, 172–6.</li> - -<li>Thermology, genesis, II, 61.</li> - -<li>Thomson, Sir W., terrestrial density, I, 149.</li> - -<li>Thomson, Sir W., and Prof. Tait, on physical axioms, III, - <a href="#p220" title="go to p. 220">220</a>–1.</li> - -<li>Thorns, protection and growth of, I, 391.</li> - -<li>Ticket of leave, system, III, - <a href="#p244" title="go to p. 244">244</a>.</li> - -<li>Time: -<ul> -<li>measures of, II, 45–9;</li> -<li>classification of science, II, 77, 81–5;</li> -<li>S. H. Hodgson on, II, 226–34;</li> -<li>Kant, II, 226–7, 229–32, 236–8, III, - <a href="#p197" title="go to p. 197">197</a>–9, - <a href="#p207" title="go to p. 207">207</a>;</li> -<li>Martineau’s criticism, II, 257;</li> -<li>terrestrial motion, II, 272;</li> -<li>Emerson on, II, 354.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Titles, evolution of, III, - <a href="#p011" title="go to p. 11">11</a>–6, - <a href="#p023" title="go to p. 23">23</a>, - <a href="#p027" title="go to p. 27">27</a>–8.</li> - -<li>Todleben, Gen. F. E. von, III, - <a href="#p309" title="go to p. 309">309</a>–10.</li> - -<li>Totemism, I, 309–17.</li> - -<li>Town councils: -<ul> -<li>representative government, III, - <a href="#p288" title="go to p. 288">288</a>;</li> -<li>parliamentary reform, III, - <a href="#p369" title="go to p. 369">369</a>–70, - <a href="#p371" title="go to p. 371">371</a>, - <a href="#p372" title="go to p. 372">372</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Town hall, building of, III, - <a href="#p372" title="go to p. 372">372</a>.</li> - -<li>Trade: -<ul> -<li>localization, I, 22;</li> -<li>morals of, III, - <a href="#p113" title="go to p. 113">113</a>–51, - <a href="#p448" title="go to p. 448">448</a>–9;</li> -<li>adulteration, III, - <a href="#p113" title="go to p. 113">113</a>, - <a href="#p121" title="go to p. 121">121</a>–3;</li> -<li>bribery, III, - <a href="#p114" title="go to p. 114">114</a>–8;</li> -<li>short weight, III, - <a href="#p118" title="go to p. 118">118</a>–9;</li> -<li>circulars, III, - <a href="#p123" title="go to p. 123">123</a>–4;</li> -<li>silk manufacture, III, - <a href="#p124" title="go to p. 124">124</a>–7;</li> -<li>candle making, III, - <a href="#p128" title="go to p. 128">128</a>;</li> -<li>elastic webbing, III, - <a href="#p129" title="go to p. 129">129</a>;</li> -<li>bankruptcy, III, - <a href="#p129" title="go to p. 129">129</a>–31;</li> -<li>morals of banking, III, - <a href="#p131" title="go to p. 131">131</a>–7;</li> -<li>average morality, III, - <a href="#p137" title="go to p. 137">137</a>–40;</li> -<li>and sympathy, III, - <a href="#p142" title="go to p. 142">142</a>–3;</li> -<li>homage to wealth, III, - <a href="#p143" title="go to p. 143">143</a>–9, - <a href="#p149" title="go to p. 149">149</a>–51;</li> -<li>ethics of free trade, III, - <a href="#p154" title="go to p. 154">154</a>;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Industry.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Trade unions: -<ul> -<li>parliamentary reform, III, - <a href="#p362" title="go to p. 362">362</a>–8, - <a href="#p384" title="go to p. 384">384</a>;</li> -<li>tyranny of, III, - <a href="#p382" title="go to p. 382">382</a>, - <a href="#p383" title="go to p. 383">383</a>;</li> -<li>selfishness, III, - <a href="#p465" title="go to p. 465">465</a>–7, - <a href="#p469" title="go to p. 469">469</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Tramps, and poor law, III, - <a href="#p244" title="go to p. 244">244</a>.</li> - -<li>Transcendental Physiology (<i>see</i> Physiology.)</li> - -<li>Tremolo, in singing, II, 412.</li> - -<li>Triangle, space perception, II, 309.</li> - -<li>Trigonometry, evolution, II, 55, 155.</li> - -<li>Truth, denial of, II, 259–65.</li> - -<li>Tyndall, J.: -<ul> -<li>on heat, II, 173;</li> -<li>of light, II, 178.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Tzigane, music, II, 450–1.</li> - -<li>Ulcer, effects on skin, I, 448–9.</li> - -<li>Unbelievable, Mill on word, II, 193–200.</li> - -<li>United States (<i>see</i> America.)</li> - -<li>University, training, III, - <a href="#p377" title="go to p. 377">377</a>–8.</li> - -<li>Unknowable, The: -<ul> -<li>knowledge of, II, 220;</li> -<li>Hodgson on, II, 234;</li> -<li>Martineau on, II, 250–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Unstable equilibrium, of homogeneity, I, 81–4.</li> - -<li>Uranus: -<ul> -<li>axial motion, I, 133–6;</li> -<li>motion of satellites, I, 137;</li> -<li>their distance, I, 138;</li> -<li>their number, I, 139–40;</li> -<li>density and heat, I, 144–8, 148–52.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Uroglena</i>, life in, I, 443.</li> - -<li>Use, and beauty, II, 370–4; (<i>see also</i> Heredity.)</li> - -<li>Utilitarianism, and Mr. Spencer’s views, I, 334, 338, 347–50.</li> - -<li>Valencia, prison discipline, III, - <a href="#p177" title="go to p. 177">177</a>–8.</li> - -<li>Variability, mental, I, 356–7.</li> - -<li>Variation, natural selection and heredity, I, 408–12, 421.</li> - -<li>Varieties: -<ul> -<li>effect of union, I, 359;</li> -<li>fertility, II, 397–8.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Vascular system: -<ul> -<li>deductive biology, I, 78–81;</li> -<li>development, I, 285–6;</li> -<li>and evolution, III, - <a href="#p204" title="go to p. 204">204</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Vaucheria</i>, cell membrane, I, 439.</li> - -<li>Veddahs, invocation of, I, 311–2.</li> - -<li>Venus: -<ul> -<li>motion, I, 135, 136;</li> -<li>satellites, I, 139–41;</li> -<li>density and heat, I, 144–8, 148–52.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Vertebræ, evolution, I, 395, III, - <a href="#p205" title="go to p. 205">205</a>.</li> - -<li><i>Vertebrata</i>: -<ul> -<li>evolution and heterogeneity, I, 15–7, 17–9;</li> -<li>integration, I, 68–71;</li> -<li>position of eyes, I, 71–2;</li> -<li>self-mobility, I, 76;</li> -<li>germ and instability of homogeneous, I, 88;</li> -<li>cervical vertebræ, II, 83;</li> -<li>origin of music, II, 432;</li> -<li>controlling system, III, - <a href="#p407" title="go to p. 407">407</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li><i>Vestiges of Creation</i>, and evolution, I, 390.</li> - -<li>Vienna, English enterprise in, III, - <a href="#p278" title="go to p. 278">278</a>.</li> - -<li>Voice: -<ul> -<li>feelings and loudness, II, 404, 410;</li> -<li>timbre, II, 405, 411;</li> -<li>pitch, II, 406, 411;</li> -<li>intervals, II, 406–9, 411;</li> -<li>variability, II, 409, 411;</li> -<li>ordinary and singing, II, 410–4.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Volition, Bain’s definition, I, 258–9.</li> - -<li><i>Volvox</i>: -<ul> -<li>instability of homogeneous, I, 87;</li> -<li>life in, I, 443;</li> -<li>development, I, 456.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Wales, age of rocks, I, 198–205, 207–8.</li> - -<li>Walker, Messrs., robbery at, III, - <a href="#p439" title="go to p. 439">439</a>.</li> - -<li>Walking: -<ul> -<li>effect of blister, I, 404;</li> -<li>grace in, II, 382.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Waste, and repair, II, 362–7.</li> - -<li>Water: -<ul> -<li>compound, I, 372;</li> -<li>government carts and officialism, III, - <a href="#p249" title="go to p. 249">249</a>;</li> -<li>and supply, III, - <a href="#p387" title="go to p. 387">387</a>–92, - <a href="#p429" title="go to p. 429">429</a>.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Wealth, homage to, III, - <a href="#p143" title="go to p. 143">143</a>–9, - <a href="#p149" title="go to p. 149">149</a>–51.</li> - -<li>Weapons, division of labour, I, 54.</li> - -<li>Weber, K. M. von, heredity, I, 406.</li> - -<li>Weight, measures of, II, 43–5.</li> - -<li>Werner, A. G.: -<ul> -<li>geological theory, I, 194–7;</li> -<li>influence of, I, 201.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Whales, not fish, I, 247.</li> - -<li>Whately, Abp.: -<ul> -<li>metaphor and simile, II, 352;</li> -<li>political economy, III, - <a href="#p423" title="go to p. 423">423</a>–4.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Whewell, W.: -<ul> -<li><i>History of Inductive Sciences</i>, II, 23;</li> -<li>electrical theory, II, 62.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Whirlwind, sun-spot analogy, I, 190–1.</li> - -<li>White, perception of, III, - <a href="#p196" title="go to p. 196">196</a>.</li> - -<li>Will, the: -<ul> -<li>social analogy, I, 269–71;</li> -<li>Kant on, III, - <a href="#p201" title="go to p. 201">201</a>–3;</li> -<li>(<i>see also</i> Psychology.)</li></ul></li> - -<li>Wills, registrars of, III, - <a href="#p251" title="go to p. 251">251</a>.</li> - -<li>Wisdom, the collective, III, - <a href="#p387" title="go to p. 387">387</a>–92.</li> - -<li>Wolf, as name, I, 312–3, 315, 316, 321.</li> - -<li>Wollaston, W. H., insect colours, I, 433.</li> - -<li>Women: -<ul> -<li>comparative psychology and sex, I, 361–4;</li> -<li>size of jaw, I, 398;</li> -<li>treatment of, III, - <a href="#p445" title="go to p. 445">445</a>–6.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Wool, industry and locality, I, 104.</li> - -<li>Words (<i>see</i> Language.)</li> - -<li>Workpeople, residences, III, - <a href="#p447" title="go to p. 447">447</a>.</li> - -<li>Writing: -<ul> -<li>increase in heterogeneity, I, 24–6;</li> -<li>derived from picture language, II, 33.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Yorkshire, woollen industry, I, 266.</li> - -<li>Yours faithfully, etc., III, - <a href="#p016" title="go to p. 16">16</a>, - <a href="#p026" title="go to p. 26">26</a>.</li> - -<li>Zoology: -<ul> -<li>genesis, II, 57;</li> -<li>classification, II, 64;</li> -<li>discovery of laws, II, 149–50.</li></ul></li> - -<li>Zoophytes, evolution of mind, I, 377.</li> - -<li>Zulus, ethics, III, - <a href="#p193" title="go to p. 193">193</a>.</li> - -<li>Zygomatic arches, and beauty, II, 390–2.</li></ul> -</div><!--dndx--> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr id="hrend" /> -<h2 class="h2nobreak" id="idads" -title="Advertisements: MR. HERBERT SPENCER’S WORKS.">MR. -HERBERT SPENCER’S WORKS.</h2></div> - -<div class="fszc"><i>A SYSTEM OF SYNTHETIC PHILOSOPHY.</i></div> - -<div class="fszb padtopa"><i>8th Thousand.</i></div> -<div class="fsza">(WITH AN APPENDIX DEALING WITH CRITICISMS.)</div> -<div class="fszb">In one vol. 8vo, cloth, price 16s.,</div> -<div class="fszd">FIRST PRINCIPLES.</div> - -<div class="fszc padtopc">CONTENTS.</div> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> -I.—<span class="smcap">T<b>HE</b></span> <span -class="smcap">U<b>NKNOWABLE.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. Religion and Science.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. Ultimate Religious Ideas.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. Ultimate Scientific Ideas.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. The Relativity of All Knowledge.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. The Reconciliation.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> -II.—<span class="smcap">T<b>HE</b></span> <span -class="smcap">K<b>NOWABLE.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. Philosophy Defined</li> -<li class="liad2">2. The Data of Philosophy.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. Space, Time, Matter, Motion, and Force.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. The Indestructibility of Matter.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. The Continuity of Motion.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. The Persistence of Force.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. The Persistence of Relations among Forces.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. The Transformation and Equivalence of Forces.</li> -<li class="liad2">9. The Direction of Motion.</li> -<li class="liad2">10. The Rhythm of Motion.</li> -<li class="liad2">11. Recapitulation, Criticism, and Recommencement.</li> -<li class="liad2">12. Evolution and Dissolution.</li> -<li class="liad2">13. Simple and Compound Evolution.</li> -<li class="liad2">14. The Law of Evolution.</li> -<li class="liad2">15. The Law of Evolution, continued.</li> -<li class="liad2">16. The Law of Evolution, continued.</li> -<li class="liad2">17. The Law of Evolution, concluded.</li> -<li class="liad2">18. The Interpretation of Evolution.</li> -<li class="liad2">19. The Instability of the Homogeneous.</li> -<li class="liad2">20. The Multiplication of Effects.</li> -<li class="liad2">21. Segregation.</li> -<li class="liad2">22. Equilibration.</li> -<li class="liad2">23. Dissolution.</li> -<li class="liad2">24. Summary and Conclusion.</li> -</ul></li></ul> - -<div class="dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb padtopa"><i>4th Thousand.</i></div> -<div class="fszb">In two vols. 8vo, cloth, price 34s.</div> -<div class="fszd">THE PRINCIPLES OF BIOLOGY.</div></div> - -<div class="fszc">CONTENTS OF VOL. I.</div> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> -I.—<span class="smcap">T<b>HE</b></span> -<span class="smcap">D<b>ATA</b></span> -<span class="smmaj">OF</span> -<span class="smcap">B<b>IOLOGY.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. Organic Matter.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. The Actions of Forces on Organic Matter.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. The Re-actions of Organic Matter on Forces.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. Proximate Definition of Life.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. The Correspondence between Life and its Circumstances.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. The Degree of Life varies as the Degree of Correspondence.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. The Scope of Biology.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> - II.—<span class="smcap">T<b>HE</b></span> <span - class="smcap">I<b>NDUCTIONS</b></span> <span class="smmaj">OF</span> - <span class="smcap">B<b>IOLOGY.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. Growth.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. Development.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. Function.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. Waste and Repair.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. Adaptation.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. Individuality.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. Genesis.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. Heredity.</li> -<li class="liad2">9. Variation.</li> -<li class="liad2">10. Genesis, Heredity, and Variation.</li> -<li class="liad2">11. Classification.</li> -<li class="liad2">12. Distribution.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> - III.—<span class="smcap">T<b>HE</b></span> <span - class="smcap">E<b>VOLUTION</b></span> <span class="smmaj">OF</span> - <span class="smcap">L<b>IFE.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. Preliminary.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. General Aspects of the Special-Creation-Hypothesis.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. General Aspects of the Evolution-Hypothesis.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. The Arguments from Classification.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. The Arguments from Embryology.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. The Arguments from Morphology.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. The Arguments from Distribution.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. How is Organic Evolution caused?</li> -<li class="liad2">9. External Factors.</li> -<li class="liad2">10. Internal Factors.</li> -<li class="liad2">11. Direct Equilibration.</li> -<li class="liad2">12. Indirect Equilibration.</li> -<li class="liad2">13. The Co-operation of the Factors.</li> -<li class="liad2">14. The Convergence of the Evidences.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">A<b>PPENDIX.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">The Spontaneous-Generation Question.</li> -</ul></li></ul> - - - -<div class="fszc padtopa">CONTENTS OF VOL. II.</div> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> IV.—<span - class="smcap">M<b>ORPHOLOGICAL</b></span> <span - class="smcap">D<b>EVELOPMENT.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. The Problems of Morphology.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. The Morphological Composition of Plants.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. The Morphological Composition of Plants, continued.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. The Morphological Composition of Animals.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. The Morphological Composition of Animals, continued.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. Morphological Differentiation in Plants.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. The General Shapes of Plants.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. The Shapes of Branches.</li> -<li class="liad2">9. The Shapes of Leaves.</li> -<li class="liad2">10. The Shapes of Flowers.</li> -<li class="liad2">11. The Shapes of Vegetal Cells.</li> -<li class="liad2">12. Changes of Shape otherwise caused.</li> -<li class="liad2">13. Morphological Differentiation in Animals.</li> -<li class="liad2">14. The General Shapes of Animals.</li> -<li class="liad2">15. The Shapes of Vertebrate Skeletons.</li> -<li class="liad2">16. The Shapes of Animal Cells.</li> -<li class="liad2">17. Summary of Morphological Development.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> V.—<span class="smcap">P<b>HYSIOLOGICAL</b></span> - <span class="smcap">D<b>EVELOPMENT.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. The Problems of Physiology.</li> - -<li class="liad2">2. Differentiations between the -Outer and Inner Tissues of -Plants.</li> - -<li class="liad2">3. Differentiations among the -Outer Tissues of Plants.</li> - -<li class="liad2">4. Differentiations among the -Inner Tissues of Plants.</li> - -<li class="liad2">5. Physiological Integration in -Plants.</li> - -<li class="liad2">6. Differentiations between the -Outer and Inner Tissues of -Animals.</li> - -<li class="liad2">7. Differentiations among the -Outer Tissues of Animals.</li> - -<li class="liad2">8. Differentiations among the -Inner Tissues of Animals.</li> - -<li class="liad2">9. Physiological Integration in -Animals.</li> - -<li class="liad2">10. Summary of Physiological Development.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> VI.—<span - class="smcap">L<b>AWS</b></span> <span class="smmaj">OF</span> <span - class="smcap">M<b>ULTIPLICATION.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. The Factors.</li> - -<li class="liad2">2. <i>À Priori</i> Principle.</li> - -<li class="liad2">3. Obverse <i>à priori</i> Principle.</li> - -<li class="liad2">4. Difficulties of Inductive Verification.</li> - -<li class="liad2">5. Antagonism between Growth -and Asexual Genesis.</li> - -<li class="liad2">6. Antagonism between Growth -and Sexual Genesis.</li> - -<li class="liad2">7. Antagonism between Development -and Genesis, Asexual -and Sexual.</li> - -<li class="liad2">8. Antagonism between Expenditure -and Genesis.</li> - -<li class="liad2">9. Coincidence between high -Nutrition and Genesis.</li> - -<li class="liad2">10. Specialities of these Relations.</li> - -<li class="liad2">11. Interpretation and Qualification.</li> - -<li class="liad2">12. Multiplication of the Human Race.</li> - -<li class="liad2">13. Human Evolution in the Future.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">A<b>PPENDIX.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">A Criticism on Professor Owen’s -Theory of the Vertebrate Skeleton.</li> - -<li class="liad2">On Circulation and the Formation -of Wood in Plants.</li></ul></li></ul> - -<div class="dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb padtopa"><i>5th Thousand.</i></div> -<div class="fsza">(WITH AN ADDITIONAL PART.)</div> -<div class="fszb">In two vols. 8vo, cloth, price 36s.,</div> -<div class="fszd">THE PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY.</div></div> - -<div class="fszc">CONTENTS OF VOL. I.</div> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> - I.—<span class="smcap">T<b>HE</b></span> <span - class="smcap">D<b>ATA</b></span> <span class="smmaj">OF</span> <span - class="smcap">P<b>SYCHOLOGY.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. The Nervous System.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. The Structure of the Nervous System.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. The Functions of the Nervous System.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. The Conditions essential to Nervous Action.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. Nervous Stimulation and Nervous Discharge.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. Æstho-Physiology.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> - II.—<span class="smcap">T<b>HE</b></span> <span - class="smcap">I<b>NDUCTIONS</b></span> <span class="smmaj">OF</span> - <span class="smcap">P<b>SYCHOLOGY.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. The Substance of Mind.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. The Composition of Mind.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. The Relativity of Feelings.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. The Relativity of Relations between Feelings.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. The Revivability of Feelings.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. The Revivability of Relations between Feelings.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. The Associability of Feelings.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. The Associability of Relations between Feelings.</li> -<li class="liad2">9. Pleasures and Pains.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> III.—<span class="smcap">G<b>ENERAL</b></span> - <span class="smcap">S<b>YNTHESIS.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. Life and Mind as Correspondence.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. The Correspondence as Direct and Homogeneous.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. The Correspondence as Direct but Heterogeneous.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. The Correspondence as extending in Space.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. The Correspondence as extending in Time.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. The Correspondence as increasing in Speciality.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. The Correspondence as increasing in Generality.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. The Correspondence as increasing in Complexity.</li> -<li class="liad2">9. The Co-ordination of Correspondences.</li> -<li class="liad2">10. The Integration of Correspondences.</li> -<li class="liad2">11. The Correspondences in their - Totality.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> IV.—<span class="smcap">S<b>PECIAL</b></span> - <span class="smcap">S<b>YNTHESIS.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. The Nature of Intelligence.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. The Law of Intelligence.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. The Growth of Intelligence.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. Reflex Action.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. Instinct.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. Memory.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. Reason.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. The Feelings.</li> -<li class="liad2">9. The Will.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> V.—<span class="smcap">P<b>HYSICAL</b></span> - <span class="smcap">S<b>YNTHESIS.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. A Further Interpretation Needed.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. The Genesis of Nerves.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. The Genesis of Simple Nervous Systems.</li> - -<li class="liad2">4. The Genesis of Compound Nervous Systems.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. The Genesis of Doubly-Compound Nervous Systems.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. Functions as Related to these Structures.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. Psychical Laws as thus Interpreted.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. Evidence from Normal Variations.</li> -<li class="liad2">9. Evidence from Abnormal Variations.</li> -<li class="liad2">10. Results.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">A<b>PPENDIX.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">On the Action of Anæsthetics - and Narcotics.</li></ul></li></ul> - -<div class="fszc">CONTENTS OF VOL. II.</div> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> VI.—<span class="smcap">S<b>PECIAL</b></span> - <span class="smcap">A<b>NALYSIS.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. Limitation of the Subject.</li> - -<li class="liad2">2. Compound Quantitative Reasoning.</li> - -<li class="liad2">3. Compound Quantitative Reasoning, -continued.</li> - -<li class="liad2">4. Imperfect and Simple Quantitative Reasoning.</li> - -<li class="liad2">5. Quantitative Reasoning in General.</li> - -<li class="liad2">6. Perfect Qualitative Reasoning.</li> - -<li class="liad2">7. Imperfect Qualitative Reasoning.</li> - -<li class="liad2">8. Reasoning in General.</li> - -<li class="liad2">9. Classification, Naming, and -Recognition.</li> - -<li class="liad2">10. The Perception of Special Objects.</li> - -<li class="liad2">11. The Perception of Body as -presenting Dynamical, Statico-Dynamical, -and Statical Attributes.</li> - -<li class="liad2">12. The Perception of Body as -presenting Statico-Dynamical -and Statical Attributes.</li> - -<li class="liad2">13. The Perception of Body as presenting -Statical Attributes.</li> - -<li class="liad2">14. The Perception of Space.</li> - -<li class="liad2">15. The Perception of Time.</li> - -<li class="liad2">16. The Perception of Motion.</li> - -<li class="liad2">17. The Perception of Resistance.</li> - -<li class="liad2">18. Perception in General.</li> - -<li class="liad2">19. The Relations of Similarity -and Dissimilarity.</li> - -<li class="liad2">20. The Relations of Cointension -and Non-Cointension.</li> - -<li class="liad2">21. The Relations of Coextension -and Non-Coextension.</li> - -<li class="liad2">22. The Relations of Coexistence -and Non-Coexistence.</li> - -<li class="liad2">23. The Relations of Connature -and Non-Connature.</li> - -<li class="liad2">24. The Relations of Likeness and -Unlikeness.</li> - -<li class="liad2">25. The Relation of Sequence.</li> - -<li class="liad2">26. Consciousness in General.</li> - -<li class="liad2">27. Results.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> - VII.—<span class="smcap">G<b>ENERAL</b></span> - <span class="smcap">A<b>NALYSIS.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. The Final Question.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. The Assumption of Metaphysicians.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. The Words of Metaphysicians.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. The Reasonings of Metaphysicians.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. Negative Justification of Realism.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. Argument from Priority.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. The Argument from Simplicity.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. The Argument from Distinctness.</li> -<li class="liad2">9. A Criterion Wanted.</li> -<li class="liad2">10. Propositions qualitatively distinguished.</li> -<li class="liad2">11. The Universal Postulate.</li> -<li class="liad2">12. The test of Relative Validity.</li> -<li class="liad2">13. Its Corollaries.</li> -<li class="liad2">14. Positive Justification of Realism.</li> -<li class="liad2">15. The Dynamics of Consciousness.</li> -<li class="liad2">16. Partial Differentiation of Subject and Object.</li> -<li class="liad2">17. Completed Differentiation of Subject and Object.</li> -<li class="liad2">18. Developed Conception of the Object.</li> -<li class="liad2">19. Transfigured Realism.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> - VIII.—<span class="smcap">C<b>ONGRUITIES.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. Preliminary.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. Co-ordination of Data and Inductions.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. Co-ordination of Syntheses.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. Co-ordination of Special Analyses.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. Co-ordination of General Analyses.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. Final Comparison.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> - IX.—<span class="smcap">C<b>OROLLARIES.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. Special Psychology.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. Classification.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. Development of Conceptions.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. Language of the Emotions.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. Sociality and Sympathy.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. Egoistic Sentiments.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. Ego-Altruistic Sentiments.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. Altruistic Sentiments.</li> -<li class="liad2">9. Æsthetic Sentiments.</li> -</ul></li></ul> - -<div class="dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb padtopa"><i>3rd Edition, revised and enlarged.</i></div> -<div class="fszb">In 8vo., cloth, price 21s., Vol. I. of</div> -<div class="fszd">THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY.</div></div> - -<div class="fszc padtopc">CONTENTS.</div> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> - I.—<span class="smcap">T<b>HE</b></span> <span - class="smcap">D<b>ATA</b></span> <span class="smmaj">OF</span> <span - class="smcap">S<b>OCIOLOGY.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. Super-Organic Evolution.</li> - -<li class="liad2">2. The Factors of Social Phenomena.</li> - -<li class="liad2">3. Original External Factors.</li> - -<li class="liad2">4. Original Internal Factors.</li> - -<li class="liad2">5. The Primitive Man—Physical.</li> - -<li class="liad2">6. The Primitive Man—Emotional.</li> - -<li class="liad2">7. The Primitive Man—Intellectual.</li> - -<li class="liad2">8. Primitive Ideas.</li> - -<li class="liad2">9. The Ideas of the Animate and -the Inanimate.</li> - -<li class="liad2">10. The Ideas of Sleep and Dreams.</li> - -<li class="liad2">11. The Ideas of Swoon, Apoplexy, -Catelepsy, Ecstacy, -and other forms of Insensibility.</li> - -<li class="liad2">12. The Ideas of Death and -Resurrection.</li> - -<li class="liad2">13. The Ideas of Souls, Ghosts, -Spirits, Demons.</li> - -<li class="liad2">14. The Ideas of Another Life.</li> - -<li class="liad2">15. The Ideas of Another World.</li> - -<li class="liad2">16. The Ideas of Supernatural -Agents.</li> - -<li class="liad2">17. Supernatural Agents as causing -Epilepsy and Convulsive -Actions, Delirium and -Insanity, Disease and Death.</li> - -<li class="liad2">18. Inspiration, Divination, Exorcism, -and Sorcery.</li> - -<li class="liad2">19. Sacred Places, Temples, and -Altars; Sacrifice, Fasting, -and Propitiation; Praise -and Prayer.</li> - -<li class="liad2">20. Ancestor-Worship in General.</li> - -<li class="liad2">21. Idol-Worship and Fetich-Worship.</li> - -<li class="liad2">22. Animal-Worship.</li> - -<li class="liad2">23. Plant-Worship.</li> - -<li class="liad2">24. Nature-Worship.</li> - -<li class="liad2">25. Deities.</li> - -<li class="liad2">26. The Primitive Theory of -Things.</li> - -<li class="liad2">27. The Scope of Sociology.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> II.—<span class="smcap">T<b>HE</b></span> - <span class="smcap">I<b>NDUCTIONS</b></span> - <span class="smmaj">OF</span> - <span class="smcap">S<b>OCIOLOGY.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. What is a Society?</li> -<li class="liad2">2. A Society is an Organism.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. Social Growth.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. Social Structures.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. Social Functions.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. Systems of Organs.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. The Sustaining System.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. The Distributing System.</li> -<li class="liad2">9. The Regulating System.</li> -<li class="liad2">10. Social Types and Constitutions.</li> -<li class="liad2">11. Social Metamorphoses.</li> -<li class="liad2">12. Qualifications and Summary.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b></span> III.—<span class="smcap">T<b>HE</b></span> - <span class="smcap">D<b>OMESTIC</b></span> - <span class="smcap">R<b>ELATIONS.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. The Maintenance of Species.</li> - -<li class="liad2">2. The Diverse Interests of the Species, of - the Parents, and of the Offspring.</li> - -<li class="liad2">3. Primitive Relations of the Sexes.</li> - -<li class="liad2">4. Exogamy and Endogamy.</li> - -<li class="liad2">5. Promiscuity.</li> - -<li class="liad2">6. Polyandry.</li> - -<li class="liad2">7. Polygyny.</li> - -<li class="liad2">8. Monogamy.</li> - -<li class="liad2">9. The Family.</li> - -<li class="liad2">10. The <i>Status</i> of Women.</li> - -<li class="liad2">11. The <i>Status</i> of Children.</li> - -<li class="liad2">12. Domestic Retrospect and Prospect.</li> -</ul></li></ul> - -<div class="dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb padtopa"><i>2nd Thousand.</i></div> -<div class="fszb">In 8vo, cloth, price 18s. Vol. II of</div> -<div class="fszd">THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY.</div> - -<div class="fszb">(<i>Containing the two following divisions, which may still -be had separately.</i>)</div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb padtopa">In one vol. 8vo, cloth, price 7s.,</div> -<div class="fszd">CEREMONIAL INSTITUTIONS.</div></div> - -<div class="fszc padtopc">CONTENTS.</div> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. Ceremony in General.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. Trophies.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. Mutilations.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. Presents.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. Visits.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. Obeisances.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. Forms of Address.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. Titles.</li> -<li class="liad2">9. Badges and Costumes.</li> -<li class="liad2">10. Further Class-Distinctions.</li> -<li class="liad2">11. Fashion.</li> -<li class="liad2">12. Ceremonial Retrospect and Prospect.</li> -</ul> - -<div class="dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb padtopa">In one vol. 8vo, cloth, price 12s.</div> -<div class="fszd">POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS.</div></div> - -<div class="fszc padtopc">CONTENTS.</div> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. Preliminary.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. Political Organization in General.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. Political Integration.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. Political Differentiation.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. Political Forms and Forces.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. Political Heads—Chiefs, Kings, etc.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. Compound Political Heads.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. Consultative Bodies.</li> -<li class="liad2">9. Representative Bodies.</li> -<li class="liad2">10. Ministries.</li> -<li class="liad2">11. Local Governing Agencies.</li> -<li class="liad2">12. Military Systems.</li> -<li class="liad2">13. Judicial Systems.</li> -<li class="liad2">14. Laws.</li> -<li class="liad2">15. Property.</li> -<li class="liad2">16. Revenue.</li> -<li class="liad2">17. The Militant Type of Society.</li> -<li class="liad2">18. The Industrial Type of Society.</li> -<li class="liad2">19. Political Retrospect and Prospect.</li> -</ul> - -<div class="dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb padtopa"><i>2nd Thousand.</i></div> -<div class="fszb">In one vol. 8vo., cloth, price 5<i>s.</i></div> -<div class="fszd">ECCLESIASTICAL INSTITUTIONS.</div> - -<div class="fszb">(<i>Being Part VI. of the - PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY.</i>)</div></div> - -<div class="fszc padtopc">CONTENTS.</div> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. The Religious Idea.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. Medicine-men and Priests.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. Priestly Duties of Descendants.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. Eldest Male Descendants as Quasi-Priests.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. The Ruler as Priest.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. The Rise of a Priesthood.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. Polytheistic and Monotheistic Priesthoods.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. Ecclesiastical Hierarchies.</li> -<li class="liad2">9. An Ecclesiastical System as a Social Bond.</li> -<li class="liad2">10. The Military Functions of Priests.</li> -<li class="liad2">11. The Civil Functions of Priests.</li> -<li class="liad2">12. Church and State.</li> -<li class="liad2">13. Nonconformity.</li> -<li class="liad2">14. The Moral Influences of Priesthoods.</li> -<li class="liad2">15. Ecclesiastical Retrospect and Prospect.</li> -<li class="liad2">16. Religious Retrospect and Prospect.</li> -</ul> - -<div class="dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb padtopa"><i>5th Thousand.</i></div> -<div class="fsza">WITH AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING AN ADDITIONAL CHAPTER, AND REPLIES TO CRITICISMS.</div> -<div class="fszb">In one vol. 8vo, cloth, price 8s.,</div> -<div class="fszd">THE DATA OF ETHICS.</div> -<div class="fszb">(<i>Being Part I. of the - PRINCIPLES OF ETHICS.</i>)</div></div> - -<div class="fszc padtopc">CONTENTS.</div> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. Conduct in General.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. The Evolution of Conduct.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. Good and Bad Conduct.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. Ways of Judging Conduct.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. The Physical View.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. The Biological View.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. The Psychological View.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. The Sociological View.</li> -<li class="liad2">9. Criticisms and Explanations.</li> -<li class="liad2">10. The Relativity of Pains and Pleasures.</li> -<li class="liad2">11. Egoism <i>versus</i> Altruism.</li> -<li class="liad2">12. Altruism <i>versus</i> Egoism.</li> -<li class="liad2">13. Trial and Compromise.</li> -<li class="liad2">14. Conciliation.</li> -<li class="liad2">15. Absolute Ethics and Relative Ethics.</li> -<li class="liad2">16. The Scope of Ethics.</li> -</ul> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="fszc"><i>OTHER WORKS.</i></div> -</div><!--chapter--> - -<div class="fszb padtopa"><i>5th Thousand.</i></div> -<div class="fszb">In one vol. 8vo, cloth, price 6s.,</div> -<div class="fszd">EDUCATION:</div> -<div class="fszc">INTELLECTUAL, MORAL, AND PHYSICAL.</div> - -<div class="fszc padtopc">CONTENTS.</div> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. What Knowledge is of most Worth?</li> -<li class="liad2">2. Intellectual Education.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. Moral Education.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. Physical Education.</li> -</ul> - -<div class="dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb padtopa"><i>Also, 20th and 21st Thousand,</i></div> -<div class="fszc"><i>A CHEAP EDITION OF THE FOREGOING WORK.</i></div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb">In one vol. crown 8vo, price 2s. 6d.</div> - -<div class="fszb padtopa"><i>Library Edition (the 9th), with a Postscript.</i></div> -<div class="fszb">In one vol., price 10s. 6d.,</div> -<div class="fszd">THE STUDY OF SOCIOLOGY.</div></div> - -<div class="fszc padtopc">CONTENTS.</div> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. Our Need of it.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. Is there a Social Science?</li> -<li class="liad2">3. Nature of the Social Science.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. Difficulties of the Social Science.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. Objective Difficulties.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. Subjective Difficulties—Intellectual.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. Subjective Difficulties—Emotional.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. The Educational Bias.</li> -<li class="liad2">9. The Bias of Patriotism.</li> -<li class="liad2">10. The Class-Bias.</li> -<li class="liad2">11. The Political Bias.</li> -<li class="liad2">12. The Theological Bias.</li> -<li class="liad2">13. Discipline.</li> -<li class="liad2">14. Preparation in Biology.</li> -<li class="liad2">15. Preparation in Psychology.</li> -<li class="liad2">16. Conclusion.</li> -<li class="liad2">    Postscript.</li> -</ul> - -<div class="dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb padtopa"><i>10th Thousand.</i></div> -<div class="fszb">In wrapper, 1s., in cloth, better paper, 2s. 6d.</div> -<div class="fszd">THE MAN - <i><span class="smmaj">VERSUS</span></i> THE STATE.</div></div> - -<div class="fszc padtopc">CONTENTS.</div> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. The New Toryism.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. The Coming Slavery.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. The Sins of Legislators.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. The Great Political Superstition.</li> -<li class="liad2">    Postscript.</li> -</ul> - -<div class="dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb padtopa"><i>4th Thousand.</i></div> -<div class="fszb">In two vols. 8vo, cloth, price 16s.,</div> -<div class="fszd">ESSAYS:</div> -<div class="fszc">SCIENTIFIC, POLITICAL, AND -SPECULATIVE.</div></div> - -<div class="fszc padtopc">CONTENTS OF VOL. I.</div> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. Progress: its Law and Cause.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. Manners and Fashion.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. The Genesis of Science.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. The Physiology of Laughter.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. The Origin and Function of Music.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. The Nebular Hypothesis.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. Bain on the Emotions and the Will.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. Illogical Geology.</li> -<li class="liad2">9. The Development Hypothesis.</li> -<li class="liad2">10. The Social Organism.</li> -<li class="liad2">11. Use and Beauty.</li> -<li class="liad2">12. The Sources of Architectural Types.</li> -<li class="liad2">13. The Use of Anthropomorphism.</li> -</ul> - -<div class="fszc padtopc">CONTENTS OF VOL. II.</div> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. The Philosophy of Style.</li> -<li class="liad2">2. Over-Legislation.</li> -<li class="liad2">3. The Morals of Trade.</li> -<li class="liad2">4. Personal Beauty.</li> -<li class="liad2">5. Representative Government.</li> -<li class="liad2">6. Prison Ethics.</li> -<li class="liad2">7. Railway Morals and Railway Policy.</li> -<li class="liad2">8. Gracefulness.</li> -<li class="liad2">9. State-Tamperings with Money and Banks.</li> -<li class="liad2">10. Parliamentary Reform: the Dangers and the Safeguards.</li> -<li class="liad2">11. Mill <i>versus</i> Hamilton—the Test of - Truth.</li> -</ul> - -<div class="dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb padtopa"><i>3rd Edition.</i></div> -<div class="fszb">In one vol. 8vo., price 8s.,</div> -<div class="fszc">THIRD SERIES OF</div> -<div class="fszd">ESSAYS:</div></div> - -<div class="fszc padtopc">CONTENTS.</div> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">1. The Classification of the Sciences (with a Postscript, replying to Criticisms).</li> - -<li class="liad2">2. Reasons for Dissenting from the Philosophy of M. Comte.</li> - -<li class="liad2">3. Laws in General.</li> - -<li class="liad2">4. The Origin of Animal-Worship.</li> - -<li class="liad2">5. Specialized Administration.</li> - -<li class="liad2">6. “The Collective Wisdom.”</li> - -<li class="liad2">7. Political Fetichism.</li> - -<li class="liad2">8. What is Electricity?</li> - -<li class="liad2">9. The Constitution of the Sun.</li> - -<li class="liad2">10. Mr. Martineau on Evolution.</li> - -<li class="liad2">11. Replies to Criticisms.</li> - -<li class="liad2">12. Transcendental Physiology.</li> - -<li class="liad2">13. The Comparative Psychology of Man.</li> -</ul> - -<div class="dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb padtopa">Price 2s. 6d.,</div> -<div class="fszd">THE FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION.</div></div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="fszd padtopa">DESCRIPTIVE SOCIOLOGY;</div> -<div class="fsza padtopc">OR GROUPS OF</div> -<div class="fszc padtopc">SOCIOLOGICAL FACTS,</div> -<div class="fsza padtopc">CLASSIFIED AND ARRANGED BY</div> -<div class="fszc padtopc">HERBERT SPENCER,</div> - -<div class="fsza padtopc">COMPILED AND ABSTRACTED BY</div> - -<p class="fszb phanga padtopc">DAVID DUNCAN, M.A., Professor of Logic, &c., in the Presidency College, -Madras; RICHARD SCHEPPIG, Ph.D.; and JAMES COLLIER.</p> -</div><!--chapter--> - -<div class="fsza padtopc">EXTRACT FROM THE PROVISIONAL PREFACE.</div> - -<p class="fsza padtopc">Something to introduce the work of which an instalment is annexed, seems needful, in -anticipation of the time when completion of a volume will give occasion for a Permanent -Preface.</p> - -<p class="fsza">In preparation for <i>The Principles of Sociology</i>, requiring as bases of induction large accumulations -of data, fitly arranged for comparison, I, some twelve years ago, commenced, by -proxy, the collection and organization of facts presented by societies of different types, past -and present; being fortunate enough to secure the services of gentlemen competent to -carry on the process in the way I wished. Though this classified compilation of materials -was entered upon solely to facilitate my own work; yet, after having brought the mode of -classification to a satisfactory form, and after having had some of the Tables filled up, I -decided to have the undertaking executed with a view to publication; the facts collected -and arranged for easy reference and convenient study of their relations, being so presented, -apart from hypothesis, as to aid all students of Social Science in testing such conclusions as -they have drawn and in drawing others.</p> - -<p class="fsza">The Work consists of three large Divisions. Each comprises a set of Tables exhibiting -the facts as abstracted and classified, and a mass of quotations and abridged abstracts otherwise -classified, on which the statements contained in the Tables are based. The condensed -statements, arranged after a uniform manner, give, in each Table or succession of Tables, -the phenomena of all orders which each society presents—constitute an account of its morphology, -its physiology, and (if a society having a known history) its development. On the -other hand, the collected Extracts, serving as authorities for the statements in the Tables, are -(or, rather will be, when the Work is complete) classified primarily according to the kinds of -phenomena to which they refer, and secondarily according to the societies exhibiting these -phenomena; so that each kind of phenomenon as it is displayed in all societies, may be -separately studied with convenience.</p> - -<p class="fsza">In further explanation I may say that the classified compilations and digests of materials -to be thus brought together under the title of <i>Descriptive Sociology</i>, are intended to supply the -student of Social Science with data, standing towards his conclusions in a relation like that -in which accounts of the structures and functions of different types of animals stand to the -conclusions of the biologist. Until there had been such systematic descriptions of different -kinds of organisms, as made it possible to compare the connexions, and forms, and actions, -and modes of origin, of their parts, the Science of Life could make no progress. And in -like manner, before there can be reached in Sociology, generalizations having a certainty -making them worthy to be called scientific, there must be definite accounts of the institutions -and actions of societies of various types, and in various stages of evolution, so arranged -as to furnish the means of readily ascertaining what social phenomena are habitually -associated.</p> - -<p class="fsza">Respecting the tabulation, devised for the purpose of exhibiting social phenomena in a -convenient way, I may explain that the primary aim has been so to present them that their -relations of simultaneity and succession may be seen at one view. As used for delineating -uncivilized societies, concerning which we have no records, the tabular form serves only to -display the various social traits as they are found to co-exist. But as used for delineating -societies having known histories, the tabular form is so employed as to exhibit not only the -connexions of phenomena existing at the same time, but also the connexions of phenomena -that succeed one another. By reading horizontally across a Table at any period, there may -be gained a knowledge of the traits of all orders displayed by the society at that period; while -by reading down each column, there may be gained a knowledge of the modifications which -each trait, structural or functional, underwent during successive periods.</p> - -<p class="fsza">Of course, the tabular form fulfils these purposes but approximately. To preserve complete -simultaneity in the statements of facts, as read from side to side of the Tables, has proved -impracticable; here much had to be inserted, and there little; so that complete correspondence -in time could not be maintained. Moreover, it has not been possible to carry out the -mode of classification in a theoretically-complete manner, by increasing the number of -columns as the classes of facts multiply in the course of Civilization. To represent truly the -progress of things, each column should divide and sub-divide in successive ages, so as to -indicate the successive differentiations of the phenomena. But typographical difficulties have -negatived this: a great deal has had to be left in a form which must be accepted simply as the -least unsatisfactory.</p> - -<p class="fsza">The three Divisions constituting the entire work, comprehend three groups of societies:—(1) -<i>Uncivilized Societies</i>; (2) <i>Civilized Societies—Extinct or Decayed</i>; (3) <i>Civilized Societies—Recent -or Still Flourishing</i>. These divisions have at present reached the following <span class="nowrap">stages:―</span></p> - -<p class="fsza"><span class="smcap">D<b>IVISION</b></span> I.—<i>Uncivilized Societies.</i> Commenced in 1867 by -the gentleman I first engaged, Mr. <span class="smcap">D<b>AVID</b></span> <span class="smcap">D<b>UNCAN</b></span>, -M.A. (now Professor of Logic, &c., in the Presidency College, Madras), -and continued by him since he left England, this part of the work is -complete. It contains four parts, including “Types of Lowest Races,” -the “Negrito Races,” the “Malayo-Polynesian Races,” the “African -Races,” the “Asiatic Races,” and the “American Races.”</p> - -<p class="fsza"><span class="smcap">D<b>IVISION</b></span> II.—<i>Civilized - Societies—Extinct or Decayed.</i> On this part of the work Dr. <span class="smcap">R<b>ICHARD</b></span> -<span class="smcap">S<b>CHEPPIG</b></span> has been engaged since January, 1872. The first instalment, including the four -Ancient American Civilizations, was issued in March, 1874. A second instalment, containing -“Hebrews and Phœnicians,” will shortly be issued.</p> - -<p class="fsza"><span class="smcap">D<b>IVISION</b></span> III.—<i>Civilized Societies—Recent or Still Flourishing.</i> Of this Division the first -instalment, prepared by Mr. <span class="smcap">J<b>AMES</b></span> <span class="smcap">C<b>OLLIER</b></span>, of St. Andrew’s and Edinburgh Universities, was -issued in August, 1873. This presents the English Civilization. It covers seven consecutive -Tables; and the Extracts occupy seventy pages folio. The next part, presenting in a still -more extensive form the French Civilization, is now in the press.</p> - -<p class="fsza">The successive parts belonging to these several Divisions, issued at intervals, are composed -of different numbers of Tables and different numbers of Pages. The Uncivilized Societies -occupy four parts, each containing a dozen or more Tables, with their accompanying Extracts. -Of the Division comprising Extinct Civilized Societies, the first part contains four, and the -second contains two. While of Existing Civilized Societies, the records of which are so much -more extensive, each occupies a single part.</p> - -<p class="fsza psignature">H. S.</p> -<p class="fsza"><i>March, 1880.</i></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="fszb"><i>In Royal Folio, Price 18s.</i>,</div> -<div class="fszc">No. I.</div> -<div class="fszd"><em class="emoe">English</em>.</div> - -<div class="fsza">COMPILED AND ABSTRACTED</div> - -<div class="fsza">BY</div> - -<div class="fszc">JAMES COLLIER.</div> -</div><!--chapter--> - - -<div class="padtopa dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb"><i>In Royal Folio, Price 16s.</i>,</div> -<div class="fszc">No. II.</div> -<div class="fszd"><em class="emoe">Mexicans, Central Americans, - Chibchas, and Peruvians</em>.</div> - -<div class="fsza">COMPILED AND ABSTRACTED</div> - -<div class="fsza">BY</div> - -<div class="fszc">RICHARD SCHEPPIG, <span class="smcap">P<b>H.</b></span>D.</div> -</div><!--padtopa dkeeptogether--> - -<div class="padtopa dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb"><i>In Royal Folio, Price 18s.</i>,</div> -<div class="fszc">No. III.</div> -<div class="fszd"><em class="emoe">Lowest Races, Negrito Races, and - Malayo-Polynesian Races.</em></div> - -<div class="fsza">COMPILED AND ABSTRACTED</div> - -<div class="fsza">BY</div> - -<div class="fszc">PROF. DUNCAN, M.A.</div> -</div><!--padtopa dkeeptogether--> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">T<b>YPES</b></span> <span - class="smmaj">OF</span> <span class="smcap">L<b>OWEST</b></span> <span - class="smcap">R<b>ACES.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">Fuegians.</li> -<li class="liad2">Andamanese.</li> -<li class="liad2">Veddahs.</li> -<li class="liad2">Australians.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">N<b>EGRITO</b></span> -<span class="smcap">R<b>ACES.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">Tasmanians.</li> -<li class="liad2">New Caledonians, etc.</li> -<li class="liad2">New Guinea People.</li> -<li class="liad2">Fijians.</li></ul></li> - -<li class="liad1"><span class="smcap">M<b>ALAYO</b>-P<b>OLYNESIAN</b></span> -<span class="smcap">R<b>ACES.</b></span> -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">Sandwich Islanders.</li> -<li class="liad2">Tahitians.</li> -<li class="liad2">Tongans.</li> -<li class="liad2">Samoans.</li> -<li class="liad2">New Zealanders.</li> -<li class="liad2">Dyaks.</li> -<li class="liad2">Javans.</li> -<li class="liad2">Sumatrans.</li> -<li class="liad2">Malagasy.</li></ul></li> -</ul> - -<div class="dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb padtopa"><i>In Royal Folio, Price 16s.</i>,</div> -<div class="fszc">No. IV.</div> -<div class="fszd"><em class="emoe">African Races</em>.</div> - -<div class="fszb">COMPILED AND ABSTRACTED</div> - -<div class="fszb">BY</div> - -<div class="fszc">PROF. DUNCAN, M.A.</div></div> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">Bushmen.</li> -<li class="liad2">Hottentots.</li> -<li class="liad2">Damaras.</li> -<li class="liad2">Bechuanas.</li> -<li class="liad2">Kaffirs.</li> -<li class="liad2">East Africans.</li> -<li class="liad2">Congo People.</li> -<li class="liad2">Coast Negroes.</li> -<li class="liad2">Inland Negroes.</li> -<li class="liad2">Dahomans.</li> -<li class="liad2">Ashantis.</li> -<li class="liad2">Fulahs.</li> -<li class="liad2">Abyssinians.</li> -</ul> - -<div class="padtopa dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb"><i>In Royal Folio, Price 18s.</i>,</div> -<div class="fszc">No. V.</div> -<div class="fszd"><em class="emoe">Asiatic Races</em>.</div> - -<div class="fszb">COMPILED AND ABSTRACTED</div> - -<div class="fszb">BY</div> - -<div class="fszc">PROF. DUNCAN, M.A.</div> -</div><!--padtopa dkeeptogether--> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">Arabs.</li> -<li class="liad2">Todas.</li> -<li class="liad2">Khonds.</li> -<li class="liad2">Gonds.</li> -<li class="liad2">Bhils.</li> -<li class="liad2">Santals.</li> -<li class="liad2">Karens.</li> -<li class="liad2">Kukis.</li> -<li class="liad2">Nagas.</li> -<li class="liad2">Bodo and Dhimals.</li> -<li class="liad2">Mishmis.</li> -<li class="liad2">Kirghiz.</li> -<li class="liad2">Kalmucks.</li> -<li class="liad2">Ostyaks.</li> -<li class="liad2">Kamtschadales.</li> -</ul> - -<div class="padtopa dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb"><i>In Royal Folio, Price 18s.</i>,</div> -<div class="fszc">No. VI.</div> -<div class="fszd"><em class="emoe">American Races</em>.</div> - -<div class="fszb">COMPILED AND ABSTRACTED</div> - -<div class="fszb">BY</div> - -<div class="fszc">PROF. DUNCAN, M.A.</div> -</div><!--padtopa dkeeptogether--> - -<ul class="ulad"> -<li class="liad2">Esquimaux.</li> -<li class="liad2">Chinooks.</li> -<li class="liad2">Snakes.</li> -<li class="liad2">Comanches.</li> -<li class="liad2">Iroquois.</li> -<li class="liad2">Chippewayans.</li> -<li class="liad2">Chippewas.</li> -<li class="liad2">Dakotas.</li> -<li class="liad2">Mandans.</li> -<li class="liad2">Creeks.</li> -<li class="liad2">Guiana Tribes.</li> -<li class="liad2">Caribs.</li> -<li class="liad2">Brazilians.</li> -<li class="liad2">Uaupés.</li> -<li class="liad2">Abipones.</li> -<li class="liad2">Patagonians.</li> -<li class="liad2">Araucanians.</li> -</ul> - -<div class="dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb padtopa"><i>In Royal Folio, Price 21s.</i>,</div> -<div class="fszc">No. VII.</div> -<div class="fszd"><em class="emoe">Hebrews and Phœnicians</em>.</div> - -<div class="fszb">COMPILED AND ABSTRACTED</div> - -<div class="fszb">BY</div> - -<div class="fszc">RICHARD SCHEPPIG, - <span class="smcap">P<b>H.</b></span>D.</div></div> - -<div class="padtopa dkeeptogether"> -<div class="fszb"><i>In Royal Folio, Price 30s.</i>,</div> -<div class="fszc">No. VIII.</div> -<div class="fszd"><em class="emoe">French</em>.</div> - -<div class="fszb">COMPILED AND ABSTRACTED</div> - -<div class="fszb">BY</div> - -<div class="fszc">JAMES COLLIER.</div> -</div><!--padtopa dkeeptogether--> - -<hr class="hr33" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<table class="tabw100" summary=""> -<caption class="fszc"><i>A SYSTEM OF SYNTHETIC PHILOSOPHY.</i></caption> -<tr> -<td class="tdb15l"><span class="smcap">F<b>IRST</b></span> - <span class="smcap">P<b>RINCIPLES</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">16<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l"><span class="smcap">P<b>RINCIPLES</b></span> - <span class="smmaj">OF</span> <span class="smcap">B<b>IOLOGY.</b></span> 2 vols.</td> - <td class="tdb15r">34<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l"><span class="smcap">P<b>RINCIPLES</b></span> - <span class="smmaj">OF</span> - <span class="smcap">P<b>SYCHOLOGY.</b></span> 2 vols.</td> - <td class="tdb15r">36<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l"><span class="smcap">P<b>RINCIPLES</b></span> <span class="smmaj">OF</span> - <span class="smcap">S<b>OCIOLOGY</b></span>, Vol. I.</td> - <td class="tdb15r">21<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l"><span class="smcap">D<b>ITTO</b></span> Vol. II.</td> - <td class="tdb15r">18<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr><td colspan="2"> -<div class="fsza">(<i>This Volume includes the two - following Works, which are - at present published separately.</i>)</div></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdb15l"> -<span class="smcap">C<b>EREMONIAL</b></span> <span class="smcap">I<b>NSTITUTIONS</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">7<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdb15l"> -<span class="smcap">P<b>OLITICAL</b></span> <span class="smcap">I<b>NSTITUTIONS</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">12<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdb15l"> -<span class="smcap">E<b>CCLESIASTICAL</b></span> <span class="smcap">I<b>NSTITUTIONS</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">5<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdb15l"> -<span class="smcap">T<b>HE</b></span> <span class="smcap">D<b>ATA</b></span> <span class="smmaj">OF</span> <span class="smcap">E<b>THICS</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">8<i>s.</i></td></tr> -</table></div><!--chapter--> - -<table class="tabw100" summary=""> -<caption class="fszc"><i>OTHER WORKS.</i></caption> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l"><span class="smcap">T<b>HE</b></span> <span class="smcap">S<b>TUDY</b></span> <span class="smmaj">OF</span> <span class="smcap">S<b>OCIOLOGY</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">10<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l"><span class="smcap">E<b>DUCATION</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">6<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l"> <span class="smcap">D<b>ITTO</b></span> <i>Cheap Edition</i></td> - <td class="tdb15r">2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l"><span class="smcap">E<b>SSAYS.</b></span> 2 vols.</td> - <td class="tdb15r">16<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l"><span class="smcap">E<b>SSAYS</b></span> (Third Series)</td> - <td class="tdb15r">8<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l"><span class="smcap">T<b>HE</b></span> <span class="smcap">M<b>AN</b></span> <i>versus</i> - <span class="smcap">T<b>HE</b></span> <span class="smcap">S<b>TATE</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l"> <span class="smcap">D<b>ITTO</b></span> <i>Cheap Edition</i></td> - <td class="tdb15r">1<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l"><span class="smcap">R<b>EASONS</b></span> <span class="smmaj">FOR</span> <span class="smcap">D<b>ISSENTING</b></span> <span class="smmaj">FROM</span> <span class="smcap">T<b>HE</b></span> - <span class="smcap">P<b>HILOSOPHY</b></span> <span class="smmaj">OF</span> M. <span class="smcap">C<b>OMTE</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">6<i>d.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l"><span class="smcap">T<b>HE</b></span> <span - class="smcap">F<b>ACTORS</b></span> <span class="smmaj">OF</span> - <span class="smcap">O<b>RGANIC</b></span> <span - class="smcap">E<b>VOLUTION</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> -</td></tr></table> - -<div class="fszb">[For particulars see end of the volume.]</div> - -<div class="fszc padtopb">WILLIAMS AND NORGATE,</div> - -<div class="fszb">14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON.</div> - -<div class="fszb padtopa">ALSO MR. SPENCER’S</div> -<div class="fszd"><i>DESCRIPTIVE SOCIOLOGY</i>,</div> - -<div class="fsza padtopc">COMPILED AND ABSTRACTED BY</div> - -<div class="fszc padtopc"><span class="smcap">P<b>ROF.</b></span> -<span class="smcap">D<b>UNCAN</b></span>, -<span class="smcap">D<b>R.</b></span> <span -class="smcap">S<b>CHEPPIG</b></span>, & -<span class="smcap">M<b>R.</b></span> <span -class="smcap">C<b>OLLIER</b></span>.</div> - -<div class="fsza padtopc"><span class="smcap">F<b>OLIO,</b></span> <span -class="smcap">B<b>OARDS.</b></span></div> - -<table class="tabw100" summary=""> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l">1. <span class="smcap">E<b>NGLISH</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">18<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l">2. <span class="smcap">A<b>NCIENT</b></span> <span class="smcap">A<b>MERICAN</b></span> <span class="smcap">R<b>ACES</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">16<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l">3. <span class="smcap">L<b>OWEST</b></span> <span class="smcap">R<b>ACES,</b></span> <span class="smcap">N<b>EGRITOS,</b></span> <span class="smcap">P<b>OLYNESIANS</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">18<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l">4. <span class="smcap">A<b>FRICAN</b></span> <span - class="smcap">R<b>ACES</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">16<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l">5. <span class="smcap">A<b>SIATIC</b></span> <span - class="smcap">R<b>ACES</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">18<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l">6. <span class="smcap">A<b>MERICAN</b></span> <span class="smcap">R<b>ACES</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">18<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l">7. <span class="smcap">H<b>EBREWS</b></span> <span class="smmaj">AND</span> <span class="smcap">P<b>HŒNICIANS</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">21<i>s.</i></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdb15l">8. <span class="smcap">F<b>RENCH</b></span></td> - <td class="tdb15r">30<i>s.</i></td></tr> -</table> - -<div class="fszb">[For particulars see end of the volume.]</div> - -<div class="fszc padtopc">WILLIAMS AND NORGATE,</div> - -<div class="fszb">14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON.</div> - -<p class="fsza padtopc">Harrison & Sons, Printers, -St. Martin’s Lane.</p> - -<div class="transnote">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE - -<p class="pfirst">Original spelling and grammar have generally been retained, with -some exceptions noted below. Original printed page numbers are shown -like this: <span class="fsz7">{52}</span>. -Footnotes have been relabeled 1–45. The transcriber -produced the cover image and hereby assigns it to the public domain. -Original page images are available from archive.org — search for -“essaysscientific03spenuoft”.</p> - -<ul class="ultn"><li class="litn"> -<span class="nowrap">Page -  <a href="#p081" title="go to p. 81">81</a>.</span> -The table rows headed by “The Company’s soliciter” and by “Ditto in -joint account with another” had a large “}” on the right side of column -3, covering both rows. In this edition, table cell borders have been -drawn so as to indicate the combination of information.</li> - -<li class="litn"> -<span class="nowrap">Page - <a href="#p157" title="go to p. 157">157</a>.</span> -Inserted “of” into “dictates abstract -ethics”.</li> - -<li class="litn"> -<span class="nowrap">Page - <a href="#p198" title="go to p. 198">198</a>n.</span> -“Pyschology” was changed to -“Psychology”.</li> - -<li class="litn"> -<span class="nowrap">Page - <a href="#p409" title="go to p. 409">409</a>.</span> -Changed “coödinations” to -“coördinations”.</li> - -<li class="litn"> -<span class="nowrap">Page - <a href="#p471" title="go to p. 471">471</a>.</span> - A left double quotation mark was added -before ‘The earlier paragraphs of the conversation’.</li> - -<li class="litn"> -<span class="nowrap">Page - <a href="#p487" title="go to p. 487">487</a>.</span> - Changed “with many Americans joined -with regrets that my state of health has prevented, me from” to “with -many Americans, joined with regrets that my state of health has -prevented me from”.</li> - -<li class="litn"> -<span class="nowrap">Page - <a href="#p493" title="go to p. 493">493</a>.</span> - The index covers all three -volumes of this series of books. Volume II is available as Project -Gutenburg ebook #53395; all editions of Vol. II display the original -printed page numbers, corresponding to the index entries herein. Volume -I is available as PG ebook #29869. Unfortunately, ebook #29869 displays -the original page numbers only in the html edition. With a little html -coding skill, however, one could modify the epub version to display -page numbers if that is desired.</li> - -<li class="litn"> -<span class="nowrap">Page - <a href="#p501" title="go to p. 501">501</a>.</span> - In entry “Great Western Railway:” -changed “III, 9;” to “III, 94;”.</li> - -<li class="litn"> -<span class="nowrap">Page - <a href="#p509" title="go to p. 509">509</a>.</span> - Changed “Philae” to “Philæ”, to agree -with Volume I.</li> - -<li class="litn"> -<span class="nowrap">Page - <a href="#p510" title="go to p. 510">510</a>.</span> - The entry “<i>Polyzoa</i>” was moved below -“Politics”, to conform with alphabetical ordering. Likewise, “Pope” was -moved above “Porcupine”.</li> - -<li class="litn"> -<span class="nowrap">Page - <a href="#p513" title="go to p. 513">513</a>.</span> - Under entry “Social organism -. . . analogy to individual”, changed “III, 411–6” to “III, -411–16”.</li></ul> - - - -</div> -<!--transnote--> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Essays: Scientific, Political, and -Speculative, Volume III (of 3), by Herbert Spencer - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ESSAYS: SCIENTIFIC, POLITICAL, VOL III *** - -***** This file should be named 54076-h.htm or 54076-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/0/7/54076/ - -Produced by Josep Cols Canals, Adrian Mastronardi, RichardW, -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian -Libraries) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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