Full text of "Annals"
HANDBOUND
AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF
ANNALS
AMERICAN ACADEMY
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
ISSUED BI-MONTHLY.
VOL. X.
JULY, 1897 DECEMBER, 1897.
Editor :
ROLAND P. FALKNER.
Associate Editors:
EDMUND J. JAMES. EMORY R. JOHNSON.
PHILADELPHIA :
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE.
1897.
1
M-
U./6
CONTENTS.
PRINCIPAL PAPERS.
PAGE.
)EviNE, EDWARD T. The Shiftless and Floating City
Population 149
jAM I. The George Junior Republic . . 73
ES, EDMUND J. The Place of the Political and
JT Social Sciences in Modern Education 359
- JOHNSON, EMORY R. Current Transportation Topics,
241
, C. H. Rousseau and the French Revolution, 54
ISAAC. The Political Philosophy of Aristotle . 313
B. H. The Administration of Prussian Rail-
roads 389
--^PATTEN, SIMON N. Over-Nutrition and its Social
Consequences , 33
-
MTRYOR, JAMES W. The Greater New York Charter . 20
Rows, I/EO S. The Problems of Political Science . . 165
^/SENNER, JOSEPH H. The Immigration Question . . i
"SHERWOOD, SIDNEY. The Philosophical Basis of Eco-
nomics 206
STROEVER, CARL. Utility and Cost as Determinants
of Value 334
, JAMES T. Administrative Centralization and
Decentralization in England 187
PROCEEDINGS OK THE ACADEMY 87
MISCELLANY.
Association Meetings in 1897 464
(iii)
IV
ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
PERSONAL NOTES.
Alden, G. H., 426.
Barnard, J. L,., 433-
Barrett, D. C., 428.
Bayles, G. J., 253.
Bemis, E. W., 429.
Callender, G. S., 253.
Catterall, R. C. H., 424.
Channing, Edw., 254.
Cheyney, E. P., 432.
von Czerkawski, A. W., 435.
Dixon, F. H., 432.
Du Bois, W. E. B., 252.
Duniway, C. A., 431.
Durand, E. D., 431.
Ehrenberg, R., 437.
Emery, H. C., 424.
Fast, R. E., 433-
Fleiner, F., 440.
Gee ring, T., 441.
von Halle, E., 435.
Hart, A. B., 427.
Henderson, C. R., 424.
James, J. A., 432.
Kahler, W., 438.
Lowell, A. L., 255.
Lynes, G. B., 255.
Martin, J. B., 91.
Meyer, B. H., 434.
Oldenberg, K., 439.
Parsons, F., 430.
Plehn, C. C., 252.
Rammelkamp, C. H., 253.
Raymond, J. H., 434.
Rosenthal, E., 438.
von Salis, R., 441.
Sanders. F. W., 425.
Shambaugh, B. F., 428.
Shepardson. F. W., 426.
Sieveking, H. J. , 436.
Sparks, E. E., 426.
Swain, Anne E., 255.
Taylor, W. G. L., 255.
Thompson, J. W., 426.
Will, T. E., 430.
Degrees and Fellowships in Polit-
ical and Social Science in the
United States, 256, 434.
BOOK DEPARTMENT.
CONDUCTED BY HENRY R. SBAGBR.
REVIEWS.
PAGE.
BELL, JAMES, and PATON, JAMES. Glasgow, Its Municipal Or-
ganization and Administration. L. S, Rowe 267
BENEDETTI, COUNT. Studies in Diplomacy. H. Friedenwald . 100
BOGART, E. L. Die Finanzverhaltnisse der Einzelstaaten der
Nordamerikanischen Union. C. C. Plehn 445
BOURINOT, J. G. The Story of Canada.-/?. M. Breckenridge . 269
DE BROGUE, DUKE. An Ambassador of the Vanquished. H.
Friedenwald 100
BULLOCK, C. J. Introduction to the Study of Economics.//".
R. Seager 447
BYINGTON, E. H. The Puritan in England and New England.
W. E. B. Du Bois 102
COWLES, J. L. A General Freight and Passenger Post E,J.
James 450
CONTENTS.
DALLINGER, P. W. Nominations for Elective Office in the
United States./. Q. Adams 271
FISHER, S. G. Evolution of the Constitution of the United
States./. T. Young 451
GIBBINS, H. DE B. Industry in England. H. R. Seager . . . 272
GOMEL, C. Histoire financiere de I'Assemble'e constitutante.
C. H, Lincoln 275
HIGGS, HENRY. The Physiocrats. H. R. Seager 104
HILDEBRAND, R. Recht und Sitte auf den verschiedenen wirts-
chaftlichen Kulturstufen. 5". M. Lindsay log
HOUSTON, D. F. Nullification in South Carolina./. T. Young 106
JOESTEN, DR. Geschichte und System der Eisenbahnbenutzung
im Kriege. W. E. Weyl 453
M ACY, JESSE. The English Constitution. /. W. Jenks .... 107
M'KECHNiE, W. S. The State and the Individual. W. F. Wil-
loughby 277
MILLION, J. W. State Aid to Railways in Missouri. E. R,
Johnson 280
Novicow, J Consience et volonte" sociales. 5. M. Lindsay . . 454
PATON, JAMES. See BELL.
PEARSON, K. The Chances of Death./?. P. Falkner .... 456
PLEHN, C. C. The General Property Tax. .F. Walker .... 457
POSADA, A. Theories modernes sur les origines de la famille,
de la socie'te' et de 1'etat. 5". M. Lindsay 109
RAUCHBERG, H. Der Clearing uud Giro-Verkehr in Oesterreich-
Ungarn und im Auslaude. R. P. Falkner 459
SALMON, LUCY M. Domestic Service. .#. P. Falkner .... 112
SCHANZ, GEORGE. Neue Beitrage zur Frage der Arbeitslosen-
versicherung. S. M. Lindsay 461
SHEPHERD, W. R. History of Proprietary Government in Penn-
sylvania./. T. Young 282
SPEIRS, F. W. Street Railway System of Pennsylvania. A. A.
Bird 113
TRENT, W. P. Southern Statesmen of the Old Regime. B. C.
Steiner 116
TSANOFF, S. V. Educational Value of Children's Playgrounds.
J. T. Young 462
WALKER, F. A. International Bimetallism./. F. Johnson . . . 282
WILLOUGHBY, W. W. An Examination of the Nature of the
State. L. S. Rowe ... , 118
vi ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
NOTES.
PAGE.
BAKER, M. N. Manual of American Waterworks 262
EARTH, T. See DUNCKI.EY.
BASTABLE, C. F. Theory of International Trade 443
British Gold Defence Association Publications 92
CHAILLEY-BERT, J. See SAY.
CHAMPION, E. La France d'apre"s les cahiers de 1789 262
COURTNEY, L. See DUNCKLEY.
DUNCKXBY, H., LEROY-BEAUUEU, P., EARTH, T., COURTNEY,
L- , and ViwjERS, C. P. Richard Cobden and the Jubilee of
Free Trade 93
GIDDINGS, F. H. Theory of Socialization 94
HOUDARD, A. La Malentendu mone'taire 95
KOREN, JOHN. See WINES.
LE BON, G. Psychologic des foules 263
LEROY-BEAUUEU, P. See DUNCKLEY.
LOUGH, T. England's Wealth, Ireland's Poverty 443
MARX, K. Mise>e de la philosophic 96
Money and Prices in Foreign Countries 96
MUHLEMAN, M. L. Monetary Systems of the World 97
MYERS, C. Midnight in a Great City 444
New York State Library Bulletin 98
NOBLE, F. H. Taxation in Iowa 97
RIGOLAGE, E. La Sociologie, par August Comte 444
SAY, L., and CHAH.I.EY-BERT, J. Supplement au Nouveau Dic-
tionnaire d'Economiepolitique 98
TRAILL, H. D. Social England, Vol. V 99
VILUERS, C. P. See DUNCKI.BY.
WARD, L. F. Dynamic Sociology 264
WEBSTER, W. C. Recent Centralizing Tendencies in State Edu-
cational Administration . 264
WiLWSON, J. S. Railway Question in Canada 265
WINES, F. H., and KOREN, JOHN. The Liquor Problem in its
Legislative Aspects 266
Zeitschrift fur Criniiualanthropologie 99
Books received 146, 311, 494
CONTENTS. vii
NOTES ON MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.
CONDUCTED BY I,. S. ROW&
PAGE.
Boston 124, 293
Brooklyn 472
California , 477
Cincinnati 129
Cleveland 476
Direct Employment of Labor by Municipalities 288
Gas Works in English Cities 132
Hornsey 131
Huddersfield 131
London 478
National Convention of Mayors and Councilmen 470
National Municipal League 121
New York 121, 289, 470
Omaha 295
Paris 298
Philadelphia 122, 292, 472
Providence 130
San Francisco 125, 477
Street Railway Franchises in Missouri 297
Toronto 479
Washington 127, 477
SOCIOLOGICAL NOTES.
CONDUCTED BY S. M. IJNDSA.Y.
Atlanta Conference on Negro City Life 300
Consumers' League 302
Dietaries of Institutions in Boston 305
Factory Inspection in the United States 485
Free Medical Aid in Dispensaries 482
Improved Housing 139
Insanity, Increase of, in London 482
Institutional Church 136
Labor Legislation in Pennsylvania ... 307
Negro, Condition of, in Cities 143
Pennsylvania Association of Directors of the Poor 137
Prevention of Feeble-mindedness 138
viii ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
Profit-sharing in England 134
Public Charity in Massachusetts 490
State, The, and its Territory 141
Tenement House Laws in New York . . . 487
Tramps in Massachusetts 136
Wayfarers' Lodge in Boston 136
JULY. 1897.
ANNALS
OF THE
AMERICAN ACADEMY
OF
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE.
THE IMMIGRATION QUESTION.
Among the many problems which the rapid and restless
progress of civilized mankind has created in the nineteenth
century, the problem of immigration is not the least inter-
esting. Former centuries have known migration on an
extended scale ; in fact the settlement of the earth is based
on it. Empires have sprung into existence and vanished
by large migratory movements, to which all the present
powers owe their final development. Such migration of
tribes, which changed the fate of nations and states in single
violent onslaughts, has been superseded by immigration,
that is the change of the domicile of individuals and fami-
lies in large numbers, but without any apparent union of
interests or destination. It is no longer the conqueror of the
former centuries who threatens with open invasion, but it
is now the humble and needy applicant modestly knocking
for admission, in the hope of securing at least a small share
of the wealth and culture of a more affluent nation. As
long as there is an abundance to divide, as long as the new-
comer can be properly provided for without any serious loss
to the older settler, and especially as long as the latter sees
2 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
an advantage to himself to be derived from the labor or ser-
vices of the newly arrived, immigration is welcomed with
open arms. The time conies, however, in which the beatus
possidens, the fortunate possessor who came ahead of the
new arrival, may be no longer desirous of sharing his
abundance with another, or may have nothing further to
divide, or may be unable to foresee any immediate advantage
to be gained from the presence of such new arrival ; and
then the conflicting interests of the former settler and the new
arrival may assume the proportions of a serious problem.
In addition to these purely economic difficulties there
may arise the danger of social and political evil influences
through the arrival of too great a number of heterogeneous
immigrants, which may threaten the progress and wel-
fare of a highly civilized nation. Then indeed, by the
supreme law of self -protection, the state authorities would be
obliged to interfere in the interest of the freedom, happi-
ness and culture of their subjects. If we may judge from
the denunciations hurled from some of our more popular
pulpits, as well as from editorial chairs, public meetings and
debates in Congress, such a critical stage in our public life
has actually appeared, and our economic as well as social
and political life has been and is still threatened with the
greatest possible danger from such immigration.
In the four years of my official life, as chief gate-
keeper of the United States, I may freely state that of the
many strange and unaccountable things with which I have
been brought in contact, nothing has surprised me more
than the conspicuous and permanent ignorance of the public
at large in reference to the actual condition of immigration
matters. For more than five years the port of New York,
which handles about four-fifths of the entire immigration to
the United States, has enjoyed the privilege of a special
immigration station, established, on a large scale and with
every improvement, on Ellis Island, in the harbor of New
York; nevertheless, it is found that not only immigrants
THE IMMIGRATION QUESTION. 3
but also citizens of the United States still speak and write
of Castle Garden, which was the great receptacle for immi-
grants for nearly forty years, as the present point of land-
ing. For eight years the old State Board of Commissioners
of Immigration, which formerly consisted of the mayors
of New York and Brooklyn, the presidents of the German
and Irish societies and six other commissioners appointed
by the governor of the state, has been superseded by
one United States Commissioner of Immigration never-
theless, it is the common belief, shared even by a large
number of editors, that a Board of Commissioners still
exists for the control of immigration at this port. The
same anachronism exists in reference to the immigration
laws and their enforcement, and the ignorance regarding
the number and character of immigrants of past years and
their handling by the federal authorities, is almost as pro-
found.
Now it is true that in years gone by we have had
as many as eight hundred thousand immigrants arriving
in a single year at the various ports of the United
States, not counting those who simply cross over the
borders of neighboring countries into the United States. It
is undoubtedly true that out of that very heavy immigration
a comparatively large portion became charges upon our
public institutions or, through the assistance of unwise and
antiquated- naturalization laws, were permitted to assert
an undue influence in our public affairs. It is further
undoubtedly true that, during years gone by, communities
and private associations in Europe freely unloaded their
charges upon the United States, without the formality of
any question or restriction on the part of our laws, or con-
cern by our officials. If such conditions still obtained,
or if they had prevailed during the last four years, I should
have been among the first to say, "Stop it, and stop it
at once, in the most energetic and efficient manner, in the
interests of American liberty, American welfare and
4 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
American civilization. ' ' I am, however, in a position to
declare and to prove that such unrestricted immigration
has for a number of years been a thing of the past, and
that heavy immigration has been made practically an im-
possibility for the future.
In the face of actual facts, that part of our Declaration
of Independence appears indeed like a glimpse of an-
cient history, which records, among the injuries and usurpa-
tions on the part of the King of England, his endeavor
"to prevent the population of these states, for that purpose
obstructing the laws for the naturalization of foreigners,
refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither. ' '
As late as 1864, a law was passed by Congress to encourage
immigration, in which no safeguards whatever were pro-
vided to protect us against the dangers to be expected
from the very worst refuse of foreign population. Even
in 1872, attempts were made in Congress to pass new laws
promoting immigration. The first law of any restrictive
character was passed in 1875 to prohibit the importation
of prostitutes from China and Japan, but it was not until
the year 1882 that the law to regulate the landing of immi-
grants in this country was passed, and in fact it was not
until 1891 that any legal examination was required.
The most radical change in our laws, and in the prac-
tical enforcement of them, was introduced by the Act of
March 3, 1893, which I have had the privilege of putting
into practical execution on Ellis Island since the begin-
ning of May of that year. Since that time it may be said
that immigration has, in the broader sense, almost come to
a standstill. The number of immigrants landed since the en-
forcement of the new law of 1893, that is such as may properly
be called new arrivals, is actually hardly larger than the
average immigration into the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland. At the same time the number of
immigrants debarred from landing has increased in a marked
degree, although, by the provisions of the same law, the
THE IMMIGRATION QUESTION. 5
greatest part of the really undesirable immigrants are,
priori, deterred from even embarking for the United States.
On the other hand, the number of foreign-born persons who
have become public charges on our American communities
or public institutions has largely decreased; and further-
more there is, under the present law and its enforcement,
no necessity and, I may say, with proper administration
by our American municipal or state governments, no possi-
bility of any alien becoming a permanent public charge.
These statements may appear to be sweeping, and may
create some surprise, but I am fortunately in a position to
verify them.
I have taken especial pains to determine the actual im-
migration under the new law, and, with this end in view, I
have directed the statistical force at my command on Ellis
Island to ascertain in the most detailed and reliable man-
ner the number of aliens arriving, and to arrange them
according to nationalities, to determine who had been in
the United States before or who came here to join members
of their immediate families that is only immigrants re-
lated in the first degree, such as children, parents, brothers
or sisters. Last year this method was adopted for the
entire service.
It will be readily conceded that neither of these two
classes can be properly called immigrants ; nor do they, if
not per se, belong to the excluded classes liable to add to
the dangers experienced through former immigration.
These are the surprising figures for the port of New York :
Fiscal
year.
Total
landing.
In the
United States
before.
Came to join
immediate
family.
Leave as
immigration
proper.
1893-4 .
. . 219,046
29,782
90,887
98,377
1894-5 .
. . 190,928
45,280
69,637
76,011
1895-6 .
. . 263,709
48,804
95,269
119,636
Finally, for the calendar year 1896, out of 233,400 arriv-
ing on Ellis Island only 108,563 could be classified as immi-
grants proper.
6 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
The above figures will conclusively prove to any thinking
person that the total immigration to the United States has,
within the last four years, fallen to such small figures as to
be absolutely insignificant as compared with our own
enormous population.
It is worthy of note that with such nationalities as are
generally regarded least desirable, the proportion of real im-
migrants to the total immigration is a particularly small one.
To illustrate in figures, out of 42,074 Italians in 1893-94,
fully 8m had been in the United States before and 15,101
came to join members of their immediate families, thus
leaving only 18,862, a little over 40 per cent, as the
immigration proper for that period. Out of 28,736 Rus-
sians the same percentage, only 12,099 mav b e properly
called immigrants. On the other hand, out of 38,711 Ger-
mans fully 20,641', or nearly 60 per cent, were new immi-
grants. In this way the much dreaded immigration from
nationalities more foreign to us dwindles very considera-
bly under proper analysis. The immigration authorities
readily admit that a large share of the credit for the
remarkable decrease in immigration during the last few
years is due to the unprecedented financial crisis prevailing.
However, they also assume some share of the credit for
themselves. The "lynx-eyed" officials at Ellis Island
have, I may venture to say, become almost proverbial
abroad and only too well known to the steamship companies
and their agents, upon whom rests the full financial respon-
sibility for all immigrants who are not "clearly and beyond
doubt entitled to admission." A few significant figures
will serve to indicate the direct effect of the new law and
its rigid enforcement :
During the fiscal year 1891-92, out of some 445,987
landed in New York only 1727, and in 1892-93 out of 343,-
422, not more than 817 were excluded. In 1893-94, from a
total of but 219,046, fully 2022 were debarred from land ing.
In 1894-95, out of 190,928 arriving, 2077 and in 1895-96, out
THE IMMIGRATION QUESTION. 7
of 263,709, no less than 2512 were debarred from landing at
Ellis Island. While in this way, notwithstanding a contin-
ually decreasing immigration, a continuously larger number
of would-be immigrants was debarred from landing, the
number of persons returned within one year after landing
as public charges from the whole United States decreased
from 637 in the fiscal year 1892 to 577 in 1893, 4 X 7 i n the
fiscal year 1894, 177 in 1895, and 238 in 1896. It will thus
be clearly seen, from the foregoing figures, that the
enforcement of the immigration laws during the last four
years has been very much more efficient and beneficial than
at any time prior thereto. The number of immigrants de-
barred from landing, as above indicated, increased absolutely
and relatively, and with them increased the number of the
most efficient of the anti-immigration agents, z. e. those who
endeavored to come here in violation of the law, but were
detected through the vigilance of the immigration authori-
ties, and compelled to return to their native countries, there
to spread the story of the difficulty experienced in meeting
or getting around the strict immigration laws of the United
States and their rigid enforcement.
As to the number of those who have been refused tickets
by the steamship companies, or who have been deterred
even from risking their money in the purchase of pas-
sage, it is hardly possible to estimate accurately the amount
in full; however, the number has unquestionably reached
hundreds of thousands during the last few years. On the
other hand, as the number of those becoming public charges
within one year after the time of landing and who were
returned at the expense of the steamship companies, under
the law, became so small, very few persons likely to become
public charges could have evaded the inspection of govern-
ment officials. To explain the possibility of such results it
is necessary to give an outline of the methods of our
present inspection, though I am convinced that no mere
explanation could be so satisfactory as a visit to that unique
8 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
institution at Ellis Island, the immigrant station of the port
of New York. I do not hesitate to state that it is absolutely
impossible to get an intelligent idea of the letter and spirit
of the present law, with its efficient enforcement, without
such a personal observation.
The fundamental principle of our present immigration
laws consists in placing the full financial responsibility for
all undesirable immigration directly on the steamship com-
panies. They are obliged to conduct a personal examina-
tion through their agents, of all intending immigrants, not
only as to the general qualifications of age, sex, married or
single, calling or occupation, nationality, last residence, final
destination, but also as to the ability to read or write,
whether such immigrant has a through ticket to the point
of final destination, whether he has paid his own passage or
whether it has been paid by another person or persons, or
by any corporation, society, municipality or government;
whether in possession of money, and if so, whether upwards
of thirty dollars, and how much, if thirty dollars or less;
whether going to join a relative, and if so, what relative, his
name and address; whether ever before in the United States,
and if so, when and where ; whether ever in prison or alms-
house, or supported by charity; whether a polygamist;
whether under contract, express or implied, to perform
labor in the United States; and finally as to the immigrant's
condition of health, mentally and physically ; and whether
deformed or crippled, and if so, from what cause. The
steamship companies are obliged to have complete ships'
manifests, containing replies to each of these twenty ques-
tions, and sworn to by the master of the ship and the ship's
surgeon, in the presence of a United States Consul, before
embarkation. By a simple arrangement of dividing all
passengers of a single ship into groups of thirty or less,
and of providing each immigrant with a ticket, containing
the numbers of the sheet and of his own entry on the same,
for the purpose of identification, it is made possible to bring
THE IMMIGRATION QUESTION. 9
each immigrant in turn before an inspector who has the
sworn statements of the steamship company in reference to
the immigrant before him, and is thus able to intelligently
control the matter by his own re-examination. As soon as
any steam or sailing vessels reach the Quarantine Station
of any port in the United States, such vessel is boarded by
immigrant officials, at the same time the customs officers
reach her; and while the last named busy themselves in
seeking to discover violations of law in the importation of
merchandise, the officials of the immigration bureau inspect
the ship as to her arrangements for immigrants, especially in
the steerage, and conduct a general inspection of cabin
passengers, because it has been found by practical ex-
perience that no small proportion of undesirable aliens
come as other than steerage passengers. While this
inspection is going on, the proud ship proceeds on her way
through our most wonderful and beautiful Bay, which
extends in all its grandeur between Staten Island, New
Jersey, New York and Brooklyn ; she passes the imposing
Statue of Liberty and immediately afterward the immigra-
tion station at Ellis Island, which, though just under the
eyes of this Statue of Liberty, for the proper protection of
the country, has unfortunately to be surrounded and guarded
in such a manner as more to resemble a prison than an in-
stitution of a free and enlightened country. When the
ship reaches her dock, all citizens of the United States,
even though coming in the steerage, are discharged by the
proper immigration officials, upon the production of suffi-
cient proof of their citizenship; while all other steerage
passengers are brought in special boats provided for the
purpose to Ellis Island for further inspection, according to
law. Here, on the large main floor of the building erected
by the government for this purpose, they pass before the
critical and scrutinizing eyes of the matrons and the officers
of the medical staff, who examine their physical condition.
After this they must be further examined as to their
io ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
eligibility to land, by inspection officers who stand at the
heads of the various aisles prepared for the purpose. It is
the duty of every inspector, and to this I would call
especial attention, to detain for a special inquiry every per-
son who may not appear to him to be clearly and beyond
doubt entitled to admission ; and all such special inquiries
are conducted by not less than four officials, acting in the
capacity of judge and jury; and no immigrant is permitted
admission by said board except after a favorable decision
made by at least three of the inspectors sitting in such
judicial capacity. It depends entirely upon the character
of the immigrants, as to how large a proportion of the pas-
sengers of any incoming ship has to be detained for such
special inquiry. We have had English, or German, or
Scandinavian ships where 5 per cent or less did not
appear to be clearly and beyond doubt entitled to admis-
sion, and where, after a special inquiry, perhaps not one of
the detained immigrants had to be finally returned as un-
desirable through their exclusion by law; and we not
infrequently have ships from Italian ports where 50 per
cent and more have been detained for special inquiry,
resulting in the final debarring from landing of some
20 per cent of such number. The simple fact that 24,000
cases in 1894-95 an d IU % 4539 i n 1 895-96 (43,645 in the
calendar year 1896) were brought before our Boards of
Special Inquiry, speaks volumes not only for the amount of
work to be performed under the present law on Ellis Island
but also for the painstaking care exercised in the winnow-
ing process.
Any immigrant who is held or sentenced to be returned is
permitted to consult with counsel and friends, under proper
restrictions, and to file with the commissioner an appeal
from the excluding decision of the board; while in cases of
special merit even immigrants who may not be eligible perse
to admission are permitted to land if the authorization to
accept a real estate bond to the amount of $500 in each case,.
THE IMMIGRATION QUESTION. n
conditioned that the immigrant will not become a public
charge, is given by the Secretary of the Treasury.
During the entire examination, which sometimes con-
sumes a number of weeks, the detained immigrants are
properly housed and fed at the expense of the steamship com-
pany bringing them here, and, if ailing, are received in the
hospital and treated, without expense to themselves, but at
the cost of the steamship company. The company has also
to stand the expense of returning all immigrants not per-
mitted to land. From these facts it is obvious that the
steamship companies in their own interest, will be and are
very careful before issuing tickets to such persons, and that
they will and do necessarily exercise especial care before
issuing tickets to those whose examination alone, not to
speak of the return, results in an expense which in many
cases is larger than the price of the ticket. As the steam-
ship companies hold their agents who have sold such tickets
for them, responsible for the outlay in each case, it
naturally follows that the agents themselves exercise greater
vigilance in the conduct of their business. Still another safe-
guard has been provided for the protection of our country
in the law a section of which requires the return of all aliens
at the expense of the steamship company who come into the
United States in violation of law, and that any alien who
becomes a public charge within one year after his arrival in
the United States, from causes existing prior to his landing
therein, shall be deemed to have come in violation of law
and be returned. In this manner the responsibility of the
steamship companies is practically extended over one year
after the landing of immigrants. However, when on proper
examination it is found that any immigrant has become a
public charge within one year from the date of arrival,
from causes not existing prior thereto, and that he has
been permanently incapacitated from earning a liveli-
hood, he shall be returned at the expense of the Immi-
grant Fund, which also bears the expense for the care and
12 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
maintenance of any immigrant suffering from a disease of
temporary character until the expiration of one year from
the date of landing. The complaint formerly prevalent,
that our almshouses, insane asylums and hospitals were
overcrowded with newly arrived immigrants, will, therefore,
be found to be no longer well founded. If, however, such
public charges do exist, it is solely through negligence on
the part of municipal or state authorities, who have failed
to avail themselves of the opportunities given by law, and
invariably most willingly rendered by the immigration
authorities.
While I have hitherto endeavored to show that there is a
rigid inspection of all immigrants going on under the new
laws, and that therefore complaints which are based upon
former methods and their results can no longer justly be
made at this time, I do not wish it to be understood that
our present laws or their enforcement are perfect or beyond
improvement.
On the thirteenth of June, 1894, the Secretary of the
Treasury appointed a commission consisting of three prac-
tical immigration experts to investigate and report among
other points what changes, if any, in the rules and regula-
tions now in force were necessary in order to secure a more
efficient execution of existing laws relating to immigration ;
and this commission, of which I had the honor to be a
member, recommended in its report, submitted in October,
1895, no less than twenty-nine practical amendments to the
existing laws and regulations; but this same commission
was and is unanimous in the opinion that the fundamental
principle of the present law should be upheld and that the
present laws, with certain practical amendments, under
proper execution, are quite sufficient to protect this country
against a too heavy or undesirable immigration. The
Immigration Investigating Commission, for reasons suffi-
ciently explained above, does not believe in the necessity of
heroic measures at this time.
THE IMMIGRATION QUESTION. 13
We do not underestimate the dangers coming from an
unrestricted immigration, but we do believe, and are sin-
cere in that belief, that there is not, and has not been for
the last four years, any unrestricted immigration. Our eyes
are not closed to the evils which a large foreign population,
concentrated to a great measure in our larger cities, and
unfortunately in many states invested with the full power
of citizenship, may bring to our political institutions, nor do
we overlook the fact that the competition of less civilized
workmen, who have never been used to a higher standard
of life, is liable in turn to lower our standard of wages. But
we do believe that any and all of these dangers and evils
can be more successfully overcome and avoided than by in-
troducing such methods of restriction as are likely to exclude
the most desirable immigrant, while not helping us in refer-
ence to the many millions who have already come here
under the unrestricted condition of former 3 r ears.
Referring especially to the evil political influence which
an ignorant foreign-born population is likery to exert in
our public affairs, I am personally of the opinion that the
dangers from that source are very much exaggerated in a
country where suffrage is distributed with so little discrim-
ination that millions of half -savage negroes enjoy the right
of suffrage, while our intelligent and highly cultured women
are precluded from availing themselves of its privilege.
But suppose the ignorant Pole or Italian is a more danger-
ous citizen than the ignorant negro, then there is noth-
ing easier than to apply the severest test to the privilege of
American citizenship, granting naturalization only to the
enlightened and completely assimilated foreigner. Let us
not forget that immigration is and will be first of all an
essentially economic question, while naturalization is a
purely political one. What in fact ought to be no more
than hostility to the ready naturalization permitted in many
states, turns out, by an inexcusable confusion of ideas, to
be a general hostility to immigration.
14 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
A number of those interested in the subject have hoped
to solve the immigration problem through the introduction
of a monetary test ; however, this method cannot stand any
close scrutiny. The mere exhibition to the inspection officer
of $200 or $1000 at the time of landing is not a sufficient
guarantee that a person will not become a public charge
within a short time, even if this money were not borrowed
for the very purpose of exhibition to such inspection officer.
It will be readily conceded that a young man with two dol-
lars in his pocket, two good strong arms and an earnest
intention of engaging in any kind of available work will,
as a rule, find his way in this country; while a widow,
hampered with a number of small children and without
friends, could never convince me, even by showing as
much as $5000, that she might not within a given time be-
come a public charge. A bankrupt merchant, unused to
work, and coming over here perhaps with many hundreds of
dollars, will almost invariably have to spend his last cent
before finding any opportunity of earning a livelihood.
Another solution which has been proposed and much
agitated, is the plan of adopting Consular certification, but,
in the words of Senator Lodge, " This plan is impracticable ;
the necessary machinery for it could not be provided and it
would lead to many serious questions with foreign govern-
ments and never be properly and justly enforced. ' ' Accord-
ing to the Senator's declaration, the opinion of the
committee of which he was chairman is shared by all
expert judges who have given careful attention to the ques-
tion.
Another method, involving a higher capitation tax, is
properly designated by the Senate Committee's report as
a severe but somewhat discriminating method for which the
country is not yet prepared.
The Immigration Restriction League has finally decided,
I may say after consultation with the officials on Ellis
Island, to forego all those plans which were favored in
THE IMMIGRATION QUESTION. 15
former times and to adopt as their only demand the intro-
duction of an educational test. I am in favor of a moderate
educational test for the protection of American civilization
and of the American standard of life. Illiteracy is invari-
ably coupled with a low standard of living which inevitably
leads to a lowering of wages. Under the present condition
of education in Continental Europe, those nationalities
which are considered as sending the most desirable immi-
grants to the "United States, such as the Germans, English
and Scandinavians, are those which show the smallest per-
centage of illiterac} r ; while the southern part of Europe and
the eastern part, which show a low grade of education, fur-
nish at the same time the least desirable immigrants. How-
ever, with the progress of compulsory education in Europe,
and especially, strange as it may sound, with the prog-
ress of compulsory military service, illiteracy is rapidly
waning in all Europe, and any literary educational test
will, within twenty years or less, be entirely superfluous as
far as Continental Europe is concerned. In the meantime
it would certainly appear extremely unjust to apply such
tests to persons under sixteen years of age or to females, or
in any other way that might lead to a separation of fam-
ilies, or to an aggravation of our serious and vexed servant-
girl question. With these limitations, I believe in the in-
troduction of a limited and practical educational test, as a
natural and proper addition to the present immigration
laws, to be made without otherwise radically changing their
fundamental character; and I may add that since October i,
1896, I have practically introduced this test on Ellis
Island without being forced by law. One of the chief
reasons for the introduction of this literary test at the
station under my charge was shown by my practical experi-
ences during an official trip to Europe last summer, where
I observed that the statistics in reference to the illiteracy of
immigrants are, if possible, even less reliable than I
have found general immigration statistics of former years.
1 6 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
That there is a tremendous discrepancy between the sta-
tistics as to immigrants arriving within the last quarter of a
century and the results of the three United States censuses
taken within the same time, is a fact generally recognized.
Our Bureau of Statistics has of course been obliged to rely
on information gathered in the most careless and reckless
manner by so-called officials of state agencies. We are con-
fronted with figures as to age, occupation, destination,
literacy and money in the possession of immigrants which
I can positively assert, from researches personally made,
were, up to the enforcement of the law of 1893, based almost
entirely upon guess work. Not only scholars and scientists
but also legislators have been naturally misled by such
erroneous premises and alleged facts to equally erroneous
conclusions. Even since the enforcement of the Act of 1 893,
which for the first time legally required an examination
and sworn statements on these points, it has been found a
most difficult task, requiring more skilled material in ex-
pert statisticians than public service in the United States
usually furnishes, to secure reliable statistics. Further, in
reference to illiteracy, I have found by practical experience
that it is positively necessary to demand some practical test
in order to arrive at reliable and definite figures. The
results of an actual test on Ellis Island made during the last
six months shows a marked divergence from figures here-
tofore promulgated :
From Per cent.
Bohemia 4.7 against 11.45
Galicia 39.
Other Austria 22.
Hungary 29.
France 3.9
Germany 1.6
Greece 13.
Italy 39.
Russia 31.
Poland 36.
Turkey in Europe . 8.8
60.37
36.38
46.51
4.88
2.96
26.21
54-59
41.14
47.78
3143
THE IMMIGRATION QUESTION. 17
This inaccuracy in the statistics formerly furnished as to
immigration is, in my opinion, one of the strongest argu-
ments against the advisability of any heroic change in our
present immigration laws which, for the first time in our
history, make it possible for us to secure reliable statistics,
that may be used as safe bases for scientific and legislative
conclusions.
But the introduction of such an educational test cannot
solve the immigration problem, the very essence of which
it fails to touch.
"The immigration question," I quote from the commis-
sion's report, before referred to, "is pre-eminently a national
one ; this nation consists neither of a few large cities, which,
as in all the other countries furnish only limited employment
to a dense population, nor of the few states whose farms are
deserted and whose manufacturing cities are overcrowded
with idlers. Immigration concerns the West not less than
the Bast, and the South as well as the North, and the only
line of policy which can be consistently recommended is
one which will benefit the whole country most and harm
each part of it the least.
' ' No one can undertake to deny that an entire closing of
our ports to immigrants would inevitably result in untold
injury to, if not the very annihilation of, our largest trans-
portation and manufacturing enterprises; in a disastrous
stoppage of the development of great sections of the coun-
try; and in a famine of servants and menial laborers.
"There are some comparatively small densely populated
sections to be sure where no immigrants or only the most
highly qualified are desired; but in the larger part of this
country those immigrants are still needed who are only
fitted for unskilled manual labor. This is particularly true
of the vast undeveloped agricultural and lumber areas of
the Northwest, South and Southwest.
"At present immigrants herd together in the densely
populated centres. Nearly half of the steerage arrivals at
1 8 ANNAI3 OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
the port of New York, for example, give their destination
to the immigrant inspectors as New York City, because
they know of no other place to go. That a considerable
proportion of them eventually drift elsewhere, for better or
worse, is evident from the figures of the census ; but quite too
large a proportion remain to swell the ranks of the paupers
or depreciate the labor market. Only a small percentage
get where they really ought to be that is, into the work
for which they are peculiarly needed. Existing conditions,
in a word, exhibit a clear case of maladjustment, and the
maladjustment is principally due to the lack of reliable
knowledge on the part of the immigrants and their com-
plete inability to obtain it.
"Notwithstanding the rapid mail and cable connections
and the enormous transatlantic trade, the geography, topog-
raphy, resources and industrial and social conditions of
the different sections of the United States are practically
unknown in Europe. The only information accessible to
an intending immigrant is contained in the letters received
by himself or his neighbors, or in the circulars of specula-
tors and steamship and railway companies. He leaves
home finally with the expectation of abundant opportunities
of bettering his condition and with an eager determination
to avail himself of them, but without any precise knowledge
of where or how he is to do it. Under the circumstances it
would be strange indeed if glib-tongued agents did not
sometimes, in spite of all the vigilance of the federal
authorities, induce him to invest his funds in worthless
Hnds and played-out enterprises, or to let his labor to an
unscrupulous padrone. ' '
Hie Rhodus hie salta, here is to be found the point where
the real solution of the problem follows as a natural
sequence: I^et each immigrant receive the proper infor-
mation, enlightenment and guidance, so that he may
readily find the place where he can work with best ad-
vantage to himself as well as to his adopted country.
THE IMMIGRATION QUESTION. 19
Give him opportunity and the knowledge to find the
proper labor market, where his services are actually
needed; not in competition with American labor but for
the building up of all sections of this great country
and of all its industries; let the farmer or fruit-grower be
shown to those sections of the country where his experience
and personal qualifications will secure him the largest re-
turns, and you will very seldom hear any objection to, or
outcry against, immigration. Exclude all undesirable, and
at the same time see that the most desirable immigrants are
properly distributed over the country, and there will no longer
be any immigration problem.
Do not turn over the distribution of the incoming to irre-
sponsible speculators or padrones, but place the distribution
of settlers as well as .of laborers under the responsible man-
agement of a National Land and Labor Clearing House, in
close connection with, and under full regulation by the
authorities charged with the enforcement of the immigra-
tion law. This great National Land and Labor Clearing
House is the instrumentality by which the whole immigra-
tion problem can be removed for all time, by which all pos-
sible dangers from immigration can be prevented, and this
nation be given all the benefits in the future which it has
unquestionably derived from immigration in the past.
JOSEPH H. SENNER.
Ellis Island, New York Harbor.
THE GREATER NEW YORK CHARTER.
THE FORMATION OF THE CHARTER.
The most important local statute passed within recent
years is the charter of the Greater New York, which will
take effect on the first of January, 1898. It creates a
municipality so large as to present a new factor in the polit-
ical institutions of the country. For the first time, we have
to deal with the government of a great metropolitan city
with a population of over three millions. This fact gives
to the charter an importance far beyond that of the ordinary
municipal charter. It is an experiment which is of interest
beyond the limits of New York State. Its success or failure
will strongly influence the development of institutions in
other parts of the country. The method followed in the
formation of the charter is thus a matter of national impor-
tance. Not concerning ourselves now with the merits of
the principles of municipal government adopted in the
charter, let us examine the instrument as a piece of statute-
making. Viewed in this light, the work of the commission
and the passage of the charter by the state legislature con-
stitute a significant episode in the history of legislation.
The scientific formulation of statutes is a subject which
has received but little attention in the United States. The
prevailing belief seems to be that the most superficial legal
training is all that is required. Those who are more fully
acquainted with the subject agree that the formulation of
statutes is essentially expert work, and that adequate prep-
aration for it involves long special training. It is of the
utmost importance to the community that this work should
be well done. The daily life of every member of a civilized
community is carried on in conformity to general rules of
conduct, embodied in statute law. Every important advance
(20)
THE GREATER NEW YORK CHARTER. 21
in science, as well as every marked change in popular sen-
timent in matters of religion or of morals, gives rise to a
new body of laws designed to meet the new conditions. No
elaborate argument is needed to prove the necessity of giv-
ing and preserving to the large and constantly changing
body of statute law the greatest possible coherence, clear-
ness, brevity, and stability. In spite of this fact, our
legislatures are wont to pass new laws and to change old
laws with a freedom appalling to one who studies the result.
The hasty enactment of ill-digested statutes produces great
uncertainty in the law, and overburdens the courts with
questions which would not arise, were all laws passed with
due regard for laws already existing and for scientific
arrangement and expression. The recklessness with which
statutes are passed is shown by the mere volume of the
session laws in the separate states of the Union. The laws
passed by the legislature of the Stateof New York in 1895,
cover about 2100 printed pages; and those passed in 1896,
about 2600 pages. More than half of these laws, in bulk,
are of a special or local character, many of them having
been devised to meet some merely temporary or personal
need or desire. Only very few were framed after adequate
study of the great mass of existing laws upon the subjects
treated of. They were drawn by hundreds of men, without
regard to any general scheme either as to substance or form.
After years of such law-making a state finds its statutes in
a condition of almost intolerable chaos. In many cases a
remedy is then sought in codification; but codes and re-
visions are no sooner enacted than they become the subject
of innumerable amendments, proposed for the most part
with a desire to serve some private end rather than the
public welfare.
A result of this method of legislating is seen in the gen-
erally accepted theory that if a proposed law is at all desir-
able, it ought to be passed without delay, notwithstanding
probable defects. Future legislatures, it is said, will be
22 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
able to perfect the law by amendments, or to repeal it, if it
is found unsatisfactory in operation. But, in a certain
sense, each successive form of a law is imperishable. The
fact that it has been upon the statute books must be learned
and reckoned with for all time by the lawyer, the courts,
the student, and the historian. The meaning of present
law must often be sought in the light of former statutes
upon the same subject, and no such former statute may be
disregarded by one who seeks to learn precisely what the
present law is. Every change in the law is, therefore, an
evil. It may be necessary or so desirable that none will
oppose it, but, nevertheless, so far as it presents new matter
to be interpreted and construed, it is an evil. It follows
that good affirmative reason should be demanded for the
enactment of any new law. It should be challenged and
scrutinized, and the burden of proving that it ought to be
passed should be placed upon its advocates.
Applying these general principles to the Greater New
York Charter, viewed as a piece of statute-making, we may
lay down the following general rules :
1. In the drafting of a statute, one of the first and funda-
mental processes is to define the terms used, in such a way
that their meaning shall be free from doubt and ambiguity.
Any particular combination of words should be used through-
out a statute with precisely the same meaning, and any dif-
ference in expression should indicate a difference in meaning.
2. Beauty of style, harmony of phrase, and elegance of
diction have not in themselves any value in a statute. The
single effort in the use of language should be to make the
meaning clear.
3. Several single simple propositions are clearer than a
combination of the propositions in a complex proposition.
Therefore, as far as possible, propositions should be stated
in separate short sentences.
4. Every effort should be made to reduce to the shortest
possible form the provisions to be embodied in the statute.
THE GREATER NEW YORK CHARTER. 23
The volume of laws is growing in this country with such
alarming rapidity that brevity is a virtue to be especially
sought in the work of statute-making.
5. The precise meaning of every word should be weighed,
and no word which is not necessary to the meaning, or which
does not have a distinct function in the presentation of the
idea, should be used.
6. Specific enumeration of a number of cases in a class,
coupled with a general provision of similar import covering
all the cases in the class, is not merely unnecessary ; it in-
creases the length of the statute, and gives rise to doubt and
confusion by suggesting that the cases enumerated are to be
treated differently from those not enumerated. Even if all
possible cases are included in the several provisions, brevity
is greatly promoted by the use of a general provision in
place of a number of similar specific provisions.
7. Provisions which are intended to embody affirmative
legislation, should be expressed affirmatively, and not in
such a way as to make it necessary to evolve the affirmative
provision by inference.
8. The statute should not provide for the performance of a
duty without making it clear who is charged with the duty.
It is not necessary to present the numerous details of the
charter passed by the New York Legislature which violate
these principles, and show that the charter fails to meet the
simplest requirements of a scientifically constructed statute.
Careful study of both the preliminary draft which was
published by the commission in December, 1896, and the
final draft, which was published and sent to the legislature
in the latter part of February, 1897, l ea d to the conclusion
that the charter presents in a striking manner the evils of
our American methods of treating the difficult and important
work of statute-making. Other countries may spend much
time and money in elaborate inquiries and deep research as
steps toward the enactment of important laws. American
enterprise and quickness will not brook such old-fashioned
24 ANNAI.S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
methods. When we want a law, we want it now ; we shall
want other laws next year. The growth of this tendency
is well illustrated by the contrast between the way in which
the new charter was constructed and -the way in which
"The Consolidation Act" was evolved.
On the tenth of June, 1879, the legislature passed a law
providing for the compilation and revision of "all special
and local laws affecting public interests in the city of New
York. ' ' The work was to be done by a commission of
three, consisting of the corporation counsel of the city of
New York, and two others to be selected by him. The
corporation counsel, Mr. William C. Whitney, named as
the additional commissioners Messrs. George Bliss and
Peter B. Olney, and the commission immediately proceeded
with its work. The completed compilation was reported to
the legislature in 1880. It was contained in two printed
volumes of 2156 pages, in which the various laws were
arranged in chronological order under general headings,
such as "Fire Department," "Taxes and Assessments."
At the head of each page and upon the margin were notes
indicating the substance of the text. The compilation was
accompanied b} r a chronological list of all statutes included,
with references to the pages upon which the statutes were
printed. Another table was given, with this heading "Re-
pealed and Superseded Laws, showing the acts and portions
of acts coming within the scope of this compilation which are
treated as repealed or superseded, and some of the acts by
which they are regarded as so repealed or superseded. ' ' This
table also was arranged chronologically. In addition to the
text, the commission presented an index of 170 pages.
The legislature of 1880, perceiving that this compilation
led naturally to a further clarification of the laws relating
to the city of New York, continued the commission with the
duty of making a revision and codification of all such laws.
The preliminary form of this revision was submitted to the
legislature in 188 1 . The report which accompanied the draft
THE GREATER NEW YORK CHARTER. 25
stated that the commissioners had sought advice and sugges-
tions from all possible sources, but that more time was needed
for perfecting the work, and that, therefore, they did not ask
that the legislature should enact the preliminary draft. At
length, in 1882, the commission reported the final form of
the revision, which was enacted as Chapter 410 of the laws
of 1882, under the title, ' 'The Consolidation Act. "
Kach of the two drafts of the Consolidation Act as re-
ported to the legislature contained full citations of the
sources of all the parts, and was accompanied with a full
and detailed index.
The contrast between the careful and deliberate work upon
the Consolidation Act and the hasty preparation of the
Greater New York Charter marks the advance made in
recent years in our capacity to formulate the most difficult
and voluminous legislation within a time which formerly
would have been considered quite inadequate. The Con-
solidation Act was only a collection and a re-arrangement
of laws actually in existence. The commission had only to
determine what those laws were. The charter is in part a
re-enactment of existing laws ; but in many most important
particulars, it provides a new form of government. The
statement made by the chairman of the commission that
the people of the present city of New York would find that
under the new charter they were living practically under
the same laws as now prevail, requires qualifications in
many particulars. If, however, the charter is to be regarded
as a mere compilation, it is obviously far inferior to the
scientific compilation resulting from the three years of labor
by the commissioners first appointed in 1879.
Probably never before was an attempt made to formulate
within so short a time a piece of legislation so difficult and
complicated as this charter. Prom the time of the passing
of the law creating the commission the opinion has been
freely expressed by men conversant with legislation relating
to municipal government that within the time allowed, no
26 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
body of men could do the work with thoroughness at all
commensurate with the importance of the subject. The
commission had about eight months, but its continuous
work did not extend over much more than half of that time.
The commission was appointed on the ninth of June, 1896,
under a law requiring it to make a final report by the first
of February, 1897. In the early summer it met a few times,
and adopted certain general propositions, but no compre-
hensive plan or framework was formulated. During the
summer one member of the commission prepared with great
industry the draft of a charter. This was reported to the
commission's committee on draft on the twenty -first of Sep-
tember. After that date the committee met from time to
time, and at length, on the ninth of December, reported to
the commission a complete draft essentially different from
the draft made during the summer.
The first eight chapters of this draft were made public by
the commission on the twenty-fourth of December, with the
announcement that public hearings would begin on the
second of January, and would continue for two weeks.
During these two weeks additional chapters were given out
from time to time, as they were completed ; but two or three
important chapters were not made public until after the
hearings, and the supplemental bills were given out only
when the final form of the charter was sent to the legislature
and published. Toward the end of its term the commission
perceived that it could not complete the draft without much
assistance. Accordingly, several lawyers were employed to
draw some of the chapters, and some of these lawyers were
at work while the public hearings were in progress. After
the hearings, the commission found that it would be unable
to report the final draft by the first of February, and an
extension of time until the twentieth of February was se-
cured from the legislature.
Undoubtedly the commission consulted a number of people,
but it may be said that the work was practically carried on
THE GREATER NEW YORK CHARTER. 27
in secret, the public having no information as to its prog-
ress, or as to the process by which the commission was
arriving at its conclusions upon the many points of public
interest involved. Inspection of the dates given above will
show that it was impossible for those who were interested
to prepare themselves to discuss the draft intelligently at
the hearings. It could only be properly considered as a
whole and after careful examination. But insufficient time
was given for the examination even of the chapters pub-
lished on the twenty-fourth of December, and the charter as
a whole was not before the public until after the termina-
tion of the hearings. It was not the policy of the commis-
sion to distribute copies of the draft freely, and only a com-
paratively small number of copies were printed. The final
draft, did not become accessible to the public generally until
the latter part of February, when it was published by one
of the Brooklyn daily newspapers.
Practically without further deliberation, the legislature
has now enacted into law this complicated bill of over seven
hundred pages, which had been before the public but a few
weeks, and the full purport of which is probably not yet
understood by an)^ living man. It was reported without
one citation of the hundreds of laws which would be
amended, repealed, or modified by its passage, and without
an index. Its provisions are tantamount to an express
statement by the commissioners that they do not know
what the existing law is, and that it must be left to the courts
and to time to reconcile the charter with other laws affect-
ing the parts of the new city. At the final hearing before
the commission on the sixteenth of January, General Ben-
jamin F. Tracy, sitting as chairman of the commission,
said that a popular misconception as to the nature of the
charter seemed to prevail, that it was not a constitution,
but an ordinary statute, which could be amended freely,
and that future legislatures could pass such laws as would
remedy any defects which might develop in the charter
28 ANNAI^ OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
after it should be enacted. This statement by the chair-
man of the commission seems to amount to a condemnation
of the charter. The first duty of commissioners appointed
to deal with a mass of laws such as now applies to the
cities of New York and Brooklyn, is to endeavor to rem-
edy the evils resulting from the great confusion into
which those laws have fallen, and to present their work in
a form which will promiseso me degree of stability. This
invitation to continue the mischievous tinkering of local
laws indicates that the legislature of 1898 will continue the
old process of introducing confusion through amendment
upon amendment.
Passing the grave questions of policy presented by the
charter, and its innumerable defects in detail which might
have been remedied by adequate revision, we may find in
the sections dealing expressly with the enormous and con-
fused body of existing laws relating to those political
divisions of the state which are to be consolidated, ample
warrant for the adverse conclusions indicated above. These
features of the charter may be divided into two classes, the
provisions which re-enact existing laws, and those which
repeal existing laws.
Throughout the charter are scattered provisions which
declare in general terms that large classes of existing laws
are to continue in force so far as they are "not inconsistent
with the provisions' ' of the charter. The re-enacting sec-
tions cover fifteen or twenty pages in all. The}*- appear,
for the most part, to have been drawn without reference to
one another, and present great diversity of form. Some of
these sections are embraced in single tortuous sentences of
about three hundred words.
It is evident, therefore, that the 700 pages of the charter
do not truly represent the size of the instrument for the
government of the Greater New York. The hundreds of
pages of laws re-enacted must be read as part of the charter,
with the result that the instrument would be certainly not
THE GREATER NEW YORK CHARTER. 29
less than two thousand pages in extent. What parts of this
great body of scattered session laws remain in force because
they are not inconsistent with the charter, and what parts
are repealed because they are inconsistent with it, each
citizen will be compelled to determine for himself. Yet the
charter itself contains a section which indicates a ready
method of removing the difficulty presented by these re-
enacting sections. Section 647, relating to the department
of buildings^ provides that all existing laws upon the subject
of buildings within the city are to continue in force so far
as they are consistent with the charter ; that the municipal
assembly may employ experts to prepare a code of ordinances
relating to buildings ; and that the existing laws are repealed
by the charter, the repeal not to take effect until "such
building code shall be established by the municipal
assembly. ' '
It is true that the immediate effect of this section will be
to leave the law as to the building department in the same
state of confusion as that which will prevail in relation to
other departments ; but the section provides a certain and
scientific remedy for the evil, and contemplates the reduc-
tion to a simple, clear form, of all the law concerning the
department, within a reasonable time. The method pursued
in this section is not in contravention of the principle that
a legislative body cannot delegate its law-making power.
This point was settled by the United States Supreme Court
in the recent decision holding that it was constitutional for
Congress to pass a law which would take effect only in the
event of the arising of a certain state of facts, the President
to determine when the conditions upon which the law was
to become operative had been fulfilled.
In addition to the re-enacting sections relating to the
separate departments, the charter contains the following
general re-enacting section :
"Sec. 1610. All the provisions of all acts of the Legislature of the
State of New York, including said Consolidation Act of 1882, of a
3O ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
general and permanent character, relating to the corporation here-
tofore known as the mayor, aldermen, and commonalty of the city
of New York, in force at the time this act goes into effect, which
are consistent with this act and its purposes, and which are not re-
vised, and included in or the subject-matter thereof covered by this
act, are hereby extended to the city of New York as herein consti-
tuted, so far as they are consistent with this act, and are not in their
nature locally inapplicable to other portions of the city than the
corporation heretofore known as the mayor, aldermen, and common-
alty of the city of New York, and the provisions of law thus
extended to the city of New York as herein constituted shall apply
to said city throughout its whole extent, anything to the contrary
notwithstanding contained in the charter of any of the municipal
or public corporations or laws relating thereto, which are by this
act united and consolidated with the corporation heretofore known
as the mayor, aldermen, and commonalty of the city of New York. ' '
In connection with the re-enacting provisions, which are
in effect also repealing provisions, must be read the follow-
ing general repealing sections :
"Sec. 1608. The act of the Legislature of the State of New York,
passed July i, 1882, known as the New York City Consolidation Act
of 1882, and acts amendatory thereof, and supplementary thereto,
and other acts of the Legislature of the State of New York now in
force relating to or affecting the local government of the city of
New York, are hereby repealed so far as any provisions thereof are
inconsistent with the provisions of this act, or so far as the subject-
matter thereof is revised or included in this act, and no further.
So far as the provisions of this act are the same in terms or in sub-
stance and effect as the provisions of the said Consolidation Act, or
of other acts of the legislature now in force relating to or affecting
the municipal and public corporations, or any of them herein united
and consolidated, this act is intended to be not a new enactment
but a continuation of the said Consolidation Act of 1882, and said
other acts and is intended to apply the provisions thereof, as herein
modified to the city of New York as herein constituted, and this act
shall accordingly be so construed and applied.
"Sec. 1609. The mere omission from this act of any previous
acts or of any of the provisions thereof, including said Consolidation
Act of 1882, relating to or affecting the municipal and public cor-
porations or any of them which are herein united and consolidated
shall not be held to be a repeal thereof. ' '
THE; GREATER NEW YORK CHARTER. 31
The effect of these sections, with the difficulties of con-
struction which they present, will be to involve the law
relating to the city in inextricable confusion, and to render
it quite impossible for any authority but the court of appeals
of the state to determine the law with any degree of cer-
tainty.
Careful inspection of sections 1608 and 1610, will show
that a citizen seeking to inform himself as to the law upon
any particular point with which the charter deals, will have
to answer the following questions:
1. What laws upon this subject, "relating to or affecting the local
government of the city of New York, ' ' were in force at the time of
the passage of the charter?
2. How far are such laws ' ' inconsistent with the provisions' ' of
the charter?
3. How far is the subject-matter of such laws revised in the
charter?
4. How far is the subject-matter of such laws included in the
charter?
5. How far are the provisions of the charter on the point under
consideration the same in terms, or in substance, or in effect, as the
provisions of the Consolidation Act?
6. Is the subject-matter under consideration covered by the
charter?
7. If not covered by the charter, is it covered by the Consolida-
tion Act?
Ingenuity could readily construct other questions under
these sections. The questions formulated above lie upon
the surface, and will arise daily, to the confusion of the
citizen, the public officer, and the courts. It will be ob-
served that these questions present precisely the same diffi-
culties in construction as have demanded for their
settlement in times past the best consideration of our
highest courts.
Both the legislature and the governor have seen fit to
disregard the emphatic points made against the deliberate
wrong involved in the adoption of a fundamental law for
the great new community open to these grave objections.
32 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
The view that it was more important to have Greater New
York as soon as possible, rather than bring the city into
being under conditions as favorable as time and deliberation
could make them, has prevailed. To many it seemed a
much smaller evil to continue the present local governments
for two or three years, with all their defects, than to plunge
an immense new municipality into the legal chaos which,
as experience plainly teaches, may be expected to follow
the enactment of the charter in its present form.
JAMES W. PRYOR.
New York City.
OVER-NUTRITION AND ITS SOCIAL CONSE-
QUENCES.
Observing the fact that pleasure usually arises in connec-
tion with objects that are beneficial to the organism and pain
in connection with those that are harmful to it, biologists
have taken it for granted that pleasure and pain, as states
of consciousness, are the direct resultants of the objective
stimuli with which they are associated. In the evolutionary
process it is held that those organisms survive whose ner-
vous systems react pleasurably when brought into contact
with utilities, while those which do not so react are elimi-
nated. Aside from the fact that this view furnishes no
explanation of the origin of pleasure and pain, it seems
to me that it does not properly account for the r61e they
play in the evolutionary process. Pleasure is useful and
pain detrimental, not because they reveal the qualities of
objects, but because they create mental states advantageous
or disadvantageous to the organism.
According to popular view the mind is a unit and con-
trols the body through its will. In complex organisms
however, even if the existence of a will be admitted, it does
not exercise a direct control over the various organs.
Many of them have their own nervous centres and motor
forces. The great problem in the development of higher
organisms, therefore, is to unify these discordant tendencies
and to make the motor forces of some one centre so domi-
nant that they control and direct all the others. This
psychic control determines the power which organisms
have to co-ordinate their movements for definite ends. I
use this phrase, ps3 r chic control, to avoid the difficulties
which discussions of the will involve. The theory of a
will is an attempt to account for the facts which psychic
control reveals.
#(33)
34 ANNAI^ OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
But what creates this psychic control through which unity
of action in complex organisms is secured? My answer to
this question is that pleasure is the agent through which a
subordination of many motor centres to some one centre is
secured. I will therefore present a simple hypothesis to
explain the way in which pleasure tends to increase the
co-ordination of movements and thus to secure a better
adjustment of an organism to its environment.
If an organism enters an improved environment or in-
creases its power to assimilate food, additional motor energy
is generated that must find an outlet. If this organism is
already well fed, more motor energy will be generated than
can be carried over the motor nerves to the muscles. Over-
nutrition thus creates a plethora of nervous energy which
must be used up in some way. Under normal conditions
each motor current passes to some muscle and moves the
body. But if the nerve reaching this muscle is through bi-
furcation connected with two motor centres, each of which
has a store of surplus energy, a conflict will arise between
the impulses coming from them. Both currents cannot
pass along the single portion of the nerve at the same
time. If these currents are of nearly equal strength an
alternating redundant activity results in the nerves which
bring the currents from the two centres to the point of
juncture. All of the two currents can not be carried
from this point to the muscle. The obstructed part of
the one current forces back the other current and then a
reaction takes place and the second current forces the first
current back towards the place where it originated. An
alternating discharge and recoil take place. That part
of the two currents not carried to the muscle is in con-
sequence employed in the continuation of this process. A
part of each current is lost in friction without producing
any bodily motion. Surplus motor currents are thus put
to a use for which they were not primarily designed. This
new expenditure of energy I regard as the causa of pleasure.
OVER-NUTRITION AND ITS SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES. 35
Over-nutrition, surplus energy, rhythmic or alternating
motion, and pleasure are different steps in one series.
There are many facts which seem to verif}' this hypo-
thesis. Vivid pleasures tend to paralyze or charm the
person enjoying them by inhibiting the motor forces or
diverting them from their normal channels. In the case of
laughter a sudden transition of thought checks the flow of
a motor current along its expected channel and creates a
rhythmic motion in its passage along some new channel.
When we feel energetic and have a superabundance of vital
force all activity is pleasurable. So much motor force is
generated that it cannot pass along its accustomed routes to
the muscles. The accumulated energy seeks new outlets
along other nerves, causing in this way the rhythmic reac-
tions which create the feeling of pleasure.
There are thus two tendencies at work in the motor
centres, the one to create pleasure, and the other to create
activity. The centres which have no adequate outlets for
the motor currents generated expend their energy in crea-
ting pleasure and exert but little influence on the movements
of the body ; while those centres having adequate outlets
for their currents gradually acquire a control of bodily
motions and ki time determine the activity of the organism.
In this way those parts of the body which assimilate more
food than they need become static and lose their power to
move the organism \ while the other parts of the organism
through this very change will become more active and grow
in size. Pleasure centres are thus degenerate motor cen-
tres. At an earlier stage of development their power over
bodily activity was perhaps as great as that of the present
motor centres, but by generating more motor energy than
can be conveyed to the muscles they are changed into pleas-
ure centres and lose control over the body.
This degeneration of motor centres into pleasure centres
is the cause of psychic control. Suppose that a low
organism had four motor centres, A, B, C, D, having
36 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
equal power to determine the motions of the body.
These centres would have different tendencies to produce
pleasure. The best supported parts of the body would
generate the most motor force. Here the outlet for the
motor currents would be insufficient and hence rhythmic
reactions causing pleasure would appear. If centre A were
located in such a part it would degenerate into a pleasure
centre and leave the control of the body to the other centres.
The same tendencies causing the centre A to degenerate
into a pleasure centre would continue to operate, and in
time a differentiation would take place in the remaining;
motor centres. If centre B now had a stronger tendency
to create pleasure than bodily motions, it would also sink
into a pleasure centre and leave the control of the organism
to centres C and D. A further differentiation would reduce
the centre C to a pleasure centre and leave the centre D in
control of the organism.
The effective co-ordination of the motor centres in a
higher organism is not the result of uniting the many motor
centres of a lower organism under a new and higher centre.
Centres A, B, C and D, do not for example become subor-
dinated to centre E ; the stronger influence of pleasure on
centres A, B and C caused them to degenerate and leave
centre D in control of the organism. Centre D controlled
only a small part of the original organism but this part has
developed until it is now the major part of the present
organism. The present pleasure centres are remnants of its
former rivals in the struggle for psychic control.
While the pleasure centres lose their power to move
muscles they do not lose their influence over bodily activity.
Their power is exerted by sending their currents to con-
sciousness, instead of to the muscles; they create the desires
and passions of the organism through the liberation of
their stored-up energy. Whatever arouses their activity
concentrates the attention upon their needs and thus com-
pels the motor centres to carry out their commands. The
OVER-NUTRITION AND ITS SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES. 37
resulting desires and passions create a vivid impression in
consciousness and arouse the motor centres needed to pro-
duce bodily motions. Pleasure not only increases psychic
control but also creates the motives which control the mind;
without its influence the development of the higher organ-
isms would be impossible. From an economic standpoint
the end of an organism is pleasure. From a biological
standpoint, however, pleasure is a means of securing the
subordination of the parts most susceptible to its influence.
In this way psychic control becomes complete; the clear
ideas of the mind determine the activity of the motor cen-
tres through the desires and passions they arouse.
It will add to the plausibility of my hypothesis if it
can be shown that pain has a similar origin. Pain
like pleasure is caused by the motor currents; it is the
opposite of pleasure only in the sense that it destroys the
psychic control which pleasure creates. It frees the lower
centres from the control of the higher centres and causes
them to act as if they were parts of a lower organism. The
parts of a higher organism under severe pain move as
though they had that independence which they do have
in lower organisms. Each lower centre expends its energy
in creating local motion instead of massing its motor force
with that of other centres and thus producing well directed
movements. The hand may grasp an object more firmly
and quickly than if there were no pain, and the motion of
the leg may be more energetic ; but the two movements are
not in harmony and produce no net advantage for the
organism. In fact, these movements often injure the
organism and may even destroy the part showing such
aimless activity ; the hand may grasp a knife and the leg
may strike a hot bod)''.
This destruction of psychic control is due to some
derangement in the higher motor centres. The currents
which should go to the lower motor centres are diverted into
other channels. The only other route for these diverted
38 ANNAIS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
currents is over the sensory werves. In this way the cur-
rents which should reach and control the lower motor centres
find an outlet. For the time the sensory nerves are changed
into motor nerves and are made to carry currents for which
they are not fitted. The direction of the current in the
sensory nerve is reversed and when the current arrives at
the end of the nerve there is no fitting connection by which
the current can be changed into muscular activity. It
must break over the intervening obstacles as an electric
current jumps over a break in the wire.
Pain, in my opinion, is due to this sudden transformation
of sensory into motor nerves. In a rudimentary organism
the sensory and motor nerves are similar and the direction
of the nervous currents is almost a matter of chance. Any
point on its surface can be easily moved and its position can
be changed only by a multitude of slight spasmodic motions.
A well co-ordinated movement is impossible since a motor
current can pass to the surface over any of the nerves, thus
producing many slight irregular motions instead of a few
well-directed ones. In the higher animals, the motor nerves
are distinct from the sensory nerves and it would be only
on extraordinary occasions, or in diseased states, that the
motor currents transform the sensory nerves back to their
primitive condition, making them a means of creating
motion at the surface instead of creating sensations at the
centre of the nervous organization.
The belief that pains are due to the exit of motor cur-
rents over the sensory nerves is strengthened by the fact that
activity relieves pain. It causes the motor currents to
return to their normal channels and thus relieves the pres-
sure on the sensory nerves. Groaning, crying, walking
and other movements always reduce violent pains. Sorrow,
depression and melancholy are relieved by any centrally
excited activity. Mechanical activity caused by the lower
centres will reduce pain, less than conscious activity. It
is the motor currents of the higher centres that are diverted
OVER- NUTRITION AND ITS SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES. 39
to the sensory nerves. A new environment or a new form
of exercise demanding conscious attention is, therefore, the
best means of restoring the normal condition of the nerves.
That pains are due to the exit of motor currents over
unaccustomed routes is also shown by the muscular activity
which accompany them. These movements are not the
conscious co-ordinated activity produced by motor currents
from the higher centres passing to the muscles over the
motor nerves. Pain distorts the body, produces irregular
movements, and causes spasmodic contractions of the mus-
cles. Motions are also produced in parts of the body not
controlled by the motor nerves. In the higher organisms
the motor nerves do not reach all parts of the body, and
hence slight motions or tremors of wide distribution must
be created by currents over the well distributed sensory
nerves. The maximum of diffused disconnected activity
is reached by each lower motor centre acting for itself,
while the currents from the higher motor centres find an
outlet over the sensory nerves. The whole nervous system
is thus transformed into a motor mechanism and the organ-
ism reverts into a primitive condition, that is, a condition
where there is no psychic control.
It may be that all nerves had in the beginning motor
functions. The first nervous reactions were probably be-
tween the digestive and motor tissue. After the digestion
and assimilation of food, surplus energy was generated
which passed off through the motor nerves. The adjustment
of such an organism to its environment is accidental; it
has no power to protect itself from external evils. Nor
can it know anything of this environment except through
shocks so violent as to cause the whole organism to vibrate.
With no definite routes over which these vibrations may
be communicated, the weaker vibrations are not perceived
or at least they are not differentiated from one another
and accurate indications of outer objects are not given.
Even in higher organisms these crude shocks are still
4O ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
perceived and often made use of. A deaf man can often
improve his hearing by holding in his teeth an object
capable of propagating sound vibrations. Persons whose
optic nerves are injured can still detect the presence of
light. The X-rays show us how easily such vibrations
pass through an organism. In similar ways many of the
vibrations could affect an organism even if it had no sensory
nerves. Rude shocks or the condition of the digestive tract
could excite motor activity even if there were no developed
sensory mechanism.
The nervous arc arises only after the motor nerves become
so connected and differentiated as to create organs with
definite functions. Their growth gives to certain motor
nerves the control of bodily activity and thus deprives the
weaker nerves and organs of their original function. The
sensory nerves are these weakened, degenerate motor nerves
put to a new use. No longer able to secure for themselves
a part of the surplus motor energy, they become the means
by which the vibration of outer objects are communicated
to the nervous centres. Nervous tissue can carry these
vibrations better than can the other tissue, and thus
reversed currents are created which arouse the motor centres
and excite them to activity. In this way a nervous arc is
formed and the organisms respond to external stimuli more
promptly and intelligently than they otherwise could. The
primitive motor discharges are developed into sensory-motor
activity, when some of the weaker motor organs are differ-
entiated into feelers, and used to give indications of adja-
cent objects. The sensory organs might therefore with
propriety be looked upon as the "dragging legs" of an
organism. As they become less plastic and less mobile
they are better able to reproduce at the higher centres the
vibrations coming from outer objects. Pain aids this dif-
ferentiation of the motor and sensory nerves by causing
those activities to be inhibited which send motor currents
to the sensory nerves. It can be said, therefore, that the
OVER- NUTRITION AND ITS SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES. 41
organic end of pain is to promote the differentiation of sen-
sory and motor nerves just as the organic end of pleasure is
to secure psychic control. Pleasure indicates psychic con-
trol ; pain reveals its absence. As the different degrees of
psychic control shade off gradually into each other, pleasures
and pains seem to be but a part of a single scale and thus
have the appearance of qualities.
There are, then, two distinct sources of motor activity.
Its primary source is in the assimilation-motor system.
The food an organism digests becomes stored up energy
which is expended either in creating pleasure or in moving
muscles. It is easy to conceive of a creature with no
knowledge of the external world such as the sensory system
gives. Its movements would be due either to the condition
of the digestive tract, to violent shocks, or to the pleasure of
mere activity. The last would be of the same class as play
in more developed animals. It would be activity for its
own sake without regard to any end that it might secure.
Hunger, fear, satiety, and pleasure would be the feelings
dominant in such a creature. All its adjustment to exter-
nal conditions would be accidental. It could not live unless
food were abundant, enemies scarce, and the dangers from
natural forces at a minimum.
The end of the assimilation-motor system is life and
pleasure ; the end of the sensory-motor system is survival.
The important objects in the external world are not the
atoms and natural forces into which it may be decomposed,
but the aggregates into which these atoms and natural
forces are united. I use the term "aggregate" in its most
general sense to include rocks, minerals, soils, seas, plants,
animals, storms, moisture, climate or any other form, tem-
porary or permanent, into which the elements of nature are
united. Survival depends on the utilization of certain of
these aggregates and on the avoidance of others. The sen-
sory-motor system develops to meet this end. The sensory
system pictures these aggregates and the motor system is so
42 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
adjusted to it that the proper motor reactions are excited
by the presence of each aggregate. The assimilation-motor
system thus begins with the digestion of food and ends in
pleasure and activity. The sensory-motor system begins
with vibrations coming from external objects and ends in
definite motor reactions useful to the organism. The effects
of the assimilation-motor system appear in consciousness
as pleasure and pain, those of the sensory-motor system as
clear ideas. The ideas the latter system brings to conscious-
ness, being the more important, receive more conscious
attention and can be contrasted and classified in a more
definite manner. They seem, therefore, to be the funda-
mental series of ideas. It is easy to give them a first place
and to regard the less clearly defined ideas of the assimila-
tion motor system as mere modifications or qualities of the
sensory concepts. Pleasure, for example, is thought to be a
quality of colors, tastes and other sensory concepts aroused
by the contact with external aggregates.
This conclusion is sound from what might be called a
sensory -motor standpoint, but from an assimilation -motor
standpoint sensory activity is merely a modification of motor
activity. Instead of having a mass of aimless movements
which cause pleasure but no adjustment, one group of motor
nerves is so modified that they direct the activity that other
motor nerves create. Some of the many motor organs or legs
of the early forms of life degenerate into feelers that furnish
indications of the adjacent aggregates and then a further
generation turns them into sensory organs that give accurate
information of external objects. Perception thus normally
ends in complex motor reactions just as assimilation normally
ends in pleasure. Life is promoted and enriched by caus-
ing the motor currents to produce pleasure while survival is
furthered by using them to produce definite motor reactions.
A person eating an article of food has two series of im-
pressions: the one, coming from direct contact with the ob-
ject, creates the motor reactions we call pleasure ; the other,
OVER-NUTRITION AND ITS SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES. 43
coming over the sensory nerves, gives a knowledge of the
object and its relations to the consumer. These two series
blend in consciousness, and it is therefore possible to regard
either of them as fundamental, and the others as qualities.
The assumption of the utilitarians that pleasures have de-
grees and qualities by which they can be measured, tacitly
assumes that the sensory impressions are qualities of pleas-
ures. How, for example, can anyone distinguish between
first and last increments, and between initial and marginal
utilities, except though the sensory impressions of the objects
consumed ? The doctrine of degrees and qualities of pleas-
ure is sound so long as economic goc:\ giving sensory
impressions are under consideration, but strip an object of
its sensory qualities and the definiteness of the utilitarian
calculus disappears. In other words definite measurements
are always in terms of clear ideas, and clear ideas belong to
the sensory side of the mind. If I am right in putting
pleasure among the motor feelings it can not be accurately
measured except in the case of material goods which at the
time they create pleasure also create a series of sensory im-
pressions blending in consciousness with the pleasure and
making it susceptible of measurement.
Another error, which has crept into the reasoning of the
utilitarians, is due to the fact that they were economists.
They assume that all pleasure arises from consumption and
thus ignore the pleasures of activity. To an economist
activity is work and work is disagreeable. So long as
men are engaged in a severe struggle for existence this
view is practically true. The ideal of the overworked is
a haven of rest where they can repose and consume. But
however true it may be that activity has disagreeable asso-
ciations in the grind of an economic world, it is wrong to
raise such a fact to the rank of a general principle and to
base a theory of progress upon it. The incompleteness of
such a generalization cramps the development of the doc-
trines which depend on it and creates a wrong concept of
44 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
social progress. Utilitarianism at bottom is a species of
economics and has all the advantages and limitations which
go with other economic investigations. If utilitarianism
is sound as a moral doctrine, it is because an economic inter-
pretation of social progress is correct.
To appreciate the progress that economic conditions
create we must first of all understand how the economic
struggle promotes psychic control. Assimilation, I have
shown, normally ends in pleasure, and pleasure is the means
by which psychic control is increased. Pleasure har-
monizes the discordant motor tendencies and causes them
to act together in an efficient way for the ends of the whole
organism. Assimilation, the first link in the chain that
leads to psychic control, demands the presence of food.
Without an abundance of subsistence there is not enough
assimilation to generate pleasure; and without pleasure
there is no psychic control and hence no unity of action
between the various parts of the organism. The underfed,
being at a disadvantage, are gradually eliminated through
the struggle for food.
The displacement of individuals that promotes psychic
control is secured by under-nutrition. It wipes out those
who have the least psychic control and leaves those with
greatest psychic control in possession of the economic world.
Complete nutrition and assimilation, however, can do no
more than create psychic control, and when this end is
secured increased consumption no longer contributes to
social progress. The succeeding steps must depend on the
increase of social control. All the individuals in a com-
munity must act together and obey similar impulses.
There must be the same unity of action and harmony of
motives in society that psychic control creates in the case
of individuals.
In looking for the causes of social control we need not go
outside the field of economics. The same causes are in
operation, but they show their effects in another way. At
OVER- NUTRITION AND ITS SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES. 45
bottom the difference between the new form of progress and
the old is that psychic control is improved by the elimination
of the underfed, while social control is created by the elimi-
nation of fhe overfed. A more striking way of putting this
contrast would be to say that men are killed off either by
starvation or by dissipation. The underfed starve and the
overfed lose their economic advantage through indulgences
that weaken their psychic control and reduce their energy.
Over-nutrition is as dangerous as under-nutrition and fully as
fatal. Through the increase of psychic control and the
industrial efficiency that goes with it, men are able to secure
more nutrition and thus approach the line of complete
nutrition; but this line must not be crossed. To avoid the
latter evil the surviving part of society modify their con-
sumption so that even with their increased efficiency they
never cross the fatal line.
It should be noticed that survival depends upon two-
conditions. In the direct struggle with their fellows those
have an advantage whose energy and psychic control is the
greatest and this, in economic terms, means those who have
the greatest productive power. This advantage is lost or
turned into a disadvantage if so many goods are produced
that their consumption leads to over-nutrition or to any
form of over-stimulation. Social progress, therefore,
demands a steady improvement in psychic control through
which the productive power is increased and a correspond-
ing modification of consumption in such ways as will avoid
over-nutrition. These two ends are harmonized only
through an increased variety of consumption.
Every increase in this variety creates new motives and thus,
stimulates an increase of psychic control and at the same
time the more refined forms of consumption give less nutri-
tion in each of its parts and thus the new whole, although
larger and more varied, is not the source of over-nutrition. *
*For a full statement of this thought the reader is referred to the writer's
monograph on "The Consumption of Wealth." Publications of the University
of Pennsylvania.
46 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
No matter how great the efficiency and energy of an indi-
vidual he can always avoid crossing the line of complete
nutrition by modifying his consumption so as to include in
it a sufficiently large number of ingredients. Any increase
of efficiency among the wellfed must result in over-nutrition
if the intensity of old wants is not reduced and if new ones
of greater intensity are not acquired. Those who persist
in the old habits fall victims to dissipation and disappear.
The surviving portion push along the line of complete nu-
trition and acquire habits, instincts and inclinations that
prevent them from crossing the line of over-nutrition. The
socialization of men is the result. Every increase in the
variety of consumption creates new bonds between the
various members of society and prompts them to create new
institutions through which a more complex life can be
enjoyed without the temptation of over-indulgence. The
original economic aggregates into which men unite for
industrial ends are thus transformed into true societies
where new habits and modes of thought are acquired. *
The moralization of men has the same cause. The purely
selfish man uses his increased psychic control to satisfy his
personal wants. This tendency leads to over-nutrition and
dissipation as soon as his industrial efficiency is enlarged.
The most selfish among the wellfed are gradually weeded
out and the surviving part of society becomes more altru-
istic. The inefficient man may be greedy and lustful and
still survive, strong motives being needed to keep him at
work. Greed and lust must, however, decrease with the
increase of productive power. The more efficient will
suffer from the over-nutrition which an enlarged income
permits, or fall victims to dissipation and vice.
In the diagrams let the horizon taj line be the line of com-
plete nutrition, which must be reached but not crossed.
See th writer's " Theory of Social Forces," pp. 85-90. Publication Wo. 163 of
the Academy. Also issuqfl as a supplement to the ANNALS, January, 1896, Tot. ri,
No. i.
OVER- NUTRITION AND ITS SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES. 47
The length of the vertical lines shows the amount of pro-
ductive power and hence the income of three individuals
ab, ac and ad. The slant of these lines shows the amount
of their altruistic effort, and hence the amount of skill and
energy which is not centered on themselves. In Figure I,
where the productive power and income is small, the most
selfish of them, ab, will just command complete nutrition
F:~ 1 F- 9
r 0. h IIQ.&
^/ c/
and will not be injured by his selfishness although full of
greed and lust The other two cannot survive under these
conditions, because their energies being partly used for the
benefit of others leaves them short of complete nutrition.
In Figure II where the productive power of the three men is
greater, the most selfish, ab, will indulge in dissipation and
be eliminated. A less selfish man, ac, now survives, but
the more altruistic man, ad, still fails to secure complete
nutritrion. When, however, the productive power of these
men is again increased (Figure III), the more altruistic
man, ad, can hold his own, Both the others will cross the
line of complete nutrition and suffer from over-nutrition.
Every subsequent increase of productive power and income
must produce similar effects and make a higher degree of
altruism necessary for survival. The moralization of men
thus accompanies their socialization and the two when
united form the main bulwark against over-indulgence and
dissipation.
These facts show that psychic control and social control
are parts of the economic process by which an adjustment
to external conditions is acquired. If a people have been
48 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
for a long time subject to the dangers of starvation they
acquire great psychic control; if they are continuously
exposed to dissipation, to vice and to the evils of over-
nutrition, they gain additional social control. There is
thus a measure of both these agents in the objective con-
ditions which determine the consumption of each race. At
bottom they are problems of nutrition and capable of the
same treatment as other economic problems. To isolate
them from their economic background is to deny them the.
possibilities of scientific discussion and to introduce an
irrational element into the discussion of social problems.
A notable example of this tendency is furnished by Mr.
Kidd's "Social Evolution." There is never, he thinks,
any cessation of that strenuous process by which the least
efficient are exterminated. Competition and rivalry neces-
sarily result in the suffering and failure of a large part of
those struggling for life. Those who fail have no share in
the social progress secured by their elimination and their
welfare demands that it cease. The interests of individuals
and that of society are therefore irreconcilable. Reason
would ultimately stop all further progress if it were not con-
trolled by religion. It should be noticed that this reasoning
assumes that the elimination takes place only among the
underfed. The thought is emphasized that the unsuccess-
ful are battling with hunger. Want, misery and failure are
on every side and to their effects all social progress is due.
Even if these facts be admitted social progress cannot be
attributed to them. Over-population and misery, by-
eliminating the least efficient, may promote psychic control
but they never create social control. There are variations
among the wellfed as well as among the underfed and the
same struggle exists among these varieties as among the
underfed. The more selfish exploit present conditions and
are eliminated through the effects of over-nutrition. The
less selfish vary their consumption and enter into new social
relations to check their tendencies towards over-indulgence.
OVER-NUTRITION AND ITS SdCIAI, CONSEQUENCES. 49
Mr. Kidd assumes that selfishness and the resulting over-
indulgence among the wellfed have a rational sanction, but
that a varied consumption which prevents over-nutrition
has no sanction. This odd conclusion shows a lack of
knowledge of economic science and of the utilitarian calcu-
lus upon which it depends. It is so much in the wrong
that the opposite of it can easily be proved. It is the
irrational man who is selfish and chooses present indul-
gences. He only is rational who avoids them. He
lengthens his life and increases the sum of his happi-
ness by a varied consumption through which over-nutrition
and its evils are prevented.
It is not, therefore, for the interest of the lower classes to
stop progress; the exploitation of the masses does not ad-
vance civilization, nor is it a necessary feature of progress.
If this exploitation should cease and the evils of poverty be
remedied there would still be a tendency to create variations
among individuals, and those who avoided the evils of over-
nutrition would have an advantage. The race under these
conditions would advance more rapidly than before. The
weeding process exerted by over-nutrition and dissipation
fails to work among those who suffer from poverty and
starvation.
The social consequences drawn by such writers as Mr.
Kidd depend upon a defective statement of the theory of
evolution. Premises definite enough for the purposes of
biology become inadequate when used in social philosophy.
The reasoning of Darwin is usually stated in this form:
ist. The rapid multiplication of -the species.
2nd. The struggle for existence.
3rd. The survival of the fittest.
There is a lack of sequence between the second and third
step. Logically the struggle for existence only ends in the
survival of the wellfed. A wellfed animal may perhaps be
called a fit animal but the same cannot be said of a wellfed
man. It is the social and not the bodily qualities of a man
50 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
that determines his fitness. To meet this new condition the
steps of reasoning must be modified as follows :
1st. The rapid multiplication of the species.
2nd. The struggle for existence.
3rd. The survival of the wellfed.
4th. The degeneration of the overfed.
5th. The modification of desires.
6th. The survival of the fittest.
Another defect in the reasoning of the biologists is a
source of error if overlooked by those who would apply this
reasoning to social affairs. The appearance of variations
and the struggle for food may account for the rise of new
species, but it does not account for the permanence of types.
The struggle for existence by cutting off the underfed would
by itself create a moving equilibrium but not the stable
characteristics which static species show. Biologists have
been more interested in the rise of new forms of life than
they have been in the question as to why certain types per-
sist. It is necessary, however, to explain not only the
origin of species but also the causes for the persistence of
certain species, little modified by the struggles for existence
of their members.
An enduring species must be acted on by more than one
force. An equilibrium results when two forces counteract
each other. The elimination by under-nutrition, if operat-
ing alone, would soon change the character of a species.
This change of type is checked by any process which cuts
off the variations which the elimination of the underfed
promotes. A permanent type must be under two restraints
which so limit the possibility of variations that the main
peculiarities of the type are preserved. Then only those
variations can perpetuate themselves which are in harmony
with the main conditions upon which the success of the
type depends.
Among men the two restraints on variation giving
stability to men's characters are under-nutrition and over-
nutrition. By eliminating both extremes among men thej
OVER-NUTRITION AND ITS SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES. 51
tend to reduce men to a single type. There is a leveling
up to the standard of this type by the destruction of the
underfed and a leveling down to this standard by the
destruction of the overfed. The net result is a uniformity
of character and an equality of conditions. The farther
this process is carried the more social men become. There
arises a vivid consciousness of kind and an intense admira-
tion of democratic ideals. By these means the race is bound
together and the motives created that induce individuals to
subordinate their interests to those of the public. There is,
however, nothing irrational or even non-utilitarian in the
process. The adjustment to planetary conditions is econo-
mic and is determined by the conditions of consumption.
A theory of consumption includes all the means by which
men acquire intenser motives and desires without over-
stimulation or over-nutrition. The whole economic pro-
cess thus includes many distinct processes some of which
lie in a field seemingly apart from it. There is first the
process of psychic concentration or psychic control through
which a unity of action is acquired. Akin to this is the
process of visualization which includes the sensory mechan-
ism through which the environment is objectified and clear
ideas of it acquired. There is also the process of pleasure
objectification. Pleasures are motor phenomena. If they
appeared in a pure form, they would seem incommensurable
and isolated from the economic goods upon which survival
depends. When, however, pleasures are blended in con-
sciousness with the sensory concepts arising from contact
with material objects they seem to be objective and capable
of comparison through the sensory concepts associated with
them. They thus become measurable motives and the
source of conscious endeavor. There is next the process of
industrialization, which includes all attempts to minimize
efforts and to reduce the amount of pain. These topics are
fully treated in ordinary economic textbooks and need
no further emphasis. The final processes are those of
52 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
socialization and moralization. They represent the last
stages in the process of adjustment and when they are com-
plete the goal of economic progress is reached.
At first sight this view of economics seems to make it an
all-inclusive science. A closer examination, however,
shows that as much has been cut out of it as has been added
to it. The very definiteness with which the economic pro-
cess is conceived shows that it must be supplemented, even
though sociology and morality are not the supplements
demanded. What we need is not a higher science but one
that treats of more elementary phenomena the ultimate
psychic causes upon which the economic process depends.
It would be well to contrast the economic self which utilizes
the environment and aids organisms in their adjustment,
with the non-economic self whose activity is purely motor
and whose end is more than mere adjustment to planetary
conditions. The first is the self of the sensory-motor system ;
the second is the self of the assimilation-motor system. This
second self is inherently as capable of development as the
first but it cannot develop so long as economic conditions
dominate the organism and limit the scope of its evolution.
It must therefore remain in a rudimentary condition while
men are in an economic world and struggling for survival.
There is, however, always a fringe of activity due to pure
motor tendencies, even for those deepest immersed in prac-
tical affairs. This fringe is largest and most noticeable in
the case of children. In them pure motor activity becomes
play and thus a wider range of motor activities is encour-
aged than is demanded by the sensory environment upon
which survival depends. Play is not due to survival
impulses but to pure assimilation-motor impulses; the
desire of activity for its own sake and not for the protection
or benefit which it may afford. Such activity is more
elementary and comes earlier than that of the sensory -motor
impulses created by planetary evolution. Could it become
the dominant activity the non-economic self would reveal
OVER-NUTRITION AND ITS SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES. 53
its possibilities and a series of social and moral sciences
would appear independent of those that the economic pro-
cess has created. As it is, however, this series of sciences
being merely an embryological possibility is a source of con-
fusion. There is a strong tendency for investigators to start
with the rudimentary phenomena of this series and to patch
them out with the more definite phenomena due to the sen-
sory-motor activity of the economic world. Such attempts
give a wrong notion of the lines along which the non-eco-
nomic self would develop if it were free from the domination
of economic conditions and at the same time give a false
basis for the social and moral development of existing
societies. The result is that the social and moral sciences
are severed from the economic process of which they are a
part and grafted on the rudimentary stubs of the possible
sciences in these fields which the activity of the non-
economic self might create.
It would be nearer the truth to recognize that individual
variation comes from the activity of the non-economic self
but that social types have an economic origin. An indi-
vidual variation cannot develop into a type unless the vari-
ation is the source of some economic advantage. A non-
economic variation cannot perpetuate itself and hence fails
to transform itself into a type, and without social types
there can be no developed forms of society or of morality.
The non -economic self can do no more than produce indi-
vidual variations. Only the economic self can determine
whether these variations are suited to its ends, and thus
capable of being transformed into a social type. To one of
these selves all variations are due and to the other all the
social types. They thus supplement each other and create
a progress of which either by itself is incapable. It may
sound paradoxical to say that economic progress is due to
non-economic impulses, yet the statement contains a truth
which it is difficult to express in other terms.
SIMON N. PATTEN.
University of Pennsylvania.
ROUSSEAU AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
Among the many crises in the world's history few have
attracted the attention of historians and political writers as
has the French Revolution. Nor is it remarkable that all
who are interested in problems of government should in-
quire carefully into the causes and history of the movement
from which constitutional rule in France has developed,
and which is to-day considered the source of whatever
democratic institutions Continental Europe possesses.
No less noticeable than the number of authors who have
treated the period, is the variety of causes to which the final
outbreak has been attributed. One writer has considered it
an outgrowth of the spirit of rationalism in Europe ; another
has regarded the movement only as the natural revolt of an
oppressed people; while a third, it may be, has seen in it a
special visitation of Providence upon a corrupt and wicked
government.
In all discussion of causes, there is great danger that
essentials and non-essentials may be confused. Forces
which powerfully affected the work of reconstruction, but
were of little influence in earlier years, may be considered
the chief factors aiding the downfall of the ancien regime.
This cannot be illustrated more effectivly than by comparing
such causes as the financial weakness of the Bourbon mon-
archy, and the political condition of its subjects. If a
series of corrupt administrations had produced a deficit so
large, and a discontent so universal that some change was
necessary, it was probable from the political methods in
which France had been trained, and from the absence of
any centres of resistance between the king and the individ-
ual citizens, that the change would be a radical one. It is
not to be denied that literary France exerted an influence
in hastening the revolution, for in every country whose
(54)
ROUSSEAU AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 55
institutions are decaying, writers appear who devote them-
selves to portraying abuses, as well as to elaborating new
systems. Some of the most influential Frenchmen entered
this field of complaint with an effect that cannot be ignored.
In a country, however, where the theory of absolute govern-
ment is so universally accepted as it was in France, under
the Bourbons, and where so much is endured rather than to
disturb theoretically perfect conceptions, there is, it would
seem, little opportunity for the development of a new ideal
into an active force, until the old has been proven ex-
tremely defective.
In marked contrast with the hesitancy with which the
French recognize fatal defects in a method of government to
which they have unreservedly given themselves, is the zeal
with which a new and complete system is sought, when
once such defects are perceived. The ideal then proposed
is not the improvement of the old, but its entire replace-
ment. The mediaeval feudal monarchy was thus replaced
by the later absolutism; and it was thus that the papal
hierarchy was replaced, so far as it was discarded at all, by
Deism or Atheism, rather than by the Protestant com-
promises found in other countries. Is it not this eagerness
for a complete system which, even among professed
reformers, accounts for the differences between the ideas of
Calvin and Luther in religion, and which explains the de-
velopment of the physiocratic ideas into an economic system
in France, rather than in England?
There is something attractive about such a method of
thought, and yet there is always the danger that the results
of its application to practical affairs may be very different
from those intended. Let us take an example among ques-
tions of government. When changes of system are the
result of modifications introduced singly, but successively,
there is comparatively little danger of the overthrow of all
government and a temporary period of anarchy, for even
should the addition be unpopular, the body of the structure
56 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
yet remains as a steadying force. In proposing a total
change, it too frequently happens that instead of providing
an adequate foundation on which the new system may rest
and which was an essential part of its original conception,
minor writers, or shallow political leaders who do not realize
the necessity for such a foundation, seek to establish the
new ideal without it. With such methods anarchy or des-
potism can be the only result. There is not only the
danger of a poor system but the added possibility that
acceptable features may lose force by not being correctly
applied. It does not follow that the democratic ideas
developed by Rousseau in his social compact, were intended
J to be applied to France just emerging from ignorance and
political inexperience, even though he presents an ideal
of government very different from the existing absolutism.
Nor does it follow that there were not portions of his polit-
ical system which would have been of immense value to
J France, had they been correctly applied. Nothing is more
certain, however, than that certain of his phrases were
caught up by political leaders during the Revolution, that
an effort was made to establish a government for which his
approval was claimed, and that the result was anarchy,
followed by a despotism as powerful, if not as bigoted, as
any that France had seen. It was not the complete system
which Rousseau had developed that was adopted when the
time came for constructive work, but a hasty plan based on
a few phrases taken from one of his writings. Even in a
constitution built in this way, there were incorporated many
features from Rousseau's ideals, which have proven of last-
ing value to France, although others of as much importance
were lost.
It is the purpose of this paper to show how far Rousseau
was responsible for the revolutionary governments, as well
as to indicate the essential features of the ideal which he
offered to France, and its influence on later political
thought.
ROUSSEAU AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 57
What was the ideal which Rousseau sought to obtain by
his proposals? I doubt if this question can be answered
better than by the hackneyed phrase, "popular sovereignty. ' '
Distinctly abandoning the notion of divine right, or long
established custom, Rousseau takes a position which has
never since been abandoned, declaring that governments
derive all their power from the consent of the governed.
He advances an hypothesis concerning the development
and historical justification of this idea, which may, or
may not, have been true, and on which he places little weight,
regarding it as an unessential portion of his argument. His
position is that governments ought to be based on this con-
sent, and not that all governments are in fact so founded.
At a later point we shall consider the question whether
Rousseau regarded his ideal as immediately attainable. For
the present we ask what credit should be given him for
placing it before the world?
It is frequently argued that the falsity of Rousseau's his-
torical allusions condemns his entire theory, but to this
position I would take vigorous exception. History was,
by no means, the science a century ago which it is to-day,
and the political writer was obliged to use authorities
which, to-day, are ranked as second rate, for the simple
reason that there were none better. Rousseau is not the only
writer of the period who looked back to some golden age
long past. The difference between him and his contem-
poraries was that almost alone he maintained the possibility
of attaining a future condition no less ideal than that which
mankind had once enjoyed. This, in itself, was an improve-
ment over the despondency which had characterized the
first half of the century, for it made prominent an object
worthy of attainment. The picture of the state as a society,
in which every member had duties and privileges equal to
those enjoyed by his neighbor, was yet more important,
since it furnished an incentive which appealed to the senti-
ment of justice, as well as hope. It was to furnish a
i/
58 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
logical foundation on which such a society could be erected,
that Rousseau developed his theory of the social compact,
a voluntary union between the individuals living within a
given territory.
Although his writings did not originate the conception
of society as created by compact, nowhere else had it been
so clearly stated, and its conclusions so logically drawn.
Neither Locke nor Hobbes gave the entire control of the
government to the people, and thus limited the power which
. should belong to the governed under the logical develop-
ment of the idea. The Pilgrims, on the Mayflower, who first
applied the principle to practical affairs, had long since
abandoned the complete theory by recognizing the right of
special legislation vested in the Crown, and it was not until
Rousseau once more boldly announced it as a logical whole,
that the idea again became a living force in the world.
When the state has been formed by the express or
implied consent of its members, justice becomes the rule of
action for the people, and there is a true harmony of inter-
ests among them. A certain policy is for the best interests
y of the community as a whole, and it is for the general will
of the state to determine whether any proposal is in agree-
ment with this policy. By becoming a part of the state,
every citizen has in effect said that he wishes the general
will to prevail, and it only remains to be seen whether any
proposition is in accord with this will. Government is in-
stituted for this purpose, and Rousseau is careful to say that
the form of government best for a nation varies in different
cases. The people should have, at all times, the right to
suggest laws, or to veto any law suggested by the legislative
body, for in this way alone can that harmony be maintained
between people and law, which is essential to national well-
being. The magistrates, i. e., all administrative officials,
should be chosen directly, or indirectly, by the people and
should be held closely responsible to them, in order that the
true will of the community may always be supreme. Such,
ROUSSEAU AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 59
then, is his plan, and its one object is to assure to the peo-
ple at all times, and in all matters, a definite control.*
Now the question to be asked is merely this: Can any
state whose legal rulers profess to draw all their powers
from the consent of the ruled, demand any less guarantee
than the one which Rousseau offers?
If we examine the various systems of government then
in force, we shall find none so democratic as this. The mere
announcement of such a principle, therefore, marks a de-
cided advance. Yet all that has been said may be granted,
and usually is granted, without affecting the argument of
those who consider Rousseau's proposals injurious to the
nation. Such a system, it is said, offered no guarantee of
good government, because the people had not, in 1789, the
capacity of judging what was best for themselves while they
were being incited to overthrow the existing system of con-
trol, and exercise sovereign powers of their own right. Let
us examine the basis of such a criticism.
In defence of this position, it is assumed that Rousseau
intended all men, of whatever grade, to possess an equal
influence in the state. Nothing could be more false. So /
long as there is a difference in intellectual capacity, our '
author distinctly says that the lower grades should not be
considered a part of the state, but he does not hesitate to v.
*In spite of the frequent assertions that Rousseau did not set forth any method
of ascertaining just what the general will was, that indeed he denies it to be the
sum of individual wills or the possibility of its being determined by a party
(Bk. 2, cap. iii), I would yet maintain that he relies for its ascertainment on a vote
of the people. A majority may not in this manner formulate the general will but
it can say that a proposed measure is in harmony with it. Indeed it is doubtful if
after the organization of the state the general will is again declared, but the people
act as a government. The factions which controlled European politics at that
time might well have awakened mistrust in Rousseau's mind. In the same way
Bluntschli speaks of sovereignty as " not a sum of particular isolated rights but a
general or common right" (' ' Theory of State," vii, i ). We do not deny the existence
of sovereign power. Why should we deny the existence of a general will predomi-
nant over individual wills as sovereign authority is above the separate powers ex-
ercised in its name ? Is it not a society like the one set forth by Rousseau as ideal
which Herbert Spencer pictures in his concluding volume on the " Principles of
Sociology?"
J
60 ANNAJ^S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
affirm that these classes should be prepared for citizenship
as soon as possible, and when qualified should be admitted
to full rights. The controlling power of the more competent,
which has been presented by writers since his time, as a
new development of democratic government, is thus main-
tained.
// The only aristocracy, however, which he would recognize
is one of intellect. Wealth, or family, is no reason why
one man should stand above his fellows, nor are there any
reasons why aught but justice should regulate social rela-
tions. Here, in the opinion of the writer, are stated the
essentials of democracy, and to the recognition of these
essentials the world has been gradually approaching ever
since Rousseau wrote. Even the fact that the first idea was
incorrectly applied has not prevented the second from
\J transforming France and parts of the neighboring countries
from a regime of privilege to one of legal equality.
Regarding the immediate abolition of privilege, it is often
assumed by careless critics of Rousseau, that he was in favor
of revolt against the Bourbon government in France, but a
careful study of his works shows that only indirectly does
he favor any such proposition. His chapter on sovereignty
in the " Contrat Social," in which are found practically all
the quotations so commonly taken from his works during the
revolutionary period, merely declares that the general will
is sovereign, inalienable and indivisible. It does not sanc-
tion revolution against legitimate government. On the
I' contrary Rousseau again and again asserts that revolutions do
not make men capable of conducting the government. This
indeed is the crucial point of the whole discussion. For
whom is the system of government outlined in the "Contrat
Social ' ' intended ? Every citizen whom it considers as ex-
ercising a share in the control of the nation is a man of
enlightened character and of political ability. At the time
of the adoption of the contract, Rousseau considers men as
morally perfect, and political capacity as being at once
ROUSSEAU AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 6r
obtained; but in the case of a young person growing up
under eighteenth century conditions, the same result can
be reached only by submitting him to a proper course of
education, and in this course, experience and example,
rather than verbal instruction, is insisted on. In rare
cases alone, is any such result produced by a revolution.
Thus, when Rousseau discusses the admission of a new
class into the state as in the case of Poland, he insists that
a careful education be given to prepare them for their
duties and rights as full members of the community. There
were, without doubt, many technically free citizens of France
in Rousseau's time quite as incompetent in matters of
statesmanship as were the slaves of Poland, and it is hardly
fair to consider our author as ignorant of such conditions,
especially if at the same time he is held to advocate a revo-
lution, which shall secure an impartial distribution of ad-
vantages.
The cause of the error is that Rousseau's critics deem
him to desire a re-creation of the state, and assume that in
his mind, Frenchmen of the eighteenth century were in the
same condition as the original creators whom he had pic-
tured. In fact, however, he does not consider such action
as possible, since after the state has been instituted, its
form of government only may be altered. He would regen-
erate its members by education and training until they had
the same qualifications as those which the original units
possessed. They would then be sufficiently wise to select
the most advantageous form of government, and national
prosperity would be assured.
That the scheme of government outlined in the "Contrat
Social" was not considered by its author as applicable to
France of 1760 is evident if we examine his other writ-
ings. In his discourses, Rousseau had said that existing
governments were the outgrowths of injustice, and that no
mere change in form would give to man the true possibilities
of his development. The real change must come first of all
i
V
62 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
in the man himself. Thus he recognizes that if man is not
/already suited for an ideal government, the change to that
form will not produce such an effect. He could not have
maintained that man had remained perfect in France since
that state of nature had been abandoned, for if so, the gov-
ernment could not have been degenerate. He must have
considered the various regimes which had controlled France,
rather as examples of those systems which degraded their
subjects.*
If Rousseau had mentioned no method of individual in-
itiative by which men could be made good citizens, we might
V conclude that he intended the change in government to have
preceded all others, but this is not the case. Such an error
is only possible to those who consider the " Contrat Social "
as Rousseau's only work, containing his whole system. If
he had written no other treatise than this, or if there had
been a long interval of time between the publication of his
various writings, the neglect of all but one would be more
excusable, but the " Contrat Social ' ' was only one of a series
of works published at the same time, which must be read to-
gether to understand the real theory of their author. In
"La Nouvelle Heloise" (1761) he considers the true rela-
tions which should exist between members of the family;
in the " Emile ' ' (1762) he shows how a man should be edu-
cated to make him fitted for social and political duties;
while in the "Contrat Social," published in the same year,
is pictured the true method of government, although this
volume is intended to be followed by a fuller exposition of
this subject. The first two works being, in a sense, prepar-
atory, we should expect that the immediate application of
theories there set forth would produce more satisfactory re-
sults than an attempt to graft the governmental ideas on
an undeveloped society, and such, indeed, was the outcome.
It is in this field of influence that we find the best basis for
an estimate of the man. Rousseau is recognized as a social
* "Contrat Social," Bk. i, cap. riii.
ROUSSEAU AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 63
reformer by writers who see only revolution in his political
ideas and it is largely because in this field of suggestion
his advice was more faithfully followed. It is but fair to
remember that society, at the time, was fitted for the ap-
plication of social reforms, but had not reached the state
where Rousseau considered his political system as applica-
ble. It may be true that the three works together furnish
neither a perfect nor a practical system of national life,
but it is no less true that the separation of one from the
others is unjust to the author, and deprives the system of
any opportunity to prove its practical worth, or its essential
falseness.
Indeed one of the most frequent criticisms of these two
preparatory volumes is that they present ideal social
schemes impossible of realization. The thought that the
constitution of the state outlined in the ' 'Social Contract' '
might have been another such plan, dependent for its suc-
cess upon the accomplishment of radical changes in social
matters, seems to have been neglected. Fair criticism of
the three works considered as a whole, is hardly consistent
with the declaration that Rousseau was a revolutionist, for
if a great social and political change was considered desir-
able, in none of these works is it considered as attainable
by the people themselves, except gradually and by a long
system of training. If indeed this gradual revolution had
been attempted and had failed, then a much firmer founda-
tion for the charges of incapacity would have been furnished,
than can be built from the actual occurrences of 1789.*
Nor do we lack further proof that Rousseau did not in-
tend his system of government to be applied to an unedu-
cated and disordered people. Ten years after the publica-
tion of the works we have been considering, he was called
upon for plans regarding the government of Poland, and
although man}' of his suggestions tend toward an improve-
* His system of training is similar to that of Turgot. See the works of TurgoL,
Vol. ii, pp. 785-94
64 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
/ /ment of the government as well as of social conditions, he
|r is careful to advise gradual and moderate, rather than sud-
den and violent changes in political methods. There are
references to the "Social Contract, ' ' but he seems to realize
that he is not planning a government for the ideal nation
he pictured when writing that treatise.
In a word, Rousseau presents in his writings two series
of propositions, the first intended to show how an ideal
government could be gradually established and maintained ;
y the second, found in his work on Poland, consisting of sug-
gestions for the immediate reform of many existing social
and political evils. It was not his fault that the writers
and speakers of the revolution attempted to apply portions
of his complete theory, and rejected his practical sug-
gestions. *
It may be interesting to examine his position in regard
to changes in the Polish government, for we may thus
imagine how Rousseau would have acted in the crisis of
1789. His political suggestions are mainly found in Chap-
ter VII of his ' ' Considerations sur Pologne, ' ' and among
them are the following: "We should never forget that
necessity alone justifies changes in the existing order \
whether by a grant of new power or a retrenchment of the
old."f These are hardly the words of a revolutionist for
they imply the most cautious action. Again, when he is
considering the necessity of changing the relative numbers
of representatives in the Polish Diet in order to secure
equality between the two houses, this ardent advocate of
democracy, later assumed to be in favor of large legislative
assemblies, remarks: "A natural remedy would seem to be
secured by an increase in the number of the delegates, but
I fear lest such action might cause too much commotion in
* Rousseau himself says that he takes his models from his own imagination,
and then tries to see how they may be attained. See " Rousseau juge dejean
Jacques" Third dialogue, p. 193.
t " Mais ne perdons jamais de vue 1'importante mazime de ne rien changer sous
ncessit6 ni pour retrancher ni pour ajouter."
ROUSSEAU AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 65
the state and bring us tpqjiearlff, tojmob rule. If it is
absolutely necessary to change the proportion, I should pre-
fer to decrease the number of senators rather than to in-
crease the number of delegates. ' ' * Here Rousseau is not
arguing for the form of government best suited to ideal ^
conditions, but as to what shall be done for a nation which
is on the point of breaking to pieces, a nation much nearer
the France of 1789, than France was to the ideal people for
whom the ' ' Contrat Social ' ' was framed. It was a fact which
was before him. How would he have the executive depart- ,
ment administered? "In order that the government may /
be strong, pure and best able to justify its existence, all /
executive power should be in the hands of the same persons: I
it does not suffice that these persons should be rz-yf
I placed occasionally by others, but if possible they should be-/
1 held responsible to the legislator who should be their real
director, "f Can we say that the revolutionary leaders who /
distributed power among a number of committees who re- r
peatedly declared themselves independent of their constitu-
ents, who introduced a constitution without the approval of
the nation at large, and who rejected anything approaching
parliamentary government, as to-day understood, were the
true followers of Rousseau ? Such examples serve to show
that Rousseau not only had the power of presenting plans
for the attainment of ideal forms of government, but that
he also recognized practical necessities. In the propositions
of the Physiocrats we can see the same ideal of perfect
government for it is only as the sovereign prince makes
justice his rule of conduct that he is regarded as a legal in
* " Un remede naturel a ce defaut se presente de lui-meme ; c'est augtnenter le
nombre des nonces ; maisje craindrois que cela ne fit trop de mouvement dans
1'Etat et n'approchat trop du tumulte democratique. S'il falloit absolument
changer la proportion, au lieu d'augmenter le nombre des nonces j'aimerois
mieux diminuer le nombre des senateurs."
t " Pour que 1'administration soil forte, bonne et marche bien son but, toute la
puissance executive doit 6tre dans les mSmes mains ; mais il ne suffit pas que ces
mains changent, il faut qu'elles n'agissent s'il est possible que sous les yeux du
legislateur et que ce soit lui qui les guide."
66 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
distinction from an arbitrary ruler. Neither Turgot nor La
V Riviere designate any one to pass judgment on the justice
of the ruler's actions and it would seem that in this respect
their theory is inferior to Rousseau's, who would have the
people made capable of criticising, as well as competent to
rule. It is easy also to see how a people called on for advice
x and assistance by their king, as were the French in 1789,
could readily imagine themselves the judges of the royal
f conduct, competent to decide whether it was legal or arbi-
trary, an excuse for revolution being thus furnished quite
equal to any intended by the author of the ' ' Contrat
Social."*
It is also interesting to note that education in political
/ duties is the method which Turgot would apply for making
good citizens, a method which does not differ essentially
from that proposed by Rousseau, and yet the great con-
troller is rarely spoken of as a theorist in matters of gov-
ernment, a term so frequently applied to the author we are
considering. Rousseau's real plans were followed neither
\ by the writers who advocated the revolution nor by the
y legislators who planned its constructive work. In one
sense he was as extreme in his proposals as they were.
His ideal state presents as great a contrast to the France of
1789, as does any proposal advanced by the speakers or
writers of the period. The fundamental distinction between
them is found in the methods of realization proposed.
/ Rousseau presents in clear outline a plan of gradual advance
* by education in the duties of life, expressly stating his dis-
belief in man's being at that time perfect, or the probability
of the attainment of perfection by revolution. The more
* When he is discussing the basis of government Turgot says (Vol. ii, p. 503), " The
rights of men united in society are not founded on their past but on their nature.
Only reason justifies the continuance of old institutions." (p. 504), "The cause of the
existing evils is that your nation has no constitution. It is a society composed of
different orders badly united whose members have few social ties to bind them
together. Where consequently every one is occupied with his own concerns
almost exclusively, and hardly one pays attention to his duties to his fellows.
Thus right has never ruled in this perpetual conflict of ideas and undertakings."
ROUSSEAU AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 67
radical leaders throughout the country the men who deter-
mined the direction the movement should take as distinctly
express their belief that the people of the time are able to
operate the machinery of the state, and that they, them-
selves, can execute the wishes of the people. Rousseau in-
tended his plan for small states, expressly saying that further
development was needed to make it applicable to a populous
nation. The leaders in the Assembly had no hesitancy in
applying their conclusions to the whole of France. The
fundamental needs of a nation according to Rousseau, are
distinctly recognized by so able a man as Turgot in his
proposals for reform, made to the King, but the leaders
of 1791-93 considered them only secondarily, if at all. Be-
fore Rousseau, there were writers like Morelly, more radical
than he, and with the progress of discontent, these radical
views gained not only by extension among the people, but
their intensive force increased. In accord with the spirit
of his time, Rousseau looked back to an ideal period but
also forward to a renewal of such conditions if a long, faith-
ful effort were made, and thus he intensified the longing for
ideals which was characteristic of France, throughout this
period. Further than this, he does not go. It took a later I
and more hopeful generation than his to expect to realize
ideals at once. Turgot places the interval at ten years, *
but it was not until the last decade of the century that it
was considered possible to at once establish a heaven upon
this earth.
The tide of expectation advanced, but unless we can see
the views of Rousseau in the proposals of Marat and his
associates, we have no right to hold that author responsible
for their conduct. Such responsibility is not proven by the
quotations from the ' 'Social Contract' ' which we find used by
the later leaders, nor would it be proven if this work could
be shown to have been their sole guide. A half truth may
be no less a lie than a deliberate mis-statement, and in this
* Works, Vol. ii, p. 508.
68 ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
way only can the theories of the revolutionists be said to
have been drawn from Rousseau. Not isolated statements,
Chapters or books, but his whole doctrine must be the final
test, and in this connection the statement already made that
in the political pamphlets of the revolutionary period there
is hardly a reference to Rousseau's works aside from his
chapters in the "Social Contract" on sovereignty, is of
marked importance. By 1789-93 society had advanced so
far in its discontent with the Bourbon absolutism and the
limited government which had been placed in its stead, that
even the radical doctrine based on only a few phrases taken
from these chapters developed ideas which every one had in
his heart. If we are seeking some writer who above others
inspired this growing discontent and restlessness so charac-
teristic of the period and which prepared the nation to accept
any scheme which was complete and promised much, we
must look to Necker with his work on the administration of
the finances in France, rather than to any writing of the
' philosophers.
Rousseau, to be sure, placed before the world the picture
of a nation under an ideal government, and thus excited an
1 enthusiasm for liberty, equality and fraternity which, it is
i to be hoped, will never cease to exist. If to arouse a desire
for such a condition is an offence against rational govern-
ment, if we ought never to seek anything or be inspired by
anything better than a system of compromise, then was
Rousseau a bar to all political advance and an enemy to
progress. But if it is necessary to disregard the main body
of his writings entirely and to judge the remaining few
^passages and phrases distinct from their context, and
wholly by the use made of them by men who did not under-
stand them; if all this is necessary to make Rousseau a
revolutionist, can we not honestly say that such an indict-
ment has small basis in fact. We may believe that unless
Rousseau had lived, France and the world would have lacked
the inspiration to progress which a noble political ideal
ROUSSEAU AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 69
attractively presented, is sure to furnish ; we may possibly \
say that but for him, the French Revolution would not have
followed the exact course it did pursue, but that is entirely
different from making him the inciter of the revolutionary
policy.* It is no condemnation of a man or his system, >
when the ends he proposes are sought by means which he 1
has denounced, and the result is failure. Finally, it must \
*be remembered that Rousseau intended writing a larger
work on government in which some of the ideas of the
' ' Contrat Social ' ' should be developed and doubtful points
explained. Indeed it is said that he left notes on several
subjects, among others the application of his ideas to large
states, but they have been destroyed. Thus, we can not
conclude that a neglect to give all the details of his plans is
necessarily fatal to their practicability.
In our study and interpretation of Rousseau's writings
we have seen that writers, speakers and listeners have ob-
tained ideas regarding his system of government, which
even the "Contrat Social'" fails to support, and for whose
origin we must hold the speakers themselves, or at least,
other and more radical writers responsible. The Assembly
added to this misinterpretation being influenced by its own /
ambition, and thus framed a composite doctrine, which
may have been accepted as Rousseau's, but which differed
widely from his conceptions. The people thought they f
were getting popular government, their leaders were aiming I
at an oligarchy, although a few recognized this as a prepar- \
atory stage.
But this is not all. We see that a more serious misjudg-
ment was made at the time, which is not absent from more
recent writings. Frenchmen of the eighteenth century, had
not the discrimination to understand that the doctrine for /
society outlined in the "Social Contract" was not intended
for France of their time. They did not see that if portions
of it could be safely followed, the complete theory was in-
tended only for an ideal society, a condition which France
yo ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
was expected to reach, but which as surely she had not
yet attained.
The works in which Rousseau outlined his method of at-
taining an improved government, as well as those which
proved his ability to distinguish between the desirable and
the expedient, were neglected at the time, and have been
largely neglected ever since. Probably our author did not ,
anticipate the present methods of parliamentary government
in their entirety. Very few, if any, thinkers of that period
did understand such a system, yet I doubt if anywhere in
Europe, Rousseau could see in practice, or read in theory,
a nearer approach to the idea, than he gives us in his con-
siderations on Poland. If his plans do not advocate par-
liamentary government, they surely do favor a system like
w that of Switzerland to-day, and which is regarded with so
much favor. The safeguard found in the Swiss referendum
is but the execution of Rousseau's proposals, while the polit-
ical ability of that nation has been so raised by generations
of governmental training, that it is not far from that which
he would have considered attainable, had the methods of
training set forth in the "JSmite" been applied in France.
With every advance in qualifications, the last century has
seen an extension of political power to the masses of Western
V Europe, and it is Rousseau, more than any of his contem-
poraries, who advocated such gradual progress.
But these are, by no means, the commonly accepted views
yof Rousseau and of his philosophy. To what shall we at-
tribute the difference? First, to the fact again and again
emphasized that the real work of the author was not judged
as a whole, but by the action of men who professed to be
following his doctrine, while in reality using certain of his
phrases in a sense different from that intended by their
author. Secondly, to the intense reaction against popular
influence which controlled Europe during the period im-
mediately following the Revolution and which rendered
impossible any serious investigation of its causes, or any
ROUSSEAU AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 71
impartial judgment of its supposed inciters. So far as there
was an honest spirit of criticism, stress was laid on the
powers of analysis shown by writers and the correctness of
the authorities quoted in their works. In both of these
fields, Rousseau was weak ; in the latter, because no good
history of the past existed at his time, and because the cor-
rectness of these allusions was no essential part of his work ;
in the former, because he had not an analytical mind, deal-
ing rather with bodies as a whole than with their com-
ponent parts.
Somewhat akin to this reaction against freedom in politics,
was the rejection by succeeding generations of that atheism
and loose morality, which the revolution was thought to
have advanced, and of which Rousseau was regarded as a
marked example. Against the former of these charges,
Rousseau may be defended, for he was no atheist, but
rather a pronounced deist ; against the latter it is true little
can be said, unless the frankness with which he confessed
his faults, and but for which many of his offences would be
unknown, may be regarded as lessening the offence. Al-
ways quarreling, always considering himself as ill-treated,
always reflecting on the honesty of others, Rousseau was
not a man to be admired. Probably an epileptic from birth,
and at any rate afflicted with an emotional temperament,
which became partial insanity before his death, his writings
contain many fanciful passages and vulgar allusions, which
have made them tiresome or ludicrous to the searcher for
practical political guidance, and offensive to the moralist.
These defects have doubtless caused many readers to throw
down his works in disgust, and yet is it not more remark-
able that a man educated as was Rousseau, and partially
insane, as he was during his later years, should not have
left more traces of his weakness in his works ? The writer
is no admirer of Rousseau's personality, and yet is it not
possible that it is this which has hindered an impartial
judgment of his political theories?
72 ANNAI<S OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
If we are to consider his writings by themselves, let us
not judge their author by a single work; if his theories are
to be valued by their results, let us not confine our attention
solely to the Revolution, but consider also the advance which
democracy has made since his time. Finally, if we are con-
sidering Rousseau as a writer on government, we must not
allow his moral weakness to blind us to the grandeur and
completeness of his political conceptions.
C. H. LINCOLN.
Philadelphia.
THE GEORGE JUNIOR REPUBLIC.
The George Junior Republic takes its name in part from
its founder, Mr. William R. George, and in part from the
fact that it is a " government of the children, by the chil-
dren and for the children."
Mr. George spent his boyhood on a farm, one mile dis-
tant from Freeville, Tompkins County, New York, and,
going to New York City in early manhood, engaged in a
variety of philanthropic labor for the welfare of little chil-
dren. In April of 1890, he saw in the New York Evening
World a pathetic account of a little street boy's sad disap-
pointment in finding that what he supposed was a dandelion
growing in the centre of City Hall Park was only a piece of
orange peel. The delights of his own boyhood's home re-
curred to him with especial vigor after the perusal of this
article, and he determined to do what he could to give to
the children of the poor, a taste of those same enjoyments.
Accordingly, during the years 1890 to 1895, he took from
two hundred to two hundred and sixty children each year
from their tenement house homes, and gave them a sum-
mer's outing. Thus far the undertaking had differed little
from many others, but, in the spring of 1895, the thought
flashed upon him to change his summer's camping party into
a miniature republic.
The territory of the Republic is even smaller than that of
San Marino, being only forty-eight acres in extent, and its
buildings are few and simple. In the winter its inhabitants
are only forty-four in number, twenty-seven boys and seven-
teen girls; and in the summer, when the tide of immigra-
tion rolls in, the population increases to two hundred and
fifty, and tents are erected to supplement the few simple
buildings. But within these simple environments transpire
the political, industrial, educational, religious, and other
(73)
74 \NNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
social events which the name Republic implies. Freeville,
in whose vicinity the Republic is located, is a quiet country
town in the southern central part of New York State, and
within plain view of Ithaca and Cornell University, nine
miles away to the west. The neighbors of the Republic
are a simple and kindly people, who appreciate the good
motives and high ideals underlying the movement, and ex-
tend a cordial welcome to it and its inhabitants.
Although Mr. George's presence and influence pervade
every detail of the Republic's life they do so only indirectly,
and he interferes only in case some grave moral question is
involved. At first he was the Republic's president and had
a veto power over its laws, but now there is a boy president,
whose veto can be set aside only by a two-thirds vote of the
Congress.
Congress consists of the Senate and House of Representa-
tives, and has the power of passing laws in harmony with
the United States Constitution and the laws of New York
State. I will quote one or two of the laws passed by it :
"Be it enacted, That the use of tobacco in every form, including
cigarettes, be prohibited in the George Junior Republic . . . and
that violation of this law shall be met with a fine not less than fifty
cents, nor more than ten dollars, or by from one-half day to five
days imprisonment, or by both. ' '
"* it enacted, That any citizen found guilty of cruelty to animals
shall be fined not less than five dollars nor more than twenty-five
dollars."
"The right of suffrage is hereby extended to all citizens over
twelve years of age without distinction of sex. ' '
With the passage of this last act there is connected a little
story which may give an insight into the workings of the
Junior Republic, and which may show its similarity with
conditions in the greater Republic. The girls one day
awakened to the fact that they would like to vote. They
accordingly petitioned Congress, and, after a hard fight,
succeeded in having the bill passed. An influential boy,
however, who was an especial favorite with the girls, used
THE GEORGE JUNIOR REPUBLIC. 75
his persuasive powers with them, and, chiefly by repeated
assertions that it ' ' was not nice for girls to vote, ' ' induced
most of them to sign a counterpetition to the president
against signing the bill. The bill was vetoed and the
movement for universal suffrage for that time came to an
end. A heavy poll tax, however, was levied soon after, and
since girls have heads as well as boys the tax fell upon them
with equal or greater severity. Accordingly another cam-
paign of persuasion and education was entered upon and
the bill became a law. The state law against swearing is
also on the Republic's statute books, and, like all other
laws, is rigidly enforced.
Comprising among its citizens boys and girls of most
unfavorable parentage, education and environment, it is
but natural that the Republic's police and judicial depart-
ments should be alert and vigorous; and alert and vigorous
they most assuredly are. To be a member of the police
force is the early and abiding dream of the average New
York boy's life, and the applicants for this position in the
Republic were so numerous that the test of a civil service
examination was resorted to in order to cut down the num-
ber. The examination speedily accomplished its purpose;
but it was effective also in implanting in the minds of some
of the unsuccessful applicants their first strong desire to
obtain the rudiments of an English education. This effect
was summed up by one of them as follows: "I don't play
hooky this winter, you bet ! I'll come back here next year
and git to be a cop!" The successful applicants are given
the policeman's uniform a blue shirt, black cap with gold
braid and lettering, a policeman's belt and club, and a Ger-
man silver shield with the word "Police" engraved upon
it. Their salary amounts, on the average, to that of the
skilled laborer. They are commanded by a chief, who
divides them into platoons in charge of roundsmen. A
flagrant failure to fulfill their duties meets with dismissal
from the force and a fine. Their position is no sinecure,
76 AXNAIS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
since they are expected to quell disturbances at the risk of
physical injury in attempting to make an arrest, and cow-
ardice in such cases meets with dismissal and disgrace.
The policemen are protected by the provision that any
citizen resisting an officer is subject to a heavy fine or
imprisonment, or both. The consequence is that, all
things considered, there is a remarkable deference paid to
the policeman, be he ever so small. This deference is ex-
tended to them, not only within the limits of the Republic,
but also outside its borders. This was evidenced when some
youths seceded from the Republic, and before they were
overtaken by the police, had escaped to a distance of fifteen
miles. They were just sitting down to dinner in a benev-
olent farmer's household when the officers arrived, and were
commanded by them to return immediately, which com-
mand, in spite of the farmer's protest, was obeyed at once.
The police are given the privilege of using their clubs for
defence if necessary, but such cases are rigidly investigated.
Be it said to the credit of these youthful policemen, that
only once in two years has this privilege been resorted to,
and that in the most justifiable instance.
When arrested the prisoner is taken to the police station,
and a record is made of the arrest. If court is in session at
the time the prisoner is at once taken before the magistrate.
If it is not court hour and the offence is a minor one, he
deposits a sum of money, or secures a bondsman for his ap-
pearance at the next session ; but if unable to do either, he
is locked up in the station house until court convenes.
When the prisoner is brought before the magistrate for some
minor offence he receives a regular police court trial, and is
fined a slight amount, imprisoned for a few hours or a day,
or discharged at the discretion of the judge, at present a
boy of sixteen. A prisoner charged with a serious offence
is held for the grand jury, which is composed of boys also,
and if they bring in an indictment against him, his trial
is fixed for a few days later. He is then arraigned before
THE GEORGE JUNIOR REPUBLIC. 77
the criminal judge, who is now also a youth in his teens.
This office was filled at first by a graduate student of law in
Cornell University, but has been occupied for some time,
like all other positions in the Republic, by a Junior citizen.
The district attorney conducts the case for the people, and
the prisoner has counsel for himself, if he be able to hire
one, or, if not, is assigned one by the court. A jury of
boys and girls is then secured, the trial proceeds in due
form, witnesses are produced by each side, the counsel sum
up, and the judge delivers his charge. The jury retires in
charge of a court officer, and after due deliberation, return
with the verdict. If the verdict be guilty the prisoner is
sentenced to hard labor and imprisonment, or, as the boys
say, "is put on the gang" for a period of time, ranging
from half a day to six days, according to the offence. He
is reduced to the grade of a convict, taken in charge by the
keeper, his civilian's clothing is replaced by the prison
uniform, which is made of bed ticking, with the stripes
running around in the usual fashion. The convicts are
known only by number, they cannot speak to any one dur-
ing their term of imprisonment, and are locked in a cell at
all times, except when their keeper has them out at work.
They are obliged to work all day long, receiving no pay
for their labor, and live on the plainest fare. "This is a
severe punishment, ' ' says Mr. George, ' ' but we have severe
cases sometimes to deal with. I don't like this prison part,
of course, but there are several hundred other things in the
world at large which we do not like, but which seem to be
essential. We could have made the prison part milder, to
be sure, but then they would have formed a very wrong
impression of the actual State Prison, and we do not wiah
them to glean the impression that a penal institution is a
kind of picnic ground."
As to the effects of the prison system they seem to have
been excellent. For instance, here is one boy's opinion of
it, expressed upon his release: "If dat's what Sing Sing
78 ANNAIS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
is, you bet I haint goin' to git dere." And again "I've
figgered it out and it costs more to be bad den good. Youse
has to work harder and git no pay ; sleep in a cell and git
bread 'n water 'n soup an' be follered wid a gun an' hev all
de blokes in de Republic down on youse, if you are bad.
If youse is good, youse only hev to work ez hard ez in de
prison an' git de biggest money in de camp, an' wid dat
youse kin sleep in de best room in de hotel an' eat de finest
feed, an' de girls an' fellers don't git down on youse like
dey do if youse a prisoner. I figgered dat all out one night
in de cell an' I made up me mind dat I can't afford to be
bad an' I'me goin' to try now to git to de top." This sort
of reasoning will appear to most readers of the ANNAI<S, no
doubt, as a rather low sanction for good conduct ; but we must
remember that high individual, as well as social morality,
cames slowly and step by step ; and surely even this stage of
thinking is a long step in advance, and often leads to higher
things. The young man who made this calculation, for in-
stance, became an industrious, law-abiding citizen, and was
eventually elected speaker of the House of Representatives.
It is encouraging to note, too, that there was a striking
decrease in the number of convicts as the season advanced.
Thirty-two were placed on the "gang" during the first half
of last summer, and only eight during the second half.
The trials are not only interesting in themselves, but the
solemnity, gravity and earnestness of the judge and all
parties concerned, are evidence of the fact that they are
regarded in no frivolous light, but have taken their due im-
portance in the minds of the citizens. Another encourag-
ing fact is that boys who have been indifferent or insolent
in the presence of an adult magistrate have been impressed
at once when brought before a jury of their peers, and sev-
eral of the most hardened have broken down and wept when
sentenced by their boy judges. Indeed Mr. George told
me of an actual case of attempted suicide on the part of a
prisoner newly sentenced.
THE GEORGE JUNIOR REPUBLIC. 79
As in our own Republic, there is behind the Junior Re-
public's legislative and judicial departments a well organ-
ized militia, including all of the boy citizens. Between 6
and 7.30 a. m. and 5.30 and 6.30 p. m., six days in the
week, the boys are put through the course of evolutions
and involutions known as a military drill. When I visited
the Republic the fields were covered with snow, and what-
ever else the drill may result in, it was productive at that
time of a large amount of physical exercise.
There is a vast amount of enthusiasm for everything
American in this miniature Republic, and it is sought to
direct this into channels of patriotism and love for the big
Republic by elaborate ceremonies when raising and lowering
the "Stars jand Stripes," by singing patriotic songs and
declaiming patriotic addresses.
I have dwelt somewhat in extenso upon the governmental
part of the Republic's life, because the experiment is a most
interesting one in the direction of applying the American
idea of self-government to the control of boys and girls,
many of whom have been pronounced incorrigible; and be-
cause the success met with in the enforcement of good con-
duct affords much encouragement to those who believe in
the truth and efficiency of that idea.
Turning from the government to industry, we find quite
a diversity of pursuits, and many features of the big Repub-
lic's industrial system. At first, industry was carried on
by means of industrial classes, the citizens being enrolled
in them, and paid according to the number of hours spent
in the acquisition of technical knowledge. But now, oon-
tracts for the performance of certain tasks are sold by the
government to citizens, who must employ their own
laborers, and assume the responsibility of loss or profit.
The wages paid are from fifty to seventy cents a day, and
the labor day is from 8.30 to 12.00. The forty-eight acres
in the farm are put to very good use, and farming or truck-
ing is supplemented by landscape gardening. The class
8o ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
system was done away with and the contract system substi-
tuted in accordance with Mr. George's aim to introduce into
the Republic as many of the conditions of ordinary life as
is possible ; and now that each citizen must assume the re-
sponsibility of obtaining employment, a long step has been
made in the direction of laissez faire. It is true that all
industrial tasks instead of a certain few, are still looked
upon as public work. The contracts sold by the govern-
ment are many and varied. For instance, one boy has pur-
chased the privilege of giving to the boy citizens their
weekly bath, the taking of which is enforced by fine and
imprisonment ; another boy has purchased the privilege of
conducting a barber shop; several have the contract of pro-
viding lodgings for the citizens and of furnishing their
meals. The hotels, as they are called, are of three grades,
from the Hotel Waldorf, on the second floor of the main
building, where the millionaires sleep, and pay twenty-five
cents per night for the privilege of having a tastily fur-
nished room to themselves, to the lowest class of lodgings
in the attic, where the unsuccessful business men or the
idlers must take up their quarters, at ten cents a night. If
the citizen has no money to pay for lodgings he must pass
the night in the station house, and in the morning is
arrested for vagrancy and made to work out the fine im-
posed. Each hotel keeper must maintain order in his estab-
lishment, and is arrested and fined for a failure to do so.
He must call in the police to quell disturbances, eject dis-
orderly guests, or refuse to receive those who are likely to
become such. He must also hire servants and keep his
establishment clean and presentable, or be fined by the
inspector for failing to do so. The inspector is employed by
the government, and makes his rounds twice daily, accom-
panied by Mrs. George, who fines the inspector if he fails
to discover any faults of omission or commission. A small
boy of fourteen was proprietor of the restaurant during my
visit, and a most business-like boy he was. The tables in
THE GEORGE JUNIOR REPUBLIC. 81
his establishment are divided into three classes : those where
fifteen cents a meal is charged, and where the masses but
not the unwashed masses take their meals ; those where
twenty-five cents a meal is charged, and which are called
the Applicants' Tables, because they are used by citizens
who have not yet proved by their manners that they deserve
to be admitted to the third class of tables, known as Aris-
tocrats' Tables. This arrangement is rather undemocratic,
to be sure, but it is relied upon, and with good reason, as a
means of cultivating the ways of polite society. The utmost
of good form and politeness prevail at the Aristocrats'
Tables, and even more of it, if that be possible, at the Can-
didates' Tables; and even at the lowest class of tables,
although there is sometimes a superfluity of boisterous
mirth, there is, on the whole, a degree of order which is
remarkable when the character and age of the guests are
considered. Mr. and Mrs. George regularly take their
meals at the restaurant, and share precisely the same kinds
of food as that furnished to the citizens. Fortunately the
restaurant proprietor is able to employ the services of an
adult cook, but his assistant cooks and waiters are engaged
from among the citizens. In addition to the numerous con-
tracts of this character which are let by the government,
many other employments have sprung up. The boys become
carpenters, retail venders of fruits, candies and other com-
modities dear to children's hearts, public officials, lawyers,
and skilled laborers of various kinds. The girls turn to
sewing, clothes patching, stocking darning and housework.
Every thing which is worn, eaten or otherwise enjoyed must
be bought by the citizens and paid for. Once a week pay-
day comes and with it a general squaring up of accounts
with the government and between the citizens. The money
used is made of round tin discs, stamped with the Repub-
lic's name, and corresponding in size and amount with
United States one dollar, fifty cents, twenty -five cents, ten
cents, five cents, and one cent pieces. It is current, of
82 ANNAI OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
course, only within the Republic, the various supplies of
food and clothing being contributed by the farmers and
churches of the surrounding region, and by an association
of benevolent people in New York City. Twenty -five hun-
dred dollars in cash and sixteen hundred dollars worth of
provisions were contributed last year. It is the ideal of
course to make the children's labor productive of a good
deal more wealth than has yet been possible, and to make
the Republic more nearly self-sustaining. Meanwhile the
children themselves get nothing which they do not earn.
Some fall to lower and lower kinds of food and clothing, or
climb to higher and higher lodgings, until they become
paupers and are fed at government expense on bread and
water, a provision passed by Congress itself, the author of
the measure declaring that ' 'A feller wot won't work shan't
eat." Chronic pauperism is dealt with by the government,
which enforces labor, and rewards very sparingly, until the
lesson is learned that it does not "pay" to be a pauper, any
more than to be a criminal. Some take the other road,
and amass sufficient wealth to enjoy meals at "Delmon-
ico's," and a room in the "Waldorf," or to invest it in
various business enterprises, even to the extent of becoming
a banker. The banker receives money on deposit, loans it
on interest or invests it in some enterprise of his own.
Sometimes confidence in the bank is lost, a run on it is
made, and it is forced to close its doors, just as in the big
world outside, although the banker usually stands a series
of lawsuits, instead of making a hurried trip abroad.
When the summer citizens return to their homes in the
autumn, a public sale of contributed clothing, food, and
sundry commodities is held, and those who have saved a
surplus invest it in things suitable for their own needs and
those of their parents and brothers or sisters. Those who
have squandered their money on luxuries, or failed to save
any, return home empty handed, and sometimes in a de-
cidedly tattered condition, much to their own and their
THE GEORGE JUNIOR REPUBLIC. 83
relatives' dissatisfaction, but it is to be hoped to their per-
manent enlightenment. The industrious and the thrifty,
on the other hand, carry home with them supplies of pota-
toes and other vegetables which suffice for their families'
consumption during several succeeding months.
The economic questions which are continually arising
are very similar to those which have long puzzled the heads
of American citizens. For instance, at one time the gov-
ernment was too lavish in payment for work done under
contract; the currency became inflated, prices increased
four, five and even ten-fold, speculation was rife, and then
came a panic, followed by a period of financial depression
and general ruin. The question, how to return to a "gold
basis," was long and earnestly debated, but probably the
answer to it can yield American Congressmen no enlighten-
ment. Another question which arose was that of foreign
competition and protection to home industries. Congress
at one time passed a law permitting citizens who paid the
government five dollars for the privilege, to go outside of
the Republic's borders. These citizens brought back with
them apples and sundry other commodities which had been
given them in the course of their travels, and proceeded to
undersell the regular venders of those commodities. This
caused much dissatisfaction, and Congress, after considering
a variety of plans for solving the problem, drifted uncon-
sciously into the system of a protective tariff. When such
problems arise it is Mr. George's policy to leave to the boys
the solution of them, his aim being to fix upon the citizens
themselves the responsibility for their own acts, and to per-
mit them to learn by experience.
Naturally the mental development of the citizens is a
desideratum, and Mr. George's plan of education is, to say
the least, a novel one. It is for the government to employ
one or two of the oldest and most matured citizens to act in
the capacity of schoolmasters. Questions are obtained by
them from grammars, arithmetics, geographies and other
84 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
text-books, and distributed amongst the citizens, who are
enrolled in appropriate classes. The answers to these ques-
tions must be obtained from suitable books and written upon
paper in a prescribed form. They are then given to the
schoolmasters, who examine them, and accept or reject
them, acceptance meaning the payment of a certain sum of
money to the author of the answers, and rejection meaning
no pecuniary reward. The schoolmasters and the work
presented to them are subjected to investigation by the in-
spector. In this way a new method of furnishing employ-
ment to the citizens is secured in those seasons when out-
of-door work is relatively scarce, and the acquirement of an
education is sought to be made dependent upon the acquisi-
tion of daily subsistence. From the industrial point of
view the method is successful, and from the educational
point of view it results in familiarity with certain facts and
the cultivation of a certain degree of accuracy and order ;
whether it will result in an education is a question which
only further experience can answer. Some of the citizens
are sent to public schools in the vicinity, and two of the
youths are attending the neighboring high school, prepar-
atory to entering Cornell University. The report of their
instructors as to the character of work done under them
determines the amount of their remuneration. One inter-
esting development, of the educational system is what is
known as the college. This means a weekly lecture to the
assembled citizens by one of their number who has been
appointed for the detailed investigation of a specific topic.
His information is secured by a patient research in the well-
appointed library, which has been contributed by a benevo-
lent gentleman, and which is housed in one of the brightest,
most tastefully decorated rooms to be met with anywhere.
In addition to school and college, literary and musical en-
tertainments are frequent, and in the evenings there are
home-like meetings and pleasant talks around the library
fireside. The spiritual welfare of the children is also looked
THE GEORGE JUNIOR REPUBLIC. 85
after most carefully and devotedly, morning and evening
prayers being held at the Republic, and the children attend-
ing Sunday services in the churches in the neighboring
town.
Life at the Republic is not all politics, work and study.
Mr. George's original idea was to bring into the lives of the
children of the slums some of the brightness and happiness
which surrounds children in more favorable circumstances,
and he has not by any means lost sight of this idea. The
prerailing spirit of good humor and evident happiness at
once impresses the visitor. Athletics are indulged in.
Baseball and football teams have been organized ; the snow-
clad hills afford coasting, and a neighboring stream skating
in winter and swimming in summer. Modern athletics are
not complete unless accompanied by a "yell," and this im-
portant feature is not wanting at the Republic. Their
' ' yell' ' may be of interest, as it is as musical as most of its
kind, and gives us instructive glimpses of the philosophy
of life which prevails at the Republic. It is as follows :
"Hear ye this!
Down with the boss ; down with the tramp ;
Down with the pauper ; down with the scamp ;
Up with the freeman ; up with the wise ;
Up with the thrifty ; on to the prize ;
Who are we? why, we are,
Citizens of the G. J. R. :
We love our land and we would die,
To keep Old Glory in the sky. ' '
The citizens are placed in Mr. George's care, either
through sentence of city magistrates, or agreement on the
part of the parents. Most of them are between the ages of
twelve and fifteen years. The few who fall below this limit,
accepted because of unusual circumstances, are placed in the
care of guardians, that is, boy or girl citizens older than
themselves, who are held responsible for their industry,
cleanliness, and general good conduct. These youthful
guardians are expected to use persuasion, and, if necessary,
86 ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
mild coercion, in order to cultivate good habits on the
part of their wards; and, lest at any time the guardian
should use undue severity, a Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Children was formed on their own initiative by
other citizens of the Republic. There has been no occasion,
however, for activity on the part of this society, the guard-
ians being monuments of long-suffering and patience.
Their ideas of the rearing of young children are naturally
of much interest and of surprising wisdom.
Perhaps the most noteworthy fact in connection with the
George Junior Republic is that boys and girls of the charac-
ter and antecedents of the citizens are so quickly caught up
into the spirit of industry and good order which pervades
the Republic. This desirable result is due, doubtless, to.
the responsibility which is placed upon them and to the
confidence which is manifested toward them; but also, and
doubtless chiefly, to the silent and unobtrusive, but all-
pervading influence, for the good of Mr. George and his
wife.
If we are consistent believers in the American political
theory, we must admit that the machinery adopted b}' the
founders of the George Junior Republic for carrying on
their work is the best which the mind of man has developed.
But mere machinery is useless without a motive force, and
this motive force is largely supplied by the clever brain and
kindly heart of Mr. George. In this experiment, as in all
other social service, Mrs. Browning's dictum is true, that
" . . . .It takes a soul
To move a body : it takes a high souled man
To move the masses even to a cleaner sty:
It takes the ideal to blow a hair's breadth off
The dust of the actual. Ah, your Fouriers failed
Because not poets enough to understand
That life develops from within. ' '
WlLUAM I. HUU,.
Swarlkmorc College, Pa.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY.
(Continued from p. 424, VoL IX of the ANNALS.)
A general meeting of the Academy was held in Philadel-
phia on the twenty-first and twenty-second of April. The
meeting consisted of several sessions. The Fortieth Session
was held on the evening of April 21, 1897, at the New Cen-
tury Club, Philadelphia. It was the opening session of the
general meeting, and the vice-president (Dr. Roland P.
Falkner) , who occupied the chair, opened the proceedings
with a brief address, in which the aims and work of the
Academy were set forth. The president of the Academy,
Professor Edmund J. James, of the University of Chicago,
was then introduced. He read a paper upon " Training for
Citizenship," which discussed the educational significance
of studies in political and social science, and the place of
such studies in the organization of the educational system.*
The Forty-first Session was held at 10 a. m. on April 22,
at the New Century Club. The session was devoted to a
discussion of Foreign Commerce.
It was opened by Mr. George E. Bartol, president of the
Philadelphia Bourse, who defined the scope of the discussion
and the significance of foreign trade as opposed to domestic
trade. The speaker pointed out that problems of foreign
trade were not of equal interest to all nations; that in some
of them they were overshadowed by many other economic
problems, but that to the people of the United States the
question was of considerable importance, while as yet we had
made little progress in permanently establishing advantage-
ous trade relations with other countries. The experience of
Germany was dwelt upon as an illustration of successful
competition in foreign countries, in which care and foresight
* A brief abstract of Professor James' address was printed in the Teacher of
May, 1897, and it will be printed in full in a subsequent issue of the ANNALS.
(87)
88 ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
and a minute study of trade conditions had widely extended
foreign commerce.
Professor Emory R. Johnson, of the University of Penn-
sylvania, spoke on ' ' American Manufactures in Foreign
Markets. ' ' Professor Johnson entered upon an analysis of
the foreign trade of the United States. He showed how the
share of American manufactures in the export trade was in-
creasing of late years, and discussed the conditions under
which an enlargement of trade might be looked for in this
direction.
The Hon. Robert Adams, Jr. , member of Congress, spoke
upon the ' ' Opening of Foreign Markets to American Goods. ' '
He dwelt upon the necessity for proper postal facilities, for
more ample transportation facilities, for an improvement of
our consular service, and upon reciprocal treaties. He
enlarged on each of these topics, showing the advantages
which would accrue to the nation were a consistent and en-
lightened policy pursued in regard to them.
The discussion was to have been continued by Dr. William
Pepper, President of the Philadelphia Commercial Museum,
who expected to speak upon ' ' The Promotion of Foreign
Trade through a Systematic Study of Commercial Rela-
tions." But Dr. Pepper being unavoidably detained, the
discussion was then thrown open. An animated debate
ensued in which, in add^ion to the speakers whose names
have already been menfconed, Mr. Anson Wolcott, of Indi-
ana; Dr. E. T. Devine, of New York, and Dr. Edmund
Cobbe, of Philadelphia, took part.
The Forty-second Session was held at 3 p. m. at the New
Century Club. The subject for consideration was Immigra-
tion. The president introduced Dr. Joseph H. Senner,
United States Commissioner of Immigration at the port of
New York, who read a paper upon "Immigration," pub-
lished in the current number of the ANNAI^.
Mr. Sydney George Fisher, of the Philadelphia Bar, dis-
cussed the question of immigration from the standpoint of
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY. 89
nationality and national unity. He called attention to the
fact that those nations which contributed most to the world's
progress were homogeneous in character. The policy of the
United States had not always been dictated by these consid-
erations, although in our early history they appealed forcibly
to the founders of the Republic. Mr. Fisher read extracts
from the writings of Washington, Jefferson and Madison, in
which the dangers of an unrestricted immigration were set
forth in unmistakable terms.
Professor Roland P. Falkner, of the University of Penn-
sylvania, continued the discussion. He was in accord with
the previous speakers in regard to the desirability of restrict-
ing immigration, and called particular attention to the
method upon which such restrictions should be based. By
figures drawn from the statistical reports of the government,
he sought to show that the social evils attributed to the for-
eign element in our population were to be regarded as out-
growths of the comparatively low economic standard of this
class in the population, and that the principle upon which
the restriction of immigration should be sought, must be
looked for in economic conditions.
In the discussion which followed Dr. Senner elaborated at
some length the plan for a land and labor clearing-house,
which was suggested at the conclusion of his paper. Such
an establishment would be designed to give information to
intending settlers and also to be a medium through which
they might obtain labor.
The Forty-third Session was held at 8 p. m. in the audi-
torium of the Drexel Institute. The meeting was devoted
to the subject of Banking. The principal speaker was Hon.
James H. Eckels, Comptroller of the Currency, who deliv-
ered an address upon "The National Banking System."
He sketched the beginnings of banking in the United States;
the experience of the first and second United States banks,
and of state banking. At somewhat greater length, he
recounted the history of the national banking system and
90 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
discussed the advantages which had accrued to the com-
munity through the existence of these financial institutions.*
The discussion was opened by Professor R. M. Brecken-
ridge, of Haverford College, who pointed out some defects
of the national banking system, particularly in regard to.
reserve and discount rates. The discussion was continued
by Professor Joseph French Johnson, of the University of
Pennsylvania, who criticized the notes of the national banks
as not fulfilling the functions which are properly demanded
of bank notes, and assimilating too closely to government
issues, f
The discussion was closed by Mr. Eckels, and, after a
resolution of thanks to the Trustees of Drexel Institute, the
meeting adjourned.
* The address of Mr. Eckels is printed in full in the Bankers' Monthly, Chicago,
for May, 1897.
t The remarks of Professor Johnson are printed in full in the Banker? Monthly,
Chicago, for June, 1897.
PERSONAL NOTE.
London. Mr. John Biddulph Martin, President of the Royal Sta-
tistical Society, died at Las Palmas, Canary Islands, March 20, 1897.
He was born in 1841, and was educated at Harrow, and Exeter College,
Oxford, where he graduated with classical honors. After leaving the
university he entered the famous banking firm in Lombard street
which bears the name of Martin's Bank, and which claims to be two
hundred years older than the Bank of England. Mr. Martin was
actively interested in promoting philanthropic and scientific efforts.
He was a member of the British Economic Association, the Institute
of Bankers, and many other associations. For many years he was
treasurer of the Royal Statistical Society, and at the time of his death
its president. He was treasurer of the International Statistical Insti-
tute from its foundation. In addition to this book, ' ' The Grasshopper
in Lombard Street," an interesting account of the banking house with
which he was connected, he published a number of papers in the
Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, and the Journal of the Insti-
tute of Bankers. The latter include papers on " Our Gold Coinage,"
"Bank Notes," "Movements of Coin and its Equivalents," and
others.
BOOK DEPARTMENT.
NOTES.
IT is PERHAPS not reasonable to expect that the arguments used by
a "Defence Association" should be scientific or consistent. The
aim of such an organization is to create public opinion or capture
rotes, and for such a purpose error is quite as effective as truth.
Nevertheless, the honest student of finance must feel a bit disheart-
ened when he reads the twenty -four pamphlets issued by the British
Gold Standard Defence Association, and notes the inconsistencies,
fallacies and non sequiturs which the exigencies of "defence" are
apparently supposed to justify. If the British public reads these
leaflets, it is probably ready to support gold, but its understanding
must be in a dense fog on the money question. The list of authors
includes such names as Lord Farrer, H. D. McLeod, Lord Playfair,
Sir John Lubbock, G. Shaw-Lefevre and Henry Labouchere.
Nowhere in these pamphlets does one discover a fair statement of
the position and arguments of the so-called International Bimetal-
list. On the contrary, each author appears to have a different view
of the meaning of bimetallism and opposes it with different argu-
ments. Mr. McLeod shows by reference to the history of bimetal-
lism in France that it is a policy discredited by experience,
unsupported by a scintilla of evidence either from theory or fact.
Leaflet No. 6, however, condemns international bimetallism because
it is a wholly new thing both in theory and practice. Sever*!
writers object to a larger use of silver on the ground that the public
does not like to employ it as a medium of exchange on account of
its bulk. Gold, because of its great value and small bulk, it is
pointed out, has been selected by the civilized world as the metal
best qualified to serve as money, and Lord Playfair in pamphlet No.
13 declares that the great bulk of the $676,000,000 gold in the
United States is circulating in trade, whereas our silver coin is
stored in the cellars of the Treasury. Mr. Ottomar Haupt, however,
in the pamphlet on "The Scarcity of Gold" explains the large
accumulation of gold in the banks of Europe and the United States
by the declaration that the public does not want to use gold, but
prefers paper money.
These are samples of the sort of information and argument
which one finds in these leaflets defending the gold standard.
(92)
NOTES. 93
There is throughout an absence of candor. For instance, Shaw-
Lefevre, while attacking the claim that India's export trade has
been benefited by the fall in the price of silver, points triumphantly
to the fact that India's exports in 1895 were relatively small, not-
withstanding the low price of silver. Now, as a matter of fact,
India has not been upon the silver standard since 1893, and changes
in the price of silver have not been reflected in the purchasing
power of the Indian currency. Mr. Shaw-I/efevre makes no note of
this important fact nor does he call any attention to the fact that
the great fall of silver in 1890, when India was upon the silver
standard, was followed by a 100 per cent increase in the exports
of wheat from India. Sir John Lubbock denies emphatically that
silver has been demonetized in recent years, and he supports his
denial by showing that large amounts of silver have been coined
in Europe and the United States in the last twenty years and are
now in use as money. He apparently has no conception of the
difference between the use of a metal as money, or as a standard of
value, and its use as the material out of which credit money is
made. In Europe and the United States silver is no more money
to-day than is paper.
On the whole, these Gold Standard pamphlets deserve little com-
mendation from any point of view. It is doubtful if they convert
or convince the ignorant, and they are liable to injure the cause of
the gold standard with men who think. In logic, candor and in-
formation, they are far below the "Sound Currency" pamphlets
issued by the Reform Club of New York City.
TOGETHER WITH THE Jubilee Edition of John Morley's "I/ifeof
Richard Cobden, ' '* noticed in the March number of the ANNJLLS, t
T. Fisher Unwin, has brought out an interesting volume of free trade
essays, sympathetically introduced to the public by Mr. Richard
Gowing. These consist of three essays which appeared in Cos-
mopolis for June, 1896, by Henry Dunckley , Paul I/eroy-Beaulieu and
Theodore Earth, the speeches of the Hon. Leonard Courtney and of
the Right Hon. Charles Pelham Villiers, delivered at the Cobden
Club dinner last summer and the address of the club to the latter
veteran statesman. All of these essays are favorable to free trade
but there is not much of jubilation in the account of "Richard
Cobden; His Work and the Outcome of his Ideas," supplied by
^Richard Cobden and the Jubilee of Free Trade. With an introduction by Richard
Gowing. Pp.246. Price, ys. 6rf. I^ondon: T. Fisher TJnwin, 1896.
t Vol. ix, p. 272.
94 ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
Paul Leroy-Beaulieu. In the opinion of the well-known French
economist free trade has been losing ground since the death of
Cobden in 1866. Even in England he perceives symptoms of the
degeneration which is strongly marked on the Continent and in
this country.
The other writers have no misgivings either in regard to the
beneficence of a free trade policy or of the ultimate triumph of free
trade ideas. Taken as a whole the volume contains in readable
form some of the most important arguments in favor of England's
chosen policy and much evidence as to the beneficial results that
have followed the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846.
PROFESSOR GIDDINGS IS to be congratulated upon the unusually
hearty reception accorded to his ' ' Principles of Sociology. ' ' A
French translation has already appeared and the book is now
being translated into Spanish by Professor Adolpho Posada of
the University of Oviedo. The author's skill in the use of clear
and concise language, combined with a happy style, makes his
work deservedly popular. He has, however, added materially to
its usefulness in the class-room by the preparation of a syllabus en-
titled "The Theory of Socialization."* The teacher who desires to
use the "Principles" in class- work, will find the syllabus with its
definite propositions of very great value. It will enable him to
combine so much of Professor Giddings' theory as he may desire
with lectures of his own, without any inconvenience whatsoever.
It will add also materially to a clear conception of Professor Gid-
dings' theoretical position. In many ways the statements in the
syllabus are clearer than the corresponding passages in the "Prin-
ciples, ' ' and one can see much more easily the proportions of the
whole work and where the author desires to lay the greatest em-
phasis.
The first chapter on "The Modes of Purposive Activity," is
almost entirely new and adds greatly to the value of the whole book.
The chapter on "The Social Mind and Social Control" is the one
which, it is to be hoped, the author will work over and restate in
the future. In reply to various criticisms of the use which Profes-
sor Giddings makes of the term "Social Mind, " he has modified it
in a way to make it a less useful and consistent concept in his whole
* The TTieory of Socialization. A Syllabus of Sociological Principles for the Use
of College and University Classes. With References to the Third Edition of
"Principles of Sociology." By FRANKLIN H. GIDDINGS, A. M. Pp. xiv, 47. Price,
60 cents. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1897.
NOTES. 95
system than the same ideas combined a little differently might be.
Professor Giddings has been exceptionally free from the confusion in
many sociological treatises arising from an injudicious use of biolog-
ical terminology. While no one will accuse him any longer of sup-
posing that there is a social ego or "mysterious transcendental being
which manifests the phenomena of the social mind, ' ' he should free
his students from any possibility of misunderstanding, by giving us
some new term for "social mind."
In an appendix to the present book, the author has worked out
an exceedingly interesting table on the basis of census figures,
illustrating the application of his theory in relation to the degree
of kinship in the population of the United States. When in time
students have worked out these formulae on the basis of other sta-
tistical reports and for other countries as well as the United States,
a very interesting test of the accuracy of Professor Giddings' rea-
soning will have been made.
Le Malentendu Monttaire* by M. Adolphe Houdard, is a keen
criticism of gold monometallism and bimetallism at a fixed ratio by
one who is not an apostle of either theory. The claims and preten-
sions of the monometallists are subjected to a searching investiga-
tion. Inasmuch as bimetallism, in the eyes of the author, consists
in the simultaneous employment of ooth gold and silver, he finds
that the monometallist contention ignores facts and places before us
an ideal which is impossible of attainment. On the other hand he
finds equal fault with the fixity of ratio which forms a cardinal
point in the bimetallist creed. This then, is the monetary misun-
derstanding that the choice of policy is restricted to these two
policies. Many years ago Joseph Garnier suggested that gold and
silver circulate concurrently without a fixed ratio between them.
To this suggestion the author returns. In some detail, he develops
the possibility of a simultaneous existence of a gold standard based
upon the louis and a silver standard based upon the franc, one
destined for the larger payments of mercantile life, the other for
the smaller ones. Up to the extent of perhaps five louis, there
should be a legal relation between values, in order that commerce be
not impeded by difficulties of making change. That such a plan
would profoundly modify commercial usages, the author is free to
admit, but would, he declares, be beneficial. It is difficult to see
how such a proposition if practicable would meet the fundamental
*Le Malentendu Monttaire. By ADOLPHE HOUDARD. Pp.48. Price, 2.50 fr.
Paris : Guillaumin et Cie, 1897.
96 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
objection of the bimetallists that the gold basis leads infallibly
under present conditions to an appreciation of the monetary unit
STUDENTS OF SCIENTIFIC socialism and especially those interested
in Karl Marx will be glad to know that a convenient and cheap
edition of one of Marx's earliest books has just appeared. " Miser e
de la Philosophic"* is in many respects one of the most interesting
and typical of Marx's publications. It was more than a reply to
Proudhon. It was written originally in French in the winter of
i846 and 1847, almost at the beginning of Marx's literary activity.
Engels wrote a long preface for a German translation which was
published in 1892, in which he interpreted the essay as of value to
German socialists as a criticism of the position of Rodbertus. This
preface is reproduced in a French translation in the present edition
and three appendices of more than passing interest are also included
in this volume; one gives a French translation of an article by
Marx on Proudhon, giving his personal estimate of the man. This
was printed originally in the Social Dcmokrat in January, 1865.
The second appendix contains an extract from Marx's work entitled
' ' Zur Kritik der Politischen Economic, ' ' in which Marx shows that
Proudhon's notion concerning the organization of exchange in credit
banks originated with John Gray, and was elaborated by him in the
book entitled, "The Social System, etc. , a Treatise on the Principle of
Exchange" (Edinburgh, 1831). The third appendix is a lecture by
Marx on Free Trade, delivered in French at Brussels, January, 1848.
The essay on Proudhon, which covers about two hundred pages
of this small edition, is full oPspirit and in many places shows
Marx at his best. His wide reading and ready use of material
made him a rather formidable critic, while his impatience with
any one who did not agree with his one-sided interpretation of
history made him unfair. Many things in this early essay do not
tally with his later views as expressed in his work on "Capital;"
but the strong points as well as the limitations of his method are
well illustrated in this earlier work.
THE STATE DEPARTMENT has issued Part II of the Consular Reports
on "Money and Prices in Foreign Countries, "f It describes the
* Misere de la Philosophie. Riponse a la Philosophic de la Misere de Af. Proudhon.
By KARL MARX. AYCC nne Preface de Friedrich Engels. Pp. 291. Price , 3.50 fr.
Paris: Giard & Briere, 1896.
f Money nd Prices in Foreign Countries. (Special Consular Reports, Vol. xiii,
Part II) Issued from Bureau of Statistics, Department of State. Pp. T, 154. Wash-
ington: Gorernment Printing Office, 1897.
NOTES. 97
monetary systems, the foreign trade, wages and prices in some
twenty countries of the world, including Brazil, China, India,
Japan, Peru, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and Norway. The reports
are of unequal merit, but the volume as a whole will prove of great
value to the student of finance and foreign trade.
MR. MAURICE L. MUHI.EMAN has brought out a second edition of
his very useful " Monetary Systems of the World"* in which the
financial and banking statistics of the United States and of other
countries are brought down to 1896. Recent bond issues by the
government are described in detail as well as recent important
events relating to monetary legislation and to the progress of inter-
national bimetallism. Mr. Muhleman takes his facts and statistics
from official sources and his volume will be found exceedingly help-
ful to those who wish to have in condensed form a compendium of
monetary information.
A RECENT ADDITION to the series of theses on the taxing systems
of different states brought out by students of Professor Seligman of
Columbia University is an essay by Mr. F. H. Noble, on "Taxation
in Iowa, "f The historical portion of this monograph is decidedly
scrappy and unsatisfactory, but the account of the existing taxing
system is ample and extracts from the laws now in force, which con-
stitute the body of the essay, will prove serviceable to students who
do not wish to consult the original statutes. The chapter on the
' ' General Property Tax' ' suffers from a lack of careful revision more
than any other portion of the essay. Little attempt is made to
show how this important feature of the taxing system has developed
or to explain the interesting deviations from the principle of a
general property tax which Iowa has introduced. If the author had
given some attention in his concluding chapter to the actual defects
in the taxing system of Iowa as a working system and suggested
reforms in harmony with the historical development of that system,
the reader would gladly forego the defence of direct and collateral
inheritance taxes which that chapter contains.
* Monetary Systems of the World. By MAURICE I/. MUHLEMAN. Pp. 239. New
York: Chas. H. Nicoll, 1897.
t Taxation in Iowa: Historical Sketch, Present Status and Suggested Reforms.
By F. H. NOBLE, A. M., UL,. B. Pp. m. Price, $1.00. St. Louis : Nixon-Jones Co.
1897.
98 ANNALS OF THE; AMERICAN ACADEMY.
THE WEU.-KNOWN DICTIONARY of political economy edited by
MM. Le"on Say and Joseph Chailley-Bert has recently been brought
down to date through the publication of a supplement.* The
editors at first contemplated a new edition, the earlier one having
been exhausted some time since, but were dissuaded from this idea
by the representations of the purchasers of the dictionary that a
supplement would answer the same purpose and save expense to
both publishers and public. Among the new articles we note
biographies of Cairnes, Hegel, David Hume, Jevons, Leibnitz,
Leslie, Roscher, Le"on Say, Spinoza, Thorold Rogers and West, dis-
cussions of the English School since J. S. Mill, Christian Socialism,
Cereals, Railroads, etc., all of which are welcome additions, Mr.
Henry Higgs contributes the article on the English School which
contains a very fair-minded review of recent English work in
economics. In general style the "Supplement" is uniform with
the ' ' Diciionnaire, ' ' and its articles compare very favorably with
those of the earlier publication.
THE NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY has recently issued a Bulletin
(No. 8) dealing with state finance statistics. f The receipts, ex-
penditures, endowment funds and indebtedness for the years 1890
and 1895 are compared. Taking the aggregate of state budgets,
the year 1890 shows a surplus of receipts over expenditures, whereas
1895 shows a deficiency. "The total receipts for the former year
(1890) were $111,195,003, of the latter (1895) $124,925,920, an increase
of about 12 per cent, while the expenditures meantime rose from
$105,904,997 to $129,129,225 or 22 per cent." The report points out
the very interesting fact that the total expenditures by the forty-five
states in 1895 "were barely a fourth of those of the United States
Treasury, while New York City alone spent 40 per cent as much as
all the states combined. ' ' Of the total state expenditures, 37 per
cent was for educational purposes. On the side of receipts, the most
important changes are to be found in the increased returns from
taxation of corporations and the inheritance tax. The former has
risen from $12,354,864 in 1890 to $16,908,112 in 1895; an increase
of 38 per cent. Inheritance taxes rose from $1,886,509 to $4,016,841
during the same period. The tendency seems to be toward special
taxes involving the gradual subordination, or even abandonment of
*Suppltment au Nouveau Dictionnaire <fconomie Politique. By MM. L6ON SAY
and JOSEPH CHAILLEY-BERT. Pp. vi, 271. Price, s/r. Paris: Guillaumin et Cie,
1897.
t Slate Library Bulletin, Legislation, No. 8, March, 1897. Pp. 54. Price, 10 cents.
Albany; University of the State of New York, 1897.
NOTES. 99
the general property tax, as in the case of Connecticut and Dela-
ware. The indebtedness of the states is being reduced far more
rapidly than that of the federal or local governments. The total
debt of $203,804,575 in 1890 was reduced to $174,027,326 in 1896.
THE FIFTH VOLUME of Traill's "Social England, "* which has
lately appeared, carries the narrative along from the accession of
George I. to the Battle of Waterloo, and thus covers the formative
period in the history of modern England. There are twenty-two con-
tributors to this volume, each considering some different phase of
England's social development and the result, as in previous volumes,
is a somewhat uneven sketch of the history of the century covered.
The economic student will turn first of all to the sections on agri-
culture written by Mr. Prothero and those on manufacturing written
by Mr. Beazley. In the contributions of both these gentlemen will
be found a good deal of interesting material not easily accessible
elsewhere, but little calculated to modify preconceived opinions in
regard to the agricultural and the manufacturing development of
England during the last century. The volume is supplied with
useful bibliographies, a full table of contents and an excellent
index.
THE INTEREST AROUSED by the work of Lombroso and his school,
has given rise not only to a large number of volumes devoted to
the various aspects of criminal anthropology, but also to two period-
icals, one in Italy and one in France, devoted to this field. In Ger-
many the doctrines have made comparatively slow progress, but a
widespread interest has been awakened in the problems raised.
This now finds expression in a new journal, ' 'Zeitschrift fur
Criminalantkropologie, Gefdngnisswissenschaft und Prostitutionswe-
sen," of which the first issue appeared March 20, 1897. The editor
is Dr. Walter Wenge, of Berlin, and the contributors comprise the
principal criminologists of Germany and Austria. Lombroso and
modern criminal anthropology, crime and insanity, the handwriting
of criminals and kindred topics drawn from the pathological aspects
of human society are discussed in the first issue. The journal will
doubtless furnish a useful repository for articles and discussions
which must otherwise appear sporadically in legal, medical and
psychiatric periodicals.
Social England. A Record of the Progress of the People in Religion, Laws,
Learning, Arts, Industry, Commerce, Science, Literature and Manners from the
Earliest Times to the Present Day. Edited by H. D. TRAILL, D. C. L. Vol. v.
Pp. viii, 636. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1896.
ioo ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
REVIEWS.
Studies in Diplomacy. From the French of COUNT BENEDETTI. Pp.
Ixix, 323. Price, |3.oo. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1896.
An Ambassador of the Vanquished, Viscount jfrliede Gontaut- Bison's
Mission to Berlin, 1871-1877. By the DUKE DE BROGUE. Trans-
lated, -with notes by ALBERT D. VANDAM. Pp. 282. Price, fo.oo.
New York: The Macmillan Co., 1896.
In the first of these volumes Count Benedetti takes up again the
difficult task begun in his "Mission en Prusse in 1871 " of justify-
ing himself in the eyes of the French people and throwing the blame
for the precipitate war of 1870, which many have attached to him, on
to the shoulders of Duke de Gramont, Bismarck and William I.
Feeling that he has been ill used by those at whose hands he expected
at least consideration, his cry is for justice. Much, of the book,
therefore, is given up to the details of the attempt to place Prince
Leopold on the Spanish throne, after Isabella had been forced to aban-
don it, and of Benedetti's mission to Ems to get William I. to disavow
such a proceeding officially. While the spirit of his race is seen on
almost every page of his book and no attempt is made to disguise his
hatred for Bismarck, his words must be accorded a respectful consid-
eration by the historian. For Benedetti played a leading part in the
prologue to the war of 1870, and his views are those of one intimately
acquainted with the preliminary stage-setting. His aim is to show
that Prussia, and consequently Bismarck, was responsible for that
war, that William bore a part of the responsibility, and that events
were hastened by the ill-judged attitude and demands of the Duke
de Gramont.
He informs us that he knew Bismarck was doing all he could to bring-
about the war; that he foreshadowed this in his dispatches so far back
as 1866, and that he was aware Bismarck was only playing a game of
delay in order that a favorable opportunity might be created. And
from his statements the inference is natural, that he (Benedetti) fully
understood that Bismarck was only using France as a tool to aid in
accomplishing his own desire the unification of Germany.
When the attempt to place Leopold on the Spanish throne became
known to de Gramont, Benedetti was immediately ordered to repair
to Ems and insist upon King William's directing that Leopold not
only reconsider his acceptance but decline the crown. The orders to
Benedetti were couched in anything but diplomatic language, and he
takes ample occasion to show how he modified their tone when pre-
senting them to William, and at the same time shows his contempt
for the immoderate zeal of de Gramont. The day after his arrival at
STUDIES IN DIPLOMACY. 101
Ems lie obtained an interview with the King, in which he expressed
the hope that he would advise Leopold to renounce his intention of
accepting the offer made to him. The King's courteous reply
was that, having had no hand in the negotiations, he had so
far only indicated to Prince Anthony, Leopold's father, that if Leo-
pold accepted he would approve, or if he now felt inclined to recon-
sider his action and withdraw he would still approve, his only desire
being the furtherance of the best interests of international peace and
harmony. In subsequent interviews the attitude maintained was
always the same, and always with a kingly courtesy and dignity. But
when the negotiations between Spain and Prince Anthony had reached
such a point, that William deemed it wise to take a further step, he
yielded to the persistence of Benedetti so far as to say that he expected
a communication from Prince Leopold and that upon its arrival would
give a definite answer. This, too, with the air of one having no part in
the events, and unaware of what was going on until informed, while
all the time not only controlling the negotiations but fixing the time
for the public announcement of the results.
Thus put off, de Gramont grows impatient and demands that the
King announce his disapproval of Leopold's course; but fearing this is
going too far he immediately sends another dispatch to Benedetti
requesting that above all the announcement of Leopold's withdrawal
be given the stamp of official Prussian sanction by coming first from
the King. William promises again to convey such intelligence as is
at his command, and on the thirteenth of July authorizes Benedetti
to say to his government that Leopold had resigned and that he
approved of the act, but this communication came not in audience with
the King, as he had promised, but was transmitted through one of
his aides-de-camp. Meantime William had carefully arranged matters
so that the first announcement should be made in Paris through the
Spanish ambassador there, and this was done on the twelfth of July.
The excitement was great, and de Gramont finding that he had been
outwitted, tried to retrieve the day by demanding through Benedetti
that William guarantee that Leopold would not again become a can-
didate, and through the Prussian ambassador, Werther, that he
(William) make a statement that the affair was at an end and that all
misunderstandings between the two governments should now cease.
To these William replied firmly that the incident must be considered
closed. Then came Bismarck's Ems dispatch and the declaration
of war.
One rises from a perusal of these pages with the impression that
whatever may have been the abilities displayed by de Gramont and
Benedetti, they were as puppets in the hands of Bismarck and
io2 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
William. The latter, indeed, in the conduct of the Leopold episode,
betrays a subtle diplomacy that we are more inclined to associate with
the Latin than with the Teutonic mind. He not only toyed with
Benedetti and de Gramont, but arranged with Princes Anthony and
Leopold that the announcement of his resignation should first be
made public as the latter's individual act, with which he had no
official concern; and that done, he of course had no hesitation in sub-
sequently stamping it with his approval. If the figure of Bismarck
is stamped in bold relief on the pages of Count Benedetti's book, his
prominence is almost as great in the volume of the Duke de Broglie.
M. de Gontaut was called upon by his defeated and humiliated country
to represent it at the victorious court of the newly created Emperor.
And that he was able to do this with some grace and no little tact,
though without previous diplomatic training, speaks well for his
abilities. Still, these pages have to do rather with the small talk of
diplomacy, for they enlighten us little upon the great events hap-
pening in Europe. They serve also to show what an attitude of
studied contempt for France Bismarck adopted in his relations with
M. de Gontaut. Astounded at her rapid recovery from the disasters
of the war, Bismarck for a moment looked with jealous eye on the
military preparations that France was making, and made them the
pretext for causing M. de Gontaut all sorts of evil quarters of an
hour. He assumed the position of big bully, and by refusing to have
intercourse with M. de Gontaut, except through an intermediary, who
was entrusted with no powers to conclude any negotiations, he showed
that, having France once under his heel, he meant to keep her there.
HERBERT FRIEDENWALD.
Philadelphia.
The Puritan in England and New England. By EZRA HOYT
BYINGTON, D.D. With an Introduction by Alexander McKenzie,
D.D. Pp. xl, 406. Price, $2.00. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1896.
Mr. Byington has, on divers occasions, been asked to read papers
before "a number of historical societies, and before students, in
colleges and seminaries." These essays, "rewritten and recon-
structed, so as to bring them into connection with each other, ' ' are
now presented to the public as a treatise on certain aspects of Puri-
tanism. The result is a readable book in large type, with a picture
or so, to which a reader may devote a few hours with the comfort-
able feeling that the history is orthodox, according to Green,
Macaulay and Palfrey, and the point of view satisfactory to good
Americans.
THE PURITAN IN ENGLAND AND NEW ENGLAND. 103
When one seriously asks : What is the scientific value of this work
as a contribution to historical writing, it must candidly be confessed
that it cannot be rated very high. While Mr. Byington is, strictly
speaking, neither a collector of facts nor an ' ' artist in world-move-
ments, ' ' yet his aim is toward the latter. His book is not, in the
main, a critical study of the sources of historical information ; it
does not seek to discover new facts, or criticise received statements ;
on the contrary it takes its facts generally from well-known author-
ities and attempts to show their meaning and relations, and to
illustrate the conclusions by references here and there to original
sources. Excellent as such a purpose may be, its successful accom-
plishment demands no ordinary equipment. A trite and exasper-
ating criticism of humble monographists in history, often is that
they confine their work to dead facts and do not rise to the broader
relations and meaning of those facts. To this they rightly reply
that such was not their object, they wished merely to furnish
material to the artists of history, and that while there is a limit to
such division of labor, yet the division is, in this complicated world,
absolutely necessary. Mr. Byington, however, has no such excuse
to offer ; he has avowedly undertaken a piece of broad intricate his-
torical writing ; work that requires not only artistic sense and phil-
osophic insight, but a long training in analysis, and a broad
acquaintance with the almost infinite details of history. These re-
quirements Mr. Byington does not possess. He is evidently a
clergyman and has set about writing history as he writes sermons,
that is, topically. Now history can be written topically only by one
who possesses back of the separate topics a unified body of knowl-
edge a unified conception of the general subject. Otherwise we
shall have a series of essays, interesting perhaps, but not very valu-
able, not very true, and, above all, disconnected. Such is the book
before us. The author first wrote an essay on the heresy trial of a
stout old Puritan, William Pynchon ; then he wrote an essay on
Puritan ministers in general, and another on the case of Robert
Breck. An invitation to Maine probably caused the essay on
Northern New England Puritanism, and, it being necessary to have
an introductory chapter, that on the Puritan in England was com-
piled. The result of this is, naturally, not a book but a series of
dissertations, on slightly related subjects, but lacking that broad
fundamental grasp of the central subject of Puritanism, which its
topical treatment absolutely demands.
Moreover, the author's acquaintance with sources of historical in-
formation in regard to his subject, is not such as to inspire confi-
dence in his critical judgments. One feels that his broader
104 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
conclusions are those of the authorities so copiously quoted : Hallam,
Green, Palfrey, Campbell, Neal, and others. When the author
himself ventures among original material he evinces that lack of
discrimination that characterizes the new comer; for instance, we
have placed before us in one breath as authorities, copious extracts
from Colonel Hutchinson's letters to his wife, and from Longfel-
low's "Miles Stand ish. "
Such a book may be interesting, it may even justify publication
for certain readers, but it is not a distinct contribution to histori-
cal writing. The non-committal words of the introducer, Dr.
McKenzie, best characterize the work: "The design of this book is
a large one. ' '
W. E. BURGHARDT DU BOIS.
University of Pennsylvania.
The Physiocrats: Six Lectures on the French Economistes of the
Eighteenth Century. By HENRY HiGGS. Pp. x, 151. Price, |i.io.
London and New York: The Macmillan Co., 1897.
As the first work in English dealing in a comprehensive way
with the Physiocrats, Mr. Higgs' ' ' Lectures, ' ' will be welcomed
by a wide circle of readers. While they do not add very much to
what was already known in regard to the leading doctrines of this
school, they do contain a very full and interesting account of the
Physiocrats themselves and of the literary history of their ideas.
At the outset the author explains that "critical and doctrinal
comment" have been restricted within the narrowest limits, with a
view to making the lectures interesting to the somewhat miscella-
neous audience for which they were originally prepared. In this
endeavor he has been entirely successful. Anecdote and biographi-
cal detail help to give a vividness to his characterizations of Mira-
beau, Turgot and the other writers of which he treats, while his
analysis of the theories of the school is simple and direct. Even
Quesnay acquires flesh and blood under his treatment and his
' ' Tableau economique' ' is explained so that the dullest intelligence
may understand it.
Starting out with a brief description of the economic condition
of France during the first half of the eighteenth century, Mr. Higgs
makes Cantillon's "JSssai," published in 1755, the first literary land-
mark in the history of Physiocratic ideas. He shows how much
Mirabeau's "L'ami des homines'" owed to this work and describes
the celebrated meeting between that author and Quesnay in July,
1757, which gave the latter his first and most devoted disciple. The
THE PHYSIOCRATS. 105
second of the six lectures is devoted to an account of the life and
writings of Quesnay and here the leading features of the "agricul-
tural system" are explained. In the third, fourth and fifth lectures
an excellent sketch of the growth of the school, of the characters
and writings of its principal members and of its opponents is given
and abundant references are supplied to enable the student to follow
out any special phase of the thought and activity of this interesting
group of writers. Turgot's saying, "Je ne suis point encydopediste
carje crois en Dieu. Je ne suis point economiste car je ne voudrais
pas de roi" is quoted and serves to explain more clearly his rela-
tion to his contemporaries than pages of description could do. In
conclusion Mr. Higgs traces out the "influence of the school" as
reflected in the writings of English economists from Adam Smith
to Henry George, and in such French writers as J. B. Say and
Bastiat and calls attention to the progress made towards the system
of liberty and the concentration of the burden of taxation upon
land.
The great merits of these lectures lies in the very complete view
of the literary history of the Physiocrats which they contain. There
is hardly an important writing that is not analyzed or an important
writer about whose life and character something interesting is not
said. When it comes to the philosophical explanation of the Physi-
ocratic system however, and the appreciation of their services to
economic science, the book under review leaves much to be desired.
The very profusion of biographical and bibliographical information
which is supplied tends to obscure the historical problem which a
writer on the Physiocrats should hold steadily in view. Just why
did this system of economics attain to the remarkable vogue which
it enjoyed from 1760 to 1780? What was peculiar in the situation
of France which led her thinkers to give so much attention to social
philosophy and to ascribe so much importance to agriculture in the
industrial economy they contemplated?
The answers to these questions are contained implicitly in the
material which Mr. Higgs has brought together, but he nowhere
brings out clearly either the questions or the replies which he him-
self would make to them. The history of a school of thought is
more than an account of individual peculiarities and of individual
opinions. In the history of political economy no school has yet
arisen which has had so much the character of a religious "sect"
as did the Physiocrats. For this there must be some explanation
and the critic who will adequately explain this phenomenon and
distinguish the permanent element of truth in those systems of polit-
ical economy which separate out the industry devoted to procuring
106 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
subsistence from the mass of human activities will find his audi-
ence ready for him. Mr. Higgs does not do this, but the more
modest task, which he does undertake, is performed with a care and
judgment which make his "Lectures' ' a valuable contribution to the
history of economic theories.
H. R. S.
A Critical Study of Nullification in South Carolina. By DAVID F.
HOUSTON, A. M. Pp. 175. Price, $1.25. New York : Longmans,
Green & Co., 1896.
This monograph supplies a readable presentation of certain sides
of the nullification controversy. The work is not intended as a
general history of the subject but rather as a sketch of the internal
development of the doctrine in a single state of the Union. The
author traces the various stages of the movement from the earliest
symptoms of discontent in 1816-1820 down to the frank enunciation
of the doctrine in 1833. The chief merit of the monograph lies,
not so much in the discovery of new facts to which indeed the
author makes no claim but rather in showing the intimate con-
nection which existed between the doctrine of nullification and
its underlying causes. The institution of slavery rendered impossi-
ble the introduction of manufactures into the South and made
it dependent for its prosperity on the sale of cotton, a commodity
whose price had begun to fall. The older states of the South, there-
fore, declined in prosperity in competition with the newer and
more fertile regions opened to cultivation. The acute feeling of
discontent arising from these conditions vented itself in attacks on
the tariff which was regarded as the cause of all the evil. Some
justification for this complaint was given by the grasping and
selfish policy pursued by the Eastern and Middle States, and added
causes of irritation were found in the supposed tendency of the
federal government to increase its powers in other directions as
well as in the open attacks on slavery made in the halls of Congress
by Northern representatives.
As to the significance of the nullification movement the author
points out that, although the nullifiers originally contemplated
secession only as a remote possibility, the continued action of the
real causes which produced the doctrine of nullification lead inev-
itably to the movement to dissolve the Union. ' ' By 1832 the feelings
of a majority of South Carolinians were alienated from the Union
many of her wisest and most far-sighted citizens felt that
the final struggle was only a matter of time. ' '
JAMES T. YOUNG.
THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION. 107
The English Constitution ; A Commentary on Its Nature and Growth.
By JESSK MACY, M. A. , Professor of Political Science in Iowa Col-
lege. Pp. xxiii, 534. Price, $2.00. New York and London : The
Macmillan Co. , 1897.
Since Professor Macy published his little book on civil govern-
ment in the United States, students of politics have expected
nothing but good work from his pen. The present volume on the
English constitution is, on the whole, the most elaborate and the
best that he has published.
The book has been written primarily to furnish in convenient form
for American students a sufficient account of the development and
present working of the English constitution to enable them to un-
derstand thoroughly the government of the United States. Professor
Macy believes with Mr. Hannis Taylor, and indeed with most students
of American politics, that no thorough knowledge of that subject
can be acquired without noting carefully the historic connection
between American and English institutions. Moreover, no other
government of the present day is so suggestive by way of contrast.
The United States is considered the type of the presidential form of
government; England is the best representative of the parliamentary
form. The United States is the typical country with a written con-
stitution ; England the typical country without a written consti-
tution.
The first part of the work is, for American students, on the whole,
the best account that can be found in compact form of the English
constitution as it works to-day. It lacks some of the life and vigor
of Bagehot's account, is indeed somewhat diffuse in style; but it is
more complete than Bagehot's, and being written from the Ameri-
can standpoint is peculiarly adapted for the use of American
students. Throughout the work Professor Macy has aimed to give
not merely the form of the English government, but also to inter-
pret its spirit ; and he also presents the contrasts in our government
in such a way as to bring out the strong and the weak points in
each.
Every student of politics is likely of course to have his own point
of view, and in consequence to find in the work of another parts
that seem especially strong and others that seem weak. To the
reviewer of this work, the chapter on the English courts seems
especially good, and the discussion regarding the influence of the
judiciary upon the constitutions of the two countries unusually
suggestive and helpful. The discussion of the prerogative of the
Crown is also of especial merit; while that regarding the church
seems to be inadequate. Aside from the direct question of its
io8 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
disestablishment, the church has a very powerful influence in many
cases in English politics to-day, and some few words at least might
well have been said regarding this influence.
In one or two minor matters, Professor Macy seems to have failed
to make quite clear the spirit of the English government. For ex-
ample, in his chapter on the House of Lords, in referring to the
duty of the Lords to yield to the House of Commons on matters of
vital importance, Professor Macy seems to imply some formal dis-
tinction that separates cabinet from non-cabinet measures, though
possibly he does not intend to give the impression that there is any
formal distinction between the two, so far as their nature is con-
cerned. Any measure that would be of sufficient importance to
force an issue between the two houses, and that the cabinet cared
for any reason whatever to press, would be in the nature of the case a
cabinet measure. Adoption of a bill by the cabinet means only
that the cabinet thinks it important, and is willing to use its influ-
ence in pushing it, even to the extent of risking a defeat and con-
sequent resignation if necessary.
In this same chapter on the House of Lords are one or two state-
ments that, strictly speaking, amount to misstatements of facts.
For example, on page 43 it is stated that three members of the
House of Lords constitute a quorum for doing business. Of course
this is technically true, and in speaking of the judicial functions of
the House of Lords, it would not be misleading. But with reference
to ordinary legislation it is misleading, since, according to rule 33
of the house, adopted in 1889, thirty Lords must be present in order
that a question may be decided on a division. Again, on page 44,
in contrasting the attendance in the House of Lords with that in the
House of Commons,' the statement is made that "nearly every mem-
ber of the Commons habitually attends its sittings. On important
divisions each of the two parties musters nearly all its force." This
is somewhat too emphatic. It is well known that the House
of Commons has not seating capacity to accommodate all its mem-
bers, and on most divisions, even the important ones, a goodly
number is absent. On the second reading of Mr. Gladstone's Home
Rule bill, to be sure, there were only fourteen members absent, and
they were paired. But on that measure even the House of Lords
mustered 460. On most of the divisions in the Commons on the
Home Rule bill, considerably more than one hundred members were
absent, and in no case, I believe, except the one mentioned, were
less than fifty absent. Of course no other measure of late years has
aroused the same interest, and at no other time probably has the
attendance been so uniformly large as during that discussion.
ORIGINES DE LA FAMII,I<E. 109
Again, on page 87, it is implied that the Board of Trade is no
longer even formally a committee of the Privy Council; but while
it is a department of administration, I believe that in form it is
still a committee of the Privy Council. These errors, however, are
none of them important, and they are few.
The second part of the work, on constitutional history, is full of
information ; and in writing it Professor Macy has shown very great
skill in selecting just the matter that was needed to show clearly the
successive steps in the development of the constitution.
On the whole, the book will doubtless be found the most satisfac-
tory one for use in American colleges in the study of the English
constitution.
JEREMIAH W. JENKS.
Cornell University,
Theories modernes sur les origines de lafamille, de la soci6t& el de
Petal. Par ADOI,PHO POSADA, Professeur de droit politique a 1'Uni-
versite" d'Oviedo. Ouvrage traduit de 1'espagnol, avec 1'autorisation
de 1'auteur, par Frantz de Zeltner et pre'ce'de d'une preface de Rene"
Worms. Bibliothequesociologiqueinternationale, No. IV. Pp. 150.
Price, 4 francs; cloth, 6 francs. Paris: V. Giard et E. Briere, 1896.
Recht und Sitte auf den verschiedenen wirtschaftlichen Kulturstufen.
Von Dr. RICHARD HIUJEBRAND. Erster Theil. Pp. 191. Jena:
Gustav Fischer, 1896.
Both of these books are of unusual interest to students of primitive
institutions, especially to those familiar with the controversy over the
early forms of the family. In one sense, without apparently having
had any influence on each other, they mark the summing up of an
old and the beginning of a new order of procedure in such studies.
Professor Posada published his work in the Spanish original in
1892,* and has made few changes in the text for this French transla-
tion, other than in the addition of two short appendices, one develop-
ing more fully his thesis as to the character of the political state which
he conceives to be dependent on the ' ' symbiose territoriale" or asso-
ciation of families and individuals within territorial limits but without
community of origin or blood relationship, and the other putting forth
an hypothesis contrary to the supposition that the matriarch ate is the
more primitive type of family. This hypothesis consists of a linguistic
argument, by no means conclusive, resting on the assumption that
the radicals pa and ma t common to so many languages to denote
father and mother, vary sufficiently in the ease with which they can
be pronounced to indicate that/a, the easier to pronounce, is the older.
* Madrid, Imprimerie de la Revue de legislation.
no ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
Ma is the softer sound and pa the harsher, hence the latter is associated
with authority and with the presence of the male. From this Posada
infers that the prior position and authority of the father is indicated.
Interesting as is the suggestion it must needs be verified and substan-
tiated by many more arguments than Posada has given, and it is not
likely than he can make it conclusive or satisfactory. It is significant,
however, that he declares the solution of this problem of priority to
lie outside of historical proofs. The confusion arising from the results
of the studies of Maine and Fustel de Coulanges, who support the
patriarchal theory, and those of MacLennan, Bachofen, Lubbock,
Taylor and Spencer, who acknowledge the matriarchate in some form,
as well as those of Giraud-Tenlon, Dargun, Post, Letourneau and
Starcke, has been forced home on Posada after the careful review of
fhese various theories which he makes in the main portion of his book.
Herein consists the value of his work. Rene" Worms says the French
translation was deemed advisable because so many of the authors
referred to were not accessible in French. English students are more
favored because most of these appeared originally in English. But
the theories referred to are buried in such a mass of details that
those who are not specialists often lose their way, and English readers
will find the French translation useful for the concise, clear and sat-
isfactory review of the leading theories respecting the primitive forms
of the family which it contains. Posada approaches the problem
throughout from the point of view of the student of political science
who is in search of the characteristic feature of the political state and
believes it to lie outside of the blood-tie. In his suggestion that the
bond that characterizes society in general is not that of blood, but a
" communanti de nature" he has almost anticipated Professor Gid-
dings' contention that the original and elementary social fact is con-
sciousness of kind. Posada has given an excellent summary of the
historical method of dealing with the vexed problem of the origin of
the family, society and the political state, and pronounces the result
confusion, and in conclusion throws out the linguistic hypothesis to
account for his own position.
Thus far we have the summing up of the old modus operandi in
dealing with these questions. Hildebrand breaks new ground. His
" Recht und Sitte" is a fascinating book both in its method and its
results, many of which are tentative and will doubtless have to be
given up upon wider research. He appeals to a wide range of facts.
The problem he keeps distinctly in the foreground is the determina-
tion of a general history of the development of law and custom not
by an historical comparison of the phenomena observed by different
peoples at different times, but by grouping the material obtained in
RECHT UND SITTE. in
this way according to general economic stages of culture or civilization
(nach wirtschaftlichen Kulturstufen) . In this first part of his work
he treats of the hunting and fishing stage, of the pastoral stage and of
the landowning stage. It is surprising how much order comes at
once out of what has been hitherto confusion as a result of the appli-
cation of this method. The work combines a happy use of deduc-
tive reasoning with inductive verification, which should be the rule
rather than the exception in social and economic studies. The way
in which the results are stated with the references to authorities inter-
spersed, and the typographical arrangement, are a vast improvement
on the average German book-making.
Hildebrand starts out with man in the hunting stage, living in fam-
ilies, not in hordes, and traces first the development of the idea of
property in wife and child. An appeal to a little wider range of facts
would have corrected one error here, namely, that there is no property
in wives in the fishing stage, or not until after the stage of hunting
large animals has been reached. In South America there are instances
where peoples in the fishing stage have reached an economic develop-
ment when property in wives was recognized, the women being em-
ployed in rowing and managing the boats used in fishing . Hildebrand
might have used to advantage the voluminous reports of the American
Bureau of Ethnology, which contain a mine of wealth only too little
known to English-speaking students.
In both works here referred to there is much to support the view
that the problem of the primitive family might be reduced to much
simpler terms if we separated out the idea of the family as an institu-
tion having its chief support in primitive times from some social,
economic or religious motive entirely disconnected from any notion
of marriage. Westermarck, indeed, says* in one connection: "Mar-
riage is therefore rooted in family, rather than family in marriage,"
but does not seem to realize fully the significance of the statement.
If we once admit that systems of marriage grow out of the family, a
still more primitive form of social organization recognized as such,
the various forms of marriage (monogamy, polyandry, polygamy, etc.),
are less perplexing, and the question of priority in these forms less
important. The fundamental question then becomes what was the
nature of the most primitive family bond, and the method of inquiry
which Hildebrand launches forth so ably, if carried back to earlier
stages of human development and economic epochs anterior to the
fishing stage, bids fair to shed light on one of the most perplexing but
intensely interesting parts of sociological investigation.
SAMUEI, McCuNE LINDSAY.
* " History of Human Marriage," p. 22.
ii2 ANNAIS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
Domestic Service. By LUCY MAYNARD SALMON. Pp. 307. Price,
$2.00. New York : The Macmillan Co., 1897.
The servant girl question, that bugbear to domestic happiness-
which we are prone to fancy a special cross laid upon us by Provi-
dence to save us from the fate of Jeshurun, has, hitherto, received
little attention from trained economists. It has been, however, a
happy hunting-ground for general writers upon social topics, who
have advanced innumerable suggestions and plans for the promotion of
domestic felicity, which have left us very much as we were before.
The merit of Miss Salmon's work consists in a scholarly investigation
of the various aspects of the question, not as an isolated problem but
as closely related to the manifold industrial and labor difficulties of
modern society. She has written not merely for the edification of
the housekeeper, but also for the instruction of the economist.
In the early chapters of the book, Professor Salmon gives a read-
able account of domestic service in the colonial period. The story
of the indented servant and the redemptioner of colonial days has
been told before, and its incidents are not unfamiliar to the histor-
ical student. It acquires here a new interest from a lively recital
and from its obvious connection, by way of contrast, with later con-
ditions. The chapter which traces the transition from the quasi-
patriarchal relations of the colonial era to the contractual basis of
modern life, presents material less widely known, and disappoints
only because of its brevity.
The body of the work depicts present conditions and discusses
the future. In dealing with the economic and social conditions of
this form of labor, Miss Salmon reproduces the results of a statistical
investigation undertaken in 1888, and printed in 1892 in the publi-
cations of the American Statistical Association. We should regret
the prominence given to these figures, if her treatment of them
were not of greater value than the data themselves. In her intro-
duction and elsewhere, Miss Salmon has rested her case too largely
upon these inadequate figures and in this, unconsciously, does her
argument an injustice. They were gathered unsystematically and
are not sufficiently numerous to give a view of the general aspects
of the question. As collateral evidence they are of value and this is
their real place in the treatment. Statistical evidence from the
census and other sources carefully compiled by the author, gives an
adequate picture of the conditions with which she is concerned.
Miss Salmon points out that if economic condition be judged
solely by present earning capacity, the position of the domestic ser-
vant is very favorable. On the other hand, it affords no prospect of
promotion and involves social disadvantages which fully off-set the
STREET RAILWAY SYSTEM OF PHILADELPHIA. 113
high wages. The domestic servant stands outside of the main cur-
rent of industrial life. She lives in isolation, apart from her own
kith and kin, without industrial organization and without social
union with those of her own class. Elsewhere in society organized
forces of capital and labor control economic relations, the domestic
servant alone remains a unit. Her relation retains personal aspects
which have elsewhere disappeared. From this ill-adjustment of
service to the economic life of the time, grow infallibly the difficul-
ties and discontents which, in concrete form, vex the souls of house-
wives sometimes beyond endurance.
Reform cannot be personal and individual. The keynote of the
situation is struck when Miss Salmon says "What domestics as a
class desire is the opportunity of living their own lives in their own
way. ' ' They desire to be on the same footing with other laborers.
With this fundamental principle in mind, the author makes short
work of various well-meant proposals which neglect this thought. Re-
form must be economic, must affect the conditions of this class of
labor, must be slow and must be an evolution. Woman's labor in
modern industry has grown out of household occupations and we have
not yet reached the limit of this evolution. As women's labors are
eliminated from the household, the greater the proportion of
women workers whose labor is removed from the quasi-patriarchal
form of the family and made to harmonize with the conditions of
modern industry. The number of "employes" increases as the
number of servants decreases. Miss Salmon is not dogmatic but is
hopeful of adjustment to the economic conditions of modern labor.
The general principle is outlined with a bold hand, the indications
of it with some diffidence. Miss Salmon is by no means sure that
they will receive a ready assent and offers them merely as straws
which may show the direction of the current.
The work is full of fruitful suggestion, worthy of the thoughtful
attention of economists. It brings us a discussion of domestic service
as a part of the general labor problem, and is an admirable account
of the phases which the problem assumes in the case of the ever
present, but economically neglected, servant.
ROLAND P. FAI.KNER.
The Street Railway System of Philadelphia ; Its History and Present
Condition, By FREDERIC W. SPEIRS, Ph. D. Johns Hopkins
University Studies, XV Series, Nos. 3, 4 and 5. Pp. 123. Cloth,
$1.00 ; paper, 75 cents. Baltimore : The Johns Hopkins Press, 1897.
This book, although dealing almost exclusively with the street
railway system of a single city, is of interest to a far wider circle
ii4 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
than to the community of which it treats. The experience of Phil-
adelphia in street railway matters is unfortunately quite typical of
American experience generally. The franchises may have been
granted on slightly different terms in different cities ; one city may
have exacted more favorable returns, or retained a larger measure
of control and power of regulation than another; but nearly every
city has failed to understand the economic relation of natural
monopolies to the public and nearly everywhere with the same
practical results. For a score of years the problems of municipal
government have received a generous portion of public attention in
periodical literature. Unfortunately, however, this discussion has
generally been based on no adequate investigation of facts. The
public has thus far, for the most part, been regaled on theories based
largely on general impressions, and newspaper accounts.
Dr. Speirs' monograph on the "Street Railway System of Philadel-
phia' ' is not only a credit to himself as a careful piece of scholarly
investigation in an important field already too long neglected, but
it also cannot fail to be of great value to the general reader, inter-
ested in municipal problems. The tone is admirably judicial. It
will accordingly be disappointing alike to the radical and the con-
servative, and to all others whose theories are formulated without
much knowledge of, or regard for the facts. The book is neither a
special plea for or against public ownership, but an unprejudiced
recital of the facts relating to the development of the street railway
system in Philadelphia, so far as Dr. Speirs has been able to ascer-
tain them. Incidentally it is an interesting commentary on a large
and important body of facts that the public are entitled to know,
but which neither the public nor the investigator is yet able to
ascertain.
In writing a book to be read only by economists, it would
perhaps be unnecessary to make a very full statement of the
economic relation of natural monopolies to the public, but evi-
dently Dr. Speirs' book is not intended for economists alone, for
the early chapters treat of episodes in street railway history, inter-
esting to the general reader, but of little importance to the spe-
cialist. It is accordingly to be regretted that the chapter on the
' 'Evolution of Monopoly in Street Railway Service' ' does not more
fully discuss the monopolistic nature of street railways generally
and the inevitable and necessary tendency toward consolidation
where franchises have been granted to rival companies. The average
citizen is still persistent in his belief that the prices demanded for
services furnished by natural monopolies are regulated by competi-
tion, and by cost of production ; even so intelligent a body as the
STREET RAILWAY SYSTEM OF PHILADELPHIA. 115
Massachusetts Board of Railway Commissioners have asserted in a
recent report that a tax on a street railway company, either in the
form of a gross charge for the franchise or a percentage of receipts,
is a tax on the passenger, and it is accordingly a visionary scheme
to attempt to make the street railway service a source of public
revenue.
The history of the street railway service in Philadelphia shows
a persistent but futile attempt on the part of the state legis-
lature to secure competition by granting franchises to rival com-
panies. During the period from 1857 to 1874, no less than thirty-
nine different companies were granted charters to operate street
railways in Philadelphia. From the very beginning an agreement
was entered into by the different companies for the purpose of
regulating competition. By 1876, the thirty-nine companies had
been consolidated into seventeen, operating their lines in nominal
independence, but really working under an agreement made by the
Board of Street Railway Presidents and controlled by them. Since
1880, consolidation has been greatly facilitated by the formation of
traction companies, and the introduction of electricity as a motive
power. Finally, in 1895, all the important lines except one were
consolidated by merger or lease, into a single giant corporation,
with an authorized capital of $30,000,000 and controlling more than
four hundred miles of track.
The returns exacted for these valuable franchises fall into three
classes : ( i ) Nearly all the roads are required to repave and keep
in good repair the entire street occupied by their tracks. This
condition was exacted by general ordinance in 1857 before the
great value of street railway franchises was known. It has been
a source of endless litigation, the street railway companies at first
denying the right of the city to impose the condition, and subse-
quently when the city began to replace the cobble stone with im-
proved pavement, they maintained that they were not required to
repave with any other material than the original pavement. The
Supreme Court, however, decided in 1891, that it was never intended
that the street railway companies should always continue to exist in
"a cobble-stone age," and the decision of the lower court was
affirmed requiring them to repave with a new and improved pave-
ment. Since 1891, 271 miles of streets have been repaved by the
street railways companies, at an estimated cost of $9,000,000. The
annual value of this to the city is estimated at $450,000.
(2) Most of the companies chartered by special act prior to 1874
are required to pay a small tax on dividends when the dividends
exceed 6 per cent. This provision, too, has caused considerable
n6 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
litigation, the companies attempting to evade the plain provision of
the law by devious methods well known to such corporations. The
amount received from this source in 1895 was $92,339.20. None
of the companies chartered under the general law since 1874 are
required to pay this tax, although under the constitution the city
has full power to exact such terms as it chooses. As a matter of
fact several companies whose charters require them to pay a tax on
dividends, are evading the law wholly or in part.
(3) The third source of revenue is a car tax of $50 per car, from
which the city received in 1896, $97,550. Dr. Speirs justly con.
demns this form of taxation, as it offers a direct inducement to the
companies to furnish inadequate car accommodation, nor is the tax
so easy of collection as he seems to think. The total annual return
received by the city is placed at $639,000. It appears from this that
Philadelphia is receiving a larger return for the franchise privileges
granted than many other large American cities. Unfortunately,
however, under the pernicious system of granting perpetual fran-
chises, the city has placed itself beyond the possibility of exacting
a return at all approximating the amount it could equitably demand,
while many other cities by granting franchises for a limited period
will be able later to secure much more favorable terms. Dr. Speirs
does not specifically discuss the question of the most desirable form
of return for franchise privileges, whether by sale of franchise, by
taxation, or by better service, and lower fares. Nor does he discuss
the theoretical questions of public ownership, or public control.
But the book is bristling with facts bearing upon these questions,
and is indispensable to the municipal reformer, studying street rail-
way problems.
It is to be regretted that fuller information could not be given in
regard to the financial aspects of the question. But every investi-
gator knows that the methods of accounting and making reports
followed by the street railway companies are better adapted to con-
ceal, than to impart information.
ALBERT A. BIRD.
Otto, N. Y.
Southern Statesmen of the Old Regime. By WILLIAM P. TRENT.
Pp. xv, 293. Price, $2.00. New York : T. Y. Crowell & Co.j 1896.
In his life of Simms, Professor Trent showed such a sympathetic
insight into the political life of the South in ante bellum days, that
we look to his pen for valuable contributions to this side of Ameri-
can history. The volume under review justifies this expectation.
Professor Trent has a rare breadth of view and felicity of literary
SOUTHERN STATESMEN OF THE OLD REGIME. 117
style. He makes liis characters live before us. They are not mere
abstractions or catalogues of attributes, but flesh and blood men of
like passions with ourselves. They did not act from different mo-
tives than those which actuate us to-day. Trent calls this fact to
our minds, from time to time, by such remarks as the following:
"But impartiality was never Davis' forte, and where slavery was
concerned, he was always preternaturally squint-eyed. . . . Yet I
venture to assert that ninety-nine out of a hundred are going, in this
presidential year, to be guilty of partisanship just as indiscriminat-
ing as Davis', only perhaps less dangerous in its consequences."
The book was originally a series of lectures and bears evident
marks of its origin. As his typical Southern statesmen, he chooses
Washington, Jefferson, Randolph of Roanoke, Calhoun, Stephens,
Toombs, and Jefferson Davis. One naturally asks, why has there
been an omission of Marshall, Madison, Monroe, Crawford, Clay,
and others; but Professor Trent has anticipated the query and,
in his introduction, gives the grounds for his selection. He tells
us that : ' ' My opinions are the results of my own studies based
chiefly upon Southern materials, ' ' and these opinions have a frank-
ness and, often, an originality, which are delightful.
We have too few Southern historians. Here is one, "who cannot
recollect ever seeing a slave and who has never believed in the doc-
trine of states rights per se. ' ' These are truly the marks of one
belonging to a new generation and it is most encouraging to find
that a Southerner does not hesitate to admit that the South' s posi-
tion on slavery and disunion was morally and radically wrong.
With equal firmness, Professor Trent insists on the honesty of the
South. Even Jefferson Davis, whom the North has so hated, may
not be considered dishonest, though he was fanatical. The lecture
on Calhoun is the most satisfactory chapter in the book. Trent
sums up the whole question which presented itself to the men of
Calhoun's day in one pregnant sentence: "There was no question
as to the legal fact that slavery was acknowledged by the constitu-
tion, there should have been no question as to the moral fact that
slavery was not acknowledged as legitimate by the conscience of the
recently awakened world. ' '
The following sentences are also admirable in their clear appre-
hension of the position of the two sides to the great controversy :
' ' But the North, recognizing the constitutional obligation to protect
slavery, was conscious also of the moral obligation to suppress it,
and halting between opinions, proclaimed the doctrine of a 'higher
law. ' The Southerner was in no such dilemma ; he knew that
slavery was legal, he could not see that it was immoral ; hence he
u8 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
became righteously indignant at what he was bound to regard as
Northern aggression and infractions of the constitution. ' '
The description of the position of the planter class is well done and
shows a sympathetic appreciation of their view of political ques-
tions. We have left ourselves little space to speak of the first three
lectures. That on Washington is extremely eulogistic, that on Jef-
ferson discriminating, that on Randolph most entertaining. Trent's
choice of epithets for his protagonists is most happy. So are his
comparisons of Washington in politics to Sophocles in literature
and of Jefferson to Shelley. Sometimes, however, he makes com-
parisons which are rather fantastic than just, as when he speaks of
Randolph as a compound of Ithuriel and Caliban. Indeed, an ex-
cessive desire to be vivid and striking seems the chief defect in the
style of the lectures. Impartiality seems characteristic of Trent's
view of every man but Alexander Hamilton. For some reason, he
is unjust to him. The following sentence is so malignant and
untrue as to be ridiculous : ' ' He was selfish and cold, even when
the man who had made him what he was lay dead at Mt. Vernon. ' '
Even Jefferson knew the chief author of the Federalist too well to
speak of him in his bitterest moods, as "made" by Washington.
The portraits of the men, who are the subjects of the lectures, add
much to the value and attractiveness of the book.
The only serious misprint I have found is that John Taylor of
Caroline County, Virginia, is always referred to as John Taylor of
Carolina. Did the proof-reader refer to Johnson's "Cyclopaedia,'*
which, singularly, seems to have omitted the former man?
BERNARD C. STEINER.
Johns Hopkins University.
An Examination of the Nature of the State. A Study in Political
Philosophy. By WESTEi, WOODBURY WIIXOUGHBY, Ph. D. Pp.
448. Price, $3.00. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1896.
It is a matter of primary importance to the advance of scientific
thought that the views of conflicting schools be clearly and defi-
nitely presented. The endeavor to reconcile essentially conflicting-
views, has often been more of a barrier than an aid to progress.
The work of Professor Willoughby may be regarded as a treatise on
political science from the juristic standpoint. Although he is con-
tinually making reference to the psychic factors underlying political
association, yet his conclusions are scarcely influenced by such fac-
tors. In fact, the general tenor of the work is more in harmony
with Austin than any of the recent treatises on political science;
and this, in spite of the fact that the author disagrees with Austin.
EXAMINATION OF THE NATURE OF THE STATE. 119
on many important questions. The intellectual kinship is most
strikingly shown in the method of reasoning. While endeavoring
to give due weight to the principles of the historical school, the
author's method is essentially analytical. His attitude toward the
subject is best illustrated in the discussion of the factors of which
political science must take account. Only those relations, whether
individual or groupal, which are definitely formulated in law ; only
those activities which find expression through some legally organ-
ized channel, deserve to be recognized by political science as such.
We have here a question of method which will probably give rise
to much discussion. The statement that "as publicists or jurists we
need not look back of the persons or bodies who have the legal
power of expressing the will of the state, ' ' is one which may mean
much or little, according to the influence the acceptance of such a
view will exercise on our treatment of political phenomena. It may
be an excellent principle when we are describing the operation of
political institutions at any one period, without reference to the
ideas upon which they rest or the functions which they have to per-
form. But we must recognize the fact that such a discussion gives
us but one view of the phenomena ; a view which is by no means the
most important nor the most fruitful. Unless the limitations of
this method are distinctly perceived, there is a constant danger of a
confusion of thought resulting from a confusion in the use of terms.
This is particularly true in the study of political development. The
method adopted by Professor Willoughby does not lend itself to this
branch of the science. Here we can advance only through a careful
analysis of the relation between ideas, institutions, and the condi-
tions of the objective and subjective environment. The very fact
that the concepts of one period which have crystallized into a
definite terminology, acquire a different content at a later period of
development, ought to be conclusive on this point. An instance
of the confusion to which a neglect of this elementary fact
leads, is found in Chapter III, on the ' ' Origin of the State. ' ' In
endeavoring to draw a distinction between the family and the state,
the author says:* "The two institutions are different in essence.
In the family the location of authority is natural *'. e. in the
father. In the state it is one of choice. Subordination is the
principle of the family ; equality that of the state. ' ' Surely, the
author has some particular period here in mind. His acquaintance
with Maine, whom he often cites, is sufficient guarantee that he is
aware that in primitive societies no such distinctions can be drawn,
and that the term ' ' family' ' itself means to-day an entirely different
* Page ao.
120 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
social grouping from that of the Roman family. Is the whole work
intended to apply exclusively to the fully developed modern state,
based upon the active national political consciousness? But, we
read on page 27 that ' ' we cannot refuse the designation of state to a
society of men, if politically organized, even though it be in the
nomadic stage. Low order of development cannot deprive an in-
stitution of its generic name. ' ' We have here convincing proof
that the moment we get beyond the most general concepts, every
political philosophy must be based upon the political and economic
conditions peculiar to each stage of development; that our notion
of law, of government, of sovereignty, of the nature of the state
itself, must proceed from the analysis of existing political condi-
tions. If the question of scope and method is to determine the
nature of the conclusions of political science, or, if it is to set the
limits to the phenomena of which the science will take cognizance,
its satisfactory solution becomes a question vital to the future of the
science. Through an unduly narrow view of the scope of the
science, the value of several chapters of the work has been seriously
impaired. This is particularly true of Chapters IX and XI on the
1 ' Power of the State : Sovereignty, ' ' and the ' ' Location of Sover-
eignty in the Body Politic. ' '
Throughout his book the author displays a thorough grasp of the
literature of the subject. In his discussion and criticism of the
social contract theory, we have probably the best statement of the
defects of the theory viewed as an historical interpretation of the
origin of the state. The chapter on the "Aims of the State" gives
an excellent summary of the conditions which justify governmental
interference. We are here far beyond the narrow and carping criti-
cism of Spencer's ' ' Man vs. TheState. ' ' The question is viewed from
the broad basis of social structure.
L. S. Rows.
NOTES ON MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.
AMERICAN CITIES.
National Municipal League. The Annual Conference of the Na-
tional Municipal League was held in Louisville, Ky., on the fifth, sixth
and seventh of May. Representatives from all sections of the country
were present, the West and South sending unusually large delegations.
The secretary, Clinton Rogers Woodruff, Esq., in his annual address,
pointed out in detail the advance of the movement for municipal
reform, mentioning especially charter reform, municipal ownership of
semi-public monopolies, and civil service reform. The reports on the
municipal conditions of individual cities, which has been one of the
features of the conference, included reports on Providence, R. I.;
New Haven, Conn.; Rochester, N. Y.; New Orleans, La.; St. Louis,
Mo.; Kansas City, Mo.; Charleston, S. C.; San Francisco, Cal., and
Philadelphia. The more general papers were those of Professor
Frank J. Goodnow, on "The Powers of a Municipal Corporation;"
Horace C. Demiug, Esq., of New York, on "The Legislature in City
and State," and Professor L. S. Rowe on " American Political Ideas
and Institutions in their Relation to the Conditions of City Life."
Several interesting addresses were delivered, that of William B. Horn-
blower, Esq., being particularly notable. The papers dealing with
particular phases of the municipal problem were as follows; "The
Business Man in Municipal Politics," by the Hon. Franklin MacVeagh,
of Chicago; "The Wage- Earner in Politics," by George Chance, of
Philadelphia; " Commercial Organizations and Municipal Reform," by
Ryersen Ritchie, of Cleveland, and " The Exclusion of Partisan Poli-
tics from Municipal Affairs," by Frank L. Loomis, of Buffalo.
New York City. Greater New York Charter* On April igth a
delegation of about sixty citizens of New York attended a hearing be-
fore the governor in Albany, upon the charter. This delegation, the
strongest that has visited Albany from this city in a number of years,
represented ten or twelve bodies of citizens, such as the Board of Trade
and Transportation, the Chamber of Commerce, the Bar Association,
and the City Club, which had steadily opposed the charter at every step.
Judge Dillon, Mr. DeWitt, and General Tracy, representing the com-
mission which framed the charter, urged Governor Black to give it his
approval. Upon the fourth of May it was announced that the governor
.* Communication of James W. Pryor, Esq.
(121)
122 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
had signed the charter. It therefore became law, and will go into
operation on the first of January, 1898.
The Citizens'" Union. The enactment of the Greater New York
charter has made it necessary for the Citizens' Union to extend its plan
of campaign so that it shall include Brooklyn and the other political
divisions included in the new city.
The officers to be elected on a general municipal ticket, by the
voters of the greater city, are a mayor, a comptroller, and a president
of the council. They will serve for four years from January i.
Twenty-eight members of the council are to be elected for four years.
Of these, three are to be elected from each of the three council districts
into which the present city of New York is divided; three from each
of the three council districts into which the present city of Brooklyn
is divided; one from each of the two districts into which the part of
Queens County included in the Greater New York is divided; and one
from Richmond County. Aldermen are to be elected for two years
from January i, one from each of the assembly districts of the city,
except that the part of Queens County included within the city is
divided by the charter into two aldermanic districts, and that a sepa-
rate aldermanic district is made of the parts of the first and the second
assembly district of Westchester County included in the city. The
voters of New York County will elect a district attorney, a sheriff, a
county clerk, and a register of deeds, for terms of two years. These
four county officers are also to be elected in Kings County. An as-
semblyman will be elected from each assembly district; two judges of
the supreme court will be elected from the first judicial department,
which consists of New York County; and a judge of the court of
appeals will be elected by the voters throughout the state.
The political machines have given to the Union an amount of
attention which indicates that it is causing them no little anxiety. It
is generally believed that the Union will adhere to its declared pur-
pose of making nominations early in the summer a proceeding which
could not fail to be disconcerting to the machines, and particularly to
any machine which might entertain the idea that the Union could be
so far diverted from its purposes as to lend itself to an open alliance
with some of the very forces to which it professes the greatest
hostility.
Philadelphia. Report of the Senate Investigating Committee.
The Senate Committee appointed to investigate the workings of the
municipal government of the city of Philadelphia under the Bullitt
Bill charter, has presented its report which contains the views of the
committee as to the defects in the present form of government. After
discussing the conditions which led to the adoption of the charter in
NOTES ON MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 123
1885, the committee enters upon a detailed criticism of the individual
departments. The report points out the fact that the new charter has
not been conducive to economy. In 1887, immediately after the
adoption of the charter, the total cost of city departments was
$13,273,893.10; the total assessed valuation $628,679,312.00. In 1895
the total cost of departments was $23,491,865.21; the assessed valuation
$782,677,694.00. The committee here fails to consider the higher
standards of municipal activity which have characterized the develop-
ment of the city during the last ten years. This is particularly notice-
able in the demands for increased water facilities, the re-paving of
streets, and the extension of the system of drainage. The mere in-
crease in total expenditures is no criterion of economy in administra-
tion.
The other criticisms in the report seem to have a far more definite
basis. This is particularly true of the comment on the contract system,
the gas works, the police force, and the civil service system. As re-
gards the first, the report points to the fact that the requirements of
the law in respect to the awarding, entering into, and supervising
of contracts, are not fully complied with. ' ' The protection of the city, ' '
says the committee, " lies not in the law and its ordinances, whereon it
is intended to and should rest, but depends upon the discretion of the
executive officer." The garbage contracts are cited to show the exist-
ence of collusion or sympathy between the officials of the city and the
contractors. For the year 1897 the bids for this work were made by
two establishments, " dividing the city between themselves, each
bidding an excessive price for the territory that was adjacent to the
other, and thus securing the territory adjacent to itself as being the
lowest bidder." With each year the amount of the bids has been
increasing. A similar plan has been adopted by the electric light
companies, which divide the territory of the city amongst themselves,
each bidding within its own territory. The result is that the average
rate for the city of Philadelphia for 1895 was $150.25 per arc-light per
year, whereas most of the smaller cities of the state are supplied by
private companies at a rate varying from $75 to $100.
As regards the gas works, the report comments upon the fact that
the mayor, in his last annual message, estimated the value of the
works at $30,000,000 Evidence produced before the committee shows
that the plant itself might be duplicated for half that sum; the remain-
ing $15,000,000 representing the value of the franchise. The report
strongly urges upon the city the necessity of fully availing itself of
the valuable property through the investment of a large sum to renew
the present antiquated plant. In fact the committee intimates that the
best plan would be to dispose of the franchise to a private company.
124 ANNAJLS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
The most serious charges contained in the report are those brought
against the police administration. The evidence of direct interference
of the police force in local elections is conclusive. Furthermore, the
toleration of gambling and bawdy houses and unlicensed liquor-saloons
points to an understanding between the guilty parties and the police
officials. The last question to be taken up by the committee is that
of the civil service provisions governing the appointment of officials:
" The principal, and even of itself fatal, defect in the act is that it con-
fides to the mayor and heads of departments, who are themselves the
appointing power, the making of the rules and regulations by which
they are supposed to limit themselves in the exercise of it, and the
result has naturally followed that these rules and regulations have
been so framed, either originally or by alterations since made, as to
place in the officers making the appointment a power hardly less broad
than before the passage of the act." The lack of an efficient civil
service system has led to the perpetuation of the system of political
assessments which are regularly made by city officials prior to the
February and November elections.
In concluding, the committee emphasizes the necessity of strict
economy owing to the comparatively low property valuation of the
city and the inability of the population to carry a heavy burden of
taxation. The report fails to offer any very definite remedies for
existing evils. Most of the abuses mentioned were well known to
those interested in local affairs, but their definite statement by a
legislative committee will contribute something to a more general
appreciation of the necessity of providing immediate remedy.
Boston. Creation of a Unicameral Local Legislature. After
several years of agitation by various civic organizations, in which the
local Municipal League has played the most important part, an act
has finally been passed consolidating the board of aldermen and the
common council of the city of Boston into one body. The question is to
be submitted to the electors of the city at the November election and
if accepted will take effect at the local election in December. Under
the new system, a single instead of a bicameral legislature will con-
stitute the legislative authority of the city. The act making the
change prescribes the method of nomination as well as the method of
election of the new representative assembly. In the first place, the
president of the council is to be elected by the registered voters of the
city for a term of one year; twelve aldermen-at-large for a term of two
years, and twenty-five ward aldermen elected on the district system
for a term of one year. The president of the council is to appoint the
chairman and other members of committees; is a member of every
committee and chairman of every committee authorized to recommend
NOTES ON MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 125
appropriations or to prepare rules, and is to serve as acting mayor
whenever the incumbent of that office becomes incapacitated. He is
to receive a salary of $5000 per annum. All of the other members of
the city council are to receive $1200 per annum, and such further sum,
not exceeding $25 in any one month, as shall be certified to have been
incurred as expenses in the performance of official duties.
Nominations for president of the city council, for aldermen-at-large
and ward aldermen may be made by any political party by direct
plurality vote at party caucuses, held in the several wards of the city. In
order to have nominations for president of the city council or for alder-
men-at-large placed on the official caucus ballot, nomination papers
must be filed with the board of election commissioners, bearing the
signature of at least one registered voter for every 200 votes cast for
mayor at the next preceding election. In case of nomination for
ward aldermen, similar papers bearing the signatures of at least fifty
registered voters in the ward must be filed with the same authority.
In cases of nomination by nomination papers, where the name of the
candidate is to be placed on the official election ballot, the signature
of at least one registered voter for every 100 votes cast at the next
preceding election of a mayor, is necessary for the office of president
of the city council or aldermen-at-large. For ward aldermen the sig-
natures of one hundred registered voters of the ward are required.
San Francisco.* Legislation Affecting the City. Among the
general laws affecting San Francisco enacted by the state legislature
at its recent session is one increasing the salaries of officers of the fire
department in municipalities of the first-class, fixing the salaries of
the chief engineer at $5000 per annum, assistant chief engineer at $3600
per annum, secretary or clerk at 3000 per annum, assistant engineers
at $2100 each per annum.
Attention has been called in these Notes f to an amendment to the
constitution of California, adopted by the voters of the state at the
November election, limiting the power of the legislature to control the
government of cities by general laws, by injecting the proviso,
" except as to municipal affairs. " Since the law above quoted took
effect, and when the monthly quota of the said salaries were coming
payable, an action at law was brought by a citizen to enjoin the
auditor from approving, and the treasurer from paying, the increased
salaries provided for in the act, and thereby to test the force of the
constitutional amendment aforesaid. The superior court (the supreme
court has not yet been heard from) holds that the only effect of the
amendment has been to prevent the legislature from passing any law
* Communication of I. T. Milliken, Esq.
t ANNALS, Vol. ix, p. 297. March, 1897.
126 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
which shall, in municipal affairs, alter, amend or repeal any provision
of a charter which has been framed by a city for its own government
under Section 8 of Article XI of the Constitution, and that the legis-
lature has, since the adoption of the amendment to Section 6 of said
article, the same power, by means of general laws, to control cities
which have not framed and adopted charters as it had before.
The amendment, which was adopted by the voters of the whole
state, having been specially framed to supplement the charter which
it was expected the voters of this city would approve at the same elec-
tion, but which they failed to do it will be seen that, according to this
ruling, the only way in which the people of San Francisco can be sure
of securing the benefits of this amendment is to agree upon a sys-
tem of self-control, i. e., a charter.
The legislature took another step in the direction of aiding self-
government for the city by adopting a resolution covering a constitu-
tional amendment to be voted upon at the next general election,
adding a new section, to be known as Section 5^, as follows: " The
provisions of Sections four and five of this article shall not, nor
shall any legislation passed pursuant thereto, apply to any con-
solidated city and county government now existing, or hereafter
formed, which shall have become, or shall become, organized under
Section seven, or secure a charter under Section eight of this article."
San Francisco being the only consolidated city and county govern-
ment in the state, the applicability of the proposed amendment will
be clearly understood. Section 4, the provisions of which the
amendment is proposed to limit, provides for the establishment by the
legislature of a system of county governments. The bearing of this
proposed change upon the municipal affairs of San Francisco is most
easily made apparent by reference to the dual condition of the con-
solidated city and county government of San Francisco. Section 5,
while it is also proposed to limit, provides for general laws by
the legislature, for the election or appointment of county and munici-
pal officers, prescribing their duties and fixing their terms of office.
Prior to 1893 the mayors of this city had exercised without challenge
the power of veto of all ordinances of the board of supervisors. In
repeated instances the orders of the board fixing rates to be charged
to the city and to private consumers by the water company have been
treated in that manner by the mayors. When the same thing occurred
four years ago, the point was raised that as the law makes it the duty
of the supervisors to fix the rates, and as the mayor is but a member
of the board, and without a vote in the board, his duties and powers
in that matter were executive only to the extent of presiding officer,
which contention was sustained by the supreme court.
NOTES ON MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 127
Washington.* Street Extension Throughout the District. The
Highway Act, so called, has been declared constitutional by the United
.States Supreme Court. This is a matter of great benefit to the dis-
trict. The Act provides for the condemnation of rights of way for the
extension of streets and avenues throughout the district, which exten-
sion is to conform as nearly as possible to the system in the city. The
Act was passed March, 1893, and soon after its constitutionality was
attacked. Certain of its provisions were stricken out by the Court of
Appeals, to which it was carried from the District Supreme Court. All
appeal was then made to the United States Supreme Court, which has
reversed the judgments of both of the district courts, and has decided
that there is nothing inconsistent with the constitution. Among other
things the decision includes the right of assessment for benefits.
Slums. This year there has been much interest taken in the matter
of the clearing of the slums of the city. These slums consist of blind
alleys, mainly in the districts inhabited by the negro population.
The Civic Centre conducted an investigation, employing a special
agent, and followed the investigation of these alleys with a report
recommending the cutting through and widening, when necessary,
of the blind alleys, thereby converting them into streets. They fur-
thermore recommended the investment of capital in the building of
small dwellings. These recommendations were concurred in by a
committee appointed by the district commissioners. A sanitary
improvement company is now organized, similar to the New York City
and Suburban Homes Company, for the building of small houses of
good quality on a 5 per cent interest-bearing basis. The matter of
pushing the cutting through of the blind alleys is made much easier
by the decision on the highway act, which settles the question of
assessment for benefits in the converting of the alleys into streets.
There has just been taken a police census, and for the first time the
population by alleys has been given. The total alley population is
18,978 2100 white and 16,878 colored, the latter being about one-fifth
of the negro population. The slum population is surprisingly large as
compared with the slum districts of other cities, a census of which was
taken in 1893. The latter gave to Baltimore, 18,048; Chicago, 19,748;
New York, 27,462, and Philadelphia, 17,060. A recent act of Congress
requiring all houses to make sewer connections, provided there is a
sewer adjacent, is of importance in this connection. And now the
commissioners have drafted a bill creating a commission for the con-
demnation of unsanitary dwellings in the district. At present there is
no special law on the subject. During the past year new building
* Communication of Miss Katharine P. Hosmer, Corresponding Secretary of
the Civic Centre, Washington, D. C.
128 ANNAI,S OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
regulations have been made, which were prepared by a commission
appointed by the district commissioners. Among other things it
limits the width of building lots to not less than sixteen feet, and
requires a certain amount of air space in each block.
Sewers and Sewage Systems. A matter of grave importance to the
district is the continuation of the system of trunk sewers, and the
disposal of sewage. At present the flats along the tributary to the
Potomac River, the " Eastern Branch," are the cause of much sickness
in the adjacent section of the city, and will continue to be so until the
system of sewage disposal and protection against floods is provided. A
bill was introduced in the last congress following the recommendation
of the board of sanitary engineers in its report upon these subjects in
1890. The bill provided for the further development of the system of
trunk sewers and for the sewage disposal and protection against floods.
District bonds to the sum of $150,000 and $3,800,000 were to be issued
for the first and second purposes respectively. This bill will probably
be reintroduced in the fall. At present appropriations out of the
district revenues are made yearly for the continuation of the sewer
system, but in this way the work progresses slowly. Only $375,000 has
been appropriated for the sewage disposal plan for which the estimate
in 1890 was $3,598,000.
District Ownership of Great Falls of the Potomac. A bill has been
reintroduced this congress for the acquiring by purchase or condem-
nation land and water rights at the Great Falls of the Potomac for the
purpose of increasing the water supply of the city. It is contemplated
in the bill that the water power may be used for the generating of
electricity for use in the district as well as for other purposes.
Labor on Public Works. A bill has been introduced for street
cleaning by the municipality. The chances of its passage are excel-
lent. The contract for street cleaning is about to expire, and new
bids have been sent in. But it is practically settled that the contract
when let will be for a short term in view of the passage of the above
bill. It is almost certain that the contract will be for hand labor
instead of machine. The commissioners have received petitions in
favor of hand labor from a large number of business men, and from
the labor organizations, and the commissioners have been investigat-
ing the system of street cleaning in New York.
A bill was introduced in the last congress which failed of passage
abolishing contract work on public buildings and public work, by or
on behalf of the district, and providing for the employment of labor
by the day. It is thought that the adoption of a public street-cleaning
service will be helpful in forwarding the abolishment of other contract
work.
NOTES ON MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 129
Cincinnati.* Cincinnati has recently witnessed one of those popu-
lar upheavals with which the history of American municipalities
abounds. On April 5 last, a Republican majority of 20,000 was turned
into a Democratic one of 7500. This of course was done with the aid
of independent Republicans. The history of this reform movement is
interesting and instructive. During the past decade the municipal
and county governments have been controlled by a " boss." Relying
upon the strength of national issues to hold the party to strict
loyalty, henchmen of the boss were placed in every office in the City
Hall and Court House. Not only were the candidates for administra-
tive offices named by the leader, but during the last fall the whole
judicial ticket was forced upon the community in the face of the pro-
test of the bar. This spring it was believed that the same plan could
be successfully carried through. A party convention was held, and
within thirty minutes a ticket nominated. But the more independent
Republicans and Democrats had been at work for months, and all
agreed that the time was opportune to overthrow the " ring." Three
years ago a similar movement was set on foot, but at that time the
" boss ' ' persuaded the regular Democratic organization to nominate a
ticket. The decoy served its purpose, and the present city government
was elected. This year, however, the leading Democrats agreed to allow
the independent Republicans to name the candidates for three offices,
viz., auditor, treasurer, and corporation counsel. There were there-
fore but two tickets in the field. A vigorous campaign was inaugu-
rated immediately; it was not the stereotyped campaign of old, for
there were few meetings. A tri-weekly paper, called the Taxpayer >
was issued, and pamphlets setting forth the unjust and unequal taxa-
tion in this city, and exposing the sudden wealth of the boss and his
assistants.
The interference of the " boss " with the judiciary, the mockery of
holding conventions merely to ratify tickets named by him, the utter
defiance of the wishes of the people culminated at last in one grand
wave of indignation, which finally overwhelmed the Republican
machine. However, the far-sightedness of the machine has lessened
somewhat the importance of the victory. Last year the legislature
enacted a law extending the terms of the present city officials until
July. This gave the present mayor the opportunity to reappoint
certain officials against whom many insinuations had been made.
These reappointments were made, and inasmuch as the supreme
court has sustained the validity of the law, nothing further can be
done. In order to embarrass the incoming mayor, the board of legis-
lation, which is politically opposed to him, has passed an ordinance
* Communication of Max B. May, Esq.
130 ANNAI.S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
taking from him the power of making several important appoint-
ments.
During the spirited campaign the leaders of the Republicans chal-
lenged the public to point out wherein their administration of affairs
had been a failure. The day before the election the health officer was
accused of blackmailing an eastern medicine company and has since
been indicted. A few weeks after the election the county clerk, the
boss's chief lieutenant and former chairman of the Republican Cam-
paign Committee, was found $20,000 short in his accounts. Subsequent
investigations disclosed a large shortage in the recorder's office. He
has since been indicted for embezzlement, malfeasance in office and
forgery, and has been released on bond signed by the ' ' boss ' ' as
surety. Early in May the accounts of two trusted employes in the
water works department were found to be in arrears.
These disclosures have compelled the Board of Revision to order an
investigation of all municipal departments, and an expert to this end
has been employed. This malfeasance in office was possible only
because there is no proper system of auditing the accounts of the
several offices, and steps have already been taken to perfect a system
of checks to avoid similar shortages in the future.
Providence.* Municipal Affairs. The second year of the exist-
ence of the Providence Municipal I^eague has shown that it is possible
to arouse an intelligent community to an interest in public affairs.
Evidence of a feeling that municipal affairs should be independent of
national politics is becoming more and more manifest. While the
city was strongly Republican in its national vote in November, on the
same day it gave the Democratic candidate for mayor a decided major-
ity. Several wards have for two years disregarded party lines and sent
men to the city council on city issues only.
The influence of the state legislature in city affairs has been very
marked. Salaries of officials paid by the city have been increased, the
date of municipal elections has been changed to coincide with the
national election, powers of city officials have been increased and
decreased at the will of the legislature, and all in spite of frequent
protests from the mayor, city solicitor, Board of Trade and others.
The issue of the last municipal election was the representation of
the city in the legislature. Home rule for the city was the demand
of the Municipal League, and it named candidates for senator and
representatives upon that platform. The Democratic party named a
large number of the same candidates, though some of these were of
the national Republican party. The Republican party named one of
* Communication of Professor George G. Wilson, Providence, R. I.
NOTES ON MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 131
the Municipal League candidates, hut made its ticket largely from
those who last year represented the city in the state legislature.
The result of the election was a surprise to many. The Republican
candidates for governor and general officers of the state were elected
by large pluralities. Of the twelve representatives of the city in the
state legislature the Republicans elected three by pluralities of 400 to
575. The remaining nine representatives and the senator were elected
from the Municipal League candidates by pluralities of from 1400 to
3400. The Municipal League candidate for senator was elected by a
plurality of above 2700. Thus ten of the thirteen representatives from
the city in the next state legislature are elected on the platform of
home rule for the city. Whether this expression of the desire of the
city to manage its own affairs will influence the policy of the state
legislature beyond the votes of the city representatives remains to
be seen.
FOREIGN CITIES.
Hornsey. Municipal Dwellings. The progress of the movement
for sanitary dwellings for the laboring classes is well illustrated by the
recent activity of some of the smaller towns. The theory upon which
such dwellings were constructed at an earlier period was, that the
present slum districts should be replaced by more sanitary habitations.
In other words, the primary object in view was to remove the distinc-
tive slum dwellings. In most cases the municipality restricted itself
to the construction of tenements upon the area cleared. Within
recent years, however, there is a distinct tendency to construct
laborers' dwellings in the suburban districts of the cities. In Glasgow
we find the municipality purchasing property in the outlying districts,
with a view to providing sanitary, low priced accommodations.
The most recent experiment in this direction is that which is being
made by the district council of Hornsey, one of the constituent
districts of metropolitan London. A series of individual dwellings is
to be erected at a total cost of about $150,000. Two classes of cottages
are to be provided; one containing a sitting-room, living room,
kitchen, larder, and three bed rooms, to rent at $7.50 per month; the
other to contain the same number, with the exception of two instead
of three bed rooms, designed to rent at $6.50 per month.
Huddersfield. Development of the Municipal Street Railway
System. A recent report of the manager of the Huddersfield Street
Railway System describes the development of the municipal street
railway system from the beginning of the experiment. Huddersfield
was the first of the English cities to undertake the construction and
operation of the street railway system. During the first years, the
132 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
municipal authorities had to contend with many difficulties. In the
first place, Parliament was unwilling to give unrestricted powers and
placed so many conditions on the powers granted that the extension
of the system became almost impossible. During the early go's the
success of the experiment having been assured, Parliament became
more liberal in dealing with the municipality. The additional powers
then granted have greatly aided the city in the extension of the
system and the further utilization of the lines previously constructed.
The results for the year ending March 31, 1897, may be summarized as
follows:
Miles run 423,564
Traffic receipts $142,256
Other receipts 435
An additional source of income, which has been increasing with
each year, has been the establishment of a system of parcel delivery,
inaugurated by the city authorities. During the year the receipts from
this source were nearly $2500. The total expenditures were $93,970,
leaving a surplus of $51,221. Since August, 1896, the municipality
has been using the street railway lines for the removal of refuse, the
trucks being run on the roads at stated intervals.
Gas Works in English Cities. Recent reports of the gas depart-
ments of English cities give some interesting data concerning the
development of the municipal gas and electric light plants. Nearly
all the larger cities, with the exception of London and Sheffield, own
and operate the gas works, while Glasgow, Bradford, and Manchester
own and operate the electric light plants. With regard to the manage-
ment of the gas works, the general policy has been to so decrease the
price as to bring the use of gas within the reach of the working classes.
Up to the present time, some of the cheaper class of tenement-houses
have not been supplied with gas fixtures; or, when supplied, have not
been used by the occupants. The municipalities are endeavoring to
make the use of gas a permanent element in the standard of life of
the working classes. This, in many cases, has been done at the sacri-
fice of purely financial ends. Not only has the price been reduced,
but other inducements have been offered. Thus, penny-in-the-slot gas
meters have been introduced, furnishing light for one gas jet for
about five hours. Of these, Manchester has 11,500 in use at the
present time. Efforts are also being made to facilitate the use of gas
for motor purposes; special rates being offered when used in this way.
The same policy has been pursued with reference to electricity.
While at the present time the cost of electricity to the consumer is
greater than that of gas, one of the possibilities of the near future is
the supplanting of gas and coal for motor purposes by electricity.
NOTES ON MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.
This is due to the fact that if the electric light works are able to
dispose of a large quantity of electrical power during the day, as for
instance, in running an electric railway system, the cost of furnishing
electric light at night would be greatly reduced. One of the main
expenses at the present time comes from the necessity of storing great
quantities of electricity during the day in order to have sufficient on
hand for lighting purposes during the night The following table
will show the present condition of the gas service in the larger cities:
Gas Service in English Cities. ( To March jj, 2896. )
Gas consumed
during last fiscal
year. Cubic feet.
N
14
B
P.
I
Number of
new consumers.
Use of gas for
motor purposes.
Cubic feet.
Number of gas
motors in use.
Price per 1000
cubic feet.
Manchester
3,646,010,000
$o 56
12,570
to <;6
Bradford
1,668,287,000
* 5 6
*6
58
eg
Leeds
Birmingham
4,334,721,000
t64
* With discounts varying from 1% per cent to 12% per cent.
t Price decreases with amount consumed; 60 cents for from 25,000 to 50,000 cubic
feet, and 56 cents for more than 50,000 cubic feet. All subject to 5 per cent for
prompt payment.
SOCIOLOGICAL NOTES.
Profit-SharIng in England. In the United States Consular
Reports for May, 1897,* Mr. C. W. Chancellor, Consul at Havre,
gives an account of the profit-sharing experiment tried by the South
Metropolitan Gas Company of London. Some of the information
contained in a letter from Mr. George Livesey to Mr. Chancellor may
prove interesting to students of these experiments. This particular
experiment has been tried for a period of eight years. As a member
of the recent English Labor Commission Mr. Livesey has had ample
opportunity to become familiar with the history of the conflicts be-
tween capital and labor. He says: " My experience on the labor com-
mission and also that of my lifelong connection with workingmen in
my business, convinces me that the only solution lies in the direction
of partnership in profits, in shareholding, in responsibility, and in
management the more complete the better. Conciliation and arbi-
tration are good so far as they go, but they are at best only palliatives.
What is wanted is something that will remove the causes or the neces-
sity for either the one or the other."
The South Metropolitan Gas Company operates under the system
known as the sliding scale, by which a certain standard price per 1000
cubic feet is fixed by law for gas; the dividend which the company
can pay on its stock is limited by law, the standard price being such
as will enable the company under good management to pay the
standard dividend. Then for every penny per 1000 feet that gas is
sold below the standard price, the company is allowed to pay 0.25 per
cent higher dividend than the standard dividend fixed by law. Vice
versa for every penny rise in the price of gas the dividend which
the company is allowed to pay is reduced by o. 25 per cent. The
company in 1889 extended this sliding scale arrangement to its
employes by providing for the payment of a cash bonus which is a
percentage payable pro rata annually and dependent on the price of
gas and on the salaries and wages of all officers and workmen. Only
those workmen who enter into a written contract of service for a
limited period not exceeding twelve months are entitled to this bonus,
and the company reserves the right to refuse to make contracts with
men who take no interest in the welfare of the company, or who are
wasteful of the company's property or negligent in the performance
*Vol. liv, No. 200.
(134)
SOCIOLOGICAX NOTES. 135
of duty. The bonus percentages during seven years have been 5, 5,
3, 4, 6, 6, and 7^ respectively, and the total amount paid or credited
to the profit sharers in the seven years has been $410,000. The direc-
tors of the company agreed to receive these payments or any part of
them or any other savings of their employes on deposit, subject to
withdrawal on a week's notice, and bearing 4 per cent interest. About
half the number of profit sharers, representing more than half of the
total payments, made use of this opportunity week by week and some
invested their savings in the stock of the company. In 1894 a change
was made which was agreed to by the men, that henceforth one half
of each man's total bonus should be invested in the company's ordi-
nary stock, the other half being payable in cash as before. All the
officers and workmen in the regular employ of the company at the
present time are therefore shareholders. Those who began in 1889
have now an average investment of $250 to $300, while those who
began in 1894 under the new arrangement have on the average from
twenty-five to fifty dollars invested in the stock of the company.
Mr. Livesey sums up his account of the experiment as follows:
"Roughly dividing the above total of $410,000, about 1230,000 has
been saved and $ 180,000 withdrawn and spent, part, without doubt,
wisely and well, the remainder by the unthrifty, with little present
and probably no permanent good; but the weekly and other savings
of the thrifty, plus the accumulations of interest, bring up the total
in hand to over $355,000, i. e., $230,500 has been invested in the pur-
chase of $202,500 of the company's ordinary stock and $128,000 is on
deposit with the company at 4 per cent interest. The number of
profit-sharing stockholders is over 2500, and the market value of the
$202,500 of the stock held by them is over $295,000; consequently,
with the money on deposit, they are the owners of $425,000, and
before the present year is out there is little doubt the figure will be
$500,000. This sum of money would certainly not have been in
its present hands but for the profit-sharing scheme of 1889. It is safe
to say that a large portion of it has been created by the better rela-
tions the system has produced between employers and employed; it
may therefore be considered a financial success, at any rate so far as
the employed are concerned. During the whole period there has not
been a single difficulty or any disagreement with the workmen. The
work has been done better and iu a more cheerful spirit, and it can
safely be said that the company is better off financially for the $410,000
paid."
In the consular report referred to above, Mr. Chancellor appends a
copy of the rules of the company relating to this profit-sharing
arrangement, and also gives a copy of the form of contract between
136 ANNAIvS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
the company and its employes. The consular report can be had gratis
on application to Disbursing Clerk, State Department, Washington,
D. C.
Wayfarers' Lodge and Wood-Yard in Boston. The thirty-
third annual report of the Board of Overseers of the Poor of the city
of Boston shows that there was a decrease in the number of lodgers at
the municipal lodging house during the fiscal year ending January 31,
1897. The number of lodgers in 1895 was 24,408, and in 1896 only
21,240. The falling off is especially noticeable in the months of No-
vember, December and January. In November and December of 1895
and January, 1896, the figures are 4019, 4522, and 5374 respectively,
and for the same months one year later, 2087, 2138, and 1938 respec-
tively. This falling off may be parti}' due to improved industrial con-
ditions, but the bulk of it is more apt to be rightly attributed to a
change somewhere in the restrictions placed upon the movement of
tramps. The tramp, as a rule, is not bothered much by the changes in
economic conditions, but is a rather sensitive barometer of police
efficiency. The station houses of Boston have been less hospitable
during the past two years owing to an agreement between the Police
Department and the Overseers of the Poor. The number of tramps
cared for in the Wayfarers' Lodge since 1892 for each year has been
32,803, 33,416, 32,815, 24,408, and 21,240 respectively, and those cared
for in the police stations for the same years were, 3150, 5320, 15,502,
657, 336.
Tramps in Massachusetts. In Chapter 385, of the Acts of the
Massachusetts Legislature of 1896, there is "An Act Relative to
Tramps ' ' which gives a legal definition of the species as found in that
state in the following language: " Section i. Any person, not being a
minor under seventeen years of age, a blind person, or a person asking
charity within his own city or town, who roves about from place to
place begging, or living without labor or visible support, shall be
deemed a tramp. An act of begging or soliciting alms, whether of
money, food, lodging or clothing, by a person having no residence in
the town within which such act is committed, or the riding upon a
freight train of any railroad, whether within or without any car or
part thereof, without a permit from the proper officers or employes of
such railroad or train, shall be prima fade evidence that such person
is a tramp."
The Institutional Church. In all our large cities the institutional
church has become a well-recognized and permanent feature of reli-
gious work. Those who looked upon it at first with considerable dis-
trust now regard it as a necessary and justifiable method of work at least
SOCIOLOGICAL NOTES. 137
in certain sections and among certain classes of the population of large
cities. A great deal of experience has been gained by the pioneers in
their work and original schemes and plans have been much modified
as a result. The institutional church has reached a stage in which it
begins to record its own history. Ministers, theological students and
students of social questions, who have not come into personal contact
with the varied social and religious activity of an institutional church
in a large city, will find some interesting material for an intelligent
appreciation of this work in the pages of the Open Church, an
illustrated monthly magazine of Applied Christianity.* This little
journal began with the January number of this year a new career
under new editorial management as an organ of the institutional
church movement in the United States. Rev. Dr. E. B. Sanford is
the editor with Rev. Drs. Charles L. Thompson, Frank M. North,
Sylvanus Stall, Charles A. Dickinson, John P. Peters and Everett D.
Burr as associate editors. The April number contains a description of
institutional church work in Philadelphia. Dr. J. R. Miller discusses
the spirit of the institutional church and Dr. Burr the methods of an
open and institutional church. Rev. Leighton Williams has an
article on the recent " Federation of Churches and Christian Workers in
New York City. ' ' Professor W. O. Atwater treats the question of what
the churches can do to improve the food and nutrition of the masses.
Pennsylvania Association of Directors of the Poor and
Charities. The Report of the Twenty-second Annual Session held at
Pittsburg, October 20-22, 1896, has appeared in print. Mr. W. P.
Hunker, who may be addressed in care of the Allegheny Department
of Charities, is the secretary of the organization for 1896-97 and Mr.
Robert D. McGonnigle, Pittsburg, Pa., is the corresponding secretary.
From either of these gentlemen doubtless this valuable report can be
obtained. It is a matter of regret that reports of associations of this
kind which contain so much practical information from the point of
view of the actual administrators of public charity are not more
readily accessible and are not much more generally consulted by stu-
dents of charity problems.
At the sessions covered by this report valuable papers were sub-
mitted by Dean Hodges on "Charity Organization;" Mr. Cadwallader
Biddle on ' ' Almshouses, their Needs, Management and Discipline;"
Dr. Ewing on "The Chronic Insane Hospital at Wernersville; " Mr.
H. H. Hart on " Interstate Migration of Paupers and Other Depend-
ents;" Dr. J. W. Walk on " Charity Organization;" Dr. Ida K. Reed
on "Effect of Institution Life as Compared with Home Life upon
* Published by Open Church Publishing Co., 150 Fifth avenue, N. Y. Price, 50
cents a year.
138 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
American Children; " Mr. John L. Smith on " Outdoor Relief and How
to Get the Best Results;" Dr. M. W. Barr on " Feeble-mindedness and
Viciousness in Children an Inheritance;" Mr. Louis Tisch on "An
Appeal for More Stringent Immigration Laws," and Mr. Detwiler on
" Hungarians, Slavs, Italians and their Effect on Poor Houses."
In addition to these papers the report of the proceedings contains
two special committee reports of interest; one, on the Passavant
Memorial Hospital for Epileptics by Rev. W. A. Passavant, and the
other a lengthy report on the "Statistics of the Poor and a Com-
parison of Expenses with Counties Having Almshouses and Counties
Under the Overseer System." In the appendix to the statistical
report just referred to, there is an interesting table of the itemized
expenditures in 666 overseer districts of the state, aggregating in
amount $325,343-34-
Social Legislation for the Prevention of Feeble-nindedness.
Dr. M. W. Barr, who succeeded Dr. Kerlin as director of the large
school for feeble-minded children at Elwyn, Pa., is deeply inter-
ested in the social aspects of the treatment of such patients. In
his able address before the last convention of the Pennsylvania Asso-
ciation of Directors of Poor and Charities he made the following state-
ment: " Reformatories, however well conducted, do not touch the
root of the evil. Science points to a three-fold method which society
will sooner or later, in self-defence, be forced to accept: the enactment
of strict marriage laws, surgical interference and permanent sequestra-
tion. Connecticut and New York have each taken steps in the right
direction, forbidding, by recent acts of Assembly, the marriage of
epileptics. This extended to include all persons of a neurotic ten-
dency, or whose family history shows, within certain prescribed limits,
neurotic taint, will be yet more effective. The Spartan customs were
inhuman, but they resulted in the production of a hardy race. Are
we less inhuman when, failing to recognize and apply a remedy to
the diseased criminal, we suffer him to grow up and then hang him
for committing the crime we should have prevented ? The statement
simply put is this: By denying surgical interference, by subordinating
true sentiment to false sentimentality, we preserve a neurotic race to
reproduce its kind ad infinitum instead of allowing it to become
extinct. The sentimentalists oppose this, but its converts are increas-
ing daily, and we can only hope that the inheritance of evil may yet
be cut short by means of statutory enactment. The way for perma-
nent sequestration is fast becoming prepared through the medium of
the training schools now increasing rapidly throughout the country."
Boies in his "Prisoners and Paupers" strongly favored surgical
interference in dealing with certain classes and Warner in much
SOCIOLOGICAL NOTES. 139
calmer language in the chapter on " Charity in Human Selection " in
his work on " American Charities " gives sequestration and custodial
care through life, his hearty endorsement and surgical interference a
qualified approval. In commenting upon certain cases cited by Dr.
Kerlin in an appeal for public sanction of surgical interference made
before the Association of Medical Officers of Institutions for the
feeble-minded, Warner says " whenever, as in the case cited, it
appears that these operations can be performed with benefit to the
individual, public opinion will doubtless sanction them even now;
and the result of such experimentation may ultimately be to extend
their use very widely in the treatment of the diseased and criminal
classes. To argue for the introduction of such methods on grounds
of social selfishness will not be the best way to hasten their introduc-
tion. Pending such experimentation, the sterilizing of the essentially
unfit who may be dependents, seems likely to be carried forward by
the humaner methods of sequestration, and of custodial care through
life. . . . The permanent isolation of the essentially unfit has com-
mended itself to men as different as Ruskin and General Booth, and
the wiser administration of charitable and penal institutions which
shall make this possible, seems to be the outgrowth of tendencies
already existing, and to be a reform for which the public is already in
part prepared. . . . The desire to prevent suffering must extend
to the desire to prevent the suffering of unborn generations."
This whole subject is an extremely complex and difficult one and it
is to be hoped that the results of experimentation will be freely and
honestly discussed. No one who has occasion to come into contact
with the feeble-minded when they are herded together in large num-
bers can fail to be deeply impressed with their helpless, hopeless and
awful fate. No cost is too great to prevent if possible the entailment
of a similar curse on the children of the future. The argument which
rests upon the money cost to the community which has to eventually
support such offspring constitutes but a small part of the adequate
reasons for effectual prevention.
Improved Housing. Octavia Hill Association of Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Association was organized as a result of meetings
called by the Civic Club during the winter of 1895-96 and it was
incorporated June 25, 1896. The first annual report dated January i,
1897, stated that it had 59 stockholders representing 268 shares of
stock at $25 per share. The aim of the association is to improve the
living conditions in the poorer residence districts of the city. Seeing
in insanitary, dilapidated, and overcrowded dwellings influences which
lower the moral and the physical health of the city, it aims to enlist
the co-operation of well-housed citizens who desire the same advantages
140 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
for the less fortunate. Co-operation is solicited on strictly business
conditions. The experience of two founders of the association in
buying, improving and renting property in an undesirable part of the
city supports the belief that a safe business investment and a fair rate
of interest can be combined with many socially desirable results in
work of this kind. In July last title was taken to five properties near
Seventh and South streets, and the report goes on to state that the
properties have been profitably managed, and that the earnings would
have justified a dividend, but the directors were more anxious that
the dividends should be continuous in the future and decided to make
no distribution at the end of the first six months of corporate activity.
The amount passed to the surplus account was nevertheless greater
than necessary for a dividend. The investment of stock realized all
that was expected and enabled the association to provide suitable
lodging for about ten families, who lived previously in the same
neighborhood, but in less wholesome quarters. The policy of the
association is indicated by the following statement in the first annual
report: " In considering the improvement of property two distinct
methods present themselves. One plan is to pull down old build-
ings and erect large tenements; the increased rental value of the new
structures making due return for loss incurred in the purchase of build-
ings to be destroyed. The second that now chosen by the Octavia
Hill Association is to refit old properties and small houses, first of all
putting in modern plumbing and so far as possible removing all
unhealthful surroundings. The experience of the company already
shows that these old houses, when renovated, make comfortable
homes, and the object lesson given by the improved dwellings, is more
apparent when, in size and interior arrangement, they resemble those
under more careless management. At present, therefore, in accord
with the prevailing spirit of Philadelphia, the association has decided
not to build the large tenement, but to improve the separate home.
The organizers of the company believe that promptness in the neces-
sary repairs of a house, watchfulness in regard to its sanitary condi-
tions and its good outward appearance, tend to raise the tone of
family life, and contribute to individual efficiency, capacity and
happiness. The ethical and educational work of the association,
however, should extend to all persons in any way connected with it,
and must be incomplete without the salutary influence of the rent-
collector's frequent visits to the tenants. This regular visiting has a
good effect upon the standard of living, ensures regularity in pay-
ments, and gives opportunity for that reciprocal kindness which in
any social relation strikingly in that of landlord and tenant can
never be safely ignored. The stockholders are brought into touch
SOCIOLOGICAL NOTES. 141
with the tenants through the friendly offices of the rent-collector,
while the association's strongest claim upon the confidence of the com-
munity lies in the fact that its philanthropic interests are founded on
true business principles, its business interests upon the principles of a
sound philanthropy."
The association proposes to undertake, in the capacity of agent, the
management of other people's property along the lines pursued in
connection with its own. It is now prepared to buy properties in any
part of the city whenever offered at a figure that will warrant purchase
and improvement, and it solicits subscriptions for additional stock,
the capital to be used for this purpose. The association is an interest-
ing and natural outgrowth of the kind of improved housing work
that is typical of Philadelphia conditions and its results will be
eagerly watched.
The State and Its Territory.* Theoretical political science is at
the present time in a critical stage of development. The day is passed
when the jurists and statesmen of the type of Robert von Mohl, Blunt-
schli and Lorenz von Stein took the lead in such discussions. The
jurists of the present time are busy with working out positive public
and administrative law and what is taught as political science often
does not indicate sufficient historical research nor take account of the
accurate observation of existing conditions. Ratzel, in his recent
book entitled "Der Staat und sein Boden geographisch betrachtet" f
arraigns political science in harsh but appropriate words for the man-
ner in which the question of the relation between the state and its
territory has been studied. Political science, according to Ratzel, de-
clares there is a necessary bond between the state and its territory
when it says: the idea of a territory is an essential part of the concept
of a state; a state without a territory is unthinkable. But having
stated that such a bond exists, political science proceeds to examine
and discuss the state as a thing by itself very much as one might treat
a skeleton apart from the living animal and all the conditions that
determined its growth and development.
Political science has neglected, it is said, the earnest consideration
of the living conditions of social life and development, and modern
sociology has taken up the problem and endeavored to interpret this
development from a broad and general historical point of view. The
method followed in sociology, however, has given rise to many misgiv-
ings. In the place of modest conclusions drawn from accurate histor-
ical data and social observation of the present, there has been altogether
too much bold fantastical constructive work which pretends to cover
* Contributed by Professor Dr. Georg von Mayr. Strassburg,
t Leipzig, 1896.
142 ANNAI^ OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
up the lack of such firm basis of real data with overdrawn biological
analogies.
In this condition of affairs the help which recent work in scientific
geography brings to those who desire to revise the more important
parts of political and social science is very timely and welcome. Rat-
zel's recent book is a valuable contribution of this kind. It is not a
complete systematic work dealing with the relation between state and
territory in all its manifestations, but rather four distinct but closely
related essays or dissertations which go far toward furnishing the basis
for a systematic statement of fundamental principles. In the first
essay, entitled " Der Staat als bodenstandiger Organismus," the
author remarks that the peculiarities of this organism will not be
recognized by the discovery of mere analogies, and then goes on in
an independent way to make clear the nature of this organism and
the limitations to a justifiable organic point of view. At the outset
emphasis is laid on the importance of intellectual and moral factors in
the organic structure of the field of the state's activity in contrast to
that of animal organization. The state may be regarded as an organ-
ism, according to Ratzel, in so far as a particular part of the earth's
surface is utilized in such a way that the characteristics of the state are
the joint product of those of the people and of the soil. On the other
hand, the author says that the higher the development of the state
the farther removed from an organism it is because its development is
an outgrowth from an organic basis. The second essay discusses
" Naturgebiet und politisches Gebiet," and treats in detail political
development as determined by historical geographical conditions. In
the description of the effort of an entire people to become a natural
unit, the author introduces valuable discussions of the nature of geo-
graphical and political independence considered with careful reference
to the manifold differentiations in space and according to wealth and
social status. With such differentiation there enters the factor of the
rise in the political value of the territory, and this in turn brings about
greater individualization.
The third essay deals with ''Die Entwickelung des Zusammenhangs
zwischen Staat und Boden." Ratzel declares that Morgan's contrast
of " societas " and " civitas" is untenable, and maintains that we do
not know such a thing as a stateless people (kein staatloses VolK], Of
particular interest is Ratzel's discussion of the relation of political
activity to the soil and of what he calls territorial politics. He re-
gards the present extended sphere of so-called national politics as a
step backward in real social development The fourth and last essay
treats of the " Einwurzelung des Staates durch die Arbeit des Ein-
zelnen. ' ' The sum of the demands of the state on the soil becomes con-
SOCIOLOGICAL NOTES. 143
stantly greater and the individual household economy which makes
use of the soil is the basis of the life of the state. In the course of
his discussion of these two propositions the author states that it was
one of the gravest errors of the older ethnography and political geog-
raphy to assume that the nomadic stage was a necessary stage of
human development through which all societies had at one time
passed, and, farther, that common property in the soil or communal
property was the original form of property (Ureigenthum) . In an
examination of the cases where one finds to-day common owner-
ship, it will be found that it is combined with all stages of culture
(Kultursttifen), that it exists to the same limited extent and in the
same population groups where other forms of property are found and
that it is most seldom found where the conditions give the impression
of being the most primitive.
Condition of the Negro in Various Cities. There has been so
much talk, both North and South, about the condition and progress
of the American negro that it is quite time that we have some results
of accurate observation laid before us as a basis for future discussions.
It is both significant and a cause for hopefulness that the Federal
Government has at last come to the rescue. The voluminous investi-
gations and the valuable statistical publications of our general govern-
ment have in the period since the war touched upon nearly every
topic under the sun except this great social problem which it might
have been supposed the government would be the first to take
up. The Department of Labor, however, has now announced its
intention of examining into the actual condition of the negro. In
the May number of its Bulletin it devotes over one hundred pages to
the publication of the results of an interesting private investigation
conducted under the direction of George G. Bradford, Esq., of Bos-
ton, and one of the trustees of Atlanta University. Mr. Bradford was
especially interested in the high mortality rate among the negroes in
Southern cities, and he outlined a series of schedules to be sent to
various graduates of Atlanta University to see whether the real causes
could be ascertained. From this beginning the investigation widened
in scope until it included inquiries on a number of other points as
well. Only a bare summary of the results in the tables of statistics is
printed in the Bulletin. It is the intention of those who have the
matter in hand to make these results the basis of a conference on the
subject at Atlanta, and to publish on the part of the university a more
comprehensive report dealing also with propositions for reform.
The collection of the data was left entirely to colored men and was
a voluntary service under the direction of a committee, appointed by
the university, consisting of three graduates, oue member of the
144 ANNAIS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
faculty and one member of the board of trustees. About fifty
graduates of Atlanta, thirty of Fisk and fifteen colored gradu-
ates of Berea, besides prominent negro doctors, lawyers, clergymen
and teachers in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee
were invited to participate in all about 300 persons, of whom
100 volunteered and fifty completed their part of the investigation
within the time allowed them. The completed investigation covers
eighteen cities, all but one of which are in Southern States.
Particular attention was paid to the selection of groups and to
the character of the data secured in the cities of Atlanta, Nashville
and Cambridge (Mass.), and the results are the most representative
and accurate from these three places. The plan followed was to
select groups of from ten to twenty houses standing together in the
portions of the city taken to be typical of the condition of the negro
in that locality. The part of the tables which is supposed to be
most trustworthy covers 16 groups in Atlanta, 10 in Nashville and
i in Cambridge; these groups stand for 324, 246 and 98 families re-
spectively, and 1292, 1090 and 366 individuals respectively in the
cities named.
Some of the results indicated in the general summary alluded to-
are as follows: The figures for household conditions do not indicate
overcrowding on the whole, though for some groups and for certain
individual families the averages for persons to a room are high. The
use of the same room or rooms for cooking, eating, living and sleep-
ing purposes is noticeable and in some groups is quite common. Of
324 families living in Atlanta, 73, or 22.53 P er cent, owned the houses in
which they lived. In Nashville the percentage was higher, being 116
families out of 246, or 47 .15 per cent. In Cambridge, only 3 families out
of 98 owned their homes. In the enumeration of ailments of those sick
during the year, malarial fever seemed to be the most common com-
plaint. Rheumatism and pneumonia were said to be common, but
the large percentage of unknown or unclassified complaints render
these figures of doubtful value. The report states that the absence of
such diseases as rickets and other developmental lesions in these fami-
lies shows that the children have a fair heritage of good constitutions
to start life with. The death rate of the colored population is greatly
in excess of that of the white, but has constantly decreased according
to the figures compiled from the health reports of the various cities
for a period of fourteen years. The total and the illegitimate births
and the birth rate per thousand of both white and colored population
are given for the city of Baltimore for the ten year period 1884-1893.
It seems from these figures that the birth rate throughout the period
is about 10 per cent higher for the white than for the colored; the
SOCIOLOGICAL, NOTES. 145
average for the first five years compared with the second five indi-
cates that the birth rate for the white population has increased very
slightly, but that for the colored has fallen off about ten per cent.
The illegitimate birth rate per thousand of the population is several
times as great for the colored as for the white population throughout
the period.
BOOKS RECEIVED FROM MARCH 20 TO MAY 20, 1897.
Atti e Memorie della R. Accademia di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti in Padova. 1895-
96. Nuova Serie. Vol. XII. Padova : Giovanni Battista Randi.
Baker, M. N. (Editor), The Manual of American Water Works, 1897. Fourth
issue. Engineering News Co.
Bell, A. M., The Science of Speech. Washington : Volta Bureau.
Birks, James, Trade Unionism in Relation to Wages. London : Liberty and Prop-
erty Defence League. 6d.
Bourinot, J. G., The Story of Canada. Putnams. $1.50.
Burgess, J. W., Middle Period 1817-1858. Scribners. 81.75.
Chadsey, C. E., The Struggle Between President Johnson and Congress Over Re-
construction. Columbia University Studies. $i .00.
Coutts, W. A., Agricultural Depression in the U. S. Ann Arbor : Mich. Political
Science Association. $0.50.
Dallinger, F. W., Nominations for Elective Office in the U. S. (Harvard Historical
Studies). Longmans. $1.50.
Droppers, Garrett, The Gold Standard in Japan. An Address Delivered to the
" Keizai Kyokai " (Economic Society), Feb. 20, 1897.
Dunckley, Henry, and others, Richard Cobden and the Jubilee of Free Trade.
London : Unwin. y. 6d.
Ferraris, C. F., Gli Infortuni sul Lavoro e le Legge. Relazione a Consiglio della
Previdenza Sessione del 1897. Rome : Bertero.
Ferraris, C. F., II Materialismo Storico e La Stato. Seconda edizioue. Palermo :
Remo Sandron.
Fontaine, Arthur, Les Greves et la Conciliation. Paris : Colin, i/r.
Foster, J. W., Annexation of Hawaii. An address delivered before the National
Geographic Society at Washington, D. C., March 26, 1897.
George, J. E., The Saloon Question in Chicago. (Economic Association Studies,
Vol. II, No. 2). Macmillan. $0.50.
Gibbins, H. deB., Industry in England. Scribners. $2.50.
Giddings, F. H., Theory of Socialization. Macmillan. $0.60.
Gold Standard Defence Association. London. Pamphlets Nos. I to 24.
Goodnow, F. J., Municipal Problems. Macmillan. $1.50.
Greenidge, A. H. J., A Handbook of Greek Constitutional History. Macmillan.
$1.25.
Hoss, E. E., Elihu Embree, Abolitionist. Nashville, Tenn.: Vanderbilt University
Press.
Hyslop, J. H., Science of Sociology. University of Chicago Press. $0.50.
Jones, E- R. (Editor), The Shipping World Year Book. London.
Labriola, Antonio, Essais sur la Conception Materialiste de 1'Histoire. Paris:
Giard & Briere. s-sq/r.
Lambrecht, Hector, Le Travail des Couturieres en chambre et sa reglementation
Bruxelles : Socit6 Beige de Librairie.
Leroy-Beaulieu, P., Liberty and Property. London : Liberty and Property De-
fence League, id.
Million, J. W., State Aid to Railways in Missouri. University of Chicago.
Milton, G. P., Constitution of Tennessee. Knoxville, Teno.
(I 4 6)
BOOKS RECEIVED. 147
Nouveau Dictionnaire de Geographic universelle. Supplement, 76 Fascicule.
Paris : Hachette. -2.y>fr.
Official Handbook of Independent Order Knights of Labor. 1896.
Posada, Adolfo, Tratado de Derecho Administrative. Tomo Primero. Madrid :
Victoriano Sudrez. 7.50 pesetas.
Price, L. L-, Economic Science and Practice. London : Methuen. 6s.
Proceedings of Canadian Institute. Feb., 1897. Toronto : Arbuthnot Bros. & Co.
Publications of Societies, July I, iSgo-June 30, 1895. Publishers' Weekly.
Sparcassen und Vorschuss Vereine in Steiermark im Jahre 1895. (Statistische
Mittheilungen iiber Steiermark. III.) Graz : Leuschner & Lubensky.
Speirs, F. W., The Street Railway System of Philadelphia. (Johns Hopkins
University Studies, isth Series III, IV, V.) $0.75.
Stallard, J. H., The Problem of Municipal Government. San Francisco : Over-
land Monthly Co. $0.50.
Supplement au Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Economie politique de M. Leon Say et
Jos. Chailley-Bert. Paris : Guillaumin. $fr.
Tarde, G., L'Oppositiou universelle. Paris : Felix Alcan. T.y>fr.
Thomas, D. A., Some Notes on the Present State of the Coal Trade in the United
Kingdom. Cardiff. 5$.
Vail, C. H., National Ownership of Railways. Humboldt Co. $0.15.
Ward, L. F., Dynamic Sociology. 2d Edition. Appleton. #5.00.
Williams, G. A., Topics and References in American History. Revised Ed. Syra-
cuse, N. Y.: C. W. Bardeen. Ji.oo.
Wines, F. H., and Koren, John, The Liquor Problem in its Legislative Aspects.
Houghton, Mifflin. $1.25.
Wolff, Maurice, L'Education nationale. Paris: Giard & Brigre. 3/r.
SEPT. 1897.
ANNALS
OF THE
AMERICAN ACADEMY
Of
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
THE SHIFTLESS AND FLOATING CITY
POPULATION.
There are three distinct points of view for the consider-
ation of the problems suggested by the above topic. First,
there is that of the social revolutionist, who traces all shift-
lessness and inefficiency as well as all poverty, to the
present method of distribution, especially to such social
arrangements as the state, private property or private own-
ership of land. The views of this class may be ignored as-
they have no interest in the present discussion. Second,
there is the conservative citizen who accepts things as they
are and sees little hope for radical improvement, who infers
that because we have with us always the poor, and the
shiftless, and the inefficient, we may as well support them
by our present methods, who responds to all pathetic appeals
upon his generosity and does not begrudge a share in his
surplus to the unfortunate dependent. Citizens of this
type hold the key to the situation and must be con-
verted, and, the view to which the}'- should be converted
is the third, that of the reformer who looks for radical
change in the long run and who accepts meanwhile the
[i49]
2 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
necessity for remedial measures. It makes a great differ-
ence to the welfare of society whether dependents shall
remain at liberty to select the manner of their support, and
whether young men who are not making their living by
legitimate employment are to be put in the way of becoming
useful members of society.
A conspicuous historical illustration of the truth that
remedial measures may be effective, is set forth in the
volume of consular reports on ' ' Vagrancy and Public Char-
ities, ' ' issued a few years ago from the Department of State.
Without attaching undue importance to the opinions or
testimony of any single consul, what appears to be the large
lesson of the reports is clear. Twenty years ago one of the
most beggar-infested countries of Europe was Germany.
Able-bodied men in alarming numbers tramped through the
provinces of all states of the empire ; some of them in search
of work, others for love of vagabondage. In 1873, 200,000
men and boys were living as vagabonds in Germany, beg-
ging from town to town, demoralizing, and, in many
instances, terrifying the rural communities. *
But, whether it was because the necessity for better
organization of public philanthropy became obvious in
Germany earlier than elsewhere, or because it is a trait of
the German character to adopt and rapidly to extend a care-
fully elaborated scheme of social improvement, it is there,
as the Consul-General says, that the "restraint of vagrancy
and the relief of deserving indigence first received the care-
ful study and treatment which lift benevolence from a
sentiment to a science, "f
The steps in the prosecution of her active policy were the
formation of anti-begging societies; the provision of relief
stations and lodging-houses, with a system of passes from
one station to another for the man who is in search of work ;
the establishment of labor colonies ; the general adoption of
* See Consular Report on " Vagrancy and Public Charities," p. 291.
f Ibid., p. 290.
[150]
THE FLOATING CITY POPULATION. 3
some modification of the Elberfeld system for relieving pri-
vate distress, and the vigorous enforcement of the penal
laws which declare, among other things, that imprisoned
shall be: Every tramp and whosoever begs, or causes chil-
dren to beg, or does not prevent persons from begging.
What is the result? Seventeen consuls report from dif-
ferent cities of Germany, and they agree in testifying to
the enormous decrease in begging and increase in the
efficiency of the real relief of destitution. From Munich,
for example, the consul reports that "begging in the streets
may be said not to exist, and vagabonds and other objec-
tionable characters are seldom seen." From Diisseldorf:
"The arrangement and maintenance of stations where
food and shelter are given as an equivalent for labor have
nearly done away with street begging." From Bremen:
' ' Every person caught begging is imprisoned in the house
of correction or in the workhouse for a term of four months
up to two years, where they have to do the kind of work or
labor to which they are best adapted. They have to obey
orders strictly, but there is nothing humiliating in the
treatment they receive; but, on the contrary, it is tending
toward the elevation of their self-respect. A part of their
earnings is reserved and paid to them when leaving the in-
stitution. About twenty-five per cent of these beggars
remain incorrigible and have to be repeatedly punished and
imprisoned, while the rest of them become self-supporting
members of society. ' ' These extracts are representative of
the evidence furnished by the reports.
Contrast them with but two quotations about countries in
which the conditions twenty years ago were no worse than
in Germany, but in which remedial measures have not been
employed. And these, also, are typical. First Sicily :
"No country, perhaps, has a greater percentage of beggars than
Italy, and in no part of Italy are beggars so painfully numerous as
in Sicily, where all public buildings, churches, banks, theatres,
hotels, and approaches thereto, as well as streets, promenades, and
[150
4 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
parks, are teeming with beggars, whose importunities are as con-
stant and general as they are annoying. In fact, so numerous are
they and conspicuous that one is given the impression that half the
population is begging; but although begging is so prevalent, the
class of roving beggars known as 'tramps' is unknown here for two
reasons: one, that no Sicilian beggar has the energy to travel from
place to place, and the other the certainty of the place to which he
might go being as thoroughly infested and fully occupied as that
from whence he came. ' '*
From Spain :
"In this country vagrants or tramps are not controlled at all.
They seem to be indigenous to the soil, growing spontaneously and
multiplying. Without them Spain would be lonesome and polite-
ness would lose its most earnest devotees. Tramps regulate
themselves. They are governed by the law of demand and supply,
and by playing upon the heartstrings of their fellowmen, enjoy
life without its burdens. They have no notes to pay, no bills ta
meet, because, fortunately for them, nobody will give them credit ;
no responsibilities, no cares, no debts, no social standing to main-
tain, so, with crusts of bread and small pieces of fish, they satisfy
the cravings of hunger and rest sweetly upon stone steps. A happy
child of nature is the Spanish tramp. He is a model for all other
tramps; a genius in his line of business, and a perfect success in
his calling. Of course the great body of all tramps are professionals.
Who is worthy and who is not? that's the question nobody knows
and nobody seems to care, so the tramp tramps on, becoming bolder
in his demands and multiplying like the sands of the sea, while
the pockets of the patient public are emptied and the people en-
deavor to smooth their irritated nerves ; nothing is done, however,
to arrest the evil. "*
What is desired is not that we should attach our faith
solely to repressive and correctional measures, but that we
should use them in their place, and learn where they belong
in the general scheme of educational and social progress.
A study of the present status of vagrancy in New York City
is especially instructive.
Until within a few years, the policy of that city resembled
that of Spain more nearly than that of any enlightened city
* Report of Consul at Palermo,
f Report of Consul at Malaga.
[152]
THE FLOATING CITY POPULATION. 5
of Northern Europe. Vagrants crowded to the city in vast
numbers, especially in the early autumn. If unable to pay
for a cheap lodging they were entertained in a free police
station lodging-house. They were allowed to beg on the
sidewalks and from door to door, with little molestation.
What they obtained was spent largely on beer or whisky
with which went a free lunch. When at the lowest ebb
they sank into the stale-beer dive and so they lived. At
election times they were freely employed in numerous dis-
tricts, and political influence secured speedy release from
the workhouse if they happened to be arrested and com-
mitted. Under such favorable conditions, the number of
the floating and shiftless steadily grew, and became increas-
ingly dangerous.
Since the advent of the present city administration, there
have been certain changes out of which it is now hoped that
a general policy for grappling with the whole problem may
be formulated.
I. The police stations have ceased to provide lodgings.
These pest-holes of discomfort, filth and contagion have
given way to a municipal lodging-house, with compulsory
shower baths, disinfection of clothing, a comfortable bed,
supper and breakfast, investigation of all comers and a
liability to commitment to the workhouse for all who prove
to be vagrants, and a return to their homes at the expense
of the state for those who are found to have legal residence
elsewhere, and who, in the opinion of the authorities, should
be thus returned. This change in the method of dealing
with those who claim a night's shelter from the city, is
alone cause for a considerable amount of rejoicing.
II. The cumulative-sentences law is another long step in
advance. Under this law, magistrates commit to the work-
house for vagrancy, disorderly conduct and drunkenness,
as heretofore, but they do not determine the sentence. The
first commitment is for five days, the second for twenty,
with subsequent progressive lengthening of the term up to
[153]
6 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
a period of six months. In the case of vagrancy, however,
the Commissioner of Correction, even for the first offence,
is authorized to fix the term at any period between five days
and six months, and through several months of the past
winter such sentences were uniformly for three months.
Every morning about twenty vagrants were committed to
the workhouse from the municipal lodging-house and a
somewhat smaller number returned to their homes by the
Department of Charities at the expense of the state.
III. The new registration and election laws have made
the former traffic in votes impossible. In the election of
last November, although a large amount of money is sup-
posed to have been expended for educational work there
was practically no fraudulent voting such as was notoriously
frequent a few years ago. This was partly because of the
better law, partly because of police vigilance.
IV. The Raines liquor law, prohibiting the free lunch,
has made life more expensive for the New York vagrant.
This can hardly be said to affect the professional beggar
who is willing to master the arts of his calling and to work
at it persistently in all kinds of weather. Such a one can
easily clear several dollars in a good day. But the gen-
uinely shiftless and floating vagrant, who lives on a few
cents and unorganized charity, is sadly discouraged by the
necessity of paying for his food separately. If the provision
is maintained * it will certainly make easier the task of
dealing with this kind of dependent.
V. The stale-beer dives, of which Mr. Riis has given the
best description, have disappeared within a very short time
by the general introduction of a more effective apparatus for
drawing the beer from kegs. These places were generally
called two-cent restaurants. Doctored, unlicensed beer was
their chief ware. Sometimes a cup of coffee and a stale roll
might be had for two cents. I add a few words from the
description in Riis' "How the Other Half Lives"
Since the above was written this provision has been strengthened.
[154]
THE FLOATING CITY POPULATION. 7
' ' The men pay the score. To the women unutterable horror of
the suggestion the place is free. The beer is collected from the
kegs put on the sidewalk by the saloon-keeper to await the brewer's
cart and is touched up with drugs to put a froth on it. The privi-
lege to sit all night on a chair, or sleep on a table or in a barrel,
goes with each round of drinks. Generally an Italian, sometimes a
negro, and occasionally a woman runs the dive. Their customers,
alike homeless and hopeless in their utter wretchedness, are the
professional tramps, and these only. The meanest thief is infinitely
above the stale-beer level. Once upon that plane there is no escape.
To sink below it is impossible; no one ever rose from it."
This was written in 1890. I have it upon the same au-
thority * that for the reason I have indicated, these dives
have absolutely disappeared. There is no longer stale-beer
left in the kegs, and as it was for this they came, the cus-
tomers have forsaken them and the dens themselves have
gone as if by magic. There remain many kinds of de-
moralizing and infamous places; but the stale-beer dive,
the worst of them all, is no longer to be found upon the
island of Manhattan.
VI. Finally, the police department last spring opened a
vigorous crusade against street mendicancy. Ever since
its foundation, the Charity Organization Society has em-
ployed one or more special officers to patrol the streets in
search of beggars, warning those who were seen for the first
time, referring them to the offices of the society or to the
Department of Charities as seemed the more suitable, and
arresting old offenders or any who were clearl}' vagrants.
The chief of police has now detailed twelve men for this
work. They patrol in citizens' clothes, and their instruc-
tions are identical with those under which the officers of
the society have worked. Persons who are believed to
be residents and whose families are in need, are referred to
the nearest office of the Charity Organization Society; all
* I am indebted to Mr. Riis for information, not only upon this point, but also
on police station lodging-houses, and other aspects of the subject under discussion.
Probably no one has done more to lead public opinion to sound conclusions on the
evils of vagrancy and the practicability of its cure.
[155]
8 ANNAI<S OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
beggars are warned and any found begging after such warn-
ing are arrested and committed to the workhouse. A full
descriptive record of every person so arrested is forwarded
to police headquarters, there copied, and then sent to the
central office of the society. The men detailed for this duty
are carefully selected and are expected to remain in it per-
manently in order that they may become acquainted with
the characteristics of the class with which they deal and
skillful in advising those in distress as to the best way of
securing the necessary relief.
This action and the closing of the police stations, both of
which are of the greatest importance, should alone win for
the police board of the present administration the hearty
appreciation of all who care for the welfare of the city.
The committee on vagrancy of the Conference of Chari-
ties, which represents the most aggressive reform sentiment
that has yet crystallized in New York City, advocated before
the legislature a bill providing for a farm colony, or farm
school, to which were to be committed vagrants between the
ages of sixteen and forty not for punishment but for train-
ing in habits of steady industry. This bill was defeated in
the assembly on the ground that it gave too extensive
powers to the board of managers; but it passed the senate
and may be introduced another year. Of the ten thousand
lodgings given within a period of two months at the free
municipal lodging-house, fully five thousand one-half
were to men under thirty years of age, strong, able-bodied
and well-nourished. Such is the testimony of the examin-
ing surgeon who saw them nightly stripped for the shower
bath. The farm colony is for such men, and the farm
school and the municipal lodging-house are to be regarded
as parts of one system.
The lodging-house is under the charge of the Department
of Charities. When in satisfactory working order, there is
attached to it a sufficient corps of investigators to report with-
in twenty-four hours on every lodger who gives a reference
[156]
THE FLOATING CITY POPULATION. 9
in the city. The plan contemplated by the committee
on vagranc)', which has not yet been fully adopted, is that
all applicants who have been less than a month without a
residence shall be received and their statements investigated.
For such applicants, if they are found to be truthful, the
assistance of private charity is to be invoked, provided
anything more than a single night's lodging is needed.
Those who have homes elsewhere are to be returned at
the expense of the state or otherwise. A sufficient amount
is placed by the legislature in the hands of the Superin-
tendent of State and Alien Poor to provide for the trans-
portation of those who live out of the state. Those who
have residence within the state may be returned by the
City Department of Charities. Any who have been one
month or more in the city without a residence, whether
native or not, are not to be received; but are to be con-
veyed at once to the nearest police station and detained
as vagrants, not as lodgers, and are to be arraigned in
court next day. This distinction between those who
have lived without regular employment and without a
residence for less, than a month and those whose stay
has been for a longer period, is arbitrary; but errs, if
at all, on the side of leniency. Those who have thus been
dependent for a month or more will not be worse off in the
workhouse, assuming, of course, that adequate accommoda-
tions and facilities for work are provided. It is not a
hardship to the individual unless the conditions are dis-
tinctly less favorable in personal comfort and in their in-
fluence on personal character. They are probably an
improvement in both respects. Aside from the clear public
benefit, the step is, therefore, in the interest of the in-
dividual.
Unfortunately, the lack of facilities for work in the work-
house at present somewhat frustrates this purpose, but a
liberal appropriation has been made to enable the Depart-
ment of Correction to occupy an additional island in the
[157]
io ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
East River where hard work will be possible. The lodging-
house thus becomes a sort of distributing centre, from which
some will go to the workhouse, some to the almshouse, some
to hospitals, some to their homes elsewhere, some to the
offices of charitable societies, and many to their own inde-
pendent search for work or friends. Those for whom there
is no other natural provision and who are of suitable age,
would have been sent under the proposed law to the farm
colony.
Such are the two general features of the plan which is
urged by the committee on vagrancy for the elimination of
the floating and shiftless population. In criticism of this
plan, it may be said that it is clearly an advance, and that
all the arguments are in favor of its further prosecution.
But it is also true that it does not go to the root of the
matter. Considered as a comprehensive plan for restoring
to productive industry the general body of inefficient young
men now vagrants it rests upon the mistaken assumptions
that the flow of population to the city is an evil, that it is
remediable, that those who prove incapable in the city can
be made self-supporting most easily by teaching them some-
thing about farming and thereupon transferring them to the
country.
These have long been the prevailing views of a large
class of reformers, but without going deeply into the matter
I venture to suggest that it is useless to dissipate valuable
energy in an attempt to prevent a movement of population
which has shown itself to be world-wide and to rest upon
necessary economic changes. The agricultural revolution
which has been in progress is not finished, and it is a ques-
tion whether we are not protracting the period of suffering
by every attempt to induce an incapable worker to remove
himself from town to country.
Workers must go where the work is to be done, and the
industrial changes in progress clearly indicate that an in-
creased proportion of the work to be done by human labor
[158]
THE FLOATING CITY POPULATION. n
will lie in the industrial centres either in or immediately
about the great cities. The inefficient farmer may be
trained to efficiency in a subordinate position on the farm
as the small farmsare merged into larger, but the inefficient
builder, weaver, forger, machinist, furnace-man, longshore-
man, garment-maker, and common laborer of the town must
be transformed into the efficient town laborer at the expense
of the town, in institutions teaching town trades, having in
view future residence and productive labor in the town itself.
The farm school, therefore, in a general remedial scheme,
should be but one, and probably the least important, of a
series of correctional and educational agencies, and the goal
is not transferrence indiscriminately of all the incapables of
the city to the soil but the placing in some honorable in-
dustry of all who develop the qualities essential to success
in any.
From this point of view, industrial education assumes a
new importance. If in the schools we train all of both sexes
in such a way that they will be able to turn when occasion
arises from one occupation to another, and if we admit no
immigrants save those who have acquired equal capacity
elsewhere, the amount of correctional training required will
be reduced to a minimum.
Taking into account the national interest as a whole, the
city is a better and less dangerous and less expensive place
for the vagrant than the country. His migration to the
city should be welcomed rather than discouraged. If he is
in the city we shall be more conscious of his existence, but
for that very reason we shall be better able to deal with
him. There is greater taxable wealth and, therefore, greater
resources for charitable relief and for correctional discipline.
The whole of the repressive and remedial work can be done
more efficiently and with better opportunities to watch the
results than in the country. What the conventional view
amounts to is that we of the city have done our full duty
when, at the expense of the country, we have gotten rid of
[159]
12 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
the greatest possible number of individual vagrants, incap-
ables and unfortunates, adults and children. This short-
sighted view must be displaced by a determination to
shoulder courageously the burden of our own dependency.
What is objectionable is not the return to the country of
those who clearly belong there, provided they are inter-
cepted within a reasonable time, or the restoration to farm
life of any who show the qualities required in it; but the
assumption that a farm training is the natural cure for the
general shiftlessness and vagrancy of the city and that there
is some peculiar virtue in farm life which will eradicate the
in-bred disease of dependency.
An illustration of the divergence between the two views
may be found in the present agitation against cheap
lodging-houses. These are now and have been for ten
years or more the special curse of New York City. There
are 116 of them, with 15,000 to 16,000 beds. They have
finally been brought under very efficient supervision. A
permit is required which may be revoked peremptorily
by the health board, either for a short time, until some
specific violation of the regulations is remedied, or finally if
the offence is serious. They are inspected twice a week.
They are allowed to receive only a specified number of
guests, and none except on spring beds. If a mattress is
used it must be covered with oilcloth. Beds must not be
less than two feet apart. Provision must be made for baths
and a room set apart for any case of contagious disease.
The price of a bed or room varies from seven to thirty -five
cents and is generally ten or fifteen cents. The moral in-
fluence in many of these houses is vicious. An observer
whose office is directly opposite police headquarters in Mul-
berry street and whose duty for many years has been the
reporting of police news for one of the great dailies, tells
me that there is no doubt whatever that a very large pro-
portion of the more serious crime of the city is to be traced
directly to the idle hours of shiftless loafers in the cheap
[160]
THE FLOATING CITY POPULATION. 13
lodging-houses. Any measures which will bring about a
change of life in the homes of these few thousands of our
people, would make life and property more secure and
remove one of the greatest social dangers with which we
are threatened.
One of the most effective opponents of these cheap
lodging-houses, Mrs. Charles Russell Lowell, does not rest
content with attacking them because they are vicious and
demoralizing, but goes further and draws indictment
against them all, good and bad, and against all inexpensive
provision for homeless men, on the very different ground
that they attract the incompetent to the city. Quoting from
Superintendent Byrnes, late chief of police, in a recent
address before the Conference of Charities, Mrs. Lowell
calls attention, as she had often and effectively done before,
to the undeniable fact that the lodging-houses have a pow-
erful tendency to produce, foster and increase crime.
Superintendent Byrnes had gone so far as to say that "in
nine cases out of ten the stranger who drifts into a lodging-
house turns out a thief or a burglar, if indeed he does not
sooner or later become a murderer;" that "thousands of in-
stances of this kind occur every year. ' '
In the face of this testimony, Mrs. Lowell's contention
for the constant improvement of the common lodging-house
by law and by strict inspection is eminently justified. The
argument should rest upon this unassailable ground, that
the lodging-houses in question are known by observation
and experience to exert an influence for evil. But an
attack upon all provision for inexpensive lodgings under
conditions free from the positive evils, is a very different
matter. Whether or not, for example, the splendidly
equipped lodging-houses for single men which Mr. D. O.
Mills is now constructing on Bleecker street will be produc-
tive of any harm of this sort, depends upon the character of
the social life which develops in it. If some hundreds of
young men of congenial tastes and a desire for good society,
[161]
14 ANNAJLS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
are given an opportunity which is denied the boarder in the
hall bed-room who is paying the same rates, and which is
utterly impossible in the common lodging-house, then they
will prove a public blessing notwithstanding their effect in
drawing some men from the country.
By making men more contented in a bachelor's life they
may somewhat delay marriages, and some marriages they
may prevent altogether. This effect can scarcely be de-
plored. Since whatever views we hold on population in
general, we cannot welcome an accelerated increase in that
part of the population which is living at the lowest existing
level. The shiftless and floating family is more to be
dreaded than the single vagrant, for charity will respond
to appeals on behalf of a dependent family even to the ex-
tent of providing a living for months together if the head of
the family is not employed, while a single man who cannot
make a living can be more easily removed to some such
educational institution as that for which the reformers are
working.
The Salvation Army shelters must be discussed similarly
on their own merits. The objection to them is not that
they draw men from the country or from smaller towns, but
that the desire to bring together materials for the spiritual
work of the arm}' tempts to a very low standard of physical
decency and to persistent violations of the most elementary
sanitary regulations. Presenting themselves as a semi-
charity, they conciliate public sentiment and make it com-
paratively difficult for the health authorities to apply their
ordinary supervision. They have been centres of contagion
in L,ondon, where, unfortunately, they do not come within
the generally ample sanitary inspection. In New York
City their regular lodging-houses are governed by the
ordinary regulations of the health department, but no one
has as yet interfered with the occasional emergency meas-
ures, such as the opening of a large audience room, in Feb-
ruary of this year, to 1600 nightly lodgers on seats and in
[162]
THE FLOATING CITY POPULATION. 15
aisles that were to be used the next day for an ordinary
public gathering. It is a significant indication of the real
sources from which such lodgers come that the number of
regular lodgers in the municipal lodging-house decreased
when the auditorium was opened from three hundred to
about one hundred ; the number at the Wayfarers' Lodge of
the Charity Organization Society fell off in even greater
proportion; while the average reduction in the cheap
Bowery lodging-houses was found by a curious visitor to be
about fifty per cent. In all these places there would have
been a normal increase if the Salvation Army quarters had
not been opened.
This experience is only a new proof that in our study of
the homeless poor of the city, we must include not only the
few hundred men and the few score of women that are at
any given time absolutely without shelter, except such as
charity or public relief may provide, but also the ten or
fifteen thousand persons who live in cheap lodging-houses
and who are homeless in the sense that they have no real
home no home ties and influences, no permanent engage-
ments for payment by the week or month that would inter-
fere with the cheerful acceptance, at the eleventh hour, of
a free shelter which might open its doors if only for a night.
The irresistible conclusion of the most careful study will
be that the fundamental difficulty is in the home and school
life of the young people. The correctional devices to which
some attention has been given are needed only to give so-
ciety a better chance as it were to work at its social and
educational problem. Kindergarten, manual training,
trade schools, professional training for public school
teachers, instruction in the best ways of using an income
large or small, the prevention of indiscriminate charity,
organized intelligent effort on behalf of individuals and
families in distress, the proper care of homeless children,
the study of social conditions in college settlements, the
creation of public opinion by the extension of university
[163]
1 6 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
teaching these are the methods which, without any desire
to be eclectic and to conciliate everybody, but only with an
intense conviction that our whole social problem is one, I
propose as the means of eliminating our shiftless and float-
ing population.
EDWARD T. DEVINE.
New York City,
THE PROBLEMS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE.
The recent literature of political science, in marked con-
trast with the writings of the Austinian school, reveals much
uncertainty as to the scope and problems of the science.
Many regard this uncertainty as the opening of a period of
more fruitful, because less dialectic, discussion. It is evident
that many accepted political theories are survivals of an
earlier period, and that in dealing with practical problems
we use political formulae arising from conditions essentially
different from those of to-day. In this respect some striking
analogies are found in the history of economic theory. The
terms of the science, its logic and even the formulae which
were regarded as economic laws, have been questioned.
But out of this apparent chaos, a body of thought is evolv-
ing which has modified and promises to supplant the Ricar-
dian system, giving us a theory of economic relations cor-
responding more closely to the facts of modern industrial
life. The clear recognition of the facts of modern industrial
life bids fair to give us a new theory of economic progress.
A like situation confronts political science. While it is
too early to predict ultimate effects upon the problems of
the science, some of the changes necessary to a closer ad-
justment of political reasoning to political conditions are
apparent at the present time. The question is one of ten-
dencies rather than results, involving the gradual adaptation
of method and interpretation to the new relations. That
new political relations have developed within the last half
century calls for no detailed demonstration. To prove that
political theory has not kept pace with these changes requires
somewhat closer analysis.
In spite of the fact that many of Austin's conclusions
have proven erroneous, his conception of the scope of politi-
cal science, of its problems, of the methods of political
[165]
1 8 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
reasoning, are generally accepted in the systematic trea-
tises on the subject. Austin's views depend upon the
conditions of the highly developed political communities of
the Western world and lose much of their value when
brought into relation with the conditions of more primitive
civilizations. In the light of recent research we are now in
a position to see that the greater part of Austin's definitions
such as law, positive morality, sovereignty, non-sovereign
political communities, etc. rest upon the conditions of an
advanced political development. They assume that relig-
ious, ethical and political standards have become differen-
tiated, that national unity is the basis of state existence,
that the democratic evolution of society has reached a point
beyond that of most modern communities. The polemical
character of much of Austin's work is founded in this pecu-
liarity of his system. His discussion was directed against
the remnants of the eighteenth century political philosophy.
Austin's immediate predecessor, Bentham, had not been
able to emancipate himself completely from the philosophy of
ft * ' state of nature. ' ' The discussion of ' ' natural ' ' society
in the writings of Bentham has the flavor of an earlier period
while ideas of natural law, natural rights, rights inherent
in the individual independent of and superior to all political
authority, reappeared in the writings of his time. Strongly
impressed with the great increase in legislative activity in
England, and the more definite expression of rights and
obligations resulting therefrom, Austin saw the necessity of
demonstrating the supremacy of positive law, /. <?., law in
its objective expression. This he did with far greater suc-
cess than Bentham. His contribution to political science
can be gauged at its true value when viewed from this
standpoint.
On the other hand, it must not be forgotten that Austin
entirely neglected the subjective basis of law as well as its
relation to the changing standards of the community. In
fact an inquiry into the psychic and objective factors
[166]
THE PROBLEMS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE. 19
determining legal development finds no place in his system.
His great claim to recognition lies in the fact that he offered
a clear analysis of law in the objective sense, a definite termi-
nology and a series of concise definitions.
The field of jurisprudence left untouched by Austin has
not been occupied by any English writer. Of Continental
treatises Ihering's work is the only important contribution to
the subject. The contrast between his "Zweck im Recht"*
and Austin's "Jurisprudence" throws much light on the
present problems of political science. The two authors are
interested in a different series of problems, which accounts
for differences in method and premises. In Austin we have
a cross-section view of the English political system, with
sovereignty, law and morality treated as isolated facts. No
attempt is made to assign them a place amongst the other
political and social forces. Nor is allowance made for the
great diversities in political organization; for the degree of
development of unity and symmetry in the body politic. It
is assumed that there must be some definite organ or group
of organs enjoying legally unrestricted power. Now, the
very idea of ' ' legally' ' unrestricted power is characteristic
of a period of advanced political development, a period in
which the spirit of law has fully asserted itself.
In Ihering, on the other hand, we have a discussion of the
subjective basis of law, of the forces which influence its
growth, and of the relation of law to the other order-produc-
ing forces in the community. The significant feature of
Ihering's argument is that law does not represent an isolated
fact, the command of a sovereign political authority. His
philosophy of law is brought into direct relation with the
philosophy of society.
An examination of the history of English political science
will show that the method adopted by Austin has its root in
Hobbes and Locke. In fact Hobbes, Locke, Bentham,
Austin, Holland and Markby, form an unbroken line of
Also his " Geist des romischen Rechts."
[I6 7 ]
so ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
thinkers, whose writings, in spite of great differences in
conclusions, show practical unanimity in method, in inter-
pretation of political phenomena and in terminology. It
is to be noted that the relative justification of the method
adopted by this school is not in question, for the results
of Austin's work has placed it beyond doubt. The real
issue is, whether we have not reached a stage in political
development in which problems of a different character,
demanding a different method of analysis, call for consid-
eration ; whether the continued domination of the Aus-
tinian method is not likely to lead us to a ceaseless reitera-
tion of threadbare formulae. The importance of a general
recognition of this danger becomes apparent when we stop
to consider that most of these formulas are of little signifi-
cance at present; many of them having been disposed of,
not by the political scientists, but by conflict physical,
economic, moral and intellectual. For a period of unde-
veloped political relations, when the conflict of opinion cor-
responded to real differences in class and sectional interests,
the determination of the seat of sovereignty was important.
To refute the idea of natural rights was of importance in a
period when the acceptance of this idea by a considerable
portion of the population threatened political anarchy. In-
stances may be found at every period in history. In the
conflict of the English people with the Stuarts, the question
of the right of resistance was one of great practical im-
portance and soon became the main problem of political
science.* When this question had been fought out, when
the supremacy of Parliament had asserted itself, the problem
lost its importance and, therefore, its interest. New prob-
lems arose. The freedom of the individual, his immunity
from arbitrary interference on the part of the public au-
thority, became the requisite conditions of further progress.
* Another and more recent instance is to be found in the attitude of the Catholic
clergy and a large part of the Catholic population of Prussia during the "Cul-
turkampf." The law was set at naught on the ground that it was in conflict with
the papal interpretation of political obligations.
[168]
THE PROBLEMS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE. 21
To secure these conditions some means to check the power
of the executive, to restrain the crown and its agents, had
to be developed. Furthermore, the growth of more complex
economic and legal relations called for the development of
an independent authority to supervise and guarantee their
adjustment. Without it social order and stability were
impossible. These new organs of government, under the
name of the judiciary, developed a body of rules of inter-
pretation which, in a subsequent period, were to constitute
the most effective guarantees of the citizen against the ex-
ecutive.
Montesquieu formulated this practical political neces-
sity in the sixth chapter of the eleventh book of the ' l Esprit
des Lois. ' ' He saw clearly that greater security for recog-
nized personal and property rights was one of the chief
needs of the time. Unless this security were attained the
motive to individual activity and initiative would be greatly
reduced and economic progress would be retarded. He
found in England a system of individual liberty resting on
legal and extra-legal guarantees unknown to the Continent.
The separation of powers into executive, legislative and
judicial seemed to explain the growth and guarantee of
such freedom. The scheme of government which worked
itself out in his mind, and which he thought was a counter-
part of the English system, was described as follows: " Thus
the legislative power will be entrusted to the body of the
nobles and the body of the representatives of the people,
which will have their meetings and their deliberations
apart and will have distinct views and interests."
' ' The executive power ought to be in the hands of a
monarch; because this part of the government, which must
ordinarily be in a position to act promptly is better admin-
istered by one than by many; whereas matters of legislation
are often better ordered by many than by one. ... If
the executive power does not possess the power of defeating
the encroachments of the legislative body, the latter will
[169]
22 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
be despotic, for being able to invest itself with every im-
aginable authority it will annihilate every other power.
. . . The legislative body is composed of two distinct
parts, which limit each other by their respective vetoes.
Both will be restrained by the executive power, and this in
its turn will be restrained by the legislative power. ' '
This doctrine of the separation of powers became the text
for political writers. The principles of governmental or-
ganization founded upon it remained the accepted canons of
political science long after English political development had
deprived the doctrine of any value as an absolute formula.
The survival of the principle in its original form has been
due to the fact that it did not antagonize any distinctly felt
want. Furthermore, political thought was being directed
into new channels. Presently we shall have occasion to
examine the influence of the doctrine upon the development
of American political institutions.
The foregoing analysis has given us the clue to two
methods of political research; each dealing with problems of
a different nature. The first is the Austinian method in
jurisprudence which is peculiarly adapted to the study of
political institutions at a given period. Society is viewed in
cross-section. The organs of political authority, their con-
stitution, activity and relation to one another are made the
subject of research. The discussion of the form of govern-
ment, the determination of the supreme law-making author-
ity, the relation between governmental organs, etc., are
questions to which this method is peculiarly adapted. If we
may be permitted to borrow, as the economists have done,
a term from physical science, these problems may be termed
those of static politics.* These questions are of great im-
portance, but the method adapted to their analysis has defi-
nite limitations which we must clearly recognize. Inquiry
in the domain of static politics does not and cannot give us
* See " Political Science and Comparative Constitutional Law," by Professor J..
W. Burgess. 2 vols. Boston: Ginn & Co., 1893.
[170]
THE PROBLEMS OP POLITICAL SCIENCE. 23
anything more than a picture of the working of institutions
divorced from the ideas upon which they rest. Its discus-
sions are confined to those relations which find definite
expression in the public and private law. Extra-legal con-
siderations may be introduced incidentally, but are not
made the basis of discussion. Organized forms, rights
and obligations recognized and enforced by law exhaust
the catalogue of subjects beyond which analysis is not
carried. In order that discussions of this character may
lead to fruitful results, great care must be exercised in the
use of terms. The ever-changing conditions of political life
are constantly giving a new content to the terms of the
science. It is impossible to formulate a terminology appli-
cable at all times and to all countries. The terms family,
sovereignty, democracy, liberty, law, rights and obligations
do not connote the same group of relations when applied to
ancient Greece, as when applied to mediaeval France, or to
the England of the latter half of the nineteenth century. It
is a matter of great importance to determine whether these
concepts, in the sense in which we understand them, existed
in earlier epochs. Did they, or similar institutions perform-
ing the same function, rest upon the same subjective basis;
upon the same instincts, feelings, prejudices, ideas and
ideals ?
The failure to recognize clearly the evolutional nature of
political relations and the resultant change in the content
of political terms leads to barren dialecticism. An ex-
amination of recent American treatises will show that we
are not free from this weakness. The tendency to reason
from definitions rather than from facts seems to be one of
the strongest temptations to political scientists. In spite
of every precaution, few, if any, of the recent contributions
to political science escape this criticism. In a recent work,*
which has attracted considerable attention, the author, dis-
cussing the distinction between the family and the state,
"The Nature of the State," by W.W Willougliby. New York : Mactnillan, 1897.
[171]
24 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
says: "The two institutions are different in essence. In
the family the location of authority is natural (z. ., in the
father). In the state it is one of choice. Subordination is
the principle of the family; equality that of the state."
We are here given the choice between two contradictory
positions. If the term ' ' state ' ' is used as a general political
concept and this is the only use consistent with the
author's conception of the function of philosophic concepts
his reasoning is unsound because unhistorical. That in
primitive and even in such highly developed political socie-
ties as the Roman, no such distinction can be drawn, has
been shown by Maine and Mommsen. The early Roman
family was based upon what we now consider purely politi-
cal relations. " The family, based upon the principle of the
state, becomes the state based upon the principle of the
family*. To reserve the term ' ' state ' ' for the complex and
highly-organized political communities of modern times
would throw the discussion into hopeless confusion. It is
hardly possible to reconcile such an interpretation with the
statementf ' ' that the designation of the state cannot be
refused to a society of men, if politically organized, even
though it be in the nomadic stage. I,ower order of develop-
ment cannot deprive an institution of its generic name."
Such inherent contradictions show more clearly than any
amount of argument, the great care which is needed in the
use of terms. We must keep constantly in mind the infinite
varieties of political organization which the term "state"
may connote, and not make it express a distinction that is
peculiar to one period of development, and which inevitably
leads to confusion. The difficulty with which we have to con-
tend is as old as the science of politics. It is the attempt to
arrive at concepts of universal applicability by a method
which does not lend itself to the task. It is a question to my
mind whether we can hope to formulate any such general
Ihering. " Esprit du Draft romafn." French Edition. Vol. i, p. 178.
t Willoughby. Cap. i, p. 27.
[172]
THE PROBLEMS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE. 25
concepts, or at least such as will be of real value in a compar-
ative study of political relations. A method of inquiry essen-
tially different from that outlined above becomes necessary.
The difference corresponds to a fundamental difference in
the attitude towards problems of political science. It brings
us to the second division of politics, which I shall call
"dynamic politics." The study of political evolution, of
the relation between institutions and ideas, of the adjust-
ment of such institutions to the needs of the community,
are the leading problems in this field. The very statement
of these questions shows that our analysis must go beyond
the organized political forms. The political bearing of
economic facts as well as the political results of changes in
economic relations must be examined. The forces develop-
ing new standards of conduct, be they class or general stand-
ards, must be brought into direct relation with the facts of
political life. If political science is to ignore these questions,
their treatment will be delegated to the allied sciences.
Sociology has already begun this work. The comparative
barrenness of American political literature is to be ascribed,
in part, to the narrow interpretation of the scope of the
science. Political scientists have been content to accept
classifications suggested by writers in the allied sciences, an
attitude which is disastrous to the growth of a science.
Let us take, as an instance, one of the most recent as well
as one of the most liberal interpretations. Professor Gid-
dings in his " Principles of Sociology, " says: * " Political
science studies the state within the constitution and shows
how it expresses its will in acts of government. It inquires
how the state within the constitution is created and moulded
by the state behind the constitution, but beyond this, politi-
cal science proper does not go. The state beyond the con-
stitution, or natural society as we should otherwise call it,
is for politics as for economy; a datum." This line of
division meets all the requirements of the problems of static
* Page 35.
[173]
26 ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
politics and has the great advantage of being readily distin-
guishable. The moment, however, that we enter upon the
study of the second class of problems, the state behind the
constitution, " the facts of natural society" become some-
thing more than data for political science. It is only by
such considerations that we can explain the causes and pro-
cess of political change. Illustrations from primitive com-
munities where the conditions are relatively simple offer the
clearest demonstration of this principle. In such commu-
nities conscious adaptation does not enter as a disturbing
factor to the same extent as in our highly developed modern
ones, and political institutions become the simple expres-
sion in the political sphere of economic Delations. It is true
that psychic factors, such as the supernatural interpretation
of the objective environment soon enter as modifying factors.
Take, for instance, the primary fact of command and
obedience, the earliest of political relations. This relation
was the immediate result of the conditions of the objective
environment the necessity of obtaining a food supplj 7 and
protection against attack. As such, its growth became a
condition for the continued existence of the community.
We must therefore look to the conditions of the objective
environment for the efficient cause of political evolution
during these early stages. When, at a later period, private
property had developed, the same intimate connection be-
tween economic and political relations can readily be traced.
Usually the possession of the relatively scarce factor in pro-
duction carries with it political power. Even class dis-
tinctions ultimately break down before the fact of economic
supremacy. Individuals of low birth acquiring control of
the factor in production which is either absolutely limited
in quantity or, relatively the most slowly increasing, come
to be regarded as of royal descent.
This relatively scarce factor in production may and does
actually change at different periods. At one time it may be
cattle, at another land, and still another tools or implements.
[174]
THE PROBLEMS OP POLITICAL SCIENCE. 27
Sir Henry Maine gives several striking instances from
the political constitution of early Irish villages. Polit-
ical leadership was determined by the ownership of cattle.
The loan of cattle created definite political relations; the
degree of political subjection being dependent upon the
number of cows or oxen borrowed. The relation of bor-
rower and lender carried with it a political relation or status.
It would probably be more exact to say that the two rela-
tions were not consciously distinguished; the political status
following as a matter of course upon the economic cause.
With the differentiation of economic opportunities the modi-
fication of this particular relation became necessary before
further political advance could be made. So intimately had
the two ideas of ' ' cattle-borrowing ' ' and ' ' political depend-
ence " become associated in the minds of the people, that
the only means of political emancipation lay in a restriction
of the right of borrowing and lending. The modification of
the economic relation meant an immediate change in the
political system.
Add to this the secularization of political relations and
the process of differentiating economic, political and re-
ligious relations is complete. New ideals of political equal-
ity are developed which react strongly upon the political
system. Conscious adaptation, with all the psychic influ-
ences which accompany it, must now be given an important
place in political development. Economic relations con-
tinue, however, to play the leading r61e, and economic de-
pendence is still the most important factor in political life.
The characteristic features of the Roman system are ex-
plained by Momnisen on this basis.* In the explanation
of the feudal system, property relations furnish the key to
political relations. f With the advance of political civiliza-
tion and the accompanying development of more complex
relations no such simple explanation is possible. The
*See his " Staatsrecht " also Brooks Adams "Law of Civilization and Decay."
fSee Stubb's " Constitutional History of England."
[175]
28 ANNAIS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
increase of the economic possibilities of the individual
lessens direct economic dependence. The growth of the
idea of the individual as an end instead of a means, which
characterized the Reformation period, made for political
equality. New religious ideas were making themselves felt
in the political sphere. In addition, the inherited traditions
of the race, together with the development of the individual
as a political being, offered the possibility of an appeal to
individual judgment without the danger of moral and
political anarchy. Individual liberty in the modern sense
does not emerge until this point has been reached. The
idea upon which it rests is that of a sphere of activity
within which the individual shall be free from arbitrary
encroachment.
From the foregoing analysis we can readily distinguish
the difference between the two classes of problems above
referred to, and which correspond to two distinct divisions
of political science. The problems of ' ' static politics ' ' can
be kept within the limits of relations definitely expressed in
law. Dynamic politics must seek their basis and the laws
of their development in the subjective and objective forces
influencing national ideas and standards.
The question as to the practical value of discussions
within the field of ' ' dynamic politics ' ' still remains to be
answered. Will such discussions throw any new light upon
the nature of our present problems ? Will they give us any
valuable indications for their solution ? Are not the factors
to be dealt with so vague and indefinite as to make practical
suggestion based upon them impossible ? To answer these
questions satisfactorily we must recur to a principle already
alluded to, viz., the relations between institutions and ideas
on the one hand, and the conditions of the subjective and
objective environment on the other. The history of institu-
tions, including within that term customs, class standards
of conduct, forms of judicial procedure and forms of govern-
mental organization, has established the fact that institutions
[176]
THE PROBLEMS OP POLITICAL SCIENCE. 29
tend to outlast the conditions which determine their growth
and furnish the basis of their usefulness. Superorganic
evolution does not proceed with the same effectiveness in
the elimination of the ' ' useless ' ' and ' ' unfit ' ' as organic
evolution. A custom, a habit, a method of political pro-
cedure, a type of political reasoning, a form of governmental
organization will continue to exist as ' ' survivals ' ' long
after the conditions upon which they rested have changed.
Not until the lack of harmony has developed into an an-
tagonism of such intensity as to bring about a crisis
threatened political disruption and anarchy is a readjust-
ment effected. The same is true of political ideas when
they are once incorporated into a people's mode of think-
ing A clear perception of the evils flowing therefrom,
plus a great amount of discomfort and inconvenience, is
usually necessary to bring about a very slight change. As
long as these evils are obscured by other factors such as
great economic prosperity incident to the exploitation of
unlimited natural resources antiquated political ideas retain
their hold unchallenged. A lack of harmony between in-
stitutions and the conditions of the environment, no matter
how small in amount, is always a source of political weak-
ness. Careful examination of the relation between the two
will disclose the weak elements and point the way to a
remedy.
The political condition of modern nations furnishes abund-
ant illustrations. France is suffering from a lack of adjust-
ment between the political ideas of the people and the
conditions of modern political life. The form of government
is regarded as an end instead of a means, as an extraneous
factor antagonistic to those deprived of the immediate con-
trol of its policy. As a result, questions of internal policy are
either neglected or inadequately treated. In Germany, the
bitterness of class feeling, which is mirrored in the division
of political parties, is one of the obstacles to the development
of a high type of political activity in which the attitude of
30 ANNAI.S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
the population toward concrete problems will be determined
by national ideals rather than by class prejudices. We, in
the United States have inherited a system of political thought
which grew out of the English conflicts of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. These conflicts gave to England the
body of civil rights which excited the admiration of Conti-
nental writers. The system of government, as far as it was
a conscious development, was intended to act as a guarantee
to these rights. It did not create them but grew out of the
need for a guarantee of their continued observance. Con-
tinental, as well as American, writers confusing cause and
effect, were led to the conclusion that the peculiar character-
istics of the English system were essential to the development
of individual liberty. little attention was paid to the dif-
ferences in political ideas, habits and education, which
clearly distinguished the English from Continental peoples.
In France the attempt to carry out this principle led to the
adoption of a system of government for which the people
were not prepared. With English traditions and training
to guide us our situation was far more fortunate. We have
been able to apply with a far greater degree of success Montes-
quieu's tests of a free government. In our national and state
government the principle of the separation of powers has been
carried out as far as is consistent with a workable scheme
of government. Special emphasis has also been laid upon
the idea of" checks and balances " in the legislative authority.
A little reflection will show, that important as these princi-
ples are, they cannot be regarded as of absolute validity.
Essential to a period in which the fundamental personal and
property rights were in constant danger of arbitrary en-
croachment, they may become real obstacles to positive
-action at a later period when numerous and pressing
problems of a social and industrial nature are demanding
attention.
At the present time, the greatest menace to our political
institutions comes not from the danger of arbitrary encroach-
THE PROBLEMS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE. 31
ment on the rights of individuals, but rather from the
dissipation of political energy and the weakening of political
responsibility. The indiscriminate application of the politi-
cal formulae just mentioned to all political problems, with-
out reference to their intrinsic nature, constitutes the great-
est danger to the progressive development of our political
institutions. The first effects may be gathered from an
examination of the history of American municipal institu-
tions. At the time when the problem of city government
became a pressing one, when the New England system of
town government had become unworkable and the New
York and Pennsylvania forms had become equally anti-
quated, their reorganization was effected by the application
of the same principles that had determined our national
and state systems. No attempt was made to deter-
mine whether such principles were in harmony with con-
ditions of life in large cities; whether the reasons which
justified their application to the state and national systems
were present in the case of city government. We did not
see clearly that city problems differ essentially from those of
the state and nation. The dangers from hasty action in
city affairs, owing to the non-political character of city
problems, are far less than in state or national affairs.
Municipal questions require positive action. The system
of " checks and balances " which we have consistently
applied, diminishes public interest in city affairs, wastes
energy, prevents the consideration of questions on their
merits and weakens civic ties. Political responsibility is not
individual but social in character. It manifests itself
through compliance with the social standards of the com-
munity, standards which are applied at all times, and not
merely at intervals of two or four years.
We have, here, an instance of the persistence of political
ideas and their influence on forms of government. In the
above inquiry, political science must determine whether the
form of government is adapted to the problems to be solved.
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32 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
Another and equally important question is the influence of
political ideas upon the actual working of institutions.
Scientific analysis must show the degree of harmony be-
tween political habits, instincts and ideas on the one hand
and the conditions of the environment. Here again lack
of adjustment is a source of weakness in the body politic.
The recent development of American political institutions
furnishes abundant illustration of this principle. Take for
instance our attitude towards constitutional law which has
been likened to fetichism.* Whether true or not, no one
would deny the peculiar influence of the state and federal
constitutions upon our political life. To the average
American, constitutional provisions represent absolute stand-
ards by which all political proposals are primarily to be
judged. More than this they are formulated rules of
an inherently different character from other branches of
the public and private law. This view found its justifica-
tion in the English idea of constitutional law, as the body
of ' ' rules which directly or indirectly affect the distribution
or exercise of sovereign power in the state, "f When we
consider constitutional law with reference to the political
ideas of the community, we find that our written constitu-
tions, especially the state constitutions, no longer conform
to this standard. They contain a great mass of direct legis-
lation; provisions in no sense different, in kind, from ordin-
ary statutory enactments. They represent standards and
policies which the people have seen fit to force upon the
state legislatures or, more often, a field of legislation with-
drawn from legislative discretion. Constitutional law in
England and the United States does not cover the same set
of legal relations. Nevertheless we continue to judge it
from the same standpoint as the English, as if it were a
series of fundamental political rules. A proposition which
does not conform to them is prima fade to be condemned.
* See Von Hoist, " Constitutional History of the United States."
t See Dicey " The Law of the Constitution."
[180]
THE PROBLEMS OP- POLITICAL SCIENCE. 33
The influence of the income tax decision upon the opinion
of the country is a case in point.
Again, how can political science explain the fact that a
system of city government which has proven such a disas-
trous failure in this country, works admirably in England
and Germany ? An examination of the different concepts of
the city and the resultant differences in attitude towards
local interests will explain what otherwise would remain a
mystery.
These illustrations go to show that dynamic politics deals
with the relation between institutions and political ideas,
between institutions and the environment and between
political ideas and the environment. It traces the degree
of adjustment between these various factors. In the light
of such research the same term will be found to correspond
to a different set of ideas at different periods, and in different
places at the same period; a fact which makes the use of
such general terms as law, sovereignty, democracy, etc.,
extremely hazardous in a comparative study of political
conditions.
Thus, a series of inherited political traditions, a system of
political thought transmitted to us from a previous epoch,
have been the primary causes determining the attitude to-
wards the scope and method of political science. A number
of secondary and more proximate causes have further em-
phasized this tendency, which may be classified under three
heads :
First. The confusion of legal and political considerations.
Second. The influence of a formula of political progress.
Third. The use of biological analogies in the discussions
of the nature of the state.
It is to be noted that these causes are partly methodologi-
cal and partly psychological in character. The distinction
indicated under the first head rests upon another which is of
primary importance in political science, viz. , the difference
between a stationary and a progressive society. Much of
[181]
34 ANNAI.S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
the reasoning in political science is based upon the conditions
of a stationary society; a statement which may seem some-
what paradoxical when we remember that very few writers
are acquainted with the political conditions in the stationary
communities of the East. The history of the progressive
societies of Western Europe shows that the formulated rela-
tions of the private and public law have never fully ex-
pressed the actual relations. This is especially true of the
relations expressed in the public law. Legal principles,
when once definitely expressed, tend to take upon themselves
a certain rigidity, and are only brought into harmony with
changing conditions by a long and slow process of adapta-
tion. The relation as expressed in law may remain the same
while the content has been modified. The moment law
fully expresses actual relations society becomes stationary.
Sir Henry Maine, in speaking of China, says: "Progress
seems to have been there arrested, because the civil laws are
coextensive with all the ideas of which the race is capable."*
Now, political philosophy must explain this change in
actual content and its relation to existing forms. Otherwise,
it commits itself unnecessarily to the purely formal side of
political organization. How, for instance, are we to explain
why similar forms of organization work so differently in dif-
ferent countries? Why is the attitude of the American
people toward government different from that of the Ger-
man ? To give a satisfactory answer to these questions it is
necessary to examine the phenomena of political life. We
can thus arrive at a far clearer notion of the working of
political institutions than by confining ourselves to the form-
ulated legal relations. Many of the vague and uncertain
factors discountenanced by recent writers must be given due
weight.
Another reason for the distinction here referred to has
been pointed out by Ihering in his " Geist des romischen
Rechts." He shows how inadequately law expresses actual
*" Ancient Iaw." Chapter I on " Ancient Codes."
[182]
THE PROBLEMS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE. 35
political relations, and ascribes this inadequacy to the
narrowness of the field of vision of the generation living in
the midst of such relations.
The second of the causes determining the present attitude
towards the scope and problems of political science rests
upon centuries of accumulated experience. The political
history of the ancient, as well as of the modern world points
to the close connection between social order and political
progress; to the necessity of preserving social and political
stability amidst change and reform. The communities which
were able to develop this combination of order and progress
remained progressive and survived in the struggle for exis-
tence. The political societies of ancient Greece disappeared
because they were unable to maintain social order during
the period of political change. The lessons thus taught
have given rise to a theory of political progress which has
strongly influenced the views of writers as to the limits of
political inquiry. Factors which do not operate in definite
channels and find expression of order and progress through
definite organs are entirely neglected or relegated to the con-
sideration of another science. Public opinion, class stand-
ards, group standards, voluntary association and the like,
are regarded as the proper domain of sociology. Unless this
view is considerably modified it is probable that we shall
have to look to treatises on sociology for discussions of the
actual content and operation of our political institutions as
-distinguished from their form. No science can afford to
permit a formula of experience, no matter how true at the
time, to color its analysis of fact.
A third factor which has strongly influenced the interpre-
tation of political phenomena has been the use of biologic
analogies in political reasoning. In counteracting the influ-
ence of the ultra- individualistic view of society this method
performed its greatest service. On the other hand the dan-
-gers involved in its use were not fully recognized. From
the justifiable use of analogy we have unconsciously passed
[183]
36 ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
to the complete identification of political with physical
organs. Some of the most complex problems of political
science have been glossed over by means of terms borrowed
from biology. The expression of the will of the community
in political action is treated as if it represented a process
precisely similar to the expression of individual will. Just
as the latter must have definite organs to make itself intelli-
gible, so must the organs of government be fully developed
before political science can take account of political action.
In fact, without such definite organs, the very existence of
political action is denied.* The numerous influences,
psychic and objective, determining the nature and direction
of political activity are ignored. The analogy is now carried
one step further. The organ or organs expressing what is
called the "will of the state" are regarded as the highest
political authority the depositaries of sovereign power.
The full effects of the use of biologic terms soon become ap-
parent. The transition from analogy to identification is
extremely easy and almost imperceptible. Instead of com-
paring the state with a living organism, writers on political
science come to regard the state as a living organism; in-
stead of reasoning from the facts of political life we content
ourselves with the use of terms which have their real mean-
ing in the domain of organic life.
The dangers involved in this confusion of thought becomes
evident when we stop to consider the relative permanence
and stability of forms of government as compared with the
ever-changing class and national feelings and standards
which furnish the motive power and determine the direction
of political activity. Political consciousness may grow in
intensity, voluntary association may acquire increased influ-
ence, public opinion may grow more enlightened and in-
creasingly directive in its influence; and yet, of all these
changes, political science, as interpreted in recent treatises,
need take no account. Surely a method which leads to such
* Qf. Willoughby, op. cit.
[I8 4 ]
THE PROBLEMS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE 37
results must bring about a complete divorce of theory from
fact.
Take, for instance, the accepted treatment of the nature
of sovereignty. While impliedly recognizing that the true
basis of political authority is to be found in the political
ideas of those partaking in political life, most writers have
been unwilling to build upon such Uncertain subjective
factors, and have taken refuge in the more definite limits of
governmental organization.
All manifestations of force which are not expressed
through legally constituted forms, are declared to be uncivic
or unpolitical in character. If political institutions were
viewed from the evolutionary standpoint, it would be seen
that our present unwillingness to recognize anything beyond
organized forms rests upon the spirit of order and legality
which is itself a comparatively late development in the his-
tory of civilization. Countless political forms operating
without any definite rules of organization or procedure
existed prior to its appearance. The law-abiding spirit soon
became a requisite for survival. Those communities pos-
sessing it were able to conquer their less advanced neighbors.
In order to maintain what had been gained and to secure
further progress it was necessary that political authority
should be exercised by a definite organ or set of organs.
To make of this an universal proposition; to connect the
idea of sovereignty with unrestricted power of legislation
vested in a definite organ, is to associate it with a phenome-
non of advanced political development. It is perfectly pos-
sible to accept such a definition, but it must not be supposed
that it takes us very far in political analysis. To obtain an
insight into the conditions of political life in modern demo-
cratic communities the problems of dynamic politics together
with a method of research adapted to analysis of this char-
acter must be given an important place. Unless this is done,
we remain committed to the formalism of the Austinian
school. ' ' We often talk and sometimes think, as if its
[185]
38 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
political constitution were to the state what its anatomical
conformation is to the living animal, and as if therefore,
we might argue from ' structure ' to ' function ' with the
same degree of assurance in the one case as we habitually
do in the other. ' ' * The lessons of political experience, the
facts of modern political development, as well as the analysis
of political relations, show that such a method of reasoning
is more misleading than helpful. We must examine political
institutions, primarily with reference to the functions they
are intended to perform in a particular environment. This
cannot be done unless the psychic factors upon which they
rest are given an important place in the inquiry.
Iv. S. RowE.
University of Pennsylvania.
*"Balfour, " Fragment on Progress," in "Essays and Addresses," p. 266.
ADMINISTRATIVE CENTRALIZATION AND
DECENTRALIZATION IN ENGLAND.
There has been manifest in recent years a growing ten-
dency toward the redistribution of administrative power
between the central and local authorities in the state gov-
ernments of the American Union. Hitherto we have been
accustomed to look upon the existing distribution or classi-
fication of "local" and "central" powers in the various
states as something permanent, as a "balance" of powers
which should not be disturbed. The principle of extreme
local autonomy has so long been held inviolate that it seems
almost beyond the possibility of a change or modification.
Recently, however, new conditions have arisen which are
no longer in harmony with the old, uncompromising spirit
of local independence, and which are gradually modifying
the more important outlines of our state systems of admin-
istrative organization. Numerous examples of these
changed conditions and of the administrative changes
thereby produced will at once suggest themselves. There is
first, the class of those administrative functions which, from
their earliest assumption by the state, have always been
assigned to the central administrative offices, e. g. , state
control and supervision over the medical, pharmaceutical
and allied professions, state supervision of railways, of
forestry conditions, and above all the activity of the state
in the protection of the laboring classes as shown in mine
and factory inspection. In the second place, the recent
changes in certain phases of our economic and social envi-
ronment have powerfully influenced another set of adminis-
trative functions which, in America, have almost without
exception been considered as the peculiar and exclusive
province of local activity, such as sanitary and educational
affairs, and more especially highway administration. In
[187]
4O ANNAIS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
both of these classes of administrative activity may be
traced a sharp and decided movement toward the restriction
of local power, in some cases the mere establishment of a
modified central control, as in educational and high-
way matters ; in others the total exclusion of the local bodies
and the introduction of a highly centralized administrative
hierarchy, as in the administration of the factory and min-
ning legislation and, partially, the game laws, etc. There
is in other words a definite impetus toward the complete
centralization of certain activities and also a well-marked
tendency toward the establishment of a state administrative
control over the local bodies to a degree heretofore un-
known in America.
The question of centralization, or of central administra-
tive control then, is squarely before us, at least in the more
highly developed of our American states, and we may there-
fore seek some light upon our own problems by examining
the solutions which this question has received in Europe.
Our attention will be directed to England whose adminis-
trative organization may, perhaps, from the American
standpoint be regarded with the greatest interest.
English administrative institutions have long stood before
the world as the classic model of local autonomy. English
ideas of government have spread to all parts of the globe,
resulting, wherever they have taken root, in the formation
and growth of states whose local administrative subdivisions
in their turn enjoyed a high degree of local independence
and activity. The performance by the parish, the town, the
county and other local bodies, of an unusual share of state
functions, and the comparative freedom of these distinctively
local units from central administrative interference or con-
trol, seem to be cardinal principles of the English system of
administration. This notion is especially prevalent on
the Continent. One eminent authority, Professor Gneist,
has even gone so far as to declare that the English parlia-
mentary system is inseparably connected with the peculiar
[188]
CENTRALIZATION IN ENGLAND. 41
form of local government* existing in England, and that
this fact is plainly demonstrated by the experiences of those
Continental countries which have sought to imitate the
English Parliament in their national representative assem-
blies. Leaving this aside for the moment, however, it may
safely be said that a high degree of decentralization
has always appeared to be an essential characteristic of the
method of government practiced all over the world by
English-speaking peoples.
Since the beginning of the present century, however,
certain most important internal changes have been wrought
in the character of England's local organization, and these
changes, while tending toward a further development of
local institutions, have also been marked by a most pro-
nounced and unmistakable tendency toward centralization.
A few words will suffice to explain the causes of this
development. On the Continent we find that the for-
mation of the two most important western states, France
and Prussia, resulted, in each instance, from a long
and violent struggle between the crown and the nobility.
In this struggle the king finally gained the ascendency. In
order to win this position, however, as well as to secure it
firmly when won, the monarch, in each country, found it
necessary to organize a highly centralized bureaucracy.
This civil army, whose members were forced to render un-
questioning obedience to the monarch's every wish, con-
trolled every important function of state activity from the
central ministries down to the smallest communes. Thus,
by means of this formidable administrative hierarchy the
opposition of the independent cities and of the lesser nobility
was crushed, and the power of the king extended. In this way
* Professor Gneist saw in the extended functions and activity of the justice of
the peace, and in the fact that the latter was an honorary office, the distinguish-
ing characteristics of the English system. He maintained that not only histor-
ically, but also at the present time, the English Parliament was essentially based
on these features of the local organization, and that the changes in the latter,
which we are about to describe, were entirely out of harmony with the true his-
torical development.
[18 9 ]
42 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
also the absolute monarchy arose and in its rise gave birth
to the state from which finally, were formed the highly
centralized administrative systems still existing at the
beginning of the present century.
In England, the conflict did not result in a victory for the
monarch, and this difference in the historical development
accounts not only for the more substantial growth of the
parliament, but also for the extreme decentralization of the
English administrative organization. Had the crown been
victorious in its long conflict with the nobles there can be no
doubt that a centralized organization similar to the systems
of Louis XIV. and Frederic William I. on the Continent or to
that introduced by William the Conqueror, would ultimately
have arisen also in England. True it is that at certain
epochs England enjoyed the advantages flowing from the
rule of aggressive and powerful monarchs; yet the work of
these latter cannot be compared with the remarkable r61e
played in nation-building by the monarchs of Prussia and
of France. The main element of strength in the English
administrative organization at the close of the last century
lay, not in the power of the monarchy, but in the consum-
mate skill and political training of the governing classes.
This political training, however, had arisen from centuries
of practice and exercise in the active duties of local admin-
istration. The governing classes, in other words, as Gneist
remarked, had long been accustomed by local activity to
place themselves in a position which is so necessary to
the proper conduct of administrative affairs. They
were acustomed to thinking and acting for the people.
The local administrative bodies in the hands of men
with such political training did not require constant direc-
tion, stimulation and assistance from the central govern-
ment ; on the contrary, they acted spontaneously, inde-
pendently of the crown, and often in opposition to it.
However, this system of local organization was pre-emi-
nently an aristocratic one. The various local units acted,
[190]
CENTRALIZATION IN ENGLAND. 43.
it is true, independently and spontaneously. But this spon-
taneity was not, in any sense, the spontaneity of a popular
or democratic organization; it resulted rather from the
administrative activity of the landed aristocracy and gentry
in the offices of justice of the peace and other honorary
posts. These unpaid officials, who were appointed and
not elected, and who enjoyed therefore some degree of inde-
pendence of local influence or, as it would perhaps be better
to say, who guided and formed public opinion in the
locality, had gradually absorbed nearly all the more import-
ant functions of local administration. The great mass of
the people however took no active part in local affairs.
Yet such was the efficiency of the local administration as
carried on by the landed gentry that no serious discom-
fort seems to have been felt until the beginning of the
industrial revolution. It is necessary to keep this in
mind.
The later movements and changes whose nature and
importance it is our object to consider, may be summarized
as follows :
1. The transfer of all the more important functions of
administration from the justices of the peace (the represen-
tatives of the class which hitherto had carried on the local
administration) to other organs, thus leaving the former a
judicial rather than an administrative competence.
2. The disintegration of the administrative power so-
transferred and the distribution of its various parts among
new organs specially created for the purpose of receiving
these powers, resulting in what is usually termed the
specialization of local functions and local organisms.
3. The dependence of the newly created local offices and
boards upon popular election, or what might well be called
the popularization of the local organs.
4. The transfer to the central government of far-reach-
ing powers of supervision, direction and, in some instances,
of active intervention in these matters of purely " local "
44 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
concern, thus giving rise to an important degree of admin-
istrative centralization.
It need hardly be recalled that this whole series of
administrative changes formed an essential part of the great
reform movement of 1834 and of the succeeding years,
a movement which had for its prime object and final result
the extension of political rights to still wider circles of the
people. That such a connection did without doubt exist
between the political and the administrative reforms is
evidenced by the fact that one of the most important effects
of the administrative changes may be seen in the increased
dependence of the local administration on the popular will
and in the greater co-operation and participation by the
people in the local affairs, a change that has been
termed the popularization of the local bodies. The out-
lines of the great political movement just mentioned are
familiar to all. Suffice it to say, that the invention and
perfection of various kinds of machinery and the consequent
rise of the factory system had produced sweeping changes
throughout the industrial world, that corresponding social
changes had immediately followed and that, finally, a con-
siderable conflict of interest between the capitalistic and
laboring classes had already made itself distinctly felt.
Industrial laborers found themselves reduced to such a con-
dition as to give apparent confirmation to the theories of
Malthus, and, later on, to the doctrine of the wage fund.
It is by no means strange that in this dire extremity the
state was looked to for relief, and that such measures as a
reform of the poor-laws, a regulation of the constantly
growing factory evils, and the establishment of a general
system of elementary education by the state were advo-
cated. The cause of the working classes was, in addi-
tion, much strengthened by the rise of large industrial
centres in localities until then deprived of adequate parlia-
mentary representation. The first step in the reform, a
conservative enlargement of the electoral lists, being once
[192]
CENTRALIZATION IN ENGLAND. 45
taken, and the manufacturing towns having received their
share of representatives in parliament, the social legislation
followed of necessity. After the political reform bills came
a series of reform laws on the subject of poor relief, factory
inspection, health laws, and laws providing for the organi-
zation of a system of public schools. The promoters of this
legislation, however, were, from the very outset, confronted
by the question of administrative organization. Had they
been Continental legislators they would doubtless have de-
vised some general plan for the reorganization of the entire
system of local government to meet the changed social con-
ditions. Being Englishmen, they postponed all radical,
fundamental alterations of the existing organization and
adopted only such changes as seemed absolutely necessary,
and at such times as a change appeared unavoidable.
Thus we find the period of social and administrative reform
in England extending over nearly half a century. It may
also be said that the English local administrative organiza-
tion presents an appearance of patchwork unknown even in
the United States.
Let us examine briefly some of the more important
of these changes in their concrete forms. One of the first
and most important of these finds expression in the law of
August, 1834, intended primarily to abolish the notorious
abuses of the out-door system of poor relief, at that time
administered mainly under the control of the justices
of the peace. This method of poor relief, which con-
sists of assistance given in the homes of the poor, had
resulted in the most pernicious consequences. Since the
able-bodied as well as the impotent received subsidies,
employers were enabled to pay minimum wages, the parish
footing up the rest. At the same time the habit of
receiving public support had robbed the laboring classes
of all ideas of independence, economy and thrift, while the
poor-rate or tax had risen to gigantic proportions. Only
one solution of the difficulty was offered, viz. , an extension
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46 ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
of the common workhouse system, or ' ' in-door relief, ' ' in
order that those dependent on public assistance might be
supported at much less expense and that certain features of
disagreeable publicity might attach to the reception of
public support. These institutions of public charity how-
ever could not under normal circumstances be established
in each parish because of the increased financial burden
thereby entailed. It became necessary, therefore, to seek
some larger administrative unit for the support of the work-
house under the system of in-door relief, and this problem
was solved in the law of 1834, by the formation of "unions
of parishes." Each union, composed of several parishes,
varying in number according to population, established and
maintained its workhouse, conducting its administration by
means of a board of guardians. The latter may be said to
have absorbed all the more important functions of poor-
relief. The part played by the single parish was still
further diminished in 1868, and so remained until the law
of 1894, whose provisions will be discussed when reached
in the chronological treatment of the general subject.
The union is presided over by the board of guardians
who are elected for from one to three years, usually three.
Women may be electors and are also eligible to election.
Other officials in the union (relieving officer, clerk, director
of workhouse, physicians, etc.), are either elected by the
people or by the local board. These provisions of the
earlier laws seem on recital to be most natural and even
common -place, yet they involve all the more important
features of the subsequent changes. The laws cited trans-
fer important powers of local administration from the jus-
tice of the peace. Again, the vesting of these powers in an
elective board marks the establishment of a system of local
administration which was dependent directly on the popu-
lar will as expressed at periodical elections and secured
the co-operation of a large number of citizens in the man-
agement of local affairs. Lastly, we may discover thus
CENTRALIZATION IN ENGLAND. 47
arly the first signs of a remarkable and uninterrupted
movement toward the establishment of a central adminis-
trative control over the local bodies.
The law of 1834 provided for the establishment of a
central office composed of the Poor Law Commissioners
(in 1874 the Poor Law Board), which should be charged
with the control and direction of the administration of the
poor laws as carried on by the local unions. The organi-
zation and powers of this central board will be taken up in
due order ; in passing, it is important to note that these early
laws were decisive in determining the tendency of the later
legislation. What followed was merely the further develop-
ment of the principles already laid down, and their applica-
tion to the organization of other and different fields of local
administration. Thus the act of 1848, and subsequent laws,
provided for the organization of special sanitary districts,
administered in like manner by elected boards with the aid
of subordinate officials, health officers, inspectors of nuis-
ances, etc. These boards also are dependent upon popular
election, receive no pay and serve for a comparatively
limited term, usually three years. Women may vote and
are also eligible to these offices, but the elective franchise,
as in all local elections, presupposes a nominal property
qualification. The legislation of the years named also pro-
vided in its turn for the establishment of a central direc-
tory or supervisory office called the Board of Health which
was charged with the execution of the various ' ' public
health" laws. By this means a close supervision by the
central authority of the workings of the various local sani-
tary districts was established. There had thus arisen two
entirely new central authorities, the Poor Law Board and
the Board of Health, endowed with extended powers of
supervision and control over the activity of the local bodies
in their respective fields of administration.
The next step was the consolidation of these two central
boards in 1871 into a sort of department of the interior
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48 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
called the Ivocal Government Board. This consolidation
afforded not only a more practical and convenient group-
ing of the central organization, but also especially strength-
ened the central power in its relations with the local bodies,
and thus increased the already existing tendency toward
administrative centralization. A similar movement became
noticeable in the administration of highways, which was
carried on partly by separate highway districts, and partly
by the existing sanitary districts, but usually, under the
control and direction of the central authorities.
A still more striking example of the irresistible move-
ment toward centralization which was sweeping over all
departments of the English administrative organization at
this time may be seen in the field of public elementary
education. About 1833 the parliament voted certain SUD-
sidies to the schools of the two most important educational
societies of that time. These subsidies continuing and
increasing from year to year, it was decided in 1839 to form
a central office or committee in the privy council for the
purpose of deciding upon the amount and distribution of
the money so appropriated. In 1853 another and a most
natural step toward the extension of state control was taken
by requiring conformity to certain regulations that were
prescribed as a condition of the grant of the subsidies. In-
spectors were then appointd by the central committee to
report as to the observation of the prescribed regulations
on the part of the schools thus benefited. In 1861, the
committee of education decided to stipulate certain exami-
nations and to prescribe a certain definite standard for the
subsidized schools. In 1870, a still further extension of
central control took place. Up to that time the central
committee had acted merely as a dispensing agency for the
parliamentary appropriations and in this way alone had
been enabled to annex certain conditions to each grant of
financial assistance, but it was now definitely charged with
the establishment and maintenance of an efficient system
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CENTRALIZATION IN ENGLAND. 49
of primary education. To this end the committee was also,
empowered, in cases where an adequate standard could not
be maintained by means of subsidies to private schools, to
establish public schools. These public schools then gave
rise to still another administrative subdivision, the school
district, which was placed under the immediate care of a
school board. Finally, in 1876, compulsory attendance was
introduced and for this purpose special attendance commit-
tees elected in each district.
The local public schools are supported principally by dis-
trict taxation ; the practice of granting important sums of
money to both the private and public schools from the cen-
tral government is, however, still maintained. In this
respect the powers of the central authority, the committee
on education, have not changed ; its powers of direct control
and supervision over the public schools, on the contrary,
have increased to such an extent as to illustrate most forc-
ibly the progress of administrative centralization in this
important field of state activity. It should be mentioned
that the school districts often coincide territorially with
unions of parishes, boroughs or sanitary districts (local
government districts, as they are called), but that even in
such cases the administrative organization is, as far as pos-
sible, kept separate.
There now remain but two important measures to be
described in order to complete this somewhat brief outline
of the movement which began in 1834; these are the law of
1888, providing for the reorganization of the county and
borough, and that of 1894, concerning the re-establishment
of the administrative parish. The two measures named are
the most important of the entire series of legislative acts on
the subject that have been passed since the initial law of
1834. Not only do they bring to a close the great movement
toward centralization whose portrayal is the object of this
sketch, but they also mark the definite return of that spirit
of local autonomy and decentralization in administrative
50 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
matters which has always appeared as an essential factor in
the English political system. It may be said, therefore,
that with these two acts, that balance of powers between the
central and local bodies, which is the crucial point in all
methods, of administrative organization has once more been
restored in England.
The law of 1888 was based primarily on the desire to
extend to the county organization those principles which
were already embodied in the acts creating or organizing
the other local bodies. The most important of these
ideas were, as we have seen, the establishment of an
effective control by the central government, the co-oper-
ation of wider circles of the people in the conduct of local
affairs and the increased dependence of local administrative
officers upon the will of the people, or, expressed more
briefly, the centralization and "popularization" of the ad-
ministration. Previous to 1888 almost the entire county
administration was in the hands of the "quarter sessions, " a
court composed of the justices of the peace in the county.
The new law simply divided their judicial from their purely
administrative functions and transferred the latter to an
elected assembly, the county council, in imitation of the
borough organization. This left the sessions of the justices
of the peace with a judicial competence. The newly created
administrative council is mainly a deliberative body; its
resolutions and ordinances are executed by the board of
aldermen, a committee elected by the council from its own
members. Beside those functions more properly belonging
to the county administration, the council and aldermen are
also given certain powers of control and supervision over
the subordinate districts, parishes and unions within the
county limits. The council may approve parish loans
within certain limits, may itself lend money to the par-
ishes, may grant subsidies to districts for highway ad-
ministration, may fix the number of councillors in a parish,
etc. In its turn, however, the county organization has
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CKNTRAUZATION IN ENGLAND. 51
been directly subordinated to the central Local Government
Board and other central authorities in their respective fields.
Finally, the law of 1888, contains a provision of the highest
importance to the effect that the Local Government Board, if
it sees fit, may transfer to the county still wider and more
extensive functions of local administration, and may transfer
even such powers as are within the competence of the various
secretaries of the central government, of the central com-
mitte of primary education already mentioned, of the central
Board of Trade or of the Local Government Board itself.
It is true that in all these cases the approval of Parliament
is necessary, yet in practice the Local Government Board,
in the numerous instances which require its attention, has
acted with such mature deliberation and with such a thorough
knowledge of the case that its recommendations are almost
invariably adopted without hesitation.
Before discussing the organization and activity of the
Local Government Board, it will be necessary to dwell for a
moment on the last of the series of laws intended to
effect the reorganization of English local government.
The parish was gradually shorn of all its most import-
ant functions by the legislation already described. The
union of parishes had absorbed the more essential powers
in relation to poor-relief, the county had been given
the control of the local police by the law of 1856, sanitary
or "local government" districts had been created for
carrying into execution the laws relating to the public
health, and, in numerous instances, highway districts had
been created for the maintenance of roads. The parish
seemed to have lost all vitality and importance as an
administrative unit. The great disadvantages of such
a condition are evident. The parish, or commune, as a
centre of local life, forms a natural basis for an admin-
istrative organization and this fact has been recognized
in the local institutions of all modern countries. The
chief importance of the act of 1894 ^ es i n i ts successful
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52 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
rejuvenation of this, the fundamental unit of rural adminis-
tration. The well-known, superannuated parish vestry of
former times was supplanted by two new bodies, by the
parish meeting, composed of all electors and based, in its
internal activity, on the democratic principle "one man, one
vote, ' ' and, in parishes with a population of 300 and over, by
an additional parish council, of from five to fifteen members
elected by the meeting. The more important powers and
duties of the parish organization are: taxation, within
certain limits fixed by law; loans, when approved by
the county board if within certain limits, by the Local Gov-
ernment Board if above those limits; the supervision of
charitable institutions within the parish; the surveillance
of certain conditions affecting the public health ; the adop-
tion of such general laws as have been subjected by Par-
liament to local option, e. g., regulations of police, lighting,
public baths, libraries, burial places, etc.
Although in many of these provisions the element of
central control is strongly developed, as, for instance
the fact that the sale or exchange of parish realty
requires the approval of the Local Government Board,
yet there is a marked and definite measure of decentral-
ization shown in the general trend of the law of 1894
as well as of the act of 1888. Without doubt a return to the
period of extreme local independence and self-sufficiency is
of necessity entirely precluded. Nevertheless by utilizing
that most natural of all foundations, the physical fact of
close proximity and daily contact and communication of
citizens with each other, as a basis on which to build, or
rather to rebuild, the parish as an administrative unit, a
decided strengthening of local institutions and a correspond-
ing increase in their practical importance has been secured.
Again, while adequate provision for central control, dijrec-
tion and supervision has been made, it has nevertheless
been possible in consequence of the acts of 1888 and other
years to infuse new life, vigor and efficiency into the
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CENTRALIZATION IN ENGLAND. 53
organs of local administration by transferring to the local
bodies on the recommendation of the Local Government
Board such administrative powers as are not considered
essential to the central government.
The legislation thus far outlined, involves an enor-
mous increase in central power, and has brought with
it important additions to the organization of the cen-
tral government. The new administrative machinery
which has thus resulted, though somewhat complicated in
detail, is yet comparatively simple in outline, and is
remarkably well adapted to the peculiarities of the system.
Aside from the cabinet secretaries, who exercise a control
over their respective fields of competence, and the committee
of primary education already mentioned, the main part of
the work in the central organization falls to the Local Gov-
ernment Board.
The origin of this body has already been traced to
the consolidation, in 1871, of the central Poor Law Board
with the central Board of Health. The new board re-
sulting from this union consists nominally of a president
appointed by the Crown, the President of the Council, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer and two others, usually mem-
bers of the Cabinet. As a rule, however, the functions of
the board are performed in practice by the president and
two paid secretaries. In addition there is of course a host
of subordinate officials, legal counsel, assistant secretaries,
inspectors-general, inspectors of local finances, of work-
house schools, district auditors, sanitary engineers, medical
officials and other technical specialists.
In establishing any system of central administrative con-
trol over local bodies the question naturally arises, how is a
satisfactory connection to be secured between the central
authorities and the local organizations? Two general
methods of securing this end were at the disposal of the
English legislator; first, that in vogue on the Continent,
which consists in the establishment of intermediate or
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54 ANNAI,S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
"provincial" offices, which transmit the instructions and
regulations of the central authorities to the local organs,
and are charged at the same time with a sort of guardian-
ship over the local bodies; and, second, the establishment
of a corps of commissioners and inspectors who keep the
central government constantly informed as to the condition
of the local bodies, examine local finances and accounts and
report on the efficiency of local administration in all its
more important details. The Anglo-Saxon looks with no
great favor upon a carefully adjusted, symmetrically con-
structed administrative hierarchy. Nevertheless the rela-
tions of the Local Government Board to the county and of
the county to the unions, districts and parishes would seem
to show some slight influence of Continental and more par-
ticularly of French administrative ideas in England. In
the main, however, the burden of this task of maintain-
ing a central control over the local administration falls
upon machinery organized according to the second method
above mentioned. Inspectors, auditors, commissioners are
sent out by the central offices to investigate and report on
administrative affairs in the various localities. The reports
of these agents as well as their recommendations are then
made the basis of action taken by the central board.
This may best be illustrated by a brief reference to the
powers and activity of the Local Government Board, and its
methods of procedure. One of the principal functions of
the board is, the approval, rejection or amendment of local
by-laws. Again, in the administration of the poor-laws
the control and supervision of the central board are espec-
ially important and far-reaching; both general and special
orders and instructions are issued to the various unions;
the composition of meals in the workhouses, the hours of
rising and retiring, the hours of work, etc. , have all been
touched upon more or less in detail by these regulations.
The regulating and supervisory activity of the board ex-
tends then, in effect, not only to the approval of measures
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CENTRALIZATION IN ENGLAND. 55
taken by the local bodies, but also to the issue of posi-
tive regulations on its own authority. Under this last-
mentioned category would come also those measures taken
by the central authority in case of epidemics threatened in
wide sections of the country ; here the board issues rules
relating to ventilation, disinfection, burial, etc.
If we were classifying the functions of the board it would
be necessary to place in a third category those important
powers exercised in connection with parliamentary acts
intended to change the organization and functions of par-
ticular local bodies. This special legislation, as it is called
in America, is in all cases referred to the board before any
legislative action is taken. The board subjects the pro-
posed bill to a critical analysis, orders a thorough investi-
gation by its inspectors and finally, on the basis of the
information thus secured reaches a conclusion on the ques-
tions involved. This conclusion is then embodied in a
formal recommendation to parliament. Such a case illus-
trates clearly the practical operation as well as the import-
ance of the administrative machinery intended to establish
a connection between the central offices and the various
localities. A more typical illustration may, however, be
seen in the second category of powers above mentioned,
viz., the issue of positive commands and injunctions by the
board itself. If the parish meeting or council refuses to
vote adequate taxes for the purposes assigned by law the
local government board may at once intervene and order
the amount to be raised; if a parish authority should go so
far as to persist in its disobedience to the law, the central
board may appoint some person to levy the required taxes
and superintend their expenditure for the purposes of parish
administration. Somewhat similar powers over the unions
of parishes, districts and other local bodies are conferred on
the board. Further, each local organization is visited by
inspectors of nuance and auditors who examine and audit
the local accounts at least once, and in some cases twice,
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56 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
each year. In addition to this there exists a rigid inspec-
tion of the local districts, by special medical and school
inspectors.
The objects of this organization are to compel the exe-
cution by the local bodies of those duties committed to
their care, and, to prevent these same local bodies from
exceeding the legal limits of their power. Without such
a control by the central authority it is not at all improbable
that the local organizations, composed of elected boards and
councils, and feeling no responsibility except to their elec-
tors, might frequently become unmanageable, thus render-
ing futile for a considerable length of time all efforts to
secure a harmonious and efficient administration of local
affairs. The central thought of the legislator has been
that local administration, though concerned primarily with
matters of local interest is nevertheless rapidly becoming of
such national import as to render necessary the establish-
ment of a moderate but efficient central control. For this
reason, and in the way above described, a practically con-
tinuous supervision of the local by the central organization
is firmly established and this, too, for the most part, with-
out the aid of those cumbersome and time-consuming inter-
mediate bodies so much in vogue on the Continent.
This description of the organization and powers of the
local government board ends our sketch of the historical
development of centralization and of its accompanying
changes in the administrative organization of England. It
must be remembered that in practice the organization is by
no means so symmetrical as would appear from the outline
just given. There are urban and rural sanitary districts,
each with different powers; there are districts and unions
of parishes which coincide territorially ; finally, numerous
changes in the organization and powers of particular local
bodies have been introduced by special legislation. Certain
important changes have also occurred in municipal organ-
ization, particularly in the borough ; the character of these
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CENTRALIZATION IN ENGLAND. 57
changes, however, has not been essentially different from
those that have taken place in the rural bodies. It may,
be said that these variations in the local organization
though confusing to the student of the English system,
by no means affect the conclusions at which we have thus
far arrived.
The conclusion of the foregoing study is that there are
three general periods in the development of the present
organization of local administration in England :
First, that of the struggle between the crown and the
nobles, in which the latter were victorious By this victory
the nobles gradually secured control of the local administra-
tion, and this control was subsequently transferred in part
to the landed gentry. This is the period of extreme and
aristocratic decentralization.
Second, following on a radical change in economic and
social conditions, there comes a fundamental political reform,
which leads also to the establishment of new organs of local
administration more directly in sympathy with the people.
At the same time, a marked and important extension of
state activity takes place and the great importance of the
new duties thus confronting the local bodies renders neces-
sary the establishment of a strong central control. This
period, lasting from 1834 to the present time, may be looked
on as the era of centralization and popularization.
Third, in the laws of 1888 and 1894 may be found signs
of a new tendency. The re-establishment of the parish,
though under central control, has led to a comparative
strengthening of local institutions. Similarly the transfer
from the central to the local organization of those powers
not deemed essential to the maintenance of an efficient
central control marks the definite close of the era of centrali-
zation.
JAMES T. YOUNG.
University of Pennsylvania,
THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF ECONOMICS:*
A WORD TO THE SOCIOLOGISTS.
This paper is a study in social causation. Its aim is to
show that the acts of men in society, social institutions, and
social changes are the creation of the choices of individuals.
Individual choice, however, is governed by the economic
law greatest satisfaction with least sacrifice; greatest
utility at least cost.
The fundamental and general science of man's activities,
therefore, is economics. Economic science, if it would fill
out its legitimate scope, must follow the workings of the
* The following is a summary of the argument : INTRODUCTION. The Problem
The nature of social causation. Theses. i. The sociological point of view wrong.
Social causation is psychical, and psychical processes are acts of individuals. 2.
The economic point of view correct. The principle of utility or economic selection,
the universal law of social causation.
I. The Psychical Nature of Man's Activities, Both Individual and Social. I.
Neglect of psychical phenomena by modern science. 2. Reality of psychical phe-
nomena and their separateness from physical phenomena. 3. To deny this re-
ality and this separateness is to deny the possibility of knowledge, for they rest
upon the common basis of all knowledge the unproved but universal assertion
of individual minds. 4. The human will as cause.
II. The Individualistic Nature of Psychical Activities: Social Organization
Created by the Individual. i. The integrity of the individual universally attested
by consciousness. 2. The individual in his three-fold environment ; (a) self, (6)
social environment, (c) physical environment. 3. The individual, by following hi
individual choices, creates social institutions and social activities.
III. Utility, i. e., Economic Selection, the Law of Individualistic Activities:
Social Causation Ttleological. i. Utility, the general principle ot individual choice
in all activities, whether for preservation or development. 2. "Fitness," as the-
law of physical evolution, identical with " utility," as the law of psychical evolu-
tion. 3. Utility, the principle of economic choice.
IV. Economics, as the Science of Utility, the Master Science of Psychical Activi-
ties. i. Relativity of classifications of the sciences. 2. Sciences, physical and
psychical. 3. The grouping of special sciences under a master science. 4. Eco-
nomics as the science of the fundamental principles of psychical activity, is inher-
ently the master science of society.
V. Sociology, One of the Special Economic Sciences. i. Tendencies of sociology
and economics contrasted. 2. Sociology not a master science of psychical activity.
(a) Its physical point of view unintelligible in a psychical science. (6) Its per-
sonification of" society " erroneous, involving negation of the individual, (f) It
cannot include individualistic sciences such as economics. 3. Sociology, in fact, the
science of social organization, and social organization is a process of economic
selection.
[206]
THE PHILOSOPHICAL, BASIS OF ECONOMICS. 59
economic law into all the lines of man's choice and into the
formation and change of all social institutions. The self-
conscious, self-willing, self-acting individual is the unit of
investigation. Social causation must be traced along lines
of psychical not physical forces. Society itself is the crea-
tion of choice and choice is always essentially economic.
In other words society must be studied primarily in its rela-
tion to individual mind not in its relation to the physical
cosmos.
The principle of evolution by which the natural scientist
explains the processes of physical change becomes the
principle of utility when the processes of social change are
involved. Physical processes are fortuitous, unplanned.
Man's activities are teleological, economic. In the former,
the adjustment of part to part, the "fitness" which sur-
vives, are un arranged and unforeseeable; but men foresee and
fore-ordain adjustment between their environment and
themselves. The principle of utility, as it has been worked
out in economic science, is thus simply the principle of
evolution seen upon its psychical side teleological evolu-
tion. "Economic selection" expresses the evolutionary
process of psychical life.
That science of men in society which undertakes to apply
to human activities the physical form of the evolutionary
principle rests upon fallacies. Current sociology does not,
in general, make man's activities intelligible.
It is, then, to economics, not to this sociology, that we
must look for the explanation of social evolution.
I. THE PSYCHICAL NATURE OP MAN'S ACTIVITIES, BOTH
INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL.
The science of this century is distinctly physical science.
Its results have been mainly achieved by the systematic and
widely organized labor of a large number of specialists who
have observed and collated facts. The typical scientist is
apt to regard any study which does not proceed by first
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6o ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
hand observation of single facts as "metaphysical" and
untrustworthy. He scorns philosophy and deductive think-
ing. He pushes his distrust of the psychical to the extreme
of studying only the physical. Matter and its activities
are to him the only reality, and no method of research is
reliable except induction. Philosophy is a mere figment of
the brain. True science sees with eyes, hears with ears,
feels with fingers, rests only on tangible evidence. Primary
sensations are the only raw truth ; inductive arrangement
of these the only trustworthy mode of thought.
, This tendency of modern science to deny reality to the
I psychical world, and validity to any but physical tests of
I knowledge involves a radical fallacy. Rigorously followed
\ out it compels denial of the possibility of knowledge.
All sensation, so far as it results in knowledge, is a judg-
ment of mind, /. e., a psychical phenomenon. The only
ultimate criterion of truth for men is the agreement of men's
judgments. This is a psychical fact. The postulates of
every science are simply concepts universally held, and con-
cepts are psychical facts. This universal agreement may not
create the fact, but it is the only final test of the existence
of the fact. It creates the known fact. Science itself, there-
fore, is a psychical creation.
The beginning of all knowledge is the recognition of the
reality of the individual mind the Ego. If the validity of
the primary judgments of this Ego be not granted, there is
no warrant for the validity of any science. The reality of
the physical world is attested by weaker evidence than is
the reality of the psychical world. Rather, be it said, the
reality of both rests upon the same primary judgment of the
Ego. The primary assertion "I see," affirms the reality
not only of the "seer," but also of the " seen."
Science, then, to get any basis for itself must recognize the
reality of the psychical fact the Ego and the validity of
its primary judgments, likewise psychical facts.
This psychical Ego t to deny whose existence is suicidal to
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THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF ECONOMICS. 61
science, is the source of various other psychical phenomena
which science must study, if it would be consistent. The
Ego> or the individual mind, thinks, dreams, sings, builds
houses and temples and systems of theology. It works hi
association with other minds, like itself, and produces laws
and a political organization and various social institutions.
It changes the flora and fauna of the continents. It plans
and shapes the destinies of other men. These are all phe-
nomena as real as the flora and the fauna themselves. Yet
they are psychical phenomena, neglected by the positive
science of the age. The reality of this world of psychical
phenomena is attested by the same evidence which science
accepts in the case of physical phenomena, the primary as-
sertions of mind.
Scientific research is a sort of legislative process, consist-
ing of the work of investigating committees, general debate,
and vote-taking. A majority- vote gives only tentative cer-
tainty to scientific "laws." A real "truth" requires
practically a unanimous vote. And every promulgated law
is liable to change at the next vote. If it were the persist-
ent conviction of ten men in every hundred that two plus
two do not equal four, we could not have absolute certainty
as to the proposition.
Modern science is not different in its real methods, or in its
ultimate tests of truth from the earlier philosophies. It is
more careful to eliminate "personal equation." But its
great superiority is its democratic character. It seeks so to
trace out the line of causation, through the complexity of
the whole, into the simple concrete fact, that the relation of
this fact to the whole becomes self-evident to all. It is par-
alleling in the realm of knowledge the march of modern
democracy in the state, greater complexity in the mechan-
ism as a whole, greater simplicity in the concrete detail.
All scientific laws rest ultimately for their validity upon the
affirmative unanimous vote in a universal referendum. Upon
all established principles of science a thought universally
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62 ANNAiS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
appearing is true. Otherwise the postulates of science, its
primary facts, may be false.
The same conclusion is reached by assuming the stand-
point of extreme materialism, viz., that psychical phenomena
are purely and essentially material. Thoughts, thus, are
phenomena of matter to be explained by the same laws of
causation. A thought is a judgment as to the reality of
some thing. As the cause of a reflection in a mirror is the
existence of the thing reflected, so the cause of the thought
is the existence of the thing thought. Universal thoughts
can be explained in no other way. If thought is a neces-
sary product, a universal thought must be a correct thought.
This is a reductio ad absurdum of the materialistic premise ;
for the one universal thought is the assertion of the exist-
ence of the Ego the psychical individual and with him
the affirmation of various other truly psychic phenomena.
The inevitableness of the assertion of mind that the Ego
exists as a psychic entity, a soul, is the supreme proof of the
existence of this soul.
Besides the reality of the psychical world which is thus
proved another fundamental primary judgment must be em-
phasized namely, the separateness between this psychical
world and the physical. To say ' ' I know ' ' asserts the
separateness between the knower and the known. The
separateness between the physical and psychical, their anti-
thetical character, is asserted by the universal judgment of
men. To deny it then is to cut the ground from under all
knowledge. Universal thoughts are scientific truths.
In these last years, science has begun to recognize its former
unscientific neglect of psychical phenomena and is rapidly
directing research into religion, folk-lore, language, arts,
customs, governments, industries, and other subjective ac-
tivities of men. In these efforts, however, science has shown
a dangerous tendency to use methods, and to assume points
of view characteristic of physical science. This is essen-
tially unscientific. It must be recognized that in studying
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THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OP ECONOMICS. 63
<&aracteristic human activities, whether individual or social,
we have a new order of facts essentially different from the
physical. The distinctively human activities are psychical.
Mind is the dividing fact between these two orders of phenom-
ena. Mind acts as a self-conscious, self-willing, self-acting
force. It chooses ends and uses means to reach these ends.*
Psychical processes are thus directed by mind toward
chosen ends while physical processes go on, independently
of any discoverable teleology. Whatever may be the fact as
to teleology in the physical world, man's activity is essen-
tially teleological. Science must recognize this fact and
must study human activities, not as physical phenomena,
but as psychical. Science cannot explain the existence of a
railroad in the same manner that it explains the existence
of a river. The forces which produced the railroad are not
explicable bj' physical laws. A railroad is a psychical insti-
tution. It is a complex of physical forces, it is true, viewed
simply upon its mechanical side, and as such can be studied
by the physical scientist. But as a railroad it is psychical,
and is the outcome of teleological activity. Individual men,
conscious of wants inadequately satisfied, have co-operated
in making such transformation of physical forces, and such
adjustment of human activities that a railroad is produced.
Causation in case of the railroad is essentially of a different
order from causation in case of the river. The active or
efficient cause is the human will.
Niagara may be studied by both physical and psychical
sciences. The physicist and the geologist both explain it
as a complex of physical forces, irrespective of the existence
of mind. The artist, the politician, and the economist, on
the other hand, inquire, its physical properties being what
they are, how it may be ideologically transformed to serve
the conscious ends of life.
* This distinction between the psychical and the physical is well expressed in
James' "Psychology," where he asserts: "The pursuance of future ends and the
choice of means for their attainment are thus the mark and the criterion of the
presence of [mind]."
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64 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
These psychical sciences are as clear in their scope as are the
physical sciences. Mind is no more elusive a fact for science
than " matter " or "force." The modern text-books of
chemistry and of physics show the same incapacity to state
what is the real subject matter of these sciences as do our
economic text-books. Not " beginnings," but " processes,"
has become the watchword of all science. The relative
vagueness in economics and other psychical sciences is due
not to greater uncertainty as to postulates, but to the greater
complexity of phenomena.
What then is most emphatically demanded in the sciences
which study men in society, is the clear realization of the
reality of subjective phenomena the same reality recog-
nized by us all in practical life. Public opinion is as real a
barrier to crime as is physical force. The politician recog-
nizes that a vote, which is a mere utterance of individual
opinion, is a real thing as real as the stones in the legisla-
tive hall. The subtle motives of men which lead them to
vote as they do, are measured and directed by this politician.
These votes, these motives, are real things, and science must
appreciate this as well as the politician.
We are perfectly aware of these psychical realities in the
midst of which we live, public opinion, law, custom, social
institutions, traditional morality, courtesy of friendship and
of business, customary prices facts all intangible creations
of the minds of the members of society. The student of
political and economic science must likewise get this prac-
tical grasp of the fact that these things which make society
are psychical forces and no less real than the physical.
All factors in a result are causes, and the human will
which organizes physical and social forces to achieve certain
results, is clearly one of these causes. Moreover, since it is
the one cause which differentiates psychical processes from
physical, it is imperative to write psychical causation in terms
of human will. The efficient cause is man's choice. To
make social activity intelligible to us, therefore, science
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THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OP ECONOMICS. 65
must so explain it. To explain the Tower of London by
the same principle of causation as the river Thames as the
unexplained fortuitous result of physical forces contra-
dicts the universal affirmations of consciousness. Science
must conform to the nature of the human mind and must
thus explain human achievement as to the teleological
result of forces guided by human intelligence. Man's will
thus becomes the dominating element in social causation.
II. THE INDIVIDUALISTIC NATURE OP PSYCHICAL ACTIVI-
TIES: SOCIAL ORGANIZATION CREATED BY
THE INDIVIDUAL.
It has been shown that the social forces are psychical in
nature. It is necessary to show that psychical forces pro-
ceed from the acts of individual minds, and how, upon this
individual basis, the structure of society is built up and
social activities are carried on.
The recognition of the existence and the integrity of the
individual is the beginning of all knowledge. ' ' Cogito, ergo
sum," expresses the fundamental truth of science. " Volo,
ergo sum," is equally true. The Ego its integrity and
its psychical nature are the best evidenced of all facts.
Bound up with the consciousness of self-existence is the
consciousness of the power of self -choice and self-action.
The power of the individual through his will, causally to
shape change in the processes of the mind, is as clear to the
consciousness as is existence itself.
The individual with his wants, his choices, and his self-
directed activities, is the starting point in the scientific in-
vestigation of social phenomena and the end of all social
science as well. The reason for this lies near at hand.
Since human choice is the large, the controlling force in
social causation, we must perforce take the individual as the
integral unit, for there is no choice, but individual choice.
The term ' ' social will " is an acknowledged metaphor.
Starting thus, an analysis of the relations of the individual
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66 ANNAJ^S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
becomes necessary. The individual recognizes himself in a
threefold sphere of relations, viz., (i) to himself, (2) to
others like himself the social environment and to (3) his
physical or cosmic environment. The psychical sciences
express this analysis. Jurisprudence, for example, studies
the operation of the individual will in relation to the indi-
vidual himself, in relation to other persons, and in relation
to things. Psychology, likewise, treats of the individual
mind as having knowledge of itself and of the external
world, consisting of other minds and of physical nature.
In ethics, also the science of ultimate harmony in choice
the relations of the individual will are studied with reference
to harmony with itself, with other wills, and with the Abso-
lute the whole non-human world.
Economics, like all the psychical sciences, rests upon this
fundamental antithesis between the subjective and the ob-
jective view of the world. It studies the relations of the
individual regarding the satisfaction of his wants, in utilizing
himself, society, and nature. The traditional economics has
dealt little with the individual's economic utilization of him-
self. The satisfaction which a man feels with his own
mental and physical powers, the pleasures of athletic exer-
oise, the self-contemplation of the religious devotee, are,
however, economic satisfactions and would have place in a
xxnnplete system. Man's utilization of other men has,
likewise, been very inadequately treated by economists.
'*' Society " is a great field for economic exploitation by the
individual. Direct personal service is an instance of the
economic utilization of some men by others. When the
president of a railroad finds that the production of a crop
of laws is one of the most profitable uses to which he can
apply his undertaking skill and his capital, the transaction
Is as distinctly economic as when he puts skill and capital
into the physical construction of his railroad. The tramp and
the burglar, living as parasites upon the rest of society, are
clearly within the field of economic study. Into whatever
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THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF ECONOMICS. 67
region the individual man turns to seek satisfaction for
his wants, the economist must follow him and describe and
explain what he does. The satisfaction which the friend-
ship of his fellow yields a man is an economic satisfaction.
Some men live and work mainly for the esteem they gain.
Society, then, is a part, in a highly developed civilization
the larger part, of the external economic world of the indi-
vidual. Few of us habitually touch nature at first hand.
It is through social organization that our lives can be rich.
Economic science must study these psychical realities just
as the economic man utilizes them in actual life. He can-
not assume a social standpoint simply and say that the
whole field of economic activity is nature. There is inter-
play at every point between the satisfaction which flows
from physical nature to man and that which individuals
draw from direct contact with other individuals.
Economic forces, thus, in their last analysis, find their
beginning in the minds of individuals. Individuals feel
wants, recognize their environment, judge of the means
necessary to attain satisfaction of these wants, value the
relative importance of various satisfactions and the disagree-
ableness of various efforts involved, make choices accord-
ingly and pursue those ends. Whatever be the force of
public law or opinion, it stands as an objective fact to the
individual, just as real as the laws of the physical world,
and must be dealt with by the individual as a part of his
environment. It contains sources of satisfaction to him or
hindrances to his satisfaction as the case may be. The
market price of food may force the hungry man to starve
close to full storehouses of food, just as truly as if he were
five hundred miles from food, adrift on the barren sea.
This market price has importance solely with reference to
its effects upon individuals. And again, this market price,
while an objective fact to every individual as regards his
personal wants and their satisfaction, is itself resolvable
into the valuations of the individual minds making up the
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68 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
market. There is no such unity in society that we can
speak of a social will, irrespective of the individual wills,
which decide and move the whole mass. All social action
is a resultant of the forces set in motion by individual wills,
and science can only explain these activities by tracing
them to their starting point in the choices of individuals.
Not only are social activities best explained by resolution
into the acts and choices of individuals, but the very structure
of society itself the social groups must be so explained.
The family, for instance, is the result of the choices of indi-
viduals. The lines of causation of political and religious
groups and institutions run out from individual wills as their
starting point. Not only so, but they are maintained and
persist only in the persistence of such choices. The state
is nothing other than a series of associated choices and acts
of individuals. It is only a part of one's self which is
present in the state. The state is maintained only as indi-
viduals continue to act together in certain relations. In
such sense, the ' ' social compact ' ' theory is true. Any
explanation of the state which does not find the causes of
its existence and its development in the conscious acts of
individuals does not find the distinctive nature of social
causation. The same country, physically considered, is the
home in historic succession of very different nations. The
difference is due, not to the character of physical surround-
ings, but to psychical differences. It is not even biological
differences between the North American Indian and the
European which have changed the course of history in this
continent. It is the psychical differences of the two peoples.
Again it is the ps3'chical differences between the Span-
iard and the Englishman which have made the latter the
successful colonizer of America. Further, at every stage
of growth of English settlement in America the form of
government, the nature of the political organization, are
only to be explained by analysing the facts backward into
the choices of the individuals concerned. They have,
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THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF ECONOMICS. 69
at every step, made the state. They have changed it and
developed it. A state is thus built out of human choices.
Its nature and its fibre are subjective. Political structure
is nothing other than a system of habitual choices of the in-
dividuals who constitute it. It is nowhere physical or tan-
gible. It cannot be squared to the tests of physical science.
The stuff which makes it is the desires and the will of its
individual constituents. We understand this as practical
politicians. As scientific sociologists we befog it with meta-
phors about the body politic.
There is no grouping of individuals into family, religious,
political, or industrial bodies which merges the wants, the
interests, the capacities, the choices, the activities of the
individual in the life of the body. Always and everywhere
the individual stands alone. The kernel of his life is in
himself. The very idiot has an individuality which initiates
action upon his part and which the rest of society respects.
Not even conjugal love robs wife or man of that egoism
which is the larger essence of manhood. All religious and
political systems, all associations of men which have not
been based upon this eternal separateness and initiatory power
of individuals have failed of large progress. That religion
and that political philosophy which preach the individual
will as the unit of responsibility and the final arbiter prot-
estant Christianity and democracy are to-day holding in
their hands the potentiality and the responsibility of the
world's progress.
All consumption is individual. It cannot be ' ' socialized. ' '
A painting in a public museum is not socially consumed.
Each individual alone finds in it the satisfaction of his
aesthetic want. All consumption resolves itself into appro-
priation by the individual of goods fitted for his use. Con-
sumption is a psychical act and as such belongs to the
individual.
In law, no other principle than individual responsibility
has been found adequate to maintain order. The stability
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70 ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
of civilized society rests upon this principle. In education
there is no vicarious acquisition of knowledge. The devel-
opment and realization of every life rests ultimately upon its
own choice. The psychical structures which we call social
institutions are simply individual choices hardened into
habits. The science of social man must stick closely to this
fundamental fact and build upon it.
III. UTILITY, i. E., ECONOMIC SELECTION, THE LAW OF
INDIVIDUALISTIC ACTIVITIES ; SOCIAL
CAUSATION TELEOLOGICAL.
Is the individualistic explanation of society, found in the
classical economy, adequate to explain social evolution?
It was the impulse given to scientific thought by the theory
of evolution which gave us the ' ' historical school ' ' of
political economy and the modern sociology. It is not,
however, difficult to show that this principle of evolution
wrought out in the physical world has been applied with
crude haste to psychical phenomena, and that what is now
needed is a simple return to the older economics to find the
true principle of psychical evolution. It was Malthus' doc-
trine of population, indeed, as Darwin himself confesses,
which gave the great naturalist the principle expressed in
his evolutionary formula, the "the struggle for existence"
ending in the "survival of the fittest." Now the essential
principle in the Malthusian doctrine of population is that
social evolution depends on the choice of the individual in
respect to his use of the processes of re-production. Social
evolution its direction and its rate of movement is depend-
ent on the relative estimation put by individuals upon present
pleasure or future welfare. Again the general evolutionary
formula of Herbert Spencer, concurrent differentiation of
parts with integration of the whole, is nothing more than a
generalization of Adam Smith's principle of division of labor.
In Smith's treatment is contained the principle that social
evolution in material welfare is dependent upon the efficient
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THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF ECONOMICS. 71
growth of division of labor. This evolutionary agency of
division of labor is merely the application in complex pro-
duction of the principle of utility to the individual.
In applying the physical formulae of evolution to psychical
phenomena, sociologists are guilty of unscientific procedure.
True science adapts its formulas to the matter in hand. The
physical formulae of evolution are statements of unexplained
fortuitous change. The ' ' fitness ' ' which survives is an
unforeseen fitness, an adjustment wrought out in consequence
of the struggle. Psychical activities on the contrary are
essentially teleological. They are directed to ends. The
' ' fitness ' ' in social adjustments is foreseeable, prearranged.
Further than that, this fitness is nothing other than ' 'utility ' '
to the individual. The individual, seeking his highest utility,
chooses those means which are fit. The principle of utility
is the principle of evolution in the psychical world. The
general economic law the pursuit of the greatest utility
with the least sacrifice is simply the psychical form of the
physical law of evolution the survival of the fittest. The
" fitness " of physical evolution is adjustment which enables
persistence and growth. Such is likewise the " utility " of
psychical evolution. The difference between the two is that
the science of physical evolution regards environment as
dominant, and speaks of the fitness of the subject to be
adapted to the environment, while economics regards the
environment as servient, and calls by the name of utility
the fitness in environment to be adapted to the subject.
Utility is the subjective name for fitness, and fitness is the
objective name for utility.
This utility which explains not merely the activities of
men at any given time, but their evolution as well is identical
in the long run with the utility of the economists. Yet all
forms of choice can be expressed by this term. The religious
motives of men are measurable against the wealth-getting
motive. Practically men decide every day the relative
worth of uprightness and wealth, and they decide this upon
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72 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
the principle of utility, that is, upon the relative amount of
want satisfy ing power in the two courses of action. The
quality of the two wants is, of course, considered but the
mind finds some means of estimating their value.
College professors have been known to regard the sum of
large honor plus small salary attached to a chair in one
university as more than an economic equivalent for large
salary plus small honor in another university. The Founder
of Christianity raises the question whether there is greater
profit in gaining the whole world or in saving one's soul.
The principle of choice is always the same, viz., the weigh-
ing of the relative worth of two courses of action. The
analysis of this process of choice has been worked out more
fully and satisfactorily by the economists than by any other
body of scientists.
This point should receive further elaboration, but let it
suffice to say here that all forms of want, aesthetic, ethical,
physical, are commensurable as motives in the individual
mind. The term want is generic and applies to all human
desire. The corresponding term utility is also generic and
applies to all things capable of satisfying want. This is the
plain fact of life. Our science must recognize it.
Utility, then, as the evolutionary principle, shows itself in
the quality of man's choices. If he is narrowly egoistic he
finds greater utility in satisfying those desires which are
centered in his own person. If he is patriotic he finds
more utility in devoting his life to his country's service.
Again, if he is short-sighted, he finds greater utility in satis-
fying immediate wants. If, however, he appreciates the
future, he plans far ahead and builds up great social institu-
tions, such as capital, the division of labor, and the state.
The direction of social change depends thus upon the
utilitarian choices of individuals, and these choices are in
their last analysis economic choices. In other words the
economic law greatest utility with least sacrifice is the
generic law of human activity, both that which is directed
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THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF ECONOMICS. 73
to preserve the status and that which aims at social evolu-
tion.
IV. ECONOMICS, AS THE SCIENCE OF UTILITY, THE
MASTER SCIENCE OF PSYCHICAL ACTIVITIES.
The universality of the principle of utility as the deter-
minant in human choice has been established. Utility has
likewise been identified with the generic law of economic
life. It is necessary to classify the sciences from this point
of view.
The separation of phenomena by our consciousness, in its
primary judgments, into the two classes, physical and
psychical, compels a corresponding division of the sciences.
Since the only function of science is to make the world of
phenomena intelligible to men, definition and classification
must be relative to the forms and modes of human thought.
The essential form of thought, as we have seen, is the
antithetic opposition of individual subject (Ego) to object.
As the individual generalizes this mode of thought he
admits into the category of subject other minds, and thus
the general antithesis is reached between Mind and Matter.
The recognition, then, of the fundamental difference be-
tween the psychical sciences and the physical is the first
step in the classification of the sciences.
The physical scientist, with strange inconsistency often
proceeds upon the hypothesis that the mind is in some way
outside the natural order of things. He sometimes forgets
that the nature of mind is the most fundamental fact in all
knowledge and imposes itself imperatively upon science.
Universal judgments are, then, not negligible phenomena,
as he would sometimes have us believe, but are the very
warp of science. Conformity to the nature of thought is
then the final test of science.
Another principle of classification of the sciences, imposed
by the nature of mind, is the grouping of special branches
of investigation under certain general sciences. The mind
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74 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
can understand the multitude of things only by seeing them
in synthetic unities, from certain central points of view.
The necessity for this appears equally real from the history
of science. The multitude of special sciences, for example,
which deal with the physical world have been gradually
brought into a system under three general or master
sciences, physics, chemistry, biology. With the progress
of knowledge the master science becomes a body of funda-
mental principles forming the framework of all the special
sciences in its group. The principle of classification is
not a division of the field among these master sciences, but
rather the assumption of characteristic standpoints. Physics
studies all matter in its physical activities; chemistry
studies the chemical phenomena of all matter; biology
studies matter alive. It is apart from my purpose to define
"physical" or "chemical" or "alive," but I wish to illus-
trate the truth that all these general sciences may study the
same facts and that the scope and limits of such sciences
depend on the point of view, on the kind of relations to be
observed. It is enough that from these three points of
view the world of matter is made intelligible to us. The
standpoints assumed by these sciences are, to the men of
our day, naturally chosen to give a picture of the physical
world at once complete, minute and harmonious. The long
process of science and philosophy thus gives to every age a
co-ordination of knowledge fitted to the intellectual needs
of the age. The requisite harmony in the view of the world
can only be gained by simplicity in the general plan of
scientific classification. There must be only a few general
points of view, the relations between which can be easily
grasped. Hand in hand with the multiplication of special
lines of scientific inquiry goes this synthetic tendency to-
ward the organization of all sciences into systems.
In the psychical sciences, likewise, certain general points
of view are assumed, from each of which the whole world of
fact can be observed. Here, also, the fields of inquiry may
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THE PHILOSOPHICAL, BASIS OF ECONOMICS. 75
overlap, and the different sciences may study in a measure
the same facts. Each general science, however, has a dif-
ferent set of relations to establish. The aim of psychical
science must be to choose such general points of view that
the relations between them are naturally understood. In
this way the whole world of psychical phenomena may be-
come clearly mapped out and rendered intelligible.
Indeed, it would be found that the same necessity exists
of ultimately co-ordinating the physical and the psychical
sciences. Both the physical geographer and the economist
must study the results of the destruction of the forests by
man. In case of the former, however, the point of view is
that of the physical development of the earth, mind being
studied as a merely physical cause ; while the economist
takes the standpoint of the economic development of man,
mind being studied as a self-acting power which can change
its course of action by its own choice, if it judges that the
destruction of the forests works greater harm than benefit to
man. These two radically opposed points of view may be
harmonized by the assumption of an ultimate and essential
unity in both orders of phenomena. Man reaches his
highest happiness only by conformity to the requirements
of this ultimate unity. While the economic man adapts the
material forces in the forest to his own uses, he is seen to
be the greater economist the more he recognizes the
necessity of so limiting his present desires that the forests
shall not be prematurely destroyed. In other words, he
must adapt himself to the deep lying laws of forest growth,
if he would make the largest use of nature. This is the
line along which the great questions of economic progress
recur. Here lies the heart of the problems of capital, of
division and organization of labor, of individual or govern-
mental control. Here, too, arises the vexed confusion be-
tween economics and ethics.
What, then, are these general psychical sciences? What
place does economics hold in the scheme ?
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76 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
Psychology is the first of these sciences. The natural
order of psychical activity is to know, to choose, to act.
Consciousness first knows. It knows itself and its environ-
ment.* Psychology, thus, is the science of knowing. Even
the anatomical and physiological studies of modern psy-
chology are all from the point of view of learning how con-
sciousness knows. Its physical studies start from the
psychical standpoint. It is manifestly a psychical science
throughout. Psychology deals with the nature, the
mechanism, and the processes of consciousness itself. The
psychological sciences form an ever increasing group of
special sciences having the common aim of making clear the
nature and methodology of knowledge.
The next of these general psychical sciences studies mind
utilizing its environment. Utilization includes the pro-
cesses of choice or valuation and of action, or the use of
means to gain the ends chosen. The intellectual necessity
of our time is a general science dealing with man's chosen
activities a science of practical life. Various sciences
have dealt with parts of the subject. History, ethics, law,
politics, political economy, and sociology have all groped
forward in this direction. The time has come, however,
for a master science which shall group together in a com-
mon relationship all these special inquiries by giving them
a common starting point and method. Psychology may be
relied upon to do this for consciousness itself, for man as a
knowing thing. A new general science is needed to do this
for man as a practical thing, for consciousness in action.
My claim is that such a science must explain all the con-
scious activities of men by reducing them to terms of the
motives and choices of the individual consciousness. My
further claim is that economics is pre-eminently the science
fitted to hold this place. This science must study the
"the s<
elwgs,
assumes as its data (i) thoughts and feelings, and (2) a physical world in time
and space with which they co-exist and which (3) they know."
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THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF ECONOMICS. 77
interaction of all motives which lead to choices and actions.
It must reach the fundamental laws which apply to man's
entire practical activity. All human self-directed conduct
proceeds from choices which are valuations as to the relative
good in certain courses of action.
In spite of the failures and the incompleteness of eco-
nomics, it has gone farther than any other science in laying
down the laws of value. It has developed in a very im-
portant branch of human conduct the fundamental laws of
valuation. The "classical" English political economy,
starting with one or two fundamental motives of man,
wrought out a system which, within its limits, admirably
expressed in scientific form the actual conduct of men.
This system was attacked by the so-called "historical
school ' ' for the inadequacy of its premises, the faults of its
method , and the narrowness of its field of observation. This
critical attack was, in large part, an impulse from the
scientific spirit of the age. It was just in the main, and
successful in the main. Yet the historical school was
simply a reformation of the older economics and did not
destroy its continuity. The latest economics is strenuously
re-examining the laws of value, using the results of that
wider observation, the more scientific methods, and the
larger premises called for by the scientific critics of the old
economics. The "Austrian economists' ' and other founders
of the "new economics" belong, at once, to the old "class-
ical," and the modern "historical" schools. This it is
which makes the present rejuvenescence of economics so
full of promise.
The rallying point of this "new economics" is the mar-
ginal utility theory of value. The chief service, however,
rendered to the science by this theory lies not in its direct
importance as an explanation of value, but much more
in its indirect results. It contains the logical necessity
of finding the motive power of all economic life in the
consciously felt desires of men. It shows that the bond
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78 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
of unity in all economic phenomena is not wealth in the
sense of physical things, but wealth as constituted by
human desire and choice. It involves the existence of an
economic utility and an economic value which are distinct
from physical or mechanical utility and value, and which
are in a true sense subjective, the creation of the mind.
It involves the reality of these subjective facts and makes
them the primary objects of economic study. A price, a
vote, a credit, a preference to work an hour longer and gain
an extra return, a passion for a ring of yellow metal, the
reverence which rears a temple, a deliberate choice of a boy
at eighteen to devote his life to the study of science instead
of to the plough such facts it shows to be psychical reali-
ties to be objectively studied. It involves the necessity of
psychical measurements for these psychical facts, showing
that no practicable measurement of motive exists but in
human choice. It shows the possibility of exactness in such
measurements by reducing these choices to valuations made
in the unity of the individual consciousness between op-
posing forces.
Every man, economically considered, is both a wanter
and a worker, a consumer and a producer. The same con-
sciousness recognizes want and satisfaction ; the same mind
estimates the relative strength of motive power in an un-
satisfied want and in the labor necessary to satisfy it. In
this is also involved the teleological nature of economic
activity. Economics deals with wants consciously felt,
resources consciously perceived, and consciously directed to
the end of gaining conscious satisfaction. It involves also
the necessity, for the scientific explanation of value, of
tracing motive back to its operation in the consciousness of
the individual. In this theory also, as in the work of the
"historical" school, is involved a bewildering extension of
the scope of economics to include much which ethics has
heretofore claimed, to take in, ultimately, the whole range
of human motive.
[226]
THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF ECONOMICS. 79
The logical necessities of this new theory of value, even
in its moderate form, involve all that this paper contends
for. But, after all, this was all likewise contained in the
economics of Adam Smith and of the classical school.
It has been shown that any adequate science of man and
his conduct must find the initiative of that conduct in the
individual will and its motives. No general science has
yet studied the whole man from this point of view.
History suggests itself as a science capable of the
requisite generalization. History studies all the activities
of man and seeks to explain his whole psychical evolution.
The standpoint of history is, furthermore, the right one.
In history the will of the individual is the initiative, and all
the achievements of civilization are the chosen ends of men
within the limits of their environment. But history cannot
deal with present or with future. History in fact is
not one science but only a part of all sciences. The general
science of man must study present conditions, must form
forecasts and policies for the future. This, history proper
can never do. History has, besides, no principle of co-
hesiveness. Art history, political history, industrial his-
tory, literary history and all other histories are, separately
considered, simply parts of special sciences which we call
aesthetics, politics, economics, and the science of language.
The only unity is when they are grouped together in a so-
called philosophy of history. No philosophy of history has
yet wrought out a common system of fundamental principles
which underlie all these varied lines of human conduct and
give essential unity to man's whole psychical nature and
activity. Such a philosophy of history is what we seek.
When we find it, it will be a part of that general science
now needed the part which explains past evolution.
Neither law nor politics can furnish the basis for the mas-
ter science we seek. However fully they are based upon the
actions of individuals, they do not deal with individuals as
such. No law, no politics, exist where an individual is
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8o ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
considered as alone. No general science of human conduct
can ignore the solitary individual, although a solitary
individual never exists. These sciences are special inquiries
into the forms of association of men in society.
Esthetics, economics, in the ordinary sense of the term,
and ethics are sciences similar in many ways. They deal
primarily, directly, and fundamentally with the feelings,
thoughts, and judgments, of individuals with respect to their
environment. They all, likewise, trace, or attempt to trace,
the way in which these individual mental processes become
general social laws, in accordance with which masses or
groups of men have the same feelings, thoughts, and judg-
ments. They all express their laws in terms of conscious
harmony between the subjective and the objective, between
mind and its environment. The difference between them
might be broadly stated thus : aesthetics seeks the laws of
harmonious sensation. In pure aesthetics there is no out-
ward action. The time is always the present. Given a
certain mind and a certain environment, what harmonies
does that mind perceive or feel between itself and its en-
vironment ? This is the inquiry of aesthetics. Economics,
however, studies this mind as seeking to adapt its environ-
ment to itself so as to produce the greatest harmony. The
imperfect harmonies are felt by the economic man as wants
and he undertakes to adapt the world to his nature, to
change his environment so that it will completely satisfy
these wants. His ideal of complete harmony he attempts
to reach in this way. He looks into the future. His will
is active. He dominates his environment.
Ethics might be called the science of ultimate or universal
harmony. It studies this mind as conscious of lack of
harmony in its own constitution and as seeking so to change
its own tastes and wants and capacities that it shall reach
harmony with the laws of its environment. Ethical rules
thus appear as obligations, something which the free man
should choose. It imposes the obligation of self-culture
[228]
THE PHII^OSOPHICAI, BASIS OF ECONOMICS. 81
and racial progress. It subjects the individual self to the
will of the larger, the universal self.
These three sciences remain, however, in a very intimate
sense, parts of the same line of inquiry. ^Esthetics has both
economic and ethical branches. The sentient mind seeks
ways and means of so presenting its environment as to pro-
duce the greatest pleasure from present conditions. So far
it is economic. The aesthetic man recognizes also the
obligation of self-culture, of so adapting his nature to the
universal laws of harmony that a higher level and greater
fullness of happiness may result. This is ethical.
Ethics likewise is in part aesthetic and in part economic.
Whatever ethical theory be held, the ultimate ethical law
comes back to a perceived or felt harmony between the indi-
vidual and his environment. This is the sole ultimate test
of ethical law and it is aesthetic in character. The ethical
man, likewise, in so far as he strives to adapt society to
harmony with his own nature is doing an economic work.
Economics, also, is partly aesthetic and partly ethical. The
laws of human enjoyment upon their aesthetic side as well
as upon their economic side received attention in the early
discussions of luxury by economic writers, and no econo-
mists have been able to banish ethics entirely from their
treatment of capital. Th i higher ethical character of the
conduct which looks to remote results is a part of all eco-
nomic teaching. It is chiefly in consumption that the
aesthetic and ethical affiliations of economics appear most
prominently. The relative degrees of satisfaction derived
from different modes of consumption are distinctly a study
in aesthetics. An aesthetic judgment is adopted into eco-
nomics. The problem of harmonious consumption is plainly
aesthetic. likewise the economic man who consciously
controls his wants, represses some, and develops others,
with a view to increasing his ultimate happiness or bene-
fiting his family or his country, is doing an act clearly
ethical. He is adapting himself to his environment to
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82 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
make larger the ultimate harmonies of life. These sciences
are too similar in subject matter, in method, and in aim to
be kept apart. They are, in reality, one science, and should
he recognized as such. Economics is the fittest of the
three to absorb the others. It has shown the greatest
capability of being generalized. It has developed farthest
the laws which underlie the facts studied by them all.
They are all sciences of values, estimates of the relative
importance to us of various things which environ us. They
are all sciences which deal with the means of realizing the
highest satisfaction by harmony between ourselves and our
environment.
^Esthetics does not treat conduct in sufficient prominence
to make it capable of covering the general field. It is rather
the border land between psychology and economics,
between knowing and doing.
On the other hand the ethical standpoint is too narrow.
Ethics applies the laws of utility only as relative to ultimate
ideals and does not deal with wants as absolute. The
means of living, physical and non-physical, most important
and largest part of the thought of many people, are only
indirectly within the ethical point of view. Self-initiated
changes in wants are ethical. They seek to adapt the man
himself so as to realize the potentialities of higher happi-
ness in more complete harmony with the universal environ-
ment. Ethics is, in reality, the final volume in the general
system of economics.
Esthetics and ethics occupy two extreme positions be-
tween which lies economics. Economics has already shown
its ability to absorb a part of both sciences and it puts the
emphasis of thought where men in actual life put it.
Economics has first been studied mainly in regard to
material goods. In these investigations certain laws of
valuation have been discovered which give scientific form
to our knowledge of human motive. It has become very
clear however, that value is a wider term than material
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THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF ECONOMICS. 83
goods, that economic motives act both in the field of
material and of immaterial values. It seems inevitable
that economics must ultimately include both fields. All at-
tempts to confine "wealth" to purely material things have
really failed. All pleasures, all values, all choices, all
teleological activities are, in fact, chosen and followed upon
principles which economics alone has explained in a scien-
tific manner.
This is the necessary logical outcome of the premises
assumed by writers in economics since it became a distinct
science. Should this logical tendency reach its legitimate
end, the sciences would be classified according to the scheme
presented in the following table :
f
A.. PHYSICAL SCIENCES.
Studying phenom-
ena from the stand-
point of matter (un-
conscious) and i n
motion (fortuitous
or non-teleological).
B. PSYCHICAL SCIENCES.
Studying phenom-
ena from the stand-
point of mind (con-
scious) and its activ-
ities (teleological).
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
General sciences or
master sciences, the prin-
ciples of which apply to
many special sciences. A
group of chemical scien-
ces, for example.
Certain special sci-
ences may be composite
and.belong, in part, to two
or more master sciences.
Psychology,
Master science of
mind as knowing.
Economics,
Master science of
mind as utilizing.
Science of utility.
Science of practi-
cal life.
Includes :
Esthetics, i. e., the
science of motive sen-
sations,
Economics, in the
narrow sense of the
science of adjustment
of environment to sub-
ject, and
Ethics, the science
of adjustment of sub-
ject to environment. j
84 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
It is claimed for this classification that it presents a
simple scheme which is yet comprehensive enough to give
a place to all the sciences which deal with psychical
phenomena. No attempt has been made to carry out this
classification into all its details. This would be out of
place in a paper which aims to give only the outline of the
subject. The relation of the new science of sociology to
economics is a subject, however, of great practical im-
portance, at present, and I wish to devote a few final pages
to that topic.
V. SOCIOLOGY, ONE OP THE SPECIAL ECONOMIC
SCIENCES.
The new science called sociology is begotten of the
modern evolutionar} 7 idea. The leading tendencies shown
in this sociology have been (i) the assumption of a physical
standpoint, with the use of physical analogies and formulae
in explaining man's activities, and (2) the assumption of
"groups" of a vaguely conceived "society" as the
primary fact to which the individual appears as secondary.
Human action is made to start in the social group, go for-
ward through the individual, and work out its effect upon
the group. And this activity is conceived as governed by
the law of physical evolution and as working onward to
unplanned results.
The tendencies of economics are in direct contrast. The
economic individual initiates action, he uses society or the
social group as his means and he achieves an end for him-
self an end fore-ordained by himself. The evolution is,
thus teleological, and social institutions and groups persist
or change according as they have "utility" fitness, that is,
not in the physical sense, but fitness as seen by the indi-
vidual subject. Individuals, thus, are the primary fact and
society exists by them and for them, while to the sociologist
the primary fact is society which makes the individual and
whose ends the individual serves.
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THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF ECONOMICS. 85
This contrast between the two points of view may be well
illustrated by a brief sketch of the historical origin of the
two sciences. In the modern revival of industry, which was
connected with the revival of learning, came a flood of par-
ticular writings upon special features of industrial life,
especially as connected with the state. The mercantile
writings are a collection of such literature. For a long
time the word "economy" had been in use in its strict lit-
eral sense as the regulation of estates or households. It
came finally to be recognized in those new writings as ap-
plying to affairs of state, "political economy" being con-
ceived of as a body of rules governing the conduct of state
affairs. The general inquiry in all these writings was how
best to exploit resources in the interest of the nation.
It was part of a national struggle for existence. The
national resources were the soil and other natural riches,
population and commerce as a means of exploiting the lands
and peoples of other nations. It finally became clear, how-
ever, that the prosperity of the state rested, not so much on
exploitation either of the home population or of foreign
nations, as upon the prosperity of the people themselves.
' ' Pauvre pay sans, pauvre royaume ; pauvre royaume, pauvre
rot."
This new economic doctrine developed side by side with
the similar doctrine that the political power and prosperity
of a nation rested on the political freedom and importance
of the people as against absolutism and aristocracy. In
other words, it became clear that political economy or state
housekeeping and private economy or private housekeeping
were indissolubly bound together in fact and hence formed
parts of one general science.
This appears undeniably in Adam Smith's book.* The
title indicates that it is primarily a book on public economy,
but the larger part of the work is devoted to a discussion of
the general laws of industry or the economy of the people,
while in the fifth book only he treats specifically of the
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86 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
public or state economy. In the "Wealth of Nations" we
have already reached a recognition of a general science of
economics which systematizes the laws underlying the econ-
omic activities both of individuals and of the state.
Furthermore, this general science is conceived by Smith
as studying the operation of the motives of individuals in
leading to the activities of individuals and of societies.
Society and all social activities are treated as resting on
ultimate bases of individual thought, choice, and deed.
Smith and his followers studied mankind as made up of in-
dividual units. Social groupings were secondary, not
primary.
Political economy at first applied to political groups of
men. The study of industry, however, led men to see that
another sort of group was possible a "society" the mem-
bers of which were held together by natural needs of eco-
nomic organization and which did not necessarily coincide
with the political organization. This industrial society,
no less than the political, was regarded as finding its unity
only in the abstraction of the common things of the indi-
viduals composing it Its activities could be explained
only by tracing them back to their origin in the wants and
actions of individuals. The whole philosophy, political and
economic, is summed up in the words commonweal and
commonwealth .
In Adam Smith, likewise, the deeper thought is that the
economic quality of things is the creation of man's want
and labor. Nature gives, indeed, but only to him who
wants and works. Man's wants, man's labor to satisfy
these wants, man's happiness as the end to be attained,
these are the things studied in the "Wealth of Nations, ' ' this
is the standpoint from which even the laws of the physical
world are investigated. Natural law furnishes deep,
underlying forces and limits, conformity to which is
necessary to attain the highest good, but the origin and
measure of economic things, of the utility which is the
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THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF ECONOMICS. 87
subject matter of economics, are found, not in nature, but
in human labor, in the choices which make men work. To
Smith economics is not a physical science. It is a science
of man, of psychical life. This, I say, is the deeper
thought of the "Wealth of Nations." These views, the
individualistic view of society and the psychical nature of
economic life, still dominate the science of economics.
There is an opposing view of society which has had a
long history the view which regards society as a real unit
and as explicable upon the principles of physical evolution.
In its latest development this theory regards society and
not the individual as the unit which initiates action.
However early this idea appeared, it became clearly
grasped and vigorously urged as the foundation of the
science of human affairs only after the doctrine of evolution
came to be applied to historical growth. The studies of the
early part of this century in history, jurisprudence, ethics,
and historical economics of race development, in a word,
became crystallized in a conception of mankind as made ur>
of social groups, each self-acting as a true unit. A science
of society, or sociology, was outlined under which would
fall, as subdivisions, politics, ethics, history, aesthetics,
language, religion, philosophy, in short, every science which
deals with psychical phenomena.
This conception of society and of the relations of the
sciences is widely current to-day, owing especially to the
influence of Comte and Spencer, and, in a lesser degree, to
the writings of the ' ' German school' ' of economics. The
most powerful cause for the prevalence of these views is
undoubtedly the influence of modern physical science. So
soon as the individual man comes to be looked on as an
automaton moved solely by the forces of matter, the sig-
nificance of these activities which seem to be initiated by
the free will of men is lost. The bonds which unite men
in society are regarded in the light of physical forces. Bi-
ology sufficiently explains the individual. A new physical
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88 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
science is needed which shall deal with men in groups.
By an easy application of a biological analogy, the group
is regarded as a biological individual, a true organism in
the biological sense. Thus the sciences which deal with
man's psychical life are forced into line with the physical
sciences and the integrity of the individual is lost, and an
abstract entity called "society" is furnished by a positivist
science, with invisible and intangible organs of individu-
ality and with all the functions and capacities of a meta-
physical soul.
This tendency of sociology to explain society by extend-
ing the operation of the cosmic laws of matter beyond
biology into the psychical phenomena of society and
thus to work out a physical science of society is really
unintelligible. It does violence to our primary judg-
ments. The individual mind feels that its integrity and its
existence even are destroyed if this be true. The universal
testimony of consciousness is I feel, I think, I choose, I
act, I direct external forces, I create. If these universal
dicta be errors, we have no warrant for the truth of the
axioms of mathematics, or even of the primary sensations.
Only by assuming the validity of the assertions of men that
they see such and such things do we get any basis for
science. Only by acting upon the validity of such asser-
tions do we make such arrangements that we can continue
to get the things necessary for our life. Thus the practical
necessities of life impose upon us the necessity of recogniz-
ing the truth of these universal primary judgments of con-
sciousness. Also the necessities of our psychical nature
require the same assumptions. That is, if we are to have
scientific explanations of the world, we must assume as true
these primary judgments upon which science is built up.
Equally must the validity of the processes of reasoning be
recognized upon the same grounds.
A general science of man in society must assume as its
basis various universal judgments of this character. Such
[236]
THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF ECONOMICS. 89
judgments are these: I am conscious of myself, therefore I
exist; I perceive other things, therefore other things exist;
I want, therefore I have relation to other things; I perceive
force outside of myself the physical world ; I perceive power
in my mind to direct this force ; I perceive other individuals
like myself society ; I perceive limits to my power that
other persons can control me, that the physical world can
compel me ; I perceive that I can organize this physical
world and this society, and through this organization gain
the satisfaction of my want.
Sociology, in not taking this view of social causation
thereby violates the most fundamental of axiomatic truths.
Sociology is further defective in that it personifies the
group. The logical outcome of the sociological point of
view is the negation of the individual. This need be only
referred to, in this place since it has been adequately dis-
cussed above. . If it be denied, however, that sociology
does thus destroy the individual and if sociology aims in
fact to explain the individual, then its name is a misnomer.
At the best, the term ' 'sociology" expresses but one side of
man's conscious activity, and largely obscures the work of
the individual. It would be equally consistent to call the
science ' ' individualogy, ' ' since upon any theory all social
activity is made up of the organic activities of individuals.
If the science is to explain man in society, the name "so-
ciology" does not express its true content.
Another more important indictment of sociology is the
following :
Sociology cannot make good its claim to be the master
science of man's activities, for it studies man simply with
reference to his association with other men. It cannot in-
clude the sciences which assume the standpoint of the indi-^
vidual and explain man's actions always in terms of the
individual. Such sciences as ethics, economics, and poli-
tics, which regard human affairs as resting upon the
initiation of the individual will, cannot be classified as
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90 ANNAI^S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
sociological sciences. They do not have their ultimate
foundation in the facts of association. But the essential
fact in sociology is association. The group is primary
in sociology, while in these sciences the individual is
primary.
This inadequacy of sociology appears clearly in consider-
ing, whether, upon its established principles, it can include
economics. If there were only one man in the world there
would be no place for a science of sociology. If there were
only one man in the world all the fundamental things of
economics would still remain. Goods, utility, value, labor,
capital, wealth, wants, consumption, production, dynamics.
These are facts in the economic life of every man, not only
as a member of society, but as a solitary individual. Money
would not be needed, but a measure of value would, else
the labor of production would not be economically adjusted
to different processes. For the same reason the fundamental
processes of distribution would still go on according to the
changing returns of labor and capital in various enterprises,
shifting of labor or capital would continually be necessary
in order to equalize marginal returns. The solitary man,
if wise, would continually increase capital to reward his
labor more richly.
The fundamental object of inquiry in economics is not
the methods or processes of industrial association between
man and man as the sociologist would have us believe. It
is rather the problem which arises always where mind con-
fronts matter the problem of the utilization by the con-
scious subject of the external object the problem of the
wanter working to satisfy his wants. If this economic man
be solitary in the world, he utilizes the world. If he be a
member of a group of other men, he utilizes both the world
and these other men, and out of the interplay of these
various activities of the different members of the group
grow the laws of economic society. Individual or society,
the bases of economic life are the same, and we must look for
[238]
THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF ECONOMICS. 91
them in the psychical nature of the individual mind, con-
sciously utilizing its environment here is a bond of unity
for a master science of practical life as simple and obvious
as the protoplasm of general biology. To economics not to
sociology must we look for the general science of man in
society.
Current sociology is, I believe, beginning to recognize its
limitations and is more and more coming to accept the view
that it is the science of social organization. As such its
endeavor is to explain the relation of the individual to
society, to trace out the workings of the psychic acts of
individuals as they build up groupal structures, estab-
lish social institutions, and lead forward social change.
As such it also studies the re- actions of social groups,
social institutions, and social change upon the indi-
vidual.
If this be true, sociology falls into place as the master
science of a large group of special economic sciences, those
dealing with the methods of human association. It would
be nearly co-incident with politics taken in the most widely
generic sense of that word. This point needs fuller devel-
opment than can be here given to it. Its validity, however,
appears in the consideration that, as previously shown,
social organization is a process of economic selection. The
groups which constitute the concrete forms of organization
are held together by the economic choices of individuals.
Changes in the groupal forms come about likewise through
changes in individual choice. That utility which eco-
nomics has analyzed and explained is the causal principle
running through all social processes. And these social
processes only become definite and real to us when we con-
cieve of them as made up of individual teleological acts.
The term "society" is a convenient methodological symbol
which we employ for certain purposes of reasoning and
which must again be translated into terms of the individual
before the matter is intelligible.
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92 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
We are thus enabled to come back to the theses with
which we began.
To make society intelligible we must accept the principle
of economic selection, or utility, as the universal law of
social causation, and, in our science of society, we must
abandon the unscientific attempt of the earlier sociology to
wrest the laws of physical causation into an impossible ex-
planation of the teleological phenomena of men in society.
SIDNEY SHERWOOD.
Johns Hopkins University.
CURRENT TRANSPORTATION TOPICS :
RECENT DECISIONS OF THE SUPREME COURT AND THEIR
SIGNIFICANCE.
Since the beginning of 1897 transportation questions have occu-
pied a prominent place in the decisions of the United States Supreme
Court and in the legislation of the states. The present discussion is
confined to the recent decisions of the Supreme Court affecting
the power of the states to tax transportation agents, the extent to
which competing railway companies can co-operate, and the power
of the interstate commerce commission to regulate rates.
The Power of the States to Tax Transportation Companies.
In February and March of this year the United States Supreme
Court decided ten cases involving the power of the states to tax
transportation companies doing an interstate business. By these
decisions the principle is established that the intangible property of
such a company "is liable to state taxation, and such taxation is
not upon the privilege of doing its business, nor an interference
with interstate commerce. ' ' These cases concerned the constitu-
tionality of recent laws passed by Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.
The Kentucky law was enacted November n, 1892; the Indiana
act was approved March 6, 1893, and the Ohio law originally passed
April, 1893, was re-enacted with slight amendments, May 10, 1894.
The Kentucky and Indiana laws apply not only to transportation
agencies, but also to corporations generally. The Ohio laws in
question apply only to express, telegraph and telephone companies.
An Ohio law of May 14, 1894, levied an excise tax on express com-
panies, and two later laws of Ohio, enacted March 19 and 30, 1896,
have imposed excise taxes upon street railroad, railroad and mes-
senger or signal companies, freight line and equipment companies,
and also upon electric light, gas, natural gas, pipe line and water-
works companies. We are concerned here only with the relation
of these laws to transportation companies.
These laws are essentially alike as regards the principle adopted
for the valuation and assessment of property. A state board,
consisting in Kentucky and Ohio of the auditor, treasurer and
attorney-general, and in Indiana of the state board of tax com-
missioners, acting upon the basis of information which the state
auditor is empowered to collect, determines the value of the pro-
perty owned within the state by the companies to be assessed.
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94 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
' ' Said board, ' ' to quote from the Ohio statute, ' ' shall be guided by
the value of said property as determined by the value of the entire
capital stock of said companies, and such other evidence and rules
as will enable said board to arrive at the true value in money of the
entire property of said companies within the State of Ohio, in the
proportion which the same bears to the entire property of said com-
panies, as determined by the value of the capital stock thereof, and
the other evidence and rules as aforesaid. ' ' In other words, it is the
duty of the board to ascertain the value of the entire property of a
telegraph, express, or telephone company, real estate and capital stock
and if the company be one doing an interstate business to subtract
from that total the value, (i) of the real estate situate outside of
the state, and (2) the value of the real estate within the state as
assessed for taxation, and then (3) to credit to the state such part of
the value remaining after making these two deductions as the mile-
age of the company within the state bears to the company's total
mileage. In the laws of Kentucky and Indiana careful rules are
formulated for the guidance of the board in making these valua-
tions, while the Ohio statute is less specific in wording, but means
practically the same. The purpose in every case being to include
in the valuation and assessment the "intangible" as well as the
tangible or real property of the companies.
The assessed valuation thus determined by the state board is dis-
tributed by the auditor among the counties and by the counties
among the townships in proportion to the mileage of the lines in-
cluded in the counties and townships respectively. The taxes are
levied and collected by the townships at the same rate and in the
same manner as other taxes.*
The Western Union Telegraph and the Adams Express companies
contended that the laws were unconstitutional because the state had
no right to tax ' ' intangible' ' property, and because the tax was an
interference with interstate commerce; but the Supreme Court held
that:
"Estimating the property of an interstate express company as an
entirety, and after deducting the value of all tangible property, as-
sessing its intangible property within the state on the basis of the
mileage of its lines within and without the state, are not in violation
* This brief generalized statement of the laws is necessarily an inadequate sum-
mary of their contents. The Kentucky law, which maybe found in the Kentucky
Statutes, p. 1291 et seq, of the compilation of 1894, makes the corporations of that
state liable to both state and local taxes. The Indiana law provides only for local
taxation. The Ohio law of 1893 and May 10, 1894, referring to express, telegraph
and telephone companies, provides only for local taxation. The Ohio excise taxes
are state and not local.
[242]
CURRENT TRANSPORTATION TOPICS. 95
of the commerce clause or Fourteenth Amendment of the Federal
Constitution."*
The Supreme Court was divided five to four on these cases and was
doubtless largely influenced by the practical bearings of the sub-
ject. The Indiana and Ohio cases were decided February i, but on
account of ' ' the importance of the questions involved and the close
division" of the court upon them, a rehearing was granted. In the
decision of the court upon this rehearing the court brought further
argument to sustain its former decree and concluded with the fol-
lowing pertinent paragraph :
' ' In conclusion, let us say that this is eminently a practical age ;
that courts must recognize things as they are and as possessing a
value which is accorded to them in the markets of the world, and
that no fine-spun theories about situs should interfere to enable
these large corporations, whose business is of necessity carried on
through many states, from bearing in each state such burden of
taxation as a fair distribution of the actual value of their property
among those states requires, "f
Traffic Associations and the Trans-Missouri Freight Association
Case.
The decision rendered by the United States Supreme Court, March
22, in the suit of the United States v. The Trans-Missouri Freight
Association etal., decrees that "The right of a railroad company
to charge reasonable rates does not include the right to enter into a
combination with competing roads to maintain reasonable rates. ' '
This makes illegal all traffic associations formed by railway com-
panies for the purpose of regulating rates charged on competitive
traffic, it lessens greatly the ability of the railways to co-operate,
and has necessitated the reorganization of such associations upon a
new basis.
The Trans- Missouri Freight Association was established on
March 15, 1889, by fifteen railroads operating west of the Mis-
souri River, the States of Missouri and Arkansas and the city of
Galveston, and was a typical railway traffic association. The agree-
ment, which became effective April i, 1889, contained the pro-
visions regarding rates that are usual in such contracts. J The
* Levi C. Weir, President of the Adams Express Company i>. L. C. Norman,
Auditor of Public Accounts for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Decided March
15, 1897.
t Adams Express Company v. Ohio State Auditor. Decided March 15, 1897.
\ This agreement was in effect from April i, 1889, to November 18, 1892, when the
Trans-Missouri Freight Association was dissolved. The agreement which took
its place, January i, 1893, did not re-establish the former traffic association. The
[243]
96 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
association was to appoint a committee "to establish rates, rules
and regulations on the traffic subject to this association, and to con-
sider changes therein, and make rules for meeting the competition
of outside lines. ' ' The members of the association agreed to give
notice to the association, five days previous to a regular meeting, of
any proposed change in rates, and contracted to abide by the action
of that body. Any member might, however, act contrary to the
decision of the association by giving a written notice to that body
when convened in a regular session, that such independent action
was to be taken ten days thereafter. If a member decided to act
contrary to the vote of the organization, the association could, if it
chose, reduce rates or change its rules for the purpose of com-
pelling the member to cease its independent action. A member of
the association might, also, in order to meet the competition of roads
not members, make changes in the association's rates and rules
without previous notice ; but a member doing this was subject to a
fine if its action was not subsequently approved by the association.
The United States instituted in the Circuit Court, District of
Kansas, a suit in equity for the purpose of having the agreement set
aside and declared illegal and void, on the ground of its being in
violation of the anti-trust law of July 2, 1890. Section i of this
law, as is well known, declares illegal ' ' every contract, combination
in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy in restraint of trade
or commerce among the several states, or with foreign nations. ' '
The decision of the Circuit Court, by District Judge Riner, delivered
November 28, 1892, upheld the legality of the association's agree-
ment, Judge Riner maintaining that :
"An agreement between several competing railway companies and
the formation of an association thereunder for the purpose of main-
taining just and reasonable rates, preventing unjust discriminations
by furnishing adequate and equal facilities for the interchange of
traffic between the several lines, without preventing or illegally
limiting competition, is not an agreement, combination or conspiracy
in restraint of trade in violation of the act of July 2, 1890. . . .
4 ' It was not the intention of Congress to include common carriers
subject to the act of February 4, 1887, within the provisions of the
new agreement provided for the appointment of the West-Missouri Freight Rate
Committee with authority "to establish and maintain reasonable rates." Although
it was expected that a permanent traffic association would, on the first of the fol-
lowing April, supersede the temporary agreement of January i, 1893, such an
organization was not effected and the Freight Rate Committee has continued to
the present time. Its present name is the Trans-Missouri Freight Rate Com-
mittee. Like other traffic organizations its powers over rates have been less since
last March than they were previously.
[244]
CURRENT TRANSPORTATION TOPICS. 97
act of July 2, 1890, which is a special statute, relating to combina-
tions in the form of trusts and conspiracies in restraint of trade."*
The case was carried to the United States Circuit Court of Ap-
peals, eighth circuit, where it was argued before Circuit Judge
Sanborn and District Judges Shiras and Thayer, May 31 and June
i, 1893. The decision of the court delivered October 2, 1893, by
Judge Sanborn, Judge Shiras dissenting, sustained the decree of the
lower court. The decision was enforced by a lengthy argument to
prove that,
"The contracts, combinations in the form of trust or otherwise,
and conspiracies in restraint of trade declared to be illegal in inter-
state and international commerce by the act of July 2, 1890, entitled
an act to protect trade and commerce against unlawful restraints
and monopolies, are me contracts, combinations and conspiracies
in restraint of trade that had been declared by the courts to be
against public policy and void under the common law before the
passage of that act.
"The test of the validity of such contracts or combinations is not
the existence of restriction upon competition imposed thereby, but
the reasonableness of that restriction under the facts and circum-
stances of each particular case, "f
* From the syllabus of the decision. 53 Federal Reporter p. 440.
t From the syllabus of the decision. The syllabus was prepared by Judge San-
born himself. The following paragraph of the syllabus contains such an admir-
able summary of the powers of the Trans-Missouri Freight Association and of the
court's views of the economic functions of such organizations that it ought to be
quoted here :
"A contract between railroad companies forming a freight association that they
will establish and maintain such rates, rules and regulations on freight traffic
between competitive points as a committee of their choosing shall recommend as
reasonable ; that these rates, rules and regulations shall be public ; that there
shall be monthly meetings of the association composed of one representative from
each railroad company ; that each company shall give five days' notice before
some monthly meeting of every reduction of rates or deviation from the rules it
proposes to make ; that it will advise with the representatives of the other mem-
bers at the meeting relative to the proposed modification, will submit the question
of its proposed action to a vote at that meeting, and if the proposition is voted
down that it will give ten days' notice that it will make the modification not-
withstanding the vote before it puts the proposed change into effect, that no
member shall falsely bill any freight or bill any at a wrong classification,
and that any member may withdraw from the association on a notice of thirty
days, appears to be a contract tending to make competition fair and open, and
to induce steadiness in rates and is in accord with the policy of the ' Interstate Com-
merce Act.' Such agreement cannot be adjudged to be a contract or conspiracy in
restraint of trade under the 'Anti-Trust Act,' when it is admitted that the rates
maintained under the same have been reasonable, and that the tendency has
been rather to diminish than to enhance rates, and there is no other evidence of
its consequence or effect."
[245]
98 ANNAI^S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
The case was argued before the United States Supreme Court,
December 8 and 9, 1896. That court's decision delivered by Justice
Peckham, March 22, 1897, four of the nine judges dissenting, re-
versed the decrees of the lower courts, and held that,
"The act of July 2, 1890, covers, and was intended to cover, com-
mon carriers by railroad.
"The words 'unlawful restraints and monopolies,' in the title of
the act of Congress of July 2, 1890, do not show that the purpose of
the act was to include only contracts which were unlawful at com-
mon law, but refer to and include those restraints and monopolies
which are made unlawful in the body of the act.
"The term 'contract in restraint of trade' as used in the act of
Congress of July 2, 1890, does not refer only to contracts which
were invalid at common law, but includes every contract in restraint
of trade, and is not limited to that kind of a contract which is in
unreasonable restraint of trade.
"The policy of the government is to be found in its statutes, and
when they have not directly spoken, then in the decisions of the
courts and the constant practice of the government officials ; but
when the law-making power speaks on a particular subject over
which it has constitutional power to legislate, public policy in such
a case is what the statute enacts."*
This decision of the Supreme Court having made the agreements
of all the existing traffic associations illegal, the railway companies
generally, with the exception of the eastern trunk lines, withdrew
from the associations of which they were members and proceeded to
reconstruct their traffic organizations in such a manner as to bring
them within the requirements of the court's decision. The general
form of the previous organizations was retained, the chief change
consisting in carefully reserving the rate-making function to the
individual companies, members of the association. For instance,
the articles of agreement of the Western Joint Traffic Bureau, the
reorganized Western Freight Association, now provide that the
board of commissioners "shall supervise and at its option recom-
mend changes in rates, rules and regulations governing the traffic
subject to this agreement," but the agreement also carefully stipu-
lates that,
"Nothing herein shall be construed as interfering with the right
of individual members to change rates at will, and the board of
commissioners shall so exercise the power conferred upon it as to
From the syllabus of the decision.
[246]
CURRENT TRANSPORTATION TOPICS. 99
discourage, and, so far as possible, prevent violation of the inter-
state commerce act, or any other federal or state law, or the pro-
visions of the charter of any member, and it shall, with these ends
in view, co-operate with federal and state commissions. ' '
Similar provisions are included in the revised agreements of the
other freight and passenger traffic associations.
The Joint Traffic Association, composed of the thirty-two "trunk
line' ' companies, the strongest and most efficient traffic organization
in existence, did not deem it necessary to reorganize because, when
the decision of the Supreme Court in the Trans-Missouri Freight
Association case was announced, a suit against this association of
the trunk lines was pending in the United States courts. This suit,
which is still pending, was instituted by the United States Attorney-
General at the instance of Interstate Commerce Commission. The
United States asked the court to issue an injunction annulling the
agreement of the association on the ground that the contract violated
both the anti-trust law of 1890 and anti-pooling section of the inter-
state commerce act, but the association won the suit both in the
United States Circuit Court last year,* and before the Circuit Court
of Appeals of New York this year, the latter court's decision being
rendered simultaneously with the announcement of the Supreme
Court's decision in the Trans-Missouri Freight Association case.
Judge Wallace, in the Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Lacombe con-
curring, held that the interstate commerce act could not be invoked
in the case. ' ' If there has been, ' ' he said, ' ' any violation of the
pooling section of that act, because of the existence of contracts,
the United States has no right under that act by injunction.
The United States has no remedy by injunction to annul a con-
tract. ' ' Judge Wallace did not think that the anti-trust law was
intended to apply to railway carriers.
The suit against the Joint Traffic Association will be heard by the
Supreme Court early in the October term, and the probabilities are
that it will decide that this organization is as much of "a combina-
tion in restraint of trade' ' as was the Trans-Missouri Freight Asso-
ciation. The chances for the success of the Joint Traffic Association
in its suit have been lessened by some of the testimony secured by
the Interstate Commerce Commission in an investigation which it
conducted in Chicago the second week of last June. The commis-
sion secured evidence of the existence of "physical" or traffic pools
apportioning, according to fixed percentages, a part of the freight
carried by several members of the Joint Traffic Association. This
apportionment was made by the arbitrators of the association, but
*Cf. ANNALS, Vol. ix, p. no, January, 1897.
[247]
ioo ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
whether they were acting for the Joint Traffic Association or for
certain roads, members of the association, the available information
does not make clear.
It is doubtful, however, whether the Joint Traffic Association will
be able to maintain its present organization without change of form,
at least for any great length of time, even should the Supreme Court
not find the association's agreement illegal. It has been more dif-
ficult this year than it was last for the organization to secure the
observance of authorized rates, and several instances of secret and
open cutting have occurred. The insolvency of the Baltimore &
Ohio and the influence of the Trans-Missouri decision have placed
a severe strain on the Joint Traffic Association. It is probable that
no traffic association can be made as effective as business interests
demand until both the interstate commerce act and the anti-trust
law are so amended as to permit greater co-operation among the
railroads.
The Supreme Court's decision of March 22 has revived the agita-
tion for the legalization of pooling contracts. In response to this
agitation the Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce, after con-
sidering various measures and receiving instructions from the Senate,
has drawn up and submitted a bill legalizing pooling contracts
and making other amendments to the act of February 4, 1887. This
bill, it is expected, will be considered at length during the next
session of Congress.
The Interstate Commerce Commission, though its members are not
all of the same opinion regarding details of action, is opposed to
the legalization of pooling, unless the commission's powers are at
the same time largely increased. The chairman of the commission
and one other member are opposed to the policy of pooling, two
other members "would not oppose the passage of a pooling bill,
provided the other amendments which are necessary to make the
interstate commerce laws effective were made a part of the bill,"*
while the other commissioner has frequently advocated pooling and
would doubtless favor an early action of Congress legalizing such
contracts, f
The Rate-Regulating Powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
The United States Supreme Court has decided that the Interstate
Commerce Commission does not possess the power to prescribe rail-
way rates. The commission had previously been denied this power
*Cf. A letter written May 19, 1897, by the Interstate Commerce Commission to
Senator Cullom, Chairman of the Committee on Interstate Commerce.
t Cj. A paper by Hon. Martin A. Knapp on "Some Observations on Railroad
Pooling," in the ANNALS, Vol. viii, p. 127, July, 1896.
[2 4 8]
CURRENT TRANSPORTATION TOPICS. 101
by several inferior United States courts, and two decisions of the
Supreme Court had contained expressions which left little uncer-
tainty regarding the court's views on this subject.* The case of the
Interstate Commerce Commission v. The Cincinnati, New Orleans
& Texas Pacific Railway Company et al. , decided by the Supreme
Court, May 24, involved this question in a simple form and the
meaning of the court's decision is unmistakable.
The case grew out of a complaint made to the Interstate Commerce
Commission by the freight bureaus of Chicago and Cincinnati that the
rates from those cities to southern ports were so high as compared
with the rates from the North Atlantic seaboard territory to the South,
as to constitute a discrimination against Chicago, Cincinnati and other
cities in the ' 'central territory. ' ' The complaint was sustained by
the commission, and the railways complained against were ordered
to reduce their rates on certain classes of freight to Chattanooga and
other southern cities so as to correspond with the rates from the
eastern cities. The railways refused to comply and the commission
brought the above suit to secure the enforcement of its order. The
Circuit Court denied the right of the commission to prescribe rates,
and the Supreme Court, Justice Harlan dissenting, confirmed the
decree of the inferior court. Justice Brewer, who prepared the de-
cision of the court, tersely summarizes the main points of his com-
prehensive argument in the following paragraph :
"We have, therefore, these considerations presented: First, The
power to prescribe a tariff of rates for carriage by a common carrier
is a legislative and not an administrative or judicial function, and
having respect to the large amount of property invested in railroads,
the various companies engaged therein, the thousands of miles of
road, and the millions of tons of freight carried, the varying and
diverse conditions attaching to such carriage is a power of supreme
delicacy and importance. Second, That Congress has transferred
such a power to any administrative body is not to be presumed or
implied from any doubtful and uncertain language. The words and
phrases efficacious to make such a delegation of power are well un-
derstood and have been frequently used, and if Congress had in-
tended to grant such a power to the Interstate Commerce Commission
it cannot be doubted th.t it would have used language open to no
misconstruction, but clear and direct. Third, Incorporating into a
statute the common law obligation resting upon the carrier to make
all its charges reasonable and just, and directing the commission to
execute and enforce the provisions of the act, does not by implication
* Cf. ANNALS, Vol. Ix, p. 107, January, 1897, where reference is made to the
decisions of the Supreme Court in the "Social Circle" and "Import Rate" cases.
[249]
102 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
carry to the commission or invest it with the power to exercise
the legislative function of prescribing rates which shall control in
the future. Fourth, Beyond the inference which irresistibly follows
from the omission to grant in express terms to the commission this
power of fixing rates, is the clear language of Section 6, recognizing
the right of the carrier to establish rates, to increase or reduce them,
and prescribing the conditions upon which such increase or reduc-
tion may be made, and requiring, as the only conditions of its
action, first, publication, and, second, the filing of the tariff with
the commission. The grant to the commission of the power to
prescribe the form of the schedules, and to direct the place and
manner of publication of joint rates, thus specifying the scope and
limit of its functions in this respect, strengthens the conclusion that
the power to prescribe rates or fix any tariff for the future is not
among the powers granted to the commission. ' '
This and other recent decisions of the Supreme Court have deter-
mined quite definitely the character of the powers which the Inter-
state Commerce Commission may exercise under present laws. The
commission has more than advisory powers, but is without manda-
tory authority sufficient to enable it to regulate railway transporta-
tion charges except in an indirect way. If a shipper has been
charged an unreasonable rate the commission can help him to collect
damages, but it cannot prevent the railway company from charging
the same shipper or others unreasonable rates in the future. The
commission that is half advisory and half mandatory can hardly be
very successful. Congress will have to make it either one or the
other. The commission has long been urging Congress to grant it
greater powers, and has recently declared that :
"The authority of the commission ... to determine and
order reasonable rates in cases tried, wherein the rates are chal-
lenged, should be granted and stated in unquestionable terms, and
proper means provided for enforcing such determination, and we
believe a provision of law making such determination and order of
the commission obligatory on the carriers at once and until reversed
or set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction will afford guarantee
for the observance and enforcement of such orders.*
The decision of the commission is doubtless the correct one.
The type of commission without power has been very successful in
Massachusetts and less so in some other states; but the circum-
stances which account for the success of those state commissions do
not obtain in the case of national regulation of railways. The
Massachusetts commission is able readily to create a public opinion
* Prom the Commission's letter of May 19, above referred to.
[250]
CURRENT TRANSPORTATION TOPICS. 103
regarding a particular question, and the legislature has shown itself
an efficient means of making this aroused public opinion effective.
But the mileage of the railroads engaged in interstate commerce is
too great, the United States is too large, the economic interests of
the people of different sections of the country are too diverse and
the difficulties of securing congressional action are too many for us
ever to secure an efficient regulation of interstate railway transporta-
tion by means of a commission without ample mandatory powers.
EMORY R. JOHNSON.
PERSONAL NOTES.
AMERICA.
Atlanta University. Dr. William E. Burghardt DuBois has been
appointed Professor of Social Science and History at Atlanta Univer-
sity. Dr. DuBois was born on February 23, 1868, at Great Barring-
ton, Mass., and obtained his early education in the public schools of
his native town. He entered Fisk University in 1885 and graduated
with the degree of A. B. in 1888. He then entered Harvard Univer-
sity, receiving the degree of A. B., cum Laude, in 1890. He pursued
post-graduate studies at Harvard* for two years, receiving the degree
of A. M. in 1891, and then attended the University of Berlin for three
semesters during 1892-94. The succeeding two years he was Professor
of Greek and lyatin at Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio, and
in 1895 received the degree of Ph. D. from Harvard.f He has been
Assistant in Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania during the
past year, and has had charge of an investigation into the condition
of the negroes of Philadelphia. Dr. DuBois is a member of the
American Historical Association and of the American Academy of
Political and Social Science. He has written a series of articles on
social reforms among the negroes for the New York Age. Besides
this he is the author of the following books:
"The Enforcement of the Slave Trade Laws." Transactions of
American Historical Association, 1892.
"The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States
of America." Pp. 335. New York, 1897.
"The Conservation of Races. 1 ' 1 Pp. 16. Washington, 1897.
University of California. At a meeting of the Board of Regents,
held May 25, Assistant Professor Carl Copping Plehn % was promoted
to the position of Associate Professor of Economics. Since last men-
tioned in this department of the ANNALS Professor Plehn has pub-
lished:
"Labor in California." Yale Review, February, 1896.
"Introduction to Public Finance." Pp. 370. New York and I<on-
don, 1896.
"The General Property Tax in California." A paper read at the
ninth annual meeting of the American Economic Association, at
* See ANNALS, Vol. i, p. 296, October, 1890.
t Ibid., Vol. vi, p. 301, September, 1895.
\ Ibid., Vol. iv, p. 457, November, 1893.
[252]
PERSONAL NOTES. 105
Baltimore, December, 1896. American Economic Association Studies,
Supplement to Vol. II, No. i, February, 1897.
" The Growth of the University." Overland Monthly, January,
1897.
"Classification in Public Finance." Political Science Quarterly,
March, 1897.
"77z<? General Property Tax in California." Pp. 90. American
Economic Association Studies, Vol. II, No. 3, June, 1897.
He has also written numerous short articles and signed reviews.
Columbia University. Dr. George James Bayles has been ap-
pointed Prize Lecturer at Columbia University for the ensuing year.
Dr. Bayles was born at Irvington, N. Y., August 28, 1869, and at-
tended private schools in New York City and Orange, N. J. He
graduated from Columbia University in 1891 with the degree of A. B.
He then engaged in post-graduate study, also taking a course in law.
In 1892 he received the degree of A. M. from Columbia; in 1893, that
of LI/. B., and in 1895, that of Ph. D.* From 1893 to 1896 he was en-
gaged in editorial work on the New York Evening Post. In Septem-
ber of the latter year he organized the Church News Association,
becoming its president. He will deliver a course of lectures at Colum-
bia on the Civil Aspects of Ecclesiastical Organizations. Dr. Bayles
is a member of the New York Academy of Political Science.
Cornell University. Mr. Charles Henry Rammelkamp has been
appointed Instructor in American History at Cornell. He was born
in New York City February 25, 1874, and obtained his education in
the public schools of Summit and South Orange, N. J., and Cornell
University. He received the degree of Ph. B. from the latter institu-
tion in 1896. The following year he pursued post-graduate studies at
Cornell, holding a fellowship in American history.
Harvard University. Dr. Guy Stephens Callender has been ap-
pointed Instructor in Political Economy at Harvard University.
Dr. Callender was born November 9, 1865, at Harts Grove, Ashta-
bula County, Ohio. His early education was obtained at the New
Lynn Institute, South New Lynn, Ohio. In 1886 he entered Oberlin
College and graduated from that institution in 1891 with the degree
of A. B. He engaged in business for one year and then entered
Harvard University to pursue post-graduate study. He has remained
at Harvard ever since, with the exception of 1895-96, when he
filled the position of Instructor in Economics at Wellesley College
during the absence of the regular Professor of Economics. In 1893
he received the degree of A. B. from Harvard; in 1894 that of A.M.,
*See ANNALS, Vol. vi, p. 301, September, 1895.
[253]
106 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
and in 1897 that of Ph. D. Dr. Callender is a member of the Amer-
ican Economic Association. He has written "English Capital and
American Resources in 1815-1860, ' ' which is now on press.
Dr. Edward Channing has been advanced from the position of
Assistant Professor to that of Professor of History at Harvard Univer-
sity. Professor Channing was born June 15, 1856, at Dorchester, now
a part of Boston. In 1878 he gradued from Harvard College with the
degree of A. B., receiving honors in history. The ensuing five years,
with the exception of the year 1880-81, he pursued post-graduate
study at Harvard and received the degrees of A. M. and Ph. D.
During 1880-81 he was abroad. In 1883 he was appointed Instructor
in History at Harvard and in 1887 was advanced to the position of
Assistant Professor of History. Professor Channing is a member of
the following associations: Massachusetts Historical Society, Ameri-
can Antiquarian Society, Military Historical Society of Massachusetts,
American Historical Association, and the Virginia Historical Society.
He has written the following:
"Town and County Government in the English Colonies" Johns
Hopkins University Studies in History and Political Science, Vol.
II, October, 1884.
"Roads from India to Central Asia," Science, May i, 1885.
"The Races of Central Asia," Ibid.
"Die Rassen von Zentralasien," Das Ausland, 1885.
"Outline Map of the United States" (with A. B. Hart), Boston,
1885.
"Smaller Outline Map of the United States" (with A. B. Hart),
Boston, 1885.
"Bulgaria and Bulgarians," Science, October 9, 1885.
11 The Burman Dispute," Ibid., November 6, 1885.
"A New Route to Southwestern China," Ibid., February 12, 1886.
"The Companions of Columbus" in the " Narrative and Critical
History of America," edited by Justin Winsor, Vol. II. Pp. 185-216.
Boston, 1886.
" The Narragansett Planters," Johns Hopkins University Studies in
History and Political Science, 3d Series, No. 3. Pp. 23. Baltimore, 1886.
"Aims of Geographical Education," Science, January 21, 1887.
"The War in the Southern Department (1778-1782}, in the "Nar-
rative and Critical History of America," edited by Justin Winsor,
Vol. Ill, Cap. vi. Pp. 468-555. Boston, 1888.
"The Navigation Laws," Proceedings of the American Antiquarian
Society, October, 1889 (also printed separately).
"American History Leaflets" (edited, with A. B. Hart). 35 num-
bers, January, i892-September, 1897. New York.
[254]
PERSONAL, NOTES. 107
"A few Remarks on the Origin of New England Towns" Massa-
chusetts Historical Society Proceedings, January, 1892; 2d Series,
Vol. VII. Pp. 242-263. (Reprinted with papers by C. F. Adams and
Mellen Chamberlain on the same subject; also separately.)
"Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society" 6th Series,
Vols. Ill and V (edited, with C. C. Smith and Robert C. Winthrop);
comprising the " Winthrop Papers" Parts v and vi.
"United States; its History" Chambers' Encyclopaedia, Revised
Edition, Vol. X.
"George Washington" Ibid.
"The United States of America 1765-1865." Pp. 360. Cambridge
(England) and New York, 1896.
"Guide to the Study of American History" (with Albert Bushnell
Hart). Pp. 487. Boston, 1896.
"A Student's History of the United States" (now on press).
A. Lawrence Lowell, Esq., has been appointed Lecturer on Ex-
isting Political Systems at Harvard University. Mr. Lowell was born
in Boston on December 13, 1856, and obtained his early education
there and in Paris. He entered Harvard University in 1873, gradu-
ating with the degree of A. B. in 1877. He then pursued a course
in the Law School, receiving the degree of LL. B. in 1880; since
then he has been engaged in the practice of law in Boston. Mr.
Lowell is a member of the following associations: Massachusetts
Historical Society, Massachusetts Military Historical Society, Ameri-
can Academy of Arts and Sciences, Internationale Vereinigung fur
Vergleichende Rechtswissenschaft, and American Academy of Polit-
ical and Social Science. He has written the following:
"Surfaces of the Second Order as Treated by Quaternions" Pro-
ceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1877.
1 ' The Transfer of Stock. ' ' (With Francis C. Lowell. ) 1884.
"Cabinet Government and the Constitution." Atlantic Monthly,
February, 1886.
" The Theory of the Social Compact." Ibid, June, 1887.
"Irish Agitation in America," Forum, December, 1887.
"The Responsibilities of American Lawyers." Harvard Law Re-
view, December, 1887.
"The Limits of Sovereignty ." Ibid, May, 1888.
"Essays on Government." Pp. 229. 1889.
"Politics and the Weather." North American Review, October'
1892.
"The Referendum in Switzerland and America" Atlantic
Monthly, April, 1894.
"The Referendum and Initiative; Their Relation to the Interests
[255]
io8 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
of Labor in Switzerland and in America." International Journal of
Ethics, October, 1895.
"Governments and Parties in Continental Europe." 2 vols.
Pp. 832. Boston, 1896.
University of Nebraska. Dr. W. G. L. Taylor has been advanced
from the position of Associate Professor to that of Professor of Politi-
cal and Economic Science at the University of Nebraska.* He has
recently written the following:
"The Evolution of the Idea of Value," Journal of Political Econ-
omy, September, 1895.
"Hadley's Economics" Ibid., September, 1896.
" What Can be Done for the Laboring Man ?" Pp. 5. Report of
Kansas Bureau of Labor, 1896.
"Values, Positive and Relative," ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN
ACADEMY, January, 1897.
"Generalization and Economic Standards." Pp. 14. University of
Nebraska Studies, Vol. II, No. 2, January, 1897.
Union College. Mr. George Briggs Lynes has been appointed In-
structor in History and Sociology at Union College, Schenectady,
N. Y. Mr. Lynes was born September 27, 1872, at Middleburg,
Schoharie County, N. Y. He attended the Middleburg Union Free
School and in 1890 entered Union College, from which institution he
graduated with the degree of A. B. in 1894. He pursued post-gradu-
ate studies at Johns Hopkins University for the next two years, and
then became literary editor of the Baltimore News. In 1897 he re-
ceived the degree of A. M. from Union College.
Wilson College. Miss Anne Elizabeth Swain has been appointed
Assistant Professor of History at Wilson College, Chambersburg, Pa.
She was born December 18, 1874, at Allentown, N. J., and obtained
her early education in the public schools of that place. In 1891 she
entered Wilson College and graduated in 1895 with the degree of A. B.
Miss Swain has written "The Influence of Trade."
IN ACCORDANCE with our custom we give below a list of the students
in political and social science and allied subjects on whom the degree
of Doctor of Philosophy was conferred at the close of or during the
last academic year.f
Brown University. Edmund C. Burnett, A. B. Thesis: The
History of the Government of Federal Territories in Europe and
America.
* See ANNALS, Vol. vl, p. 295, September, 1895.
tSee ANNALS, Vol. i, p. 293. for Academic Year, 1889-90; Vol. ii, p. 253, for 1890-91;
Vol. iii. p. 241, for 1891-92; Vol. iv, p. 312 and p. 466, for 1891-93; Vol. v, p. 282 and p.
419, for 1893-94; Vol. vi, p. 300 and p. 482, for 1894-95; Vol. viii, p. 364, for 1895-96.
[256]
PERSONAL NOTES. 109
University of Chicago. Hannah Belle Clark, A. B. Thesis : The
Public School of Chicago, a Sociological Study.
James Fosdick Baldwin, A. B. Thesis : Scutage and Knight Service.
Heruy Rand Hatfield, A. B. Thesis: Municipal Bonding in tlie
United Stales.
Simon James McLean, A. M., LL. B. Thesis : The Railway Policy
of La"ada.
Paul Monroe, B. S. Thesis : Profit Sharing, a Study in Social
Econo-iiics.
George Gerard Tunell, B. S. Thesis : Transportation on the
Great Lakes in North America.
Charles Truman Wyckoff , A. M. Thesis : Feudal Relations between
the C owns of England and Scotland under the Early Plantagenets.
Columbia University. Charles Ernest Chadsey, A. B., A. M.
Thesis: The Struggle between President Johnson and Congress over
Reconstruction.
Harry Alonzo Gushing, A. B., A. M. Thesis: The History of the
Transition from Provincial to Commonwealth Government in Massa-
chusetts.
Charles Franklin Emerick, A. B., A. M.,Ph. M., M. S. Thesis:
An Analysis of Agricultural Discontent in the United States.
Henry Crosby Emery, A. B., A. M. Thesis: Speculation in Stock
and Produce Exchanges in the United States.
Ernst Freund, J. U. D. Thesis: The Theory of Corporate Exist-
ence.
Milo Roy Maltbie, Ph. B., Ph. M. Thesis: English Local Gov-
ernment of To-day.
Frank Henry Sparks Noble, A. B., A. M., Uv. B. Thesis: Tax-
ation in Iowa.
Francis Raymond Stark, A. B., A. M., LL. B. Thesis: The Aboli-
tion of Privateering and the Declaration of Paris.
Walter Shepard Ufford, A. B., A. M. Thesis: Fresh Air Charity
in the United States.
William Clarence Webster, A. B. Thesis: Recent Centralization
Tendencies in State Educational Administration.
Columbian University. John Scott Johnson, B. S., A. M. Thesis:
The Influence of French Thought on the Formation of the Constitu-
tion of the United States.
Cornell University. Fred Stephen Crum, M. L. Thesis: The
Statistical Work of Sussmilch.
John Burton Phillips, A. B., A. M. Thesis: Methods of Keeping
the Public Money of the United States.
[257]
no ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
Harvard University. Guy Stevens Callender, A. B., A. M.
Thesis: English Capital and American Resources.
Clyde Augustus Demiway, A. B., A. M. Thesis: Restrictions
upon the Freedom of the Press in Massachusetts.
Gaillard Thomas Lapsley, A. B., A. M. Thesis: The County Pala-
tine of Durham in the Middle Ages.
Charles Whitney Mixter, A. B., A. M. Thesis: Overproduction
and Overaccumulation.
Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague, A. B., A. M. Thesis: The
English Woolen Industry in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Cen-
turies.
George Ole Virtue, A. B., A. M. Thesis: Two Features of the
Anthracite Coal Industry.
Johns Hopkins University. James Morton Callahan, A. B. Thesis:
Neutrality of the American Lakes and Anglo-American Relations.
Samuel E. Forman, A. B. Thesis: The Career of Philip Freneau
as a Politician and Publicist.
Bartlett Burleigh James, A. B. Thesis: The Communist of Colonial
Maryland.
Edwin Wexler Kennedy, A. B. Thesis: Quit-Rents and Currency
in North Carolina, 1663-1776.
Charles Patrick Neill, A. B. Thesis: Daniel Raymond: An Early
Chapter in the History of Economic Theory in the United States.
Milton Reizenstein, A. B. Thesis: The Economic History of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 1827-1853.
Frank Roy Rutter, A. B. Thesis: History of the South American
Trade of Baltimore.
Enoch Walter Sikes, A. M. Thesis: The Transition of North
Carolina from a Colony to a State.
George Washington Ward, A. B. Thesis: Early Development of
the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Project.
Louis Napoleon Whealton, A. B. Thesis: The Maryland and Vir-
ginia Boundary Controversy, 1668-1894.
University of Pennsylvania. James Lynn Barnard, B. S. Thesis:
History of Factory Legislation in Pennsylvania.
William Fairley, A. M., D. D. Thesis: The First Epoch of Eng-
lish Monasticism, A. D. 597-750.
Arthur Charles Rowland, A. B. Thesis: The Interdict: Its Rise
and Development to the Pontificate of Alexander III.
William Albert Korii, A. B., B. D. Thesis: The Ransom of Rich-
ard I. of England.
Clarence Stanley Mclntire, B. S. Thesis: The Eighteenth Century
Constitutions.
[258]
PERSONAL NOTES. in
Fred S. Shepherd, A. B. Thesis: Government and Regulation of
Railroads in Massachusetts by a Board of Railroad Commissioners.
Stanislas John Shoomkoff, A. B. Thesis: The Future of the Balkan
States.
Walter Edward Weyl, Ph. B. Thesis: Railway Passenger Travel
in Europe. ,
Merrick Whitcomb, A. B. Thesis: Commerce in South Germany
.about the Year/joo, with Especial Reference to the Effects of Da
Gama's Voyage.
University of Wisconsin. Henry Balthaser Meyer, B. L. Thesis:
The History of Railway Legislation in Wisconsin.
Henry Huntington Swain, A. M. Thesis : Economic Aspects of
Railway Receiverships.
Thomas K. Urdahl, M. L. Thesis : The Fee System in the Unitd
States.
Yale University. Walter Irenaeus Lowe, A. B. Thesis: A His-
lory of the Events which Led to the Assumption of the Title of King
of France by Edward III. of England.
Samuel Peterson, A. B. Thesis: Institutional Slavery in America.
Frank Strong, A. M. Thesis: Cromwell's Colonial and Foreign
Policy, with Special Reference to the West Indies Expedition of 1654-
55-
George Stedman Sutnner, A. B. Thesis: The Cromwellian Trans-
portation of the Irish.
William Ransom Tuttle, A. B., B. S. Thesis: Studies in the Theo-
ries of Criminal Anthropology.
For the academic year 1897-98, appointments to fellowships and
:post-graduate scholarships have been made in the leading American
colleges, as follows:
Bryn flawr College. Fellowship in Political Science, Emily
Fogg, A. B.
University of Chicago. Armour-Crane Traveling Fellowship in
Political Economy, Wesley Clair Mitchell, A. B. ; Fellowships in His-
tory, Ernest Alanson Balch, A. M., Harry V. Church, Walter Flavius
McCaleb, B. I/., Adna Wood Risley, A. B., William Rullkoetter, A. B.,
and Henry I/. Schoolcraft, A. B., A. M. ; in Political Economy, H. J.
Davenport, Katherine B. Davis and Edward Sherwood Meade, A. B.;
in Political Science, Sophonisba Breckenridge, B. S. ; Frederick Al-
bert Cleveland, Ph. B., R. H. Whittin and D. S. Trumbull; in Soci-
ology, Albert Thomas Freeman, A. B., Joseph C. Freehoff, B. S., and
Joseph William Park, A. B.
[259]
ii2 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
University of Cincinnati. Fellowship in History, Julia Worth-
ington, B. S.
Columbia University .University Fellowships in Administration,
John Archibald Fairlie, A. B., A. M., and Robert Harvey Whitten,
B. L.; in Constitutional Law, Clement Moore Lacey Sites, A. M.,
LL. B.; in European History, Allen Johnson, A. B., A. M ; in
Finance, H. C. Metcalf, A. B.; in Political Economy, William Max-
well Burke, A. B. , A. M. ; in Political Philosophy, Edward Charles
Merriam, Jr., A. B.; in Sociology, William Augustus Schaper, B. L.;
President's University Scholarship in Sociology, John Howard Dynes,
A. B.; University Scholarships in Constitutional Law, Theophilus
John Moll, Ph. B., LL. B., LL. M., and William Dunlap Moore, A. B.;
in Economics, Allan Perley Ball, A. B., A. M., and William Bernard
Cutright, A. B. ; in History, Francis Reid North, James Roy Perry,
A. B., and Edwin Platt Tanner; in Political Science, Olin Wesley Hill,
A. B., Roswell Cheney McCrea and John Randolph Neal, A. M., LL. B.
Cornell University. Fellowship in American History, Walter
Henry Ottman, A. B.; Fellowships in Political Economy and Finance,
Charles Eugene Edgerton, A. B., and George Schuyler Schaeffer, A. B. ;
President White Fellowship in European History, Jerome Barker
Landfield, A. B.; in Political Science, Robert Clarkson Brooks, A. B.^
University Graduate Scholarship in American History, Byron Ed-
mund Brooks, B. L. ; in Law, Darwin Curtis Gano, LL. B., and John
Nelson Stockwell, Jr., B. L., LL. B.
Harvard University. Henry Bromfield Rogers Memorial Fellow-
ship in Sociology, Morton Arnold Aldrich, A. B.; Henry Lee Memo-
rial Fellowship in Political Economy, Thornton Cooke, A. B. ; John
Harvard Traveling Fellowship, Abram Piatt Andrew, A. B., A. M. ;
Morgan Fellowship in History, Arthur Mayer Wolfson, A. B., A. M. ;
Ozias Goodwin Memorial Fellowship in Constitutional Law, Arthur
Lyons Cross, A. B., A. M.; Parker Traveling Fellowship, O. M. W.
Sprague, Ph. D. ; Robert Treat Paine Fellowship in Social Science ;
Tohn Edward George, Ph. B.
Johns Hopkins University. Fellowship in Economics, Charles
Hillman Brough, A. B.; in History, Guy Carleton Lee, A. B. ; Hop-
kins Honorary Scholarship in History* C. W. Sommerville, A. B. ;
Hopkins Scholarships in History ,*G. E. Barnett A. B., W. S Drewry,
A. B.. D. E. Motley, A. B., and C. C. Weaver, A. B.
University of Nebraska. Fellowship in American History,
Albert S. Harding, A. M. ; Scholarship in American History, Frank
S. Philbrick, B. S.
Offered to Virginia and North Carolina Students.
[260]
PERSONAL NOTES. 113
University of Pennsylvania. Joseph M. Bennett Fellowship in
European History, Edith Bramhall, A. B., A. M.; George Leib Har-
rison Fellowships in American History, Herbert E. Bolton, B. I/.,
and Joseph Parker Warren, A. B.; in European History, Henry Lewin
Cannon, A. B.; in Political Economy, William Henry Glasson, Ph. B. ;
in Political Science, William R. Patterson, Ph. B. ; in Sociology,
Francis Herbert McLean, A. B.; George Leib Harrison Senior Fel-
lowship in European History, William Fairley, A. B., A. M., D. D.;
in Political Economy, Walter Edward Weyl, Ph. D.
Swarthmore College. Joshua Lippincott Fellowship in History
and Economics, John W. Gregg, B. L.
Vassar College. Babbott Fellowship in History, Eloise Ellery,
A. B.
University of Wisconsin. University Fellowships in Economics,
James E. Hagerty, A. B., and Nathan A. Weston, B. I/.; in History,
Martha P. Barrett, A. M.
BOOK DEPARTMENT.
NOTES.
THE FOURTH ISSUE of the "Manual of American Water- Works"*
reflects plainly the development which has been going on in this
country in the direction of improved municipal conditions. Ac-
cording to the special reports collected for this manual, there were
over three thousand cities and towns in the United States and Can-
ada last year having waterworks. Of these, something over one-
half in the United States and about three-fourths in Canada were
owned by the municipalities in which they were situated. In addi-
tion to the special information in regard to the capacity, cost and
business organization of the different plants covered by the report,
the manual contains much information of the greatest value to
students of social and economic science. A table is given showing
that since 1895, while only twenty waterworks have passed from the
ownership of the public into private hands, as many as two hun-
dred plants have become public property. Further information is
given in regard to the legal complications which have arisen be-
tween private waterworks companies and the cities in which they
were located. The different systems of meters employed are
described, as are also the methods adopted of dividing the expense
of extending the waterworks plant, tapping main drains, etc., be-
tween those directly or indirectly interested. The volume gives
indications of having been carefully edited, and will prove very
helpful to the municipal reformer who is anxious to turn to exact
information in regard to this important branch of municipal activity.
IN HIS STUDY of "La France cfaprts les Cahiers de 1789, "f M.
Champion gives us an excellent statement of French conditions
before the Revolution. He believes that the proper place to search
for knowledge of these conditions is in the complaints and griev-
ances sent to the king by his people in 1789, and is therefore a
* Manual of American Water -Works for 1897. Edited by M. N. BAKER. Pp.
626. Price, fo.oo. New York : Engineering News Publishing Co., 1897.
t La, France d'afires les cahiers de 1789. Par E. CHAMPION. Pp. 257. Price, 3.50 fr.
Paris : Colin et Cie, 1897.
[262]
NOTES. 115
hearty believer in the work of French students who are seeking to
make the collection of Cahiers more nearly complete.
The author has evidently devoted much time to the study of such
of these documents as are available and the results of his work are
valuable. In the volume before us he tries to sum up the results in
chapters on ' ' the provinces, ' ' the three orders, ' ' the army and navy, ' '
' ' the church, " " the obstacles to national unity, ' ' and such other sub-
jects as are especially important. In all his work we find frequent
references to his sources of information and at its close there is an
index the more valuable' in that it is usually omitted by French
writers.
The work makes an excellent companion volume to M. Boition's
"Etat de la France en 1789," but the reader must never forget that
the Cahiers are above all a summary of complaints and grievances
rather than a fair statement of the bright as well as the dark side of
life at that period. It would seem that even the author forgets this
when he attempts to describe "Za douceur de vivre sous Louis XVI,"
for the chapter would rather justify the title "aigreur" than that
given to it. The volume, however, is a valuable summary of the
Cahiers.
M. GuSTAVB LE BON, in his little book entitled "Psychology of
Crowds,"* has succeeded so well in delineating the leading gen-
eral characteristics of the action of a crowd that those who are at
present philosophizing about the lynchings that take place in the
broad daylight of Ohio civilization would do well to read it. He
treats of heterogeneous crowds, such as those which collect on
the streets of a city which he styles as ' ' nondescript, ' ' and juries,
parliamentary bodies, etc., which are "non anonymes; " and then of
homogeneous crowds comprising first, sects, political and religious ;
second, castes, military, clerical, workingmen ; third, classes, such
as the bourgeoise, peasants, etc. With this classification the author
has examined and studied patiently the phenomena manifested by
each. The account is at all times interesting and the results are in
part at least instructive. The intellectual content of the thought
which prompts the action of a crowd is almost always inferior to the
intellectual ability of many persons and sometimes even of a
majority of those who compose the crowd. This is explained by
one of the author's fundamental propositions which is that it is
always the unconscious elements which dominate a crowd; that
there is never premeditation in its acts, but always a yielding to the
* Psychologic des foules. Par GUSTAVB I,E BON. Pp. vii, 200. Price, 2.50 Jr.
Paris: Felix Alcan, 1896.
[263]
n6 ANNAIS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
influence of imagery, to suggestions bordering on the marvelous, to
the force of the commonest unconscious responses to certain general
stimuli. Hence, crowds exhibit race traits strongly and are always
weak in personality and a sense of responsibility. In a study of
this kind there is great danger of sinking to the level of platitudes
and meaningless generalizations. This cannot be charged however
against M. L,e Bon. Some of his generalizations have too much of
the particular, derived from observation of French crowds which
are in many ways peculiar. On the basis of a piece of work of this
kind it would be interesting to have a more specialized scientific
study of the phenomena exhibited at some of our southern or
western lynchings, or by such organizations as Coxey's army.
America might furnish considerable material along this line which
has not as yet been treated on any higher level than that of sensa-
tional journalistic correspondence.
MESSRS. D. APPI.ETON & Co. have brought out a new edition of
Lester F. Ward's "Dynamic Sociology"* in two volumes. It is a
reprint of the original edition which appeared in 1883, with a new
preface in which Mr. Ward gives an account of the history of the
book and of the progress made in the public interest in its subject
and a lengthy statement concerning the treatment of the book in
Russia where a translation, of which one volume was printed, was
confiscated by the government. Mr. Ward has been one of the most
active writers in this country to promote an interest in sociology
and to encourage its study along far-reaching lines and his volumes
dealing professedly with only a part of sociological theory will
always possess a peculiar interest to the American reader, both be-
cause of their historical position and because of their content.
IN HIS "Recent Centralizing Tendencies in State Educational Ad-
min istration"f Dr. Webster has combined several articles which
appeared in the Educational Review and has formed a study first,
of the old "district system" of school administration and of its at-
tendant evils ; and, second, of the present tendency toward a more
* Dynamic Sociology; or, Applied Sodal Science as based upon statical sociology
and the less complex sciences. By LESTER F. WARD, Twovols. Second edition.
Pp. xxix, 706 ; vii, 690. Price, $4.00. New York : D. Appleton & Co., 1897.
t Recent Centralizing Tendencies in State Educational Administration. By
WILLIAM CLARENCE WEBSTER, Ph. D. Columbia University Studies in History,
Economics, and Public T,aw. Vol. viil, No. a. Pp. 82. Price, 75 cents. New
York: The Macmillan Co., 1897.
[264]
NOTES. 117
-centralized organization in this field of state activity. Basing his
-conclusions upon the later reports of the superintendents in the
New England and Middle States, as well as on the reports of the
United States Commissioner of Education, Dr. Webster finds that
the "district system" caused an extreme subdivision of each state
into minute but almost independent administrative areas and re-
sulted, in the following important evils: extravagance, narrow
provincialism, large number of officials and hence increased elec-
tions and electioneering, glaring and unjust inequalities of school
taxation and school privileges, and administrative anarchy, i. e.,
the lack of a harmonious school policy. This formidable arraign-
ment of the old system, it must be admitted, is for the most part a
just one. Nevertheless, one cannot but wish that the author had
tempered justice with mercy in his condemnation. Certainly it
should be remembered that, as a prominent Frenchman has recently
said, the older states of the American Union grew from the peri-
phery to the centre and not the converse, i. e., they developed
mainly on the basis of the local settlements and towns, and their
administrative organization could not but reflect this fact. From
this standpoint, then, the school district represents simply a natural
phase of administrative development. It might also be said that
the author discusses only the administrative side of the subject and
seems to care but little for the probable influence which would have
been exerted by a centralized organization on the political training
and activity of the citizen. The sketch of the new methods of
organization and of their relations to the courses of study, text-book
supply, compulsory attendance, etc. , is most complete and satisfac-
tory.
"THE RAILWAY QUESTION IN CANADA"* is discussed in an instruc-
tive way in a pamphlet by Mr. J. S. Willison. The Canadian
government has to deal with the same problems of railway regula-
tion that are found in the United States, though the United States
and the various states have made more progress than Canada in their
treatment. part of the pamphlet is concerned with a discussion
of the Iowa law regulating railroads. This part of Mr. Willison's
study is only a re'sume' of Dr. Dixon's book on "State Railroad
Control in Iowa. ' ' Mr. Willison gives his unqualified approval to
the mandatory type of railroad commission without, however, refer-
ring to the working of the advisory commissions of Massachusetts
and other states.
* The Railway Question in Canada, with an Examination of the Railway I<aw of
Iowa. By J. S. WILLISON. Pp. 73. Published by the Author, Toronto, 1897.
[265]
u8 ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
IN COMMENTING UPON the report of Messrs. Wines and Koren on
"The Liquor Problem in its Legislative Aspects,"* the sub-commit-
tee of the committee of fifty remarks :
"It cannot be positively affirmed that anyone kind of liquor
legislation has been more successful than another in promoting real
temperance. ' ' This negative dictum indicates that the sub-com-
mittee are not inclined to take too seriously the result of the
investigations made by their agents. For if Dr. Wines and
Mr. Koren are not ready to pronounce unequivocally in favor of any
specific plan, they are at no pains to conceal their impression as ta
the relative degrees in which the various systems which they study
have failed. The one which most distinctly merits contempt, and
against which they are determined at all hazards to make out a
damaging case, is prohibition. Less unsuccessful but still produc-
tive of serious evils is the high license system. The moderately
restrictive system in vogue in Massachusetts before the enactment
of the local option law is credited with having outlawed the saloon
in a far greater number of towns than were to be found in Maine,
under partially enforced prohibition. In Ohio where the liquor
traffic is not outlawed at all but simply taxed, there are townships in
which there are no saloons ' ' there being simply no demand in them
for liquor, ' ' and others in which local prohibition exists by law
altogether about one-fourth of the townships in the state. This plan
is not altogether a bad one. The South Carolina dispensary system
finally, ' ' has closed the saloons, and nearly suppressed the illicit
traffic. " The writer evidently has no sympathy with the "politi-
cal opponents of the dispensary authorities' ' who ' ' deny that aught
of good has been accomplished' ' or with the prohibitionists, who "will
frequently not even admit that drunkenness has been reduced. ' ' It
is only in this chapter that Mr. Koren exhibits any enthusiastic
interest in his subject, though he praises with discrimination and
detects several flaws in the system, the most important being the
fact that the element of private profits has not really been eliminated
as in the more famous Gothenberg plan.
The fact is that this first fruit of the work of the remarkably re-
spectable and able committee is a disappointment, betraying a bias
so pronounced and so utterly unscientific as to throw suspicion upon
their ability to choose discreet and competent agents if not upon
the value of their own deductions. No one can read the chapter
*The Liquor Problem in its Legislative Aspects. By FREDERIC H. WINES and JOHN
KORKN. An investigation made under the direction of Charles W. Eliot, Seth
I<ow and James C. Carter, Sub-committee of the Committee of Fifty to Investi-
gate the I,iquor Problem, Pp. vi, 342. Price, $1.25. Boston and New York:
Houghton, Mifflin & Co.. 1897.
[266]
MUNICIPAL ORGANIZATION OF GLASGOW. 119
on ' ' Prohibition in Maine and its Results' ' without discovering the
ex parte character of the material produced. Sentences might be
quoted from almost any page to show that the agent reports as an
advocate and not as a scientific student.
It is all the more necessary to call attention to the special short-
comings of this work because they are found just where the commit-
tee itself and those who have been interested in its investigation have
expected the most conspicuous success. Liberal financial support
and unbounded public confidence have been bestowed upon the
committee. It has had an unprecedented amount of co-operation
from public and private bodies and much private voluntary assist-
ance. Gentlemen of high scientific standing have given their
names to the enterprise and those who were employed to do the
actual work have made constant profession of their impartiality and
scientific method. The present book is only a first installment of
the results of the inquiry, and deals with the legislative aspects of
the problem. It contains much interesting matter and in spite of
the evidences of personal bias it will probably stand as the begin-
ning of our scientific work in this field. The chapters are of une-
qual merit, those on the ' 'South Carolina Dispensary System' ' and on
the ' 'History of Prohibition in Iowa' ' ranking first in general inter-
est. It is earnestly to be hoped that the forthcoming volume on
the relations of intemperance to pauperism will not become a mere
argument in behalf of the thesis that intemperance has had little or
nothing to do with destitution. In such an investigation one does
not expect traces of sympathy with temperance reformers but
equally out of place are indications of anxiety to make out a case
against them.
REVIEWS.
Glasgow, its Municipal Organization and Administration. By Sir
JAMES BEUv, Bart., and JAMES PATON, P. L. S. Pp. 426. Price,
$3.00. Glasgow : James MacLehose & Sons, 1896.
The purpose of this volume, as expressed by the Lord Provost in
the prefatory note, "is to present. . . . a comprehensive view
the various means through and by which the complex work of a
great corporation is carried on, and the intimate relation in which
these and their result stand to the health, happiness and prosperity
of the citizens." The details of municipal organization are care-
fully examined, and the work of each municipal department is de-
scribed with a clearness and accuracy which makes this volume a
model for monographic studies of a similar nature. It is only on
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120 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
the basis of material as complete as that presented in this volume,
that comparative studies can be carried on with profit.
One of the most surprising facts to the American reader, who i
accustomed to regard rapid growth as a phenomenon peculiar to the
cities of the United States, is the extraordinary increase of popula-
tion in Glasgow during the last few decades. During the decade
1881-91, the population within the limits of the city increased from
511,415 to 656,185, a gain of 144,770. In 1890 several adjacent
villages were incorporated into the town, bringing the population
in 1896 to about 900,000. Since in 1801, the population was but
83, 769, and in 1851, but 329,000, this growth is comparable with that
of most of our American cities. In fact, if the population of the
surrounding villages were included and they constitute a part of
the population of the city in fact, if not in form, the Scotch
metropolis would probably lead in the comparison.
From this record of the splendid work of the different depart-
ments, it is difficult to select facts most deserving of attention. In
river and harbor improvement, in the field of health inspection,
disease prevention and treatment, Glasgow has been a centre of in-
fluence and suggestion for the large cities of Great Britain. But it
is through the extension of its municipal functions that Glasgow
has attracted the greatest attention. The work of the ' ' Improvement
Trust" in clearing some eighty-eight acres of densely populated
slum district, constitutes one of the greatest municipal achieve-
ments of modern times. In this work the city has expended about
$11, 000,000, of which nearly ten millions have been devoted to the
purchase and improvement of land and buildings, and the remainder
to the erection of tenement and lodging houses. A new environment
has thus been created for a large section of the population. The
broad, well-kept streets, the model municipal tenements with strict
regulations as to cleanliness, have given to the population the pos-
sibility of a broader and fuller life, and have reacted upon civic
energy and activity creating a new bond between the citizen and the
city.
In the management of street-railway franchises the experience of
Glasgow offers much that is of permanent value to American cities.
The short-term lease to a private company, the struggle over the
terms of renewal, and the final decision of the city council to take
over the management of the street-railway system, are facts well
known to those interested in municipal affairs. Since the beginning
of municipal management, the fares have been reduced, the hours of
labor of employes gradually diminished, and the accommodations
to the public greatly increased. In spite of this fact, the report for
[268]
THE STORY OF CANADA. 121
the fiscal year ending May 31, 1896, shows an excess of receipts over
working expenses of more than $400,000.
Within the limits of a review, it is possible to touch upon only
one or two salient points. An examination of the whole volume
shows the deep moral significance of a well ; conducted city govern-
ment. To most readers its perusal will convey a new conception of
the possibilities of organized municipal activity.
1,. S. Rows.
The Story of Canada. By J. G. BOURINOT, C. M. G., LL. D., D. C. L.,
Clerk of the Canadian House of Commons, etc. Pp. xx, 463.
Price, $1.50. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. London: T.
Fisher Unwin, 1896.
The wealth of dramatic incident, in the records of hardships,
struggle and adventure, in the vast schemes and inadequate re-
sources, in the martyrdom of missionaries and in the recurring
wars under the ancien regime furnish the materials for the first and
larger part of this contribution to the Story of the Nations Series.
In drawing from these stores with an exact literary sense and a
judicious appreciation of the essential, Dr. Bourinot has written a
story of continuous and lively interest, in the course of which the
characteristic influence exerted by Cabot, Cartier and Champlain,
coureurs-de-bois and voyageurs, bureaucrat and priest, Indian and
habitant, by French ambition and English lust of conquest upon the
destiny of New France, is presented in a way which combines accu-
rate scholarship and admirable clearness with great charm of style
and keen feeling for the romantic aspects of the theme. The for-
tunes of the eastern settlements naturally receive considerable atten-
tion, though by no means at the' expense of proportion in the
narrative ; and a calm explanation of the political necessity which
prompted their transportation goes far toward justifying the English
instruments of the Acadians' fate, without lessening our sympathy
for this unfortunate and scattered people. Throughout the story the
part played by the American Colonies in the expeditions against
Quebec, in the capture of Louisbourg, in intrigues with the Iroquois
and the whole struggle for control of the fur trade and means of
communication, for possession of the Mississippi and the valley of
the St. Lawrence is set iorth with friendly appreciation of
England's one time colonial allies.
In dealing with the period subsequent to the capitulation of
Montreal, the author depicts, in broad and vigorous strokes, the
gradual growth in population, political organization and dominion
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122 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
reclaimed from the forest which, under the leadership of the Prov-
ince of Canada, was advanced many stages further by the confedera-
tion of 1867. The attitude of Canadians during the American
Revolution, the settlement of Upper Canada and other sections by
Tory refugees from the United States in the last two decades of
the last century, the conciliation of the French population to British
rule, the Quebec Act of 1774 and the establishment of representa-
tive institutions in 1792 are subjected to graphic review. This is
followed by an eminently tactful and (if one excepts Lundy's Lane)
unprejudiced account of those troubles of 1812-14 an <l the insurrec-
tion of 1837 in which citizens of the United States also bore a part
not always, indeed, an altogether creditable one. What is said of
the introduction of responsible government on the English parlia-
mentary plan into the several provinces between 1840 and 1847, of
the Fenian raids, of confederation and its makers, of the Riel Re-
bellion and of French Canada, while it brings to the reader a
definite and vivid idea of the present situation, yet suggests strongly
the impartiality and self-restraint involved in the honorable posi-
tion as Clerk of the Canadian House of Commons which Dr. Bouri-
not has held for many years.
Thus, perhaps, it happens that the minor issues of Canadian politics
are not considered in any detail, though in the book as a whole are
treated rather the personal history and the political and constitu-
tional development than the growth of material resources. Nor are
what may seem to some certain graver and greater political problems
discussed in this sketch. The slight increase of population in re-
cent years, and the great emigration, as well from Quebec to New
England as from the western provinces to other parts of the United
States, are scarcely mentioned ; and the ultimate influence of nat-
ural trade routes which run from north to south and conversely upon
the effort to accomplish national development along a strip of
habitable land running east and west, and a narrow strip at that, is
not examined. Still, the progressive emancipation of the French
Canadian from priestly control of his action in civil affairs, indi-
cated by Liberal victories in Quebec, doubtless does promise the
abatement of those race difficulties which religious differences have
often sorely aggravated. And its great territory, the unmistakable
national feeling in the popular consciousness and the system of
practically autonomous government which has been developed out
of English institutions quite justify, for the present, at any rate,
the inclusion of Canada within the roll of nations.
R. M. ERECKENRIDCE.
Ithaca. N. Y.
[270]
NOMINATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. 123
Nominations for Elective Office in the United States. By FREDERICK
W. DAI^INGER, A. M. Pp. xiv, 290. Price, $1.50. New York:
Longmans, Green & Co., 1897.
The nomination of candidates for elective office has come to be
recognized as one of the most important features of popular govern -
yment. We have been loath to give this extra legal activity so
prominent a place in our political system. We have continued to
/talk about a government by the people and to speak of officials as the
' ' people's choice, ' ' but meanwhile ' ' bossism' ' has abrogated to itself
jail political power, so that to-day no modest legislative measure can
[be passed, no official appointment can be made, and no candidate
stand for election (at least with any hope of success) without the
approval of the political "boss." In their unscrupulousness the
' ' bosses' ' have torn away the mask, revealing the source of their
power which lies in selecting candidates. The voters elect, but do
not choose, officials.
It is with this eminently practical and important phase of our
political life that the book before us deals. Having been secretary
of the Republican city committee of Cambridge and a member of the
Massachusetts Senate, the author speaks with authority on the
methods and procedure of primaries, caucuses and conventions. Mr.
Dallinger has brought together in a convenient form and in a sys-
tematic manner the latest that has been said on this topic. A spirit
of fairness is manifest throughout the book. He describes in an
unbiassed manner some of the most notorious cases of misrule of
both parties.
The book is divided into four parts, and nearly sixty pages of
appendices. Part I. enumerates the methods of nomination in
vogue to the time of the adoption of the present plan about the year
1840. This is not an attempt at an historical study, but mainly a
statement of isolated facts. In the early days of our republic but
little thought was given to methods of nomination. While there
were plenty of seekers for political power, politics had not become
a business. The national convention was introduced by the insig-
nificant Anti-Masonic Party at its first nomination. Like many
other great political ideas it was the natural result of the con-
ditions. Other parties utilized their legislative bodies to place can-
didates before voters, but the Anti-Masonic Party had not even a
member of a legislature.
Although the author gives a summmary of our present system at
the close of Part I. , it is in Part II. that he takes it up in detail.
He describes in succession the complete system of the several
7 i]
124 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
divisions of wards, city, county, state and nation. Now, as certain parts
of this mechanism reappear in each of these territorial associations
the author has been led into frequent repetition which is both con-
fusing and tedious. Furthermore, the lack of clearness is increased
by the vast amount of minutiae recorded. The author seems to for-
get that clearness does not consist in an exhaustive enumeration of
parts, but in a minute description of certain well-chosen features.
In addition he attempts to treat in a general way the subject of
nominations for local office and to make generalizations which apply
to whole sections of country. With our vast extent of territory,
diversified industrial conditions and complex social relations it is
impossible to make sweeping statements of local political customs,
and anyone who reads Chapter II. will be convinced of the futility of
such an attempt. In Part III. the defects of the system are dis-
cussed. These defects are illustrated by numerous well-selected
examples.
Mr. Dallinger shows that the character of our nominees is not the
result of the nominating machinery, but of the character of those
who manage the system ; that it is in unworthy hands ' ' is the natural
result of the spoils system aided by lax laws and an inexcusable
neglect of the duties of citizenship. ' ' The various remedies for
these defects are considered in Part IV. These are grouped under
the heads: Regulation by party rules; by law, and supervision
by citizens' associations.
The author here falls into the error made by so many political
scientists of devoting his energies and space to a discussion of words
and traditions rather than of living forces. It seems so difficult to
escape documentary entanglement. Every student of politics would
have been grateful if more had been said of the effective rules and
laws. We want to know the effective forces in the preservation of
popular government. We desire to know the relation of these rules
and laws to their environment.
The appendices contain numerous documents illustrative of the
entire nominating system.
J. Q. ADAMS.
University of Pennsylvania.
Industry in England; Historical Outlines. By H. DE B. GIBBINS,
M. A. Pp. xx, 479. Price, $2.50. New York: Imported by
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1897.
In the history of no nation does the supreme importance of the
r61e played by physical influences stand out more clearly than in
[272]
INDUSTRY IN ENGLAND. 125
that of England. From the time when the isolated and extreme
western position of the island determined the character of its early
inhabitants, to our own day, when abundance of coal spells manu-
facturing supremacy, there has been hardly a stage in the develop-
ment of that country but has been the obvious result of some
peculiarity in its physical environment. This fact makes the task
of the economic historian of England at once simple and full of
difficulty. It is simple because the chief environmental features of
England are so readily perceived, while it is difficult because it is so
hard to decide just how much influence in moulding and determin-
ing the infinite details of industrial, social and political life is to be
ascribed to each one of these features.
' ' Industry in England' ' emphasizes rather the difficulty than the
simplicity of the task which its author has undertaken in trying to
give a condensed account of the economic history of the British
Isles. Although the author recognizes clearly in his opening chap-
ter that the "special fitness" of England and of the English people
for commerce and manufacturing is a fact of recent discovery, that
the English are not an inventive people, but "owe most of (their)
progress in the arts and manufactures to foreign influences, ' ' and
that "the causes of English supremacy and commerce in the nine-
teenth century . . . with one great exception the application
of steam-power to industry reside more in the natural advantages
of the country than in the natural ingenuity of the people;" yet he
seems to lose sight of these considerations in the body of his narra-
tive. Immediately after he has emphasized the importance of
objective influences in directing the course of English history, he
begins his work not as one might expect, with a description of the
physical characteristics of early Britain, but with an account of the
early inhabitants. Coming then to the early invasions he is con-
tented with a bare summary of the information contained in the
ordinary text-book on English history, and makes no attempt to
explain the motives of the invaders or to tell why it was that
England gained only advantages from the inroads of foreigners,
which were so disastrous to neighboring countries on the continent.
As the material becomes more various the author's failure to explain
events in their logical order is more conspicuous. Underlying
physical causes are almost entirely lost sight of in his description
of the manorial system, of the gilds and of later economic in-
stitutions, while the mistakes of individuals and of classes and such
calamities as the Great Plague are exalted to the rank of historical
facts of first-rate importance.
In the arrangement of his work Mr. Gibbins has shown great
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126 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
discrimination. He has stoically resisted the seductions of the
mediaeval period, about which most authors find so much to say,
because so little is known, and has kept nearly three-fifths of his
volume for ttte treatment of the period beginning with the reign of
Henry VII. Especially to be commended is the exhaustive atten-
tion which he gives to the events of the second half of the last and
the first half of the present century. No author, since Arnold
Toynbee, has appreciated so fully the importance of this period or
done so much to explain how the "industrial revolution" reacted
on the social and political life of the English people. In saying
that "the change from the domestic system of industry to the
modern system of production by machinery and steam-power was
sudden and violent," the author goes, perhaps, too far. Recent
investigations seem to show, on the one hand, that the ' ' capitalistic
system" had received some development before the era of steam,
and on the other that the regime of the factory taking the country
as a whole extended itself quite slowly. As to the greatness of the
change when it was finally effected, however, there cannot be two
opinions.
The later chapters of "Industry in England" betray socialistic
leanings on the part of the author which will cause many readers to
distrust his fitness to treat economic history with impartiality.
Such a statement as that on page 470, that "the great mistake of the
capitalist class in modern times has been to pay too little wages, ' '
has a curiously unhistorical ring about it, and taken in connection
with the claim, put forward at the beginning of Chapter XXIII, that
the "large capitalists of earlier manufacturing days" owed their
accumulations to their own acuteness, coupled with the enforced
abstinence of the laboring classes, suggests the question whether
the author has made a sufficiently careful study of the elementary
motives which served as the mainsprings of "industry" one hun-
dred years ago, as they do at present.
Taken in its entirety, Mr. Gibbins' work is a great improvement
upon his earlier "Industrial History of England," which has
served him as a model in its preparation. It contains a mass of
valuable information, not otherwise easily available, and is abun-
dantly supplied with the exact references so dear to the serious
student's heart. Relying largely on secondary sources, and too
much perhaps on the writings of Thorold Rogers, the author yet
displays no little originality in his interpretation of historical
events and is careful to distinguish between fact and opinion.
The cordial reception accorded to his earlier work insures a wide
sale for Mr. Gibbins' book, and it is probably better fitted than any
[274]
HlSTOIRB FINANCIERS. 127
other that has yet been written to serve as a text-book of English
economic history.
H R. S.
Histoire financttre de F Assemble constituante. Par CHARGES
GOMEI,. Vol. II. 1790-91. Pp. 586. Price, 8 fr. Paris: Guil-
lauinin et Cie.
The volume before us completes M. Gomel's financial history of
the revolution down to the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly.
Two volumes have been devoted to the reign of Louis XVI. before
the gathering of the States-General, and the last two cover the period
of that body's activity. It is not too much to say that for the first
time a clear and dispassionate account of the financial policy of
France during these years has been given to the public. The author
appears to think that in following the financial thread he can best
show the causes of the successive changes in France and in our
opinion he has ample justification for this view, at least until 1791.
The Bourbon monarchy was undermined by a reckless disregard of
financial laws and the Assembly was at its weakest in questions of
receipts and expenditures.
In this volume, as in the preceding ones, little attempt is made
to describe factors in the changes which France was experiencing,
except as they influenced the financial policy of her rulers, and yet
the words used in these occasional descriptions are so excellently
chosen that we often obtain a better idea of such other factors than
we could have done from a more pretentious historian. Few readers
will wish to cut out the author's short description of Mirabeau's life
and influence or his analysis of the relations existing between the
King and the Assembly.
As regards the more immediate financial questions, M. Gomel
compels a clear understanding of existing conditions before he al-
lows the student to discuss the changes introduced. Such explana-
tions often lengthen a work unduly, or make it uninteresting to. its
readers, but our author avoids these errors much more easily than
some others have done. His words do not seem to be interpolations,
and we read his descriptions of the " livre rouge" for example,
feeling that we should have been disappointed had it been omitted.
At the outset the author shows the difficult position of the
Assembly resulting from its inability to oppose successfully the will
or better the impulses of the people. With the most honorable in-
tentions toward the legal owners of the land throughout France the
Asssmbly was unable to enforce a policy of a gradual commutation
[275]
128 ANNAI^ OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
of feudal dues which it recommended. The destruction of the ad-
ministrative and judicial machinery of the royal government made
it impossible to reach the peasant effectively. The latter consid-
ered that the land had been taken from him, forgetting that he had
never owned it, and wished to take possession of it immediately.
Such immediate and unqualified possession the people considered
as the best guarantee that feudal privileges would not be restored
and they rejected absolutely the policy of gradual commutation or-
dered by the Assembly. Immediate occupancy in turn bound all
the new owners to the revolution on which their title depended and
excited an increased distrust of the rulers. Such an experience
should, in M. Gomel's opinion, have taught the Assembly that a
limitation of expenses and the formation of a new administrative
system compelling obedience, were the most necessary reforms and
that the latter at least was essential.
This view coincides with that of a part of the Assembly. Here it
was thought that the confiscation of church property would sustain
the government until such a system could be formulated. The ex-
penses, however, were not reduced; it was found easier to issue
assignats than to collect taxes, and as the former came to be con-
sidered as an inexhaustible financial, resource additional expenses
were voted instead of administrative reforms. In his discussion of
this fever for the issue of assignats, the author is at his best
although it must be admitted that the advocates of the system offer
an easy mark for attack.
At length, toward the close of 1790, additional means of raising
money were sought. A tax on real estate, as well as on personal
property, was proposed which would provide for the necessities of
the period. It was framed according to physiocratic principles, being
levied on the average net product of a given piece of land, for the
preceding fifteen years, and a list of expenses which must be de-
ducted from the total product to obtain this was given. The care
necessary to the just levying of such a tax was so great as to render
its expediency doubtful even had the officials in charge been ser-
vants of an impartial central government. When this collection was
entrusted to local bodies the difficulties became such that, in M.
Gomel's words, "one may well be surprised that they were not per-
ceived by the Assembly. ' ' Of course, the results were not satisfac-
tory.
The tax on personal property followed the same lines of justice in
its apportionment, and the Assembly had the experience of the
vingtitme and capitation to guide it somewhat in its work. Again,
the practical result was not in harmony with the desired aim, largely
THE STATE AND THE INDIVIDUAL. 129
because of the difficulty of apportionment and the unwillingness of
the local authorities to justly tax their own constituents. The
Assembly did not fix the amount due from each department, so efforts
were made to shift the burden. In his criticism of the Assembly's
work in taxation it appears to the writer that M. Gomel is some-
what too severe. Although the results wished for were not obtained
it is doubtful if any inexperienced body would have done better
under the same conditions. Habits of waste are not outgrown in a
year, although a conservative financier might expect them to be,
and the author's criticisms fall more appropriately on a government
which had not trained its citizens to act or on a king who could
not furnish the necessary aid.
The remainder of the volume describes the increasing difficulties
in tax collection, the growing differences between King and As-
sembly, and the warnings given that the new government under the
constitution of '91 would be wrecked on the same rock that had
destroyed the old. The acceptance of the constitution is recorded,
the volume closing with a description of the popular feeling at the
close of the Constituent Assembly and the wretched financial con-
dition in which that body left the government. We shall await
future volumes in the series with interest, and hope that finally, at
least, the author will give us an adequate index.
C. H.
Afillbvry, Mass.
The State and the Individual. An Introduction to Political Science,
with Special Reference to Socialistic and Individualistic Theories.
By WH.UAM SHARP M'KECHNIE, Lecturer on Constitutional Law
and History in the University of Glasgow. Pp. xx, 451. Price,
$3.00. New York and London: The Macmillan Co., 1896.
If a book can be termed valuable which lays no claim to origin-
ality other than in the rearrangement and combination of old the-
ories, the present work of Piofessor M'Kechnie deserves that
designation. The author gives us a general survey of the whole
field- of political science with a particular object in view. This
specific purpose we are told is "first to state impartially the points
at issue between socialism and individualism, and to mediate be-
tween their claim as rival schemes for the regeneration of society ;
and, secondty, to offer a contribution toward the solution of some
of the practical problems to which both systems address themselves. ' '
In carrying out this plan, however, the author has found it neces-
sary to make a preliminary inquiry into the nature, objects, sphere
[277]
130 ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
and aims of the state. As the work is intended to appeal to others
than those who have specialized in the field of political science,
this introduction may be necessary. To one at all familiar with the
subject, however, Professor M'Kechnie's treatment will add little
of information. Scarcely a single point is given an adequate treat-
ment. Debated and debatable points are taken up and decided in
a single sentence or paragraph. In almost no case is the reason-
ing given with fullness. In the preparation of this part reliance
has been placed entirely upon English authorities, or French and
German works that have been translated into that language. The
only American work cited is Hoffman's "Sphere of the State," a
work without standing amongst our own publicists. Once entered
upon the mazes of the theory of the state moreover the author has
not been able to keep steadily to his original purpose. He devotes
so much attention to this inquiry that the reader is apt to lose sight
of the real purpose of the work.
In one respect, however, the author has performed a good service
in this study. He has emphasized the necessity of studying the
state from the standpoint of its legitimate sphere rather than of
its nature. Political science addresses itself to the two questions :
What ought the state to be? and what ought it to do? In the past the
first question has received the almost exclusive attention of political
philosophers. It is the second that should now receive the prefer-
ence. We should first clearly know what the state has to do before
we can determine under what form of constitution it is best able to
do it.
The theories regarding the sphere of the state are grouped under
the following five heads: (i) Opportunist, (2) Socialistic, (3)
Individualistic, (4) Compromise, (5) Organic. The opportunist
is the happy-go-lucky policy which advocates that no definite
policy be followed, but that each difficulty be met as it arises ac-
cording to its peculiar exigencies. The socialistic and individual-
istic schools represent, as their names import, the extremes of gov-
ernmental interference and laissez-faire. The compromise solution
is a via media. A judicial analysis is made of the arguments for
and against these policies. The practical difficulties of organizing
or afterwards conducting a socialistic state are fully shown. On
the other hand, the inconsistencies and weaknesses of individualism
are no less strongly presented. The anarchist is the only consistent
individualist. Others must admit a sphere for the state, and in so
doing must compromise with socialism. Individualists have set
themselves the impossible task of first assuming a division between
state and private activity that does not exist, and then trying to
[278]
THE STATE AND THE INDIVIDUAL. 131
find where it lies. In this no two individualists are completely in
accord.
The author rejects all four of these theories. The true solution
he finds in his so-called ' ' organic solution. ' '
Individualists and socialists always argue as if there was a
natural antithesis between the individual and the state. Mr.
M'Kechnie, it seems to us, deserves credit for the convincing way
in which he combats this assumption. The relations between the
state and the individual are essentially organic. ' ' One without the
other is a lifeless and indeed meaningless abstraction. All societies
and all institutions are both socialistic and individualistic in their
nature. What is wanted is not a mere compromise, but a principle
which combines and transcends both classes of tendencies in a
higher and nobler unity. ' ' This he finds in his organic solution.
The keynote to this system is found in the following paragraphs
(pp. 266 and 268): "The conception of an organic state involves
two fundamental principles. In the first place, as nothing that
affects the part can be indifferent to the whole, the state is bound
by its laws and government to aim jointly with the citizen at the
perfect development of every individual in the community. Noth-
ing is beyond the proper sphere of government in pursuing this
high end. In the second place, while nothing is suffered to remain
outside the state, fit provision must be made for every individual
enjoying a full life within it. ... The organic theory alone
fully explains all the problems of society and government, while it
finds a place within it for the apparently conflicting tendencies of
a socialistic and individualistic nature respectively tendencies
which are equally indispensable for the welfare of mankind, and
equally ineradicable from the life of every community. Socialism
and individualism are in the political world what the forces of at-
traction and repulsion are in the natural world. They seem
opposed, and yet neither could exist without the other, while in
the final unrestrained triumph of either, the whole established order
of things would dissolve and pass away. . . . Political science
can neglect neither the forces of integration nor those of differentia-
tion. While maintaining the sovereignty of the whole and the
coercive powers of the government, it must avoid all systems of
slavery, and again, without neglecting the liberty and right of
initiative of the social atom, it must provide against anarchy and
disintegration. Nothing short of the organic theory can reconcile
these contending interests and tendencies."
The organic theory means really private initiative and state con-
trol. The state must act for the most part by an indirect regulative
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132 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
oversight rather than by its direct control or management. "It is
possible, indeed," the author says, "to imagine a state of the future
in which both the socialistic and individualistic tendencies of the
present are exaggerated and yet robbed of their evils through the
operation of an increased government control and government man-
agement. ' ' This distinction between direct and indirect control is
made the keynote of the argument throughout the work. Though
there is nothing strikingly original in this position, the manner in,
and extent to which it is applied give a positive value to Mr.
M'Kechnie's work. The essay is concluded by a series of chapters
in which the application of this theory is made to practical politics.
On the whole, therefore, Mr. M'Kechnie's work cannot be con-
sidered as an original contribution to political science ; nor indeed
does the author make any such claim for it. It cannot fail, how-
ever, to be read with interest by those who are searching for a safe
path between the Sylla of socialism and the Charybdis of individu-
alism.
WILWAM FRANKWN WIIAOUGHBY.
Washington, D. C.
State Aid to Railways in Missouri. By JOHN W. MII.I.ION, A. M.
Pp. xiv, 264. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1896.
Mr. Million has written a detailed history of Missouri's experi-
ences in giving aid to railways; and, foi purposes of comparison,
the author has outlined the results which followed the aid given to
internal improvements by the other states. The forty-six pages de-
voted to the other states contain much information in a compact
form and show that Missouri's policy, once adopted, did not differ
greatly from that pursued by the other commonwealths.
Missouri gave little assistance to railways or other forms of inter-
nal improvements before 1851. The first chapter of Mr. Million's
work is concerned with the period from 1806 to 1850, and shows that
during this period Missouri was more conservative than other states.
The aid given by the states to internal improvements was granted
chiefly during the three periods of great speculation that came be-
tween 1830 and 1873, and the action of the states may be considered
as a part, and an important feature, of those times of speculation.
Missouri safely weathered the speculative period, ending in the crisis
of 1837, without making any large appropriations of her credit or her
funds ; but during the active years which preceded the financial dis-
turbance of 1857, she gave large aid to railway enterprises. Again,
when the war closed, the treasury of Missouri was further raided in
[280]
STATE AID TO RAILWAYS IN MISSOURI. 133
the interest of railway enterprises. Between 1851 and 1868 Missouri
contracted a railway debt amounting, in principal and accrued in-
terest, to $31,735,840. Between 1864 and 1868 the state disposed of
her interest in the various railway companies she had aided for
$6,131,496; the net result of her railway investments thus being a
debt of $25, 604, 344. The story of the way in which Missouri's policy
was initiated and executed, a portrayal of the influences which led
the state from one act to another, and an account of the financial
results of the policy pursued, constitute the contents of four well-
written and lengthy chapters of the book. The closing chapter of
the book is devoted to a brief summary and the author's conclusion.
Other states had experiences similar to Missouri's and had to face
like disastrous financial results. When they came to pay their debts,
however, not all states were so honorable as Missouri was. That
state never showed any symptoms of repudiation.
The book is not written to prove any thesis but "merely to pre-
sent some information on state aid to railways that may be of value
in the present discussion of somewhat similar questions." Accord-
ingly the author carefully avoids discussing the question of the state
ownership and management of railways, and it is only in the clos-
ing chapter of the book that he allows himself to express an opinion
on that question. He is not an advocate of state ownership, and it
is not surprising ; for, although the author says in his closing sen-
tence that ' ' the foregoing study is not an argument for or against
state activity in industrial matters, ' ' the book is really the strongest
argument against state ownership of railways in this country that
has yet appeared.
Mr. Million has done an excellent piece of work. The book is
written in a thorough, painstaking and impartial manner from be-
ginning to end, and every student of transportation will find the
work instructive. It is to be hoped that this book may lead other
graduate students to undertake similar studies. The history of the
relations of each state to its transportation agencies should be in-
vestigated and made the subject of a monograph. Until this has
been done we shall not possess the data pre-requisite to the fruitful
discussion of American transportation. A beginning has been made.
We now have Mr. Million's monograph and the excellent work on
' ' State Railroad Control in Iowa, ' ' by Dr. Frank H. Dixon. Some
other states are now being studied, and there is promise that before
long we shall be in possession of several volumes of scientific trans-
portation literature dealing with American conditions and ex-
periences.
EMORY R. JOHNSON.
134 ANNAIS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
History of Proprietary Government in Pennsylvania. By WIWJAM
R. SHEPHERD, Ph. D. Columbia University Studies in History,
Economics and Public Law. Vol. VI. Pp. 601. Price, $4.50. New
York: The Macmillan Co., 1896.
After the research given almost exclusively to our federal constitu-
tional development, attention is now being called to that of the col-
onies and states. This tendency toward a new direction of American
political and historical studies must indeed be welcome to all who
desire to deepen the existing well of our information in this field.
For this reason alone, therefore, the "History of Proprietary Gov-
ernment in Pennsylvania' ' is deserving of attention. The work is
divided into two parts : I. , The Land ; II. , The Government of the
Province. Recognition is thus given to a factor in our political
development which has been but too often overlooked, the powerful
influence exerted on the political and administrative organization
of the various colonies by the nature and distribution of the land-
holdings. In this connection Dr. Shepherd treats the early land-
grants, the organization of the proprietary land-office, the rights
and prerogatives of the proprietors in respect to land, the trans-
fer of such rights to the state by the divestment act of 1779, bound-
ary disputes with neighboring colonies and like matters, with
some detail. The main interest of the essay, however, centres in
the second part, where the author sketches briefly Penn's original
ideas of government, his humanitarianism and his unselfish and
determined espousal of democratic ideals. Penn insisted that the
people must rule and wished ' ' to leave to himself and successors no
power of doing mischief, that the will of one man may not hinder
the good of a whole country. ' ' Considerable space is devoted to
the dissensions between the settlers and the proprietor, the mistakes
of the latter and the exacting and arbitrary demands of the colo-
nists. A more complete picture would perhaps be presented were
the needs and claims of the settlers treated somewhat more fully
with reference to their origin and growth. Considered, however,
as an impartial history of this period from the governmental or
proprietary side, the work may be regarded as a valuable addition to
the literature of the subject.
JAMES T. YOUNG.
University of Pennsylvania.
International Bimetallism. By FRANCIS A. WALKER. Pp. 297.
Price, |i. 25. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1896.
As the subject of international bimetallism promises to be promi-
nent in the discussions of the coming Congress, it is worth while
[282]
INTERNATIONAL BIMETALLISM. 135
to call attention to the last work published by General Francis A.
Walker. The book has not received the attention which it deserves.
Its publication during the free silver campaign is probably respon-
sible for the coldness of its reception by newspaper critics. As a
whole it could not be used as a campaign document by either polit-
ical party. It pointed out the disadvantages of monometallism and
was, therefore, unpopular with the advocates of the single gold
standard. On the other hand, no intelligent, unprejudiced reader
could finish the book without coming to the conclusion that the
free coinage of silver in this country alone would result in a useless
and hurtful transition to a single silver standard. General Walker's
book, therefore, while it has been denounced and derided by super-
ficial critics, has received little candid consideration, and the gen-
eral public is probably in ignorance of its merits and of its real
purpose or thesis.
For twenty years General Walker was the foremost advocate of
bimetallism on this side of the Atlantic. He never concealed his
views upon the subject and in his various works, which have prob-
ably been more widely read than those of any other American econ-
omist, the advantages of bimetallism have been clearly and
vigorously set forth. In collecting into a single volume a concise
statement of what he conceived to be the argument for bimetallism,
he was but continuing a scientific work which had occupied a large
part of his life and it could not have occurred to him that any man
having intelligence enough to read his book would yet be stupid
enough to suppose that he favored the independent free coinage of
silver in this country, a policy utterly discredited by the funda-
mental assumptions underlying his whole argument. ' ' International
Bimetallism" presents various reasons for dissatisfaction with the
single gold standard, but there is not a line in it favoring the inde-
pendent free coinage of silver in the United States. No one can
question the candor with which he says in the preface: "While this
little work, as the account of its origin shows, was prepared with-
out the slightest reference to the impending political contest in the
United States, I shall be glad if it proves to be in any degree in-
structive with reference to the question which is destined to under-
lie that great struggle."
The book isTRe outcome of a course of lectures given at Harvard
University during the academic year 1895-96. It is popular in form
and style, and can be read with understanding by men who have not
had a training in economic theory. General Walker was too expe-
rienced a teacher not to know that he could very easily shoot over
the head of the average university student. In the first of the eight
[283]
136 ANNAI OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
chapters he gives an interesting sketch of the early production and
use of the precious metals. He points out clearly the significance
with respect to mining of the change from slave labor to free labor,
and the wastefulness of the policy which placed the mines at the
disposal of the irresponsible farmer. In the second chapter he dis-
cusses briefly the monetary problems of the period from Augustus to
Columbus and explains certain general propositions relating to the
theory of money. Bimetallism in England is considered in the third
chapter. This is followed by a sketch of French and American
bimetallism; then a concise chapter upon the demonetization of
silver and a review of the important conferences and commissions
which have had the money question under consideration since 1875.
The book closes with a remarkably clear summary of the leading
facts and arguments bearing upon the whole discussion.
Much material not contained elsewhere in any single volume is
found in this book. Almost every issue which has arisen in mone-
tary discussion since 1870 is touched upon, so that a thoughtful
reader is able to get from the volume a fairly comprehensive ac-
quaintance with the whole subject. But the arrangement is defec-
tive. Theory is so interwoven with fact that considerable skill is
required to disentangle the argument. In the chapter headed
4 ' Augustus to Columbus' ' we find a brief statement of the quantity
theory of money; half the chapter on "French Bimetallism" is de-
voted to an exposition of the benefits of bimetallism, while the
greater part of the "Review and Summary" treats of falling prices
and credit. It is unfortunate that the theoretical discussion is thus
scattered through the book, for no reader can perceive the signifi-
cance of financial events until he has mastered the fundamental
principles in the theory of money. The general reader who wishes
to understand this book thoroughly, ought first to read either the
author's work on "Money" or the chapters relating to money in his
"Political Economy." Having thus obtained a grasp of the theory
of the subject, he will find the volume on international bimetallism
easy and profitable reading.
General Walker's argument on behalf of bimetallism is threefold:
First, it will yield a more stable standard of value than monometal-
lism; second, it will give the silver and gold countries of the world
a common par of exchange ; third, ' 'the argument from the status, ' '
to wit : it would check the present downward tendency of prices and
thus encourage all forms of industry. The first argument is in the
main theoretical, but he endeavors to show that it does not lack
inductive confirmation. This object he has in view throughout all
his discussion of bimetallism in England, France and the United
[284]
INTERNATIONAL BIMETALLISM. 137
States. He certainly makes it appear that the facts are on the side
of the bimetallist. If one denies the so-called bimetallic law, ac-
cording to which the world's money demand under bimetallism
shifts from the dearer to the cheaper metal, thus preventing wide
divergence from the coinage ratio, it is difficult to explain why gold
and silver, despite great variations in product-ratios, varied so little
in their value-ratios during the first seventy years of this century.
General Walker makes this point very clear, but he does not make
so clear as he might have done the reasons why the metals did not
steadily conform to the French coinage ratio of 15'^ to i. Various
countries, including the United States, were offering commodities
for sale for gold or silver at ratios different from that of the French
mint. This fact furnishes abundant a priori reason for expecting
to find the two metals exchanging at other than the French ratio in
the markets of the world. Indeed, the French ratio was only a
coinage-ratio, and on account of the different seigniorage charges
upon gold and silver it could not have coincided with the value-
ratio between the two metals. The seigniorage was nine francs per
kilo on gold and three francs on silver. Thus the value-ratio be-
tween the metals corresponding to the coinage-ratio was 15.69 to i,
and the two metals might fluctuate in value from 15.45 to i to 15.74
to i without any chance for profit from the melting or exportation
of gold or silver coin. General Walker touches upon this matter,
but he does not give it sufficient emphasis.
It is doubtful whether the average reader will get a clear idea of
the relation of so-called market value to the coinage value of gold
and silver. The free coinage of a metal for use as money makes the
metal itself money, adds to it a utility which it formerly did not
possess, and makes it, therefore, the object of an entirely new de-
mand. This demand is felt in all the markets of the world and helps
make what is called the market value of the metal. This is an im-
portant theoretical consideration, since many writers, especially those
who advocate monometallism, tacitly assume that the market value
of gold or silver is purely an affair of commerce, the result of forces
entirely independent of mints and statutes. As a matter of fact,
however, no country can adopt either gold or silver as money and
open its mints freely to the coinage of either metal, without affect-
ing the market or so-called commercial value of the metal. In fact,
there is some reason for believing that the money demand for gold
at the present time contributes more to its market value than what is
called the commercial demand. It is a favorite assumption of the
monometallist that the value of gold is due to its uses in the arts
and its cost of production, and that its use as money does not add
138 ANNAIvS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
to its value. These are matters of theory, but they are of vital im-
portance. Until they are agreed upon there can be no settlement
of the controversy between monometallist and bimetallist. General
Walker understood the theoretical side of the argument thoroughly,
and it is to be regretted that he did not, in this book, give more
space to a statement of it. He frequently uses the expression
"market-ratio" as if it were a thing having no connection with the
use of the metals as money. This will confuse the reader wha
seeks clear ideas.
Little fault can be found with General Walker's statement of what
is known as the quantity theory of money. It is nothing more or
less than the law of demand and supply applied to money. However,
he gives so little space to the theory in this book that a reader who
has not had a general training in economics will fail to perceive
the full force of his argument. He lays himself open to criticism
by the use of such language as "insufficiency of gold" and "re-
stricted money supply. ' ' Those phrases throw the emphasis upon
supply. They imply to the careless or prejudiced reader that prices
have fallen in recent years because of changes in theeupply of gold.
The monometallist promptly sticks a pin in them by pointing
triumphantly to the increasing production of gold in recent years.
General Walker's meaning is that the demand for gold has increased
at a faster pace than its supply, and that in consequence its value
has risen, prices falling correspondingly. Scientifically the phrase
"insufficiency of gold" is justifiable. It means simply that the
amount of gold in the world is not sufficient to maintain prices at
the old level. Yet the change in the value of gold is due to the
increased demand for it, and a writer who does not wish to be mis-
understood must avoid language which puts the emphasis upon the
supply.
General Walker shows, perhaps, too little patience with the mono-
metallist's contention that the recent fall in prices has been caused
by improvements in production. It is not strange that he was im-
patient with this theory, for its advocates have frequently deduced
from it the remarkable conclusion that gold has not risen in value,
but that all other things have fallen. Improvements in production,
growth of population and an increasing volume of exchanges, these
things mean simply an increased demand for money, and if the
supply of money does not increase in something like equal propor-
tion, prices must fall. On the other hand, all these changes might
take place and yet prices not fall, for the supply of money might be
increased more rapidly than the demand for it. The theory that
gold has not appreciated because the fall of prices has been due to
[286]
INTERNATIONAL BIMETALLISM. 139
improvements in production may not be ' ' monstrous, ' ' as General
Walker calls it, but unless we invent new definitions of the words
"value" and "appreciation," we must admit that he is right in
calling it "absurd."
JOSEPH FRENCH JOHNSON.
University of Pennsylvania.
NOTES ON MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.
AMERICAN CITIES.
Direct Employment of Labor by Municipalities. The question of
the direct employment of labor by municipal authorities is becoming
one of increasing importance. The unsatisfactory results of the con-
tract system have been apparent, for some years past, to those engaged
in municipal work. Direct municipal control in the execution of
public works is being advocated by many of the leading officials in
the larger cities. Within recent years another aspect of the question
has been attracting considerable attention. The possibility of greatly
improving the condition of labor under direct municipal employment
has been conclusively proven in several recent reports upon the
subject. The policy of the London County Council, was one of the
first and most important steps in this direction. While maintaining
the high standards adopted at the very start, the council has been
able to influence indirectly the general condition of labor in the
various trades. It was thought at first that this new labor policy
could only be maintained at the expense of the tax-payer. Bitter
attacks upon the council were made by the more conservative elements
in the community; claiming that the council had adopted a philan-
thropic scheme of employment which would result in the pauperiza-
tion of the working classes. The results have negatived all such fore-
casts. The true economy of the policy thus adopted has shown itself in
two distinct ways: First, through the greater efficiency of labor thus
employed; secondly, through the reduction of the cost of inspection
and supervision over the execution of public works. The important
part played by the latter element has been very generally neglected
in discussions of the subject; but it constitutes one of the most import-
ant items of expenditure and tends greatly to increase the cost of con-
tract work. The recent report of the Department of Labor * on the
rate of wages paid under public and private contract, tends to fully
confirm the facts of English experience. It is only necessary to cite
one or two of the many trades covered in this report. Thus, in Balti-
more, blacksmiths employed on public work directly by the city or
state, and working fifty-four hours per week were paid from 22^ to
30 cents per hour. Those employed on public work by contractors
* Published in the Bulletin of the Department of Labor, Washington, November,
1896. The investigation was conducted by Ethelbert Stewart and covers the cities
of Baltimore Boston, New York and Philadelphia.
[288]
NOTES ON MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 141
and working sixty hours per week only received from 17^ to 26 cents
per hour; the same wages being paid by contractors employed on
private work. Again, in the same city, carpenters employed directly
by the city were paid an average wage of 32^ cents per hour; those
employed by contractors on public work were paid but 25^ cents,
while those engaged on private work by contractors were paid 26^
cents. The report furthermore cites an interesting instance from the
city of Boston, where the work of sprinkling streets was taken over
by the city in 1895. In one district the cost under the contract system
was $5128.50; under direct municipal management but $2540.
New York.* General Character of Mayor Strong 's Adminis-
tration. As the end of Mayor Strong's term of three years ap-
proaches, it becomes possible to form an estimate of the meaning
and the value of the results accomplished by his administration.
He was elected in November, 1894, by a combination of all the
political forces in the city opposed to Tammany Hall, under the
leadership of the Committee of Seventy. All the candidates of that
committee accepted the platform of the committee which contained
the following declaration :
" Municipal government should be entirely divorced from party politics, and
from selfish personal ambition or gain.
" The economical, honest and business-like management of business affairs has
nothing to do with national or state politics.
" We do not ask any citizen to give up his party on national or state issues, but
to rise above partisanship to the broad plane of citizenship, and to unite in an
earnest demand for the nomination and the election of fit candidates, whatever
their national party affiliations."
Mayor Strong took office on the first of January, 1895, pledged to
administer his office in accordance with these principles. The result
has been one of the most interesting episodes in the political history
of the city. A general examination of the administrative work of
Mayor Strong's government leads to the conclusion that during the
past three years the city has had a striking illustration of the sound-
ness of the theory that municipal administration ought to be sepa-
rated at every point from mere party politics. This illustration
presents two aspects. Upon the one hand, those heads of depart-
ments who have been appointed by Mayor Strong solely with
reference to their qualifications have brought their departments to a
state of efficiency far in advance of anything attained under the old
Tammany regime. On the other hand, Mayor Strong's administra-
tion has presented instances of appointments to important offices
made wholly or in part for political reasons ; and, as a rule, these
appointments have resulted in a continuance, to a greater or less
Communication of James W. Pryor, Esq.
[289]
142 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
extent, of the abuses which under Tammany were prevalent in all
departments of the city government. As a whole, the administra-
tion has been a great improvement.
Citizens' Union. The Citizens' Union has continued with industry
its efforts to insure a united attempt on the part of all good citizens
to elect at the November election municipal officers for the Greater
New York who will administer the vast affairs of the new com-
munity for the benefit of the people, and without reference to
political conditions. As it has become more and more apparent
that the union meant to stand by its principles, and not to seek an
alliance with any political machine, the representatives of boss rule
have shown signs of distress which indicate that they see serious
danger in the attitude of the union. Senator Platt and Mr. Edward
Lauterbach have assailed the union with considerable vehemence,
through the newspapers, Mr. Lauterbach going so far as to declare
that he would prefer for mayor of the Greater New York an out-and-
out Tammany man to any representative of the ideas advocated by
the Citizens' Union. It is true that the gentleman who has suc-
ceeded Mr. Lauterbach recently as chairman of the republican
county committee is more conciliatory. The temper of the union
was shown at a meeting of its central committee of two hundred
and fifty on the fifteenth of June, when the following resolution
was adopted almost unanimously:
"Resolved, That it is the purpose of the Citizens' Union, as soon
as practicable, to secure independent nominations for all offices to
be filled in the city of New York at the next election. ' '
On the seventh of June, the executive committee of the union
which had approached Mr. Seth Low with the suggestion that he
should become the union's candidate for the office of mayor of the
Greater New York, received from him a letter in which he said that
he was not at the time prepared to accept the nomination, and that
he would not be inclined to accept it unless he were convinced that
the demand for his candidacy was general among good citizens, and
that his candidacy would prove to be a "unifying force among the
friends of good government. ' ' Since that time the union has been
engaged in securing from voters written expression of their desire
that Mr. Low should become the candidate of the union ; and it is
believed that this expression is already so strong that it will be ac-
cepted as conclusive proof of the existence of the popular demand
for the nomination of Mr. Low. Organizations similar to the Cit-
izens' Union have been started in other parts of the Greater New
York territory; and with the nomination of a strong ticket, un-
tainted with machine politics, the movement would probably assume
[290]
NOTES ON MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 143
formidable proportions. In the present city of New York, the
peculiar territory of the Citizens' Union, the enrollment of the
union is about 20,000, and the enrollment of voters desiring the
nomination of Mr. Low about 50,000.
Street Railway Franchises. A warmly contested struggle is being
waged between the various street railway companies for the con-
trol of the street railway system in the upper part of Manhattan
Island. The contestants are the Metropolitan Traction Company
and the Third Avenue Railway Company. The Metropolitan Com-
pany, the lessee of the Sixth and Eighth Avenue Railway system,
applied for permission to change the motive power to electricity. The
Third Avenue Company, which desires to obtain control of these lines,
is urging upon the city authorities the advisability of exercising its
option to purchase the system and re-lease it to another company.
The original franchise grant of 1851 required the companies to file a
statement of the cost of the road and gave to the city the option to
purchase the same at an advance of ten per cent upon its cost. The
Third Avenue Company offers to the city a bonus of f 10,000,000 on
such cost of purchase, or will lease the roads, agreeing to pay to the
city ten per cent on the cost of purchase plus an annual payment of
five per cent of gross receipts. Soon after this offer was made, several
individuals and companies offered to purchase the roads at a still more
favorable valuation. The Metropolitan Company denies the right of
the city to purchase the roads. The question has been submitted to
the supreme court for an opinion. The report of the State Railroad
Commission shows that the cost of the Sixth Avenue Road was $621,-
602, and of the Eighth Avenue, $665,181. It is evident that under
such conditions of purchase the city treasury would receive a very
large surplus. In this connection the recent decision of the court of
appeals is of importance. The decision declared the building and
operation of railways a distinct municipal purpose, thus disposing of
one of the preliminary questions as to the possibility of municipal
control and management of the street railway system.
Governor Black's Civil Service Bill. In pursuance of his expressed
determination to " take the starch out of the civil service," the gover-
nor procured, during the last days of the session of the legislature, the
passage of a bill designed to introduce in a modified form the vicious
principle of examinations under the control of the appointing power.
The bill was condemned by all the friends of civil service reform; but
the governor's signature has now made it law. It is of particular
interest to the people of this city, because of the greatly increased oppor-
tunities for partisan use of the public service by any political machine
that may secure control of the government of the Greater New York.
[291]
144 ANNAI^S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
Constitutional Amendment. The recent action of the New York
I^egislature on the Greater New York charter has proven the inade-
quacy of the constitutional provision which was intended to secure a
greater degree of municipal home-rule. It will be remembered that
one of the most important questions before the State Constitutional
Convention of 1894 was the formulation of greater restrictions upon
the power of the legislature in its relation to the municipalities. The
clause finally adopted provided for the division of the cities of the
state into three classes. Bills affecting municipalities are divided into
two classes: general city bills are those affecting all the municipalities
of the class, and special city bills were those affecting less than all the
members of one class. The constitution requires that special city bills
be submitted to the mayors of the cities affected, and that in case of
veto they be repassed by the legislature. It was expected that this
provision would prevent the passage of laws obnoxious to the city
authorities. The veto of the mayor of New York on the Greater
New York charter was completely ignored by the legislature. The
mayor's objections were confined to three points: First, the provi-
sion for a bicameral city legislature; second, the perpetuation of the
bipartisan police board; and, thirdly, the restriction of the power
of removal, without charges, to the first six months of his term. All
three of these points are fundamental to the system of government
provided for in the charter, but made no impression upon the legis-
lature.
Philadelphia. A recent decision of the Supreme Court of Pennsyl-
vania will seriously retard work on some of the larger undertakings
upon which the city has embarked during recent years. Two loans of
$8,000,000 and $3,000,000, respectively, have been authorized by the city
council for the purpose of constructing a filtration plant, improving
the gas works, the schools, and for other urgent purposes. The con-
stitution provides (Article IX, Section 8) that " The debt of any city,
county, borough, township, school district, or other municipality or
incorporated district, shall never exceed seven percentum upon the
assessed value of the taxable property therein, nor shall any such
municipality or district incur any new debt, or increase its indebted-
ness to an amount exceeding two percentum upon such assessed valu-
ation of property, without the assent of the electors thereof at a
public election in such manner as shall be provided by law. ' ' The
court holds that these two loans would take the city beyond the two
per cent limit, and that a special election authorizing the same will be
necessary. Whether such authorization will be obtained remains to be
seen. Until this is done, however, great inconvenience will result
from this sudden crippling of the city's finances.
[292]
NOTES ON MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 145
Boston.* This Year's Municipal Legislation . The law separating
the public institutions of Boston is an important measure. Several
years ago it was evident that the treatment of the inmates of the
public institutions was governed more by motives of so-called ' ' econ-
omy " in administration than by humane principles. A special board
of visitors, appointed by Mayor Matthews, made recommendations for
improvement, but these were not followed. Two years ago the com-
mission of three in charge of the institutions was abolished and a
single commissioner was constituted the head. While this effected a
greater efficiency in management it was felt by those interested in
public charities that it did not touch the root of the trouble, for the
number of inmates in the institutions was so great that the charge
was too much for one administration, while the requirements of the
various classes called for entirely different forms of administration,
according to the necessities of each class. Agitation to this end be-
came most earnest, and the opinion of experts was unanimous in
favor of the change. Proposed legislation was unsuccessful last year,
but this year the desired change was made. In consequence the in-
stitutions are now separated into four classes, comprising respectively,
the criminals, the paupers, the children and the insane. The paupers'
institution department, the insane hospital department and the chil-
dren's institution department are each placed in charge of boards of
seven trustees, appointed by the mayor and not subject to confirmation.
At least two members of each board must be women. The terms of the
trustees are for five years each, with the customary provision for shorter
terms in the earlier years. The penal institution department is placed
in charge of the present institutions commissioner. A fifth depart-
ment is the institutions registration department, in charge of the
registrar of institutions, who is required to investigate and report upon
cases that concern any of the several institutions. It is required that
conferences shall be held at least four times a year between the mayor,
two members from each board of trustees, the institutions commis-
sioner, the registrar of institutions, and two members of the board of
overseers of the poor, with a view to co-ordinating and advancing the
work of the several departments.
Mrs. Alice N. Lincoln, who has led in the movement for this reform,
calls attention to the beneficial results of a similar separation of insti-
tutions in New York City since January i, 1896, where the condition
of the inmates has already been greatly improved and the city has
been saved a charge of between 400 and 500 cases needlessly supported
at its expense.
The new Department of Municipal Statistics recommended by Mayor
* Communication of Sylvester Baxter, Esq.
[293]
146 ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
Quincy has been constituted by the city council and the following five
members have been appointed commissioners in charge, serving with-
out pay: lyawrence Minot (chairman), Professor Dewey, of the Insti-
tute of Technology; Sumner B. Pearmain, Robert Woods and Dr.
Hartwell, Director of Physical Training in the Public Schools. The
City Engineer, Mr. Jackson, is a member of the board ex-qfficio. The
normal terms of appointed members are five years, but at the begin-
ning members are appointed for terms of five, four, three, two and
one years. Important lines of statistical inquiry will be entered upon
as soon as possible.
An act supplementary to that to consolidate the board of aldermen
and the common council and reorganize the city government pro-
vides that, in case said act be accepted by a majority of the voters,
no measure for the appropriation or expenditure of money, or grant-
ing any location, franchise, right or privilege in or under a public
way, shall be passed by the city council unless it receives two sepa-
rate readings, the second at least one week after the first ; to pass
such a measure over the mayor's veto a vote of two-thirds of all the
members of the council is required. The date for holding the annual
municipal election is changed to the third Tuesday in December.
An act establishing the Cemetery Department of the city of Bos-
ton places Mount Hope Cemetery and the other burial grounds be-
longing to the city in charge of a board of five trustees, appointed
by the mayor, subject to confirmation by the board of aldermen.
An act relative to sewerage works requires the city council to ap-
propriate annually a sum not exceeding $1,000,000 for constructing
sewerage works, as ordered by the street commission, and also sums
sufficient for maintaining and operating said works. A peculiar
feature of the act is that providing for the bringing of suits for
damages for property taken before a jury of the superior court of
the adjacent county of Middlesex, rather than in Suffolk county.
Under the policy governing remunerative municipal enterprises and
investments, like waterworks, parks, etc. , these sewerage loans are
placed outside the debt limit of the city. The street commission
is required annually to determine just and equitable charges upon
estates for construction, maintenance and operation of the sewerage
works, taking into consideration in fixing the charges the necessity
of the works as caused by each estate, the amount of use thereof, if
any, by the estate or its occupants, the benefit received therefrom
by the estate, the amount of sewerage assessments previously paid,
length of time since such payment, the use heretofore made of the
sewerage works by the occupants of the estate, and such other
matters as shall be deemed just and proper. This practically
[294]
NOTES ON MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 147
applies to sewerage the same principle governing the fixing of
water rates.
Under the act which legalized the acceptance by the city of the
gymnasium recently presented by a public-spirited lady, Boston is
authorized to establish public gymnasia, not exceeding one to each
ward, and to accept donations of lands or buildings fitted with
gymnastic apparatus.
dealer Boston Legislation, The metropolitan park commission,
established in 1893 f r ^ e Metropolitan Parks District, comprising
Boston and the surrounding group of municipalities known as
Greater Boston, has been authorized by the legislature to expend
$1,500,000 in its work, in addition to the sums appropriated in
previous years, amounting to $ 2, 800,000. Of this amount, $ 500,000
is for general purposes and $1,000,000 for constructing roadways
and boulevards within and connecting with its park reservations.
Portions of the towns of Lexington and Wakefield have been added
to the Metropolitan Sewerage District, and the metropolitan water
commission has been authorized to admit the town of Stoneham into
the Metropolitan Water District on application of said town.
Omaha.* Omaha is now being governed under the new charter
which was enacted by the late fusion legislature and went into force
March 15 last. The constitutionality of the charter was attacked in
the courts but the law was upheld in all essential points in a de-
cision handed down by the supreme court the last week in June.
Under the new charter the principal executive officers, namely, the
mayor, city clerk, city treasurer, comptroller and police judge are
continued and the new office of tax commissioner created. Of the
appointive offices a number were discontinued, among them three
sinecure salaried places by the board of public works. The term of
the new officers who were elected in April and took their seats in
May, is for three years. In order to separate the municipal election
from the state and county elections a separate city election was
established for March of each third year. The powers of the gov-
ernment remain vested in the Omaha council, but the council is
reduced from eighteen members to nine members who, while chosen
from the separate wards, must be elected by the voters of the entire
city.
Aside from the reduction of the salaries and the abolition of a
few useless offices there are several interesting features in Omaha's
new municipal charter. With respect to the granting of franchises
the charter provides that no ordinance granting or extending any
franchise shall be passed for two weeks after its introduction nor
* Communication of Victor Rosewater, Esq.
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148 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
until it has been published daily for two weeks and no new fran-
chise shall be granted, nor existing franchise extended except with
an annuity to the city based upon either a fixed amount every year
or a percentage of the gross earnings, nor until approved by a
majority vote of the electors at a general or special election.
In order to obviate the regularly recurring contest for designation
of the official organ of the city, and at the same time to enable
people of all political parties to see the city official notices, the charter
itself establishes the rate which shall be paid for such advertising
and makes it incumbent upon the council to designate two estab-
lished daily newspapers which shall signify their acceptance of the
terms.
A peculiar provision also exists in relation to disputed claims
against the city for labor and material. According to this section
no such bill for labor or material which has been adversely reported
or rejected by the administration under which it was incurred and
no bill not presented within eighteen months from the time it be-
came payable can be allowed and paid by any subsequent adminis-
tration except through an order of the court in which it has been
sued and judgment secured.
The power of the mayor and council to order street improvements
at the expense of the abutting property owners are similar to those
which prevail in other cities, but a distinction is made between
paving and repaving. The council is empowered to order the pav-
ing of streets within 3000 feet of the court house without respect to
the wish of taxpayers against whose property the cost is to be as-
sessed. Beyond that limit the power of the council to order paving
exists on condition that a prescribed percentage of the property
owners do not enter formal protests. For repaving, on the other
hand, a petition of the owners of a majority of front feet abutting
is necessary to give the council jurisdiction.
The intention of the new charter in establishing a special tax
commission was to secure a separate assessment on personal prop-
erty for city taxation. Inasmuch as such an assessment is expected
to increase the tax valuation, the amount of the authorized levy for
a special fund which has heretofore been a percentage of the total
levy has been changed to a fixed sum enumerated in the charter for
which municipal taxes may be levied.
The new charter is specially stringent with respect to city officials
being interested directly or indirectly in contracts with the city. It
also contains an express prohibition upon the city officials, agents
and employes from receiving or soliciting any contribution of
money or supplies of any kind or receiving special privileges at the
[296]
NOTES ON MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 149
hands of any city contractor or any franchised corporation. All
officials and agents of the city are also prohibited from soliciting
or receiving, directly or indirectly, the political support of any
contractor, franchised corporation or railroad company for any
municipal election or for any other election or primary election,
and franchised corporations and railroad companies are prohibited
from furnishing or appropriating any money to promote the success
or defeat of any person in any election or primary election held
in the city, or to promote or prevent the appointment or confirma-
tion of any appointive official of the city. The violation of this
provision on the part of a city official is declared to be malfeasance
which shall subject him to removal from office and a fine not ex-
ceeding $500. A violation on the part of a franchised corporation
will work a forfeiture of its franchise and the imposition of a fine
not exceeding $500 upon it and every officer or agent implicated
therein. Any officer or agent of the city who shall make a demand
for money or other valuable consideration upon a franchised cor-
poration or a public contractor under threat to introduce or vote for
a measure adverse to their interests or promise to prepare or intro-
duce a bill favorable to such company or contractor also subjects
himself to the penalties for malfeasance.
While the new Omaha charter was passed by the legislature largely
a& a political measure with the expectation on the part of the fusion
legislature that it would result in a fusion victory at the first city
election held under it, this expectation was disappointed and the
Republicans continued in control of the city government. While it
is perhaps too early to render judgment upon a charter which has
been in force only three months, with a few minor exceptions, it
seems to be an improvement and to be working satisfactorily to
citizens and taxpayers.
Missouri. Street Railway Franchises. The eighteenth annual
report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics contains a discussion of the
payments by street railway companies to the cities of the common-
wealth in return for franchise privileges. The comments of the com-
missioner upon the relation of the street railway companies to the
cities of St. Ix>uis and Kansas City, show that franchise grants have
been made with little or no attempt to secure anything like an ade-
quate return. In the city of St. Louis some three hundred miles of
street have been granted; the value of the franchises being estimated
by the commissioner to be nearly $30,000,000. Taking 5 per cent as
the legitimate return upon the value of these privileges, the commis-
sioner concludes that the city ought to receive $1,478,582 annually.
Instead of this, however, but $47,500 are paid. Were the street
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150 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
railways to pay this annual rental of nearly $1,500,000, their profits
would still be 5^ per cent on the capital invested.
In Kansas City, the conditions are less favorable than in St. Louis.
Here the companies pay absolutely nothing for the privilege of occu-
pying some sixty -three miles of street The commissioner estimates
the value of the franchises at $6,014,580, a 5 per cent return upon which
would bring into the city treasury some $300,729 annually.
One part of the report is devoted to a discussion of the evasion of
taxation by the street railway companies. The commissioner shows
that the valuation of the lines is far below their actual value. Thus,
the actual value of the St. Louis street railways is $37,987,000; they
are assessed, however, at $4,246,190; in other words, but 11.17 per
cent of their true value. Private property on the other hand is
assessed at 50.40 per cent. The commissioner in drawing conclusions
from this condition of affairs points to the political influence exercised
by the street railway companies as the true cause.
FOREIGN CITIES.
Paris. Underground Railway. During the last few years the
construction of an underground railway has been occupying an im-
portant place in the discussions of the municipal council. The
means of communication, especially in the central portions of the
city, are utterly inadequate to meet the needs of passenger and
freight traffic. Complaints in regard to the former at least have
been continuous and well founded. The plan for a system of under-
ground rapid transit has been before the public since the Exposi-
tion of 1889; the lack of proper facilities having been particularly
evident at that time. Since then the project has not slept. The
municipal council has been anxious to see a portion of the work
completed before the Exposition of 1900. As soon as the question
of method of construction came before the council radical differ-
ences of opinion made themselves felt. A considerable number
favored the construction, management and control by the munici-
pality ; others advocated private construction and management.
The majority, however, favor construction by the municipality, but
management by a private company. Although the final decision
has not as yet been reached, it is probable that this latter system
will be adopted. The committee, in a report to the council, recom-
mends the following conditions of lease :
I. The company to pay to the city one cent (five centimes) for
each passenger carried. The committee estimates an annual traffic
of 110,000,000, which will mean an annual payment of $1,100,000.
[298]
NOTES ON MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 151
The cost of fare is not to exceed five cents for first class and three
cents for second class. Special workingmen's return tickets at the
rate of three cents must be issued.
2. The term of lease is to be thirty-five years, at the end of which
the city enters into full possession of all the lines.
3. The motive power is to be electricity, or some force other than
steam to be approved by the council.
The length of lines as planned is to be about forty-five miles,
crossing the city in different directions. It is interesting to note
that after having given the various systems of adjusting relations
with private companies a fair trial the authorities have determined
to hold to the ' ' proportion of gross receipts' ' as the fairest and least
troublesome method.
Unification of Administration. The agitation for municipal home-
rule is quite as strong in Europe as in the United States. The spirit
of centralization which characterized the Napoleonic legislation
placed the municipalities in the power of the central government.
The mayor, members of the town council and city officials were
under the Napoleonic regime, appointed by the central government.
With the exception of two reactionary periods the tendency of
French legislation since 1815 has been toward assuring to the munici-
palities a greater measure of home-rule. Paris has never profited by
the change; the central government being unwilling to lessen its
control over the administration of the capital. A bill, recently
introduced by M. Alphonse Humbert, accompanied by a detailed
report, has brought the question before the French Parliament. It
is probable that the government will make certain concessions to
the principle of home-rule. During the last few years a distinct
change in the spirit of enforcement of the law has taken place.
The central government has been extremely careful to limit its
direct interference in municipal affairs. As a result the power of
the municipal council has greatly increased. The next session of
the legislature will probably bring a change in the relation between
the state and municipal authorities.
SOCIOLOGICAL NOTES.
Atlanta Conference on Negro City Life. In the ANNAI for
July* some account was given in the Sociological Notes of the in-
vestigation conducted by the University of Atlanta, concerning
negroes in cities. An analysis of that work, together with numerous
tables, was published by the United States Department of Labor in
its Bulletin for May. It was also stated that the facts brought out
in that investigation were made the subject of discussion at the
second Conference for the Study of Problems concerning Negro
City Life held at Atlanta University on May 25 and 26 of this year.
The papers and outlines of the discussions on that occasion have
just appeared in print as "Atlanta University Publications No. 2."
Much credit is due to Mr. George G. Bradford, a lawyer of Boston
and a trustee of Atlanta University, for his persistent efforts to
organize practical conferences on a strictly scientific basis as a part
of the public duty of the Atlanta University in dealing with the
question of the proper education of the negro. The whole tone of
the two gatherings that have been held thus far has been of a far-
reaching and helpful character.
One of the papers summarized the results of the investigation as
follows :
First. All the data in the investigation have been gathered by
intelligent colored men and women living in the communities
covered (chiefly Southern cities). These investigators were not
hindered by obstacles which make it difficult for a white man to
get accurate information of the family life, habits and character of
the colored people. These colored investigators cannot be charged
with prejudice and designs against the interests of the colored peo-
ple. For these reasons their work is thought to be more than
usually accurate and reliable.
Second. Overcrowding in tenements and houses occupied by
colored people does not exist to any great extent, and is less than
was supposed.
Third. In comparison with white women, an excess of colored
women support their families entirely, or contribute to the family
support, by occupations which take them much of their time from
home to the neglect of their children.
Volx,p. 143.
[300]
SOCIOLOGICAL NOTES. 153
Fourth. Environment and the sanitary condition of houses are
not chiefly responsible for the excessive mortality among colored
people.
Fifth. Ignorance and disregard of the laws of health are respon-
sible for a large proportion of this excessive mortality.
Another paper shows that the colored death-rate exceeds the
white, the excess averaging for five cities, during a period of fifteen
years, 73. 8 per cent ; that the death-rate of the colored population
in these five cities is lower for the period 1890-95 than for the period
1881-85, thus indicating some improvement ; that the principal causes
of the excessive mortality among the colored people of these cities
are pulmonary diseases and infant mortality ; that the least dispar-
ity between the white and colored death-rates is for those diseases
due to unwholesome sanitary conditions, such as typhoid, malarial
and scarlet fevers, diphtheria and diarrhea. The writer of this
paper, Mr. L. M. Hershaw, of Washington, says, in conclusion:
"This last fact, that the excessive death-rate of the colored people
does not arise from diseases due to environment, is of vast import-
ance. If poor houses, unhealthy localities, bad sewerage and defec-
tive plumbing were responsible for their high death-rate, there
would be no hope of reducing the death-rate until either the colored
people became wealthy or philanthropic persons erected sanitary
houses, or municipalities made appropriations to remove these con-
ditions. But since the excessive death-rate is not due to these
causes, there is reason for the belief that it may be reduced
without regard to the present economic conditions of the colored
people. ' '
Resolutions and recommendations were adopted at both the sec-
tional and general meetings of the Conference. Some of them went
pretty sharply into details on questions of individual conduct and
all of them were free from sentimentality and were exceedingly
earnest in spirit. Here are some of the general resolutions :
Resolved, that it appears from the result of the investigation :
First. That the excessive mortality among negroes is not due
mainly to environment ;
Second. That the excessive mortality among negroes is largely
due either to their ignorance or to their disregard of the laws of
health and morality;
Third. That the excessive mortality and the apparent increase of
immorality among the negroes is chiefly due to neglect of home and
family life, the chief cause of which is the extent to which the
mothers are obliged to go out to work ;
Fourth. T 1 at the failure of the men to entirely support their
[301]
154 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
families with their earnings has a most serious effect upon the
social, physical and economic progress of the race;
Fifth. That, finally, it appears that the negro must reform him-
self, and that he is not dependent upon charity or municipal regu-
lations, but has the means in his own hand.
Resolved, That the following recommendations be made :
First. That the attention of members of the Conference during
the coming year be concentrated on reforms in the family life of
the negro ;
Second. That greater care and attention should be given to the
home-training of children, and also of young men and young
women, and that parents' associations and mothers' meetings should
be formed for that purpose ;
Third. That day nurseries should be provided for the care of in-
fants and young children in the enforced absence of parents ;
Fourth. That friendly visiting among the poor should be more
general and more systematic, and that friendly visitors should hold
weekly or monthly conferences under the direction of those who
are making a special study of social problems.
There was a vast amount of plain speaking and pointed discussion
on the part of the colored speakers at the Atlanta Conference. There
is no more encouraging sign than just such work on the part of the
colored people themselves. The educated colored man can say
things to his own people that come with poor grace from a white
man, and there is the further advantage that it is not so apt to give
offence in cases where the advice is unpalatable.
In connection with this topic we wish to call attention to an able
article by Dr. W. E. B. DuBois in the Atlantic Monthly for August.
It is entitled "Strivings of the Negro People, " and has special in-
terest coming as it does from one of the best trained colored leaders
who has just been elected Professor of Social Science and History
at Atlanta University.* It goes to the root of the so-called race
problem in a fresh and instructive manner.
The Consumers' League. Most of the active recent discussion
of economic theory has been along the lines of consumption and its
influence on production, distribution, value, price, etc. Professor
Patten in this country, Professors Marshall and Smart in Great
Britain, and some members of the Austrian school, have often hinted
at ways in which this newer economic doctrine could be made so-
cially effective and could be given an ethical application of the
highest importance. The Consumers' League is the crystallization
of some of these ideas in a practical attempt to render them operative
* Se above p. 104.
[302]
SOCIOLOGICAL NOTES. 155
on a scale large enough to change some of the worst existing indus-
trial conditions.
Mr. John Graham Brooks has discussed the subject before large
audiences in Boston, New York and Chicago for some time and
his labors have begun to bear fruit. He defines the Consumers'
League as " an association of persons who desire, so far as prac-
ticable, to do their buying in such ways as to further the welfare^of
those who make or distribute the things bought. ' ' He states the
idea of buyer's responsibility as follows:
4 ' We shall give these truths their simplest form of statement if
we say that the buyer (consumer) maybe, in the very act of buying,
a creator. The shoddy buyer is shoddy maker. In a very real
sense, to buy a harmful thing is to help make that thing. We often
use the words 'order' and 'get made" in ways which bring out the
responsibility of the buyer for the kind of thing he 'orders' or 'gets
made. ' ' I hate these high-heeled and narrow-soled boots, ' says a
manufacturer, ' but people will buy them and so I make them. ' Still
more than this is true ; to buy products made by laborers working in
unwholesome surroundings is to help perpetuate those evil circum-
stances. ... If, in the world's economic processes, to buy an
ugly thing is to get it made; if to buy sweated garments is to be-
come a partner of the sweater, we should readily concede that buyers
have a responsibility as definite as it is serious. ' '
Members of the league endeavor to find out how the goods which
they buy are made and to buy only those made under wholesome
conditions. Professor Smart was for many years at the head of a
large and successful industrial establishment. He speaks therefore
with knowledge of the actual industrial possibilities when he says :
"A slight awakening of the public conscience has induced some to
ask if it is not possible to demand some guarantee that the goods
we buy are made by workers paid decent wages and working under
healthy conditions. ' ' This is the method pursued by the league,
to demand some guarantee from the seller that the things sold are
made under right conditions without unnecessarily sacrificing
human life and happiness. Some leagues have a "white list" of
stores which the members patronize because they have received from
them satisfactory guarantees that the goods sold there are made
under fair conditions. In the very large stores, however, it is often
almost impossible for the management to know about the sources
from which all their goods come. Not until the demand for this
information comes from a much larger per centum of their buyers
will they take the trouble to know. Most managers of such estab-
lishments admit that if the buyers, or any large number of their
[303]
156 ANNAIvS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
patrons, really cared about and insisted on knowing how the things
they bought were made it would not be long before ways were de-
vised by which such information could be furnished. Mr. Brooks,
at present, seems to prefer a ' ' white list" of goods rather than a
"white-list" of stores. He recognizes fully that the large store and
even the bargain counter has a legitimate work to do, and under
present conditions greater care in the selection of the articles we
buy would do more good than any blind reliance on particular stores.
Cheap goods are not necessarily made under bad conditions. Mr.
Brooks is careful to point out how improved machinery and tenden-
cies in the factory type of industry make it possible to produce
cheaply and yet under the best conditions for the wage-earner. In-
deed, he carries this thought out until he reaches the conclusion
that the factory type, not necessarily the large factory, but the fac-
tory type of industry is preferable to any home industry. It can be
brought under better inspection for one thing, and the industrially
unfit classes, whom every economist admits are the worst enemies
of the large mass of wage-earners, can be more readily eliminated
from harmful competition. Even a new distribution of power, such
as may be looked for from electrical inventions, instead of bringing
back the home industry, may preferably bring about a better distri-
bution of factories as regards geographical location, and perhaps a
larger number of small factories which can compete with the large
ones.
The union labels, which are being used more widely every year,
are usually a guarantee of wholesome sanitary conditions, fair
wages and reasonable hours for the worker. Mr. Brooks might dis-
cuss this method a little more fully and deal also with the real diffi-
culties and dangers from an abuse of the power thus placed in the
hands of the unions and what safeguard can be used against
them. No one is more competent, from practical knowledge
of the workings of the unions, to speak on this subject than the
author of the interesting pamphlet which explains the Consumers'
League. *
A high standard of excellence in demanding only perfect goods,
which are always the cheapest from the point of view of true econ-
omy, is one sure method of helping to secure for the producer the
fairest conditions of life. If league members will follow this rule,
even when it means a curtailment in amount of things consumed,
* The Consumers' League. The economic principles upon which it rests and
the practicability of its enforcement. By JOHN GRAHAM BROOKS. Pp. 26. Price,
15 cents. Cambridge: The Co-operative Press, 1897. Profits from sale of this
pamphlet go for the uses of the league.
[304]
SOCIOLOGICAL NOTES. 157
that is fewer wants and better wants, they will free themselves
frcm many obstacles in attaining their real aim. It is rarely
possible to produce reasonably perfect goods under bad conditions
for the wage-earners. In the long run bad conditions produce poor
goods and the wise buyer will serve himself and the cause of the
league by a critical avoidance of makeshifts for articles which he
cannot afford to supply properly or because they are apparently
cheap. Mr. Brooks, in future editions of his pamphlet, may well
give more room to the elaboration of this idea and at the same time
explain to the uninitiated more fully what the union label is and
what it involves.
Dietaries of Institutions in Boston. In the second annual report
of the institutions commissioner of Boston for the year ending
February i, 1897, the results are given of an investigation into the
food supplies of the various institutions under the control of the
city of Boston, which the commissioner directed Mrs. Ellen H.
Richards and Miss S. E. Wentworth, chemical experts of the Insti-
tute of Technology to make. The changes in the dietaries which
have resulted from this investigation are instructive and may well
encourage similar work in other cities.
For prisoners and inmates of houses of correction who are usually
able-bodied adults it is recommended that the food should not be
stimulating. It should contain less meat and more bread, fewer
spices and condiments than the ordinary diet. It should be well
cooked, palatable and easily digested food, but not too attractive a
menu so as to encourage petty crimes. The light exercise ration
which should go to all, with an extra allowance to those who work,
is as follows :
Meat and fish (four-fifths meat and one-fifth
fish) 10 ounces
Salt pork, lard, suet, etc i
Flour, etc 14
Oatmeal, cornmeal, hominy, barley, etc 2
Peas, beans, cheese, etc. (seven-eighths peas
and beans; one-eighth cheese) 2
Potatoes 12
Vegetables 6
Sugar 2
Milk 4
This is estimated to yield: proteid, 103 grams; fat, 73 grams;
carbohydrates, 426 grams; calories, 2848. The cost, exclusive of
tea, coffee and condiments, is supposed not to exceed seven cents at
present market rates in Boston.
For reformatories, where inmates are usually young and where
[305]
158 ANNAI OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
more systematic hard work is carried on with a view to reform, the
following dietary containing more meat and fat is recommended :
Meat and fish (three-fourths meat ; one-fourth
fish) 12 ounces
Salt pork, lard, suet, etc i
Flour, rice, etc 14 "
Oatmeal, cornmeal, hominy, barley, etc 2 "
Peas, beans, cheese (seven-eighths peas and
beans; one-eighth cheese) 2 "
Potatoes 12 "
Vegetables 6 "
Sugar 2 "
Dried fruits K "
Milk 4 "
Butterine % "
This is calculated to yield: proteid, in grams; fat, 91 grams;
carbohydrates, 436 grams ; calories, 3088 ; and to cost, exclusive of
tea, coffee, condiments, etc. , eight and one-fourth cents.
For almshouse inmates the report recommends the house of cor-
rection diet for all able-bodied adults for whom it is desirable to
make the institution as little attractive as possible ; for the old and
infirm inmates, a more generous ration, as follows :
Meat and fish (three-fourths meat ; one-fourth
fish) 7 ounces
Salt pork, lard, suet, etc % "
Flour, rice, etc n "
Oatmeal, cornmeal, hominy, barley, etc 2 "
Peas, beans and cheese i "
Potatoes 6 "
Vegetables 4 "
Sugar 3 "
Dried fruits...- % "
Milk 12 "
Butterine 0.7 "
Eggs'. # "
This is expected to yield: proteid, 83 grams; fat, 71 grams; car-
bohydrates, 368 grams ; calories, 2509 ; and will cost about eight
cents, exclusive of tea, coffee and condiments.
For children it is intended that the food will permit of growth as
well as sustain life. For children over six the same schedule as that
just given for old persons is recommended with the following
changes : increase the amount of beans and peas one ounce, milk
four ounces, dried fruits one-fourth of an ounce, eggs also one-
fourth ounce. This is expected to yield : proteid, 93 grams ; fat, 77
grams; carbohydrates, 389 grams; calories, 2692, and should not
cost more than nine cents, exclusive of cereal coffee, condiments,
etc.
[306]
SOCIOLOGICAL NOTES. 159
For the insane it is necessary that the diet shall be as nourishing
as possible in order to work any improvement. Chronic cases may
be kept on a simpler and less costly diet, but for the more hopeful
cases the following average diet is recommended :
Meats and fish 12 ounces
Salt pork, lard, suet, etc %
Flour, rice, etc 12
Oatmeal, cornmeal, hominy, barley, etc \%
Peas, beans, cheese I
Potatoes , 12
Vegetables 6
Sugar 3
Dried fruits I
Milk 16
Butterine i
Eggs Y\
This is intended to yield: proteid, no grams; fat, 100 grams;
carbohydrates, 421 grams; calories, 3107; and to cost, exclusive of
tea, coffee, etc. , ten and three- fourths cents at present market rates
in Boston.
The report states that the cost for all these dietaries is liberal for
numbers over three hundred and in practice should fall well within
the limits. "The amounts called for apply to the raw material and
are sufficient, provided the food is well prepared and utilized by
the inmates. The estimates allow for a necessary and normal waste
of ten per cent of proteids and carbohydrates in the preparation, but
assume that the fat is used in one form or another. The meat must
be fresh, of medium fatness, and the raw materials in every case of
good quality. Graham or whole wheat bread should be used when
possible, especially for children. Molasses may be substituted for
sugar when it is considered economical, or otherwise desirable to do
so, in the proportion of one and one-half ounces of molasses to one
ounce of sugar. ' '
Labor Legislation in Pennsylvania. The legislature which has
just adjourned passed several bills in the interest of labor which
have received the governor's signature. Among them was an eight-
hour bill, which provides that eight hours out of twenty-four shall
' constitute a legal day's work for workmen, mechanics and laborers
in the employ of the state or any municipal corporations therein,
or 'otherwise engaged on public works. This applies to contract
work as well as that done directly in the employ of the state. The
act also provides that in all such employment none but citizens of
the United States, or aliens who have declared their intention to
become such, shall be employed, and all such employes must have
[307]
160 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
resided in the state six months preceding the date of such employ-
ment. Any public officer violating this act is guilty of malfeasance
in office and may be removed by the Governor or head of the
department to which said officer is attached. If any person con-
tracting with the state or any municipal corporation violates this
act, he is liable to a fine of one thousand dollars.
Another act is known as the "Anti-Pluck-Me-Store Bill." This
act is aimed at a grievance that has had its chief seat of activity
in the oil and coal regions of Pennsylvania, and we therefore quote
the act in full as follows :
AN ACT to tax all orders, checks, dividers, coupons, pass books or other paper, rep-
resenting wages or earnings of an employe not paid in cash to the employe, or
member of his family ; to provide for a report to the Auditor-General of the
same ; for failure to make reports and reward to party informing Auditor-Gen-
eral of failure to report.
SECTION i. Be. it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, and it is hereby en-
acted by the authority of the same, That every person, firm, partnership, corpora-
tion or association engaged in operating oil or gas wells, conducting oil or gas in
pipes, operating quarries, operating canal, steamboat, ship, steamship, ferry
transportation, towage, paving, macadamizing, steam heat, steam power, tele-
phoning, telegraph, express, electric light, electric railways, railroad, cable road,
water or gas companies, mining or manufacturing, shall, upon the first day of
November of each and every year, make a report under oath or affirmation to the
Auditor-General of the number and amount of all orders, checks, dividers, cou-
pons, pass books or other paper, representing the amount in part or whole of the
wages or earnings of an employe, that were given, made or issued by him, them
or it for payment of labor and not redeemed by the said person, firm, partnership,
corporation or association giving, making or issuing the same, by paying to the
employe, or a member of his family, the full face value of said order, check,
divider, coupon, pass book or other paper representing an amount due for wages
or earnings in lawful money of the United States, within thirty (30) days from the
giving, making or issuing thereof, the honoring though of said order, check, di-
vider, coupon, pass book or other paper representing an amount due for wages or
earnings by a duly chartered bank by the payment in lawful money of the United
States to the amount of said paper representing an amount due for wages or
earnings is a payment, and he, they or it shall pay into the treasury of the com-
monwealth ten (10) per centum on the face value of such orders, checks, dividers,
coupons, pass books or other paper representing an amount due for wages or
earnings not redeemed as aforesaid, and in case any person, firm, partnership,
corporation or association shall neglect or refuse to make report required by this
section to the Auditor-General on or before the first day of December of each year
and every year such person, firm, partnership, corporation or association so
neglecting or refusing shall pay as a penalty into the State Treasury twenty-five
(25) per centum in addition to the ten (10) per centum tax imposed as aforesaid
in this section on the face value of all such orders, checks dividers, coupons, pass
books or other paper representing amount due for wages or earnings not re-
deemed by paying the employe or a member of his family in lawful money of the
United States in thirty (30) days by the person, firm, partnership, corporation or
association making, giving or issuing the same. The honoring of paper repre-
senting wages or earnings by a bank is a sufficient payment.
[308]
SOCIOLOGICAL NOTES. 161
The so-called "Weiler Bill" is an act to protect employes of cor-
porations in their right to form, join or belong to labor organiza-
tions by prescribing penalties for an interference therewith. This
act makes it illegal to exact as a part of the labor contract any
pledge not to form or join or belong to a lawful labor organization.
The penalty for any violation of the act is a fine of not more than
two thousand and not less than one thousand dollars and imprison-
ment for a term not exceeding one year or either or both in the
discretion of the court.
The Prison Bill is interesting in many ways and we give the text
in full :
AN ACT limiting the number of inmates of state prisons, penitentiaries, state
reformatories and other penal institutions within the State of Pennsylvania, to
be employed in the manufacture of goods therein, and prohibiting the use of
machinery in manufacturing said goods.
SECTION i. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted
by the authority of the same. That from and after the passage of this act no
warden, superintendent or other officer of any state prison, penitentiary or state
reformatory, having control of the employment of the inmates of said institution,
shall employ more than five per centum of the whole number of inmates of said
institutions in the manufacture of brooms and brushes and hollow-ware, or ten
per centum in the manufacture of any other kind of goods, wares, articles or things
that are manufactured elsewhere in the state, except mats and matting, in the
manufacture of which twenty per centum of the whole number of inmates may be
employed.
SECTION 2. That the officers of the various county prisons, work houses and
reformatory institutions within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, shall not
employ more than five per centum of the whole number of inmates in said insti-
tution in the manufacture of brooms and brushes and hollow-ware, or ten per
centum in the manufacture of any other kind of goods, wares, articles or other
things that are manufactured elsewhere in the state, except mats and matting, in
the manufacture of which twenty per centum of the whole number of inmates
may be employed, provided, this act shall not apply to goods manufactured for the
use of the inmates of such institutions.
SECTION 3. That no machine operated by electricity, hydraulic force, com-
pressed air, or other power, except machines operated by hand or foot power, shall
be used in any of the said institutions in the manufacture of any goods, wares,
articles or things that are manufactured elsewhere in the state.
SECTION 4. Any warden, superintendent or other officer or person having con-
trol of the employment of inmates of any of the within mentioned state or county
institutions or other penal institution or institutions wherein convict labor is
employed, within the State of Pennsylvania, violating the provisions of this act
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be
sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or undergo an impris-
onment not exceeding one year, or both, at the discretion of the court.
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect on the first day of January, one thousand
eight hundred and ninety-eight.
The Prison Bill had the active support of the labor organizations,
[309]
1 62 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
and yet in light of recent investigations into prison management in
Pennsylvania it seems as if this was beginning a reform at the
wrong end. Some restriction of the competitive features of prison
labor is doubtless desirable, but it is difficult as it is for the prison
warden to supply labor to his inmates and without it prison man-
agement is inhumane and unproductive of the best results in which
the workingman is as much interested as anyone else.
BOOKS RECEIVED FROM MAY 20 TO JULY 15, 1897.
Alden, G. H., New Governments West of the Alleghenies before 1780. Bulletin of
University of Wisconsin, April, 1897. $0.50.
Allard, A., La Crise agricole. Expos6 didactique de ses Origines monetaires.
Bruxelles : Socie'te' Beige de Librairie.
Andler, Charles, Les Origines de Socialisme d'Etat en Allemagne. Paris : Alcan.
Tfr.
Bastable, C. F., The Theory of International Trade with Some of Its Applications
to Economic Policy. Second edition. Revised. Macmillan. $1.25.
Bech, Ml., Etude experimentale sur I'Electro-Magngtisme. Paris: Vigot Freres.
3fr.
Boissevain, G. M., The Monetary Situation in 1897. Translated from the Dutch.
Macmillan.
Bullock, C. J., Introduction to the Study of Economics. Boston : Silver, Burdette.
Champion, M. E., La France d'apres les Cahiers de 1789. Paris : Colin. 3. so/)-.
Comte, Auguste, La Sociologie. Resume par Emile Rigolage. Paris : Alcan. 7.50 fr.
Demoor, J.; Massart, J.; Vandervelde, E.: L'Evolution regressive en Biologic et
en Sociologie. Paris : Alcau. 6fr.
Deploige, S., Le Boerenbond Beige. Louvain : Institut Supe'rieur de Philosophic.
IOC.
Deploige, S., Saint Thomas et la Question juive. Louvain : Institut Supe'rieur de
Philosophic.
Doniol, H., M. Thiers, le Comte de St. Vallier, le G6nral de Manteuffel, Libdra-
tion du Territoire, 1871-1873. Paris : Colin. \fr.
Fisher, S. G., The Evolution of the Constitution of the United States. Philadel-
phia : Lippincott. $1.50.
Gomel, C., Histoire financi&re de 1'Assemble'e constituante. Vol. II, 1790-1791.
Paris : Guillaumin. %fr.
Greene, T. L., Corporation Finance. Putnams. $1.25.
Halle, Ernst, Baumwollproduktion u. Pflanzungswirtschaft in den Nordameri-
kaniscben Sudstaaten. Erster Teil. Leipzig : Duncker & Humblot. 9 m.
Handy, W. M., Banking Systems of the World. Chicago : Kerr & Co.
Hart, A. B. (Editor), American History Told by Contemporaries. Vol. I: Era of
Colonization 1492-1689. Macmillan. $2.00.
Jernegan, M. W., The Tammany Societies of Rhode Island. (Papers from the
Historical Seminary of Brown University.) $0.50.
Johnston, W. P., The Johnstons of Salisbury. New Orleans : Graham & Son. $1.25.
Leroy-Beaulieu, P., Les nouvelles Sociele's Anglo-Saxonnes. Australie et Nouvelle-
Z61ande, Afrique australe. Paris: Colin, /(fr.
Limousin, C. M., Socionomique. Paris : Guillaumin. 50 c.
Lough, T., England's Wealth Ireland's Poverty. Third edition. London :
Downey & Co. i s.
Maps of the Orinoco-Essequibo Region, South America. Washington : Govern-
ment Printing Office.
Mauro, A. P., I Veri Principii Etico-Sociali. Catania : C. Galatola. i /
Myers, Cortland, Midnight in a Great City. Merrill & Baker. $1.00.
Myrick, Herbert, Sugar. Orange Judd Co. $0.50.
New Constitutional Laws for Cuba. Associated Spanish and Cuban Press.
[3"]
164 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
Nouveau Dictionnaire de Geographic universelle. Supplement, 8# Fascicule.
Paris : Hachette. 2.50 fr.
Pearson, Karl, The Chances of Death and Other Studies in Evolution. 2 vols.
Edward Arnold. $8.00.
Plehn, C. C., The Gerreral Property Tax in California. (American Economic As-
sociation Studies, Vol. II, No. 3. ) Macmillan. $0.50.
Rapport du Bureau Federal des Assurances sur les Enterprises privies en Matiere
d' Assurances en Suisse en 1895. Berne.
Report and Accompanying Papers of the Commission Appointed by the President
of the United States "To Investigate and Report upon the True Divisional
Line Between the Republic of Venezuela and British Guiana." Vol. III. Geo-
graphical. Washington: Government Printing Office.
Royall, W. L., The Pool and the Trust. Review of the Supreme Court's Traffic
Decision. Richmond, Va.: Geo. M. West.
Saleilles, Raymond, Les Accidents de Travail et la Responsibility civile. Paris :
Rousseau.
Schanz, Georg, Neue Beitrage zur Frage der Arbeitslosen-versicherung. Berlin :
Heymann. 4 m.
Seignobos, C., Histoire politique de 1' Europe contemporaine. Paris: Colin. 12 fr.
Stolzmann., R., Die soziale Kategorie in der Volkswirthschaftslehre. Berlin : Putt-
kammer & Miihlbrecht. 10 m.
Traill, H. D. (Editor) .Social England. Vol. VI. Putnauis. $3.50.
Webster, W. C., Recent Centralizing Tendencies in State Educational Administra-
tion. (Studies in History, Economics and Public Law. Vol. VIII, No. 2.)
New York : Columbia University. $0.75. t
Wernicke, Johannes, System der nationalen Schutzpolitik nach Aufzen. Nation-
ale Handels-(insbesondere auch Getreide-) Kolonial-, Wahrungs-, Geld-, und
Arbeiter- Schutzpolitik. Jena : Fischer. 6 m.
NOV.
ANNALS
OF THE
AMERICAN ACADEMY
OF
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE.
THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF ARISTOTLE.
In current criticism an eminent man of thought or action is
termed eminently sane, if it is intended to mark him off from
other men of his class. By sanity we mean substantially what
the average man means by common sense; it is the capacity
to apprehend things as they are without recourse to the
refinements of metaphysical subtleties against which the
positivists and the inductive school generally have led a
wholesome reaction. Aristotle was the first of the posi-
tivists, the first of the scientists, the first Baconian.
The cry, ' ' Back to Aristotle, ' ' stands for a more correct
method; and there is some promise now that students of
political science will also follow the path of patient investi-
gation and rigorous analysis.* The rise of the historical
method and the gradual development of history into a
science, promises to work out the redemption of political
philosophy from the gratuitous assumptions into which it
was carried by the metaphysics of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. Two signs of the times may be taken
* The need of a better method and of a wider scope is well urged by Professor
L,eo S. Rowe, in his study of" The Problems of Political Science," in the ANNALS,
Vol. x, p. 165, September, 1897.
[313]
2 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
as an earnest of this return to a more sober thinking: first,
the absence of any present writing of note which attempts
to formulate into a system the older political philosophy;
and second, the earnest effort made in all of the civilized
countries of the world to secure a larger conception of the
social relations and a deeper insight into the functions of .the
state as a constituted guardian of the welfare of the indi-
vidual man, a constituted guardian which, while it is not
primarily a finder or provider, does yet powerfully aid indi-
vidual man both directly and positively in realizing himself,
that is, in attaining his ends.
A return to Aristotle stands also for a wider conception
of the state. Underlying much of our current individual-
ism is a belief in an abstract individual, an utter neglect of
the real individual. Man is a political, i. <?., asocial animal.
The individual apart from all relations to a community is a
negation, a logical ghost, a metaphysical spectre. Over
against the individual we are wont to set the state; a point
of view to be sure which we can take; but the antithesis
between the state and the individual is only a partial truth,
and a partial truth when taken for the whole truth be-
comes a falsehood. Similarly there is an assumed antithesis
between the state and society which has been much over-
worked. The antithesis has doubtless a subjective value;
it has become a common-place of German writers on public
law and ethics, and it may aid in clearness of thinking at
certain points, but it is doubtful whether it has any histori-
cal reality.*
I do not object to the wide conception of society that
is commonly entertained but to the too narrow concep-
tion of the state. The state is society in its best form.
The state is the only form of society possessing sovereign
authority, individuality, independence, and self-direction; it
is the authoritative and positive form of society; the state
* Cf. J. S. Mann quoted by Ritchie, " Principles of State Interference," Appen-
dix, Note A.
[314]
THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF ARISTOTLE. 3
considered as a government is an organ, but the state con-
sidered as a society is by metaphor an organism. Admira-
bly and with a scientific fidelity, that the student of law will
appreciate more justly than the student of history, Aris-
totle defines the state, the city-state it was in his day, as
' ' that association of men which is the highest of all associa-
tions and includes all." I know that in this contention for
a wider concept of the state I am placing myself outside of
the list of eminent authorities in modern political philosophy.
But as Mr. Ritchie observes, in his criticism of Herbert
Spencer's " Man vs. the State," there are some things that
demand more respect than distinguished persons philosophy
itself. Further studies, like that of Dr. Willoughby, may
reclaim part of the ground which some are too readily aban-
doning to the sociologists.
When Aristotle said, "Man is a political animal," he
meant something quite different from what those words mean
to us. We get his meaning more accurately if we translate
him into our language : Man is a social animal. This anti-
thesis between the state and society he practically ignores.
Plato, however, ignores it more emphatically. Aristotle
seems at times to have some intimation of it, but when he
comes to work out his theory of the best state as distin-
guished from the best constitution, he gives most of his atten-
tion to what we are wont to call economic and social
questions. likewise in our own day the burning questions
in politics are almost the exact opposite of those which our
literary political philosophers are wont to hold up as the
true data for the construction of political science. Those
questions which it is common for them to say have no place
in politics, questions of a social and economic character, are
in the very foreground of political discussion, and if they do
not form an integral part of politics proper, they must yet
have their recognition by the statesman who confronts them
in his career. Adam Smith and his forerunners confounded
economics with politics and gave birth to a hybrid which,
-
4 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
until recently, their successors have uniformly called politi-
cal economy, while on the other hand Aristotle confounded
politics with economics by giving attention to a variety
of topics which a modern scholar would rule out of poli-
tics. Auguste Comte, was correct when he declared that
Aristotle in his " Politics," Montesquieu in his "Spirit of
lyaws," Condorcet in his "Sketch of the Progress of the
Human Spirit in History ' ' and economists pre-Smithian and
post-Smithian, have each and all alike attempted to construct
a philosophy of society which to Aristotle was the state, and
which, to most moderns, is in antithesis to the state. The
question respecting the various fields to be occupied by the
several so-called political or social sciences seems to me
should be held to be still an open one. When their com-
plete differentiation shall have been established, and when
the day of their maturity shall have come, we shall under-
stand their subordinate no less than their co-ordinate rela-
tions; their synthesis no less than their analysis.
Two observations by Aristotle, respecting the study of
political science or the art political, require our notice:
the one respecting the student,* the other respecting the
teacher f of political science. He intimates that to be ready
for the study of the art political a man should have a wide
experience and a general acquaintance with affairs. He
suggests that he is best prepared for the study of the art
political whose education on all matters has been universal.
"And hence it is," he adds, " that a young man is not a fit student
for the art political, for he has had no experience in matters of daily
life, with which matters our premises are concerned, and of which
our conclusions treat .... And this is true of him who is young in
character equally with him who is young in years. "J
The other difficulty lies with the teacher or the teaching
of political science. In connection with the discussion of
the best education, he inquires:
* " Nichomachaean Ethics," Bk. i.
t/Mtf., Bk. x.
J Ibid., Bk. i. (Williams' translation, p. 3).
[316]
THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OP ARISTOTLE. 5
" But from whom can we learn political science? To this the right
answer would seem to be that we must learn it from politicians. But
then," he proceeds, " we must remember that there is a clear differ-
ence between political science and all the other sciences and arts
whatsoever. For in all the other sciences, as in medicine, for instance,
and in painting, we find that the same persons both teach the general
theory of the science and also practice it as a profession."
In the case of political science, although the sophists
| profess to teach it in theory, yet no one of them is actually
\engaged in its practice politics as a profession being in the
jhands of statesmen, and it would seem that statesmen are
jnot guided in their practice by any knowledge of scientific
I principles,
f "but rather that they have some special aptitude for the subject,
| combined with a knowledge of certain empiric rules."
Furthermore
41 it would seem that those who desire a thorough knowledge of politi-
cal philosophy need some acquaintance with the actual practice of
states. As for those among the sophists who profess political philos-
ophy, the last thing that one would say of them would be that they
\ teach that which they profess. As a matter of fact they have not the
least knowledge either as to what the science is or with what it is
/ concerned. Else they would never have identified it with rhetoric."*
It is from a sense of their fitness and importance, and be-
cause they give so admirably the Aristotelian point of view,
that I have permitted myself to make these extracts from
the " Nichomachaean Ethics." For in these paragraphs
we have the introduction to ' ' The Politics. ' '
In the last paragraph of ' ' The Ethics ' ' Aristotle promises
to enter upon a consideration of political science himself in
order that we may "complete, as far as in us lies, that
branch of philosophy, the object of which is man." And
he submits the following program:
" We will first attempt to examine in detail all such particular state-
ments of our predecessors as may commend themselves. And we will
* Ibid., Bk. x (Williams' translation, pp 325-26).
[317]
6 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
then proceed to frame a collection of constitutions, and to derive
therefrom certain rules as to what are the causes by which a state is
preserved, and what are the causes by which it is destroyed; and fur-
ther, to determine what modifications must be made in these rules, so
that they may be applicable to each particular form of constitution.
We will then consider for what reasons it is that some govern-
ments are successful and others not. . . . We shall then be in a
better position to determine, not only what is the absolutely best form,
of government, but also in what manner each particular form of gov-
ernment must be ordered, and of what laws and what customs it must
make use. Here then we leave the ethics and begin the politics."
Sir Frederick Pollock places two great achievements to
the credit of Aristotle: first, that he separated politics from
ethics; and, second, that he adopts a correct method. Of the
first of these it must be said that Aristotle does not carry the
separation of ethics and politics as far as some modern
scholars do; he regards ethics as " in a sense a political
inquiry."* Aristotle constantly reckons with the ethical
element in his discussion of politics, and he does this with-
out losing his bearings; he does not cease to treat of the state,
if he reckons at times with questions of character and con-
duct, with purpose and motive. His method is historical,
critical and constructive, and is fairly indicated in the para-
graph above which we called his program. His complete
neglect of artistic form, and his adherence to ' ' essential
naked truth," induced Wilhelm von Humboldtf to say that
he was un-Greek.
"The Politics," which in ordinary book form covers
something over two hundred pages, has come to stand in
certain generally accepted divisions and subdivisions, known
as books, chapters and paragraphs; $ and while no rigorous
lines mark the eight books off from each other, each has
*See " Nichomachaean Ethics," introductory chapter of Book i (Welldon's
translation, p. 3).
fin a letter to F. A. Wolf, dated January 15, 1795, " Works," Vol. v, p. 125.
J The references to the text of " The Politics " in the foot-notes which follow are
to Jowett's translation. The translations of the Greek text are, however, not
always in the words of Jowett. In a few instances the writer has adopted the ren-
dering of other students and occasionally he has ventured a translation of his own.
[318]
THE POLITIC AL PHILOSOPHY OF ARISTOTLE. 7
essentially one leading topic which may serve to state its
title. These I summarize as follows: first, the origin of the
state and the elements of political and social economy;
second, the study of constitutions ideal and real, or political
history and the history of political literature; third, the ideal
constitution; fourth, the forms of government; fifth, politi-
cal revolutions, or the permanence of governments; sixth, two
of the forms further considered, democracy and oligarchy,
and administrative machinery; seventh, the conditions of the
state, or the ideal state; eighth, education. Now these eight
books may be more logically grouped under four or five
heads. Leaving the first two as they stand, merging
the fourth and fifth and part of the sixth with the third,
and dividing the remaining three into two, placing the
seventh by itself, and a part of the sixth with the eighth, we
should have five parts. This rearrangement would place the
several divisions more in harmony with what is now the cus-
tomary rubric for the discussion of the several topics. Thus
arranged the order of topics would be: first, the origin of
the state and the elements of political and social economy;
second, political history and the history of political litera-
ture; third, government more narrowly, constitutional law
with some attempts to state a political theory; fourth, the
ideal state, dealing with the life of the state behind the
constitution, itself conditioning the constitution; fifth,
administration, of which the chief subjects treated are
administrative agencies at the end of book sixth and educa-
tion in the eighth book. The first of these parts corre-
sponds to what the sociologists are recently claiming as their
special province. The second and third of these parts con-
stitute the body of the work and deal primarily with the
government of states. The fourth part, answering to the
seventh book, is perhaps the portion of ' ' The Politics ' ' least
understood. The fifth part, considered as a discussion of
administration, is very incomplete. Our further discussion
we will group under these five headings.
8 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
I. The Origin of the State and the Elements of Political
and Social Economy. The definition of the state Aristotle
formulates substantially as follows : the state is that associa-
tion (xocvtavla*) which is the highest of all associations, and
includes all, and aims at the highest good.* Human society
can be resolved into two ultimate elements, the sexual rela-
tion and private property. Upon these two relations the
state is founded. The first is necessary for the continuance
of the race, and both the family and property are necessary
for its welfare. Hence two preliminary sciences detain us
in our investigations of the organization of government,
namely: the science of the household, family, the science
of association or social relations, shall we say sociology;
and the science of property, of wealth and wealth-getting
(chrematistic). In the language of our day general sociology
must precede the study of politics. Each of these two sub-
jects are then sketched in outline with an admirable insight.
We are promised a treatment of the household under these
headings: the master and slave, husband and wife, parent
and child titles which to a law student suggest a chapter
in law, but are meant by Aristotle to outline the fundamental
human association, the fundamental social unit, the family
as the ancients knew it. The treatment of this subject stops
with the first topic, and we are left, as so many times we are
left in reading " The Politics," with unfulfilled expectations.
In the chrematistic, as he calls the second of these prelim-
inary sciences, Aristotle discusses the production of goods,
the organization of exchange, and the proper views that
should be held respecting wealth. The distribution of wealth
is indirectly treated with exchange, and consumption is dis-
cussed exclusively from the ethical point of view. In hus-
bandry (agriculture) household management and chrematis-
tic overlap.
The origin of the state is accounted for as the fusion of
villages, which are themselves a fusion of households; and
* Bk. i, Cap. 1, i.
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THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OP ARISTOTLE. 9
the progressive and advancing group is in each instance
associated with a wider organization of property. The
initial association is the household, and it exists to meet the
immediate wants of the day; its members are "sharers of
the meal bin. ' ' The second step in the series is an aggre-
gation of the household, which is the village, the village
community. The third step is an aggregation of villages,
which is the city, the city-state. The fourth step has been
taken since the time of Aristotle, the aggregation of city-
states into the territorial state.*
In the first book of ' ' The Politics ' ' appears a description
of the patriarchal family as archetype of the state which Sir
Henry Maine himself could never have excelled:
" Our city-states were originally governed by kings, as also are bar-
barian tribes to this day; for they were an aggregate of units governed
by kings. For every household is governed by its oldest member as
"by a king, and thus the offshoots (airotida) were similarly governed
through the sympathy of kinship. And this is what Homer means:
*Each man is the oracle of law to his children and to his wives.'
. . . This is the reason why men say that the gods are governed by a
king, for men themselves are either still subject to a king or were so
in ancient times." f
As the lesser groups are natural, argues Aristotle, so is
the largest and all-inclusive one, for it is the end of the
lesser in as much as "the completed nature is the end."
Hence it is evident that the state is one of nature's produc-
tions, and that man is by nature a social animal, a city ani-
mal (noAiTixovgwov), and that the man who is without a
country (drco^ by nature and not by mere accident is
* Professor Burgess, "Political Science and History," A merican Historical Re-
view, April, 1897, p. 403, says aptly: "The Roman imperium inaugurated the period
of country states; and the period in which we live is the period of national country
states." But another remark of Professor Burgess, in the same connection, that
" etymologically the phrase [political science] means the science of municipal
government," can not be taken as strictly accurate. It means more, etymologically,
than the science of municipal government by just as much as the classical city-
state was more than a municipality. The concept municipal government in our
day is better defined by the term municipal administration.
t Bk. i, Cap. ii, 6-8.
io ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
certainly either worse or better than man.* The impulse
toward association of some sort is natural to all men, but as
Lester F. Ward might say, it needs psychic direction. The
Greeks therefore ascribed a fundamental importance to the
law-giver as organizer of society. "The first organizer
(auaT7)aa$) was the author of the greatest blessings." f Justice
is political and its administration the very order of political
association.
II. Constitutions, Ideal and Real. Political history and
the history of political literature would be a fitting descrip-
tion of the scope of the second book of " The Politics; " but
the book can hardly bear so ambitious a title. Of the ideal
constitutions, that is, those proposed in speculative political
literature, he treats the opinions of three of his predecessors,
Plato, Phaleas and Hippodamus, with considerable fullness.
Hippodamus, who is praised for having invented the art of
planning cities, was one of the first city engineers and prac-
ticed the art of laying out the streets into squares or blocks.
Aristotle thinks it worth his while to inform us that he wore
" flowing hair and expensive ornaments."
Quite unlike Plato, Aristotle determined to discard no-
institution like the family or property which was sanctioned
by immemorial usage. Communism in the family relation
would lead to a grotesque confusion; individual interest in
the general welfare would be sacrificed, and society itself
become impossible. Of community of property he speaks-
with more tolerance. He enumerates three kinds of com-
munal property: common property of products with private
property of land; common property of land with private
property of products; or, thirdly, both land and product may
be common. But none of these will answer as a system.
Our present arrangement of private property if improved by
good customs and good laws would be far better. Some of
his maxims, old perhaps in his day, are as significant as ever:
* Bk. i, Cap. ii, \ 8-10.
tBk. i, Cap. ii, 2 15.
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THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF ARISTOTLE. n
" Nothing is so well cared for as that which is cared for for
oneself." "Of the two qualities which chiefly inspire regard and
affection, that a thing is your own and that you love it, neither can
exist in a communistic state."
Many evils are charged to private property for which it is
not responsible. The real cause of existing evils is not
private property but the wickedness of men. Rich men
should be taught the pleasure of giving, and the virtues of
liberality and temperance should be cultivated. Com-,
munism may be wisely applied to slaves and the lower classes
in order to hold them in subjection, a view which the master
class in slave-holding countries in our times have shared
with Aristotle. After this review of Plato's "Republic,"
" The I,aws " of Plato are examined, but not in the spirit
of a generous critic. The following views of Aristotle appear
from a summary of the criticism: that a state cannot exceed
certain bounds; that the treatment of foreign relations is a
constituent part of political science; that the doctrine of
population must be discussed in a theory of the state; that
a good constitution is made up of many elements, of balances
and checks. For example, to illustrate the last view, he
observes that the constitution proposed in ' ' The L,aws ' ' has
in it no element of monarchy, that it leans too hard to
oligarchy in its electoral college.
Of real constitutions that of Sparta seems the favorite one,
but others are cited. The criteria for testing a constitution
are these: Is its end good ? Are the laws consistent with this
end ? Is there a leisure class who can see to the conduct of
the state ? Only the last of these questions calls for discus-
sion. That there should be a leisure class seems clear to
Aristotle, but he regards the question of their support a per-
plexing one. But he apparently finds a solution in the
existence of a slave class for the support of the governing
class. The idea of supporting only a distinct and -limited
class of public servants does not appear to have been grasped
by the thinkers of Aristotle's time, much less that this class
[323]
t
12 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
should be supported by an equitable and proportionate con-
tribution of the members of the state It is evident that
public finance whether regarded as an art or a science was
in its infancy. The constitutions of Sparta, Crete and
Carthage are critically reviewed. All the political writers
of antiquity were profoundly impressed by the Spartan con-
stitution, but our critic could not view it with unqualified
favor. There was perhaps a vein of humor in some of his
strictures. The second book closed with a cursory and
rambling mention of political writers and legislators. Not
even the greatest of men can make a science out of nothing,
and a perusal of this book of ' ' The Politics ' ' reveals in a
measure the debt of Aristotle to his age.
III. Government. Broadly stated and in a modern spirit
we should say that the subject of the third, fourth and fifth
books and of a part of the sixth is government with an
incidental discussion of the wider conception of the state.
The central thought of the discussion is the constitution or
constitutions (fto&rftoc) , whence politics.
i. Distinction between state and government. Aristotle
had undoubtedly before him the distinction between state
and government. The former appears constantly as the city
(/TO^C) while the latter is referred to variously as polity,
constitution or rule (jtohr&ia^ noMTevfJta, dp%q) . If we wish
in the study of politics, he says in substance at the opening
of the third book, to determine the various forms of govern-
ment, our first step should be to consider the state (/nU/c).
For different views are taken of the state crediting now to
the state what should be predicated of the government, that
is, of the oligarchy or the despot it may be.
"Now the whole business of the statesman or legislator is, we see,
concerned with the state; and the government of it or constitution is a
particular organization of the men who live in the state. " '
In the third book Aristotle discusses the ideal constitution.
In the seventh he discusses the ideal state. In the discus-
*Bk. iii, Cap. i, Ji.
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THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF ARISTOTLE. 13
sion of the ideal constitution, he asks who should have a
share in the government and how should the government be
organized and to what purpose; in the fourth and fifth books
and in a part of the sixth, he considers the forms of govern-
ment and their permanence. In the seventh book he inquires
into the nature of the state as that lies back of the constitu-
tion, to use the forcible words of Burgess, he inquires into
the conditions of the state and investigates problems of soil,
climate, population, situation, and a host of problems which
certain moderns rule out of political science because forsooth,
the subject of their inquiry is not the state but the govern-
ment.
2. Definition of citizenship. In accordance with his
method before he proceeds with the study of the constitution
he wants to know the elements out of which it is constituted
and into which it may be resolved, and these he finds to be
the citizens. But what is a citizen (TtoXcrr^ ? He sets him-
self to return an answer to this question with a gravity
which shows that already in his day the literature on this
topic was large and opinion divided. But his conclusion
is definite. A citizen is one who_shares in indefmite_Qffice.
one who takes part in th^ government as dicast and ecclesiast,
that is, as juror j)r assemblyman^- Those who have the right_
of suffrage and can sit on juries would be a modejm ygrsinn
of the Aristotelian test of citizenship,.. It is conceded that
this test applies best to democracies, for in some form of
governments the indefinite office practically disappears as the
demos is not recognized at all where there are no regulai
assemblies or only called ones, and justice is administered by
special boards. But it will still be true that the holder of
the most general office will be a citizen; political status, in
short, is. an essential condition of citizenship according to
Aristotle.
3. The identity of states. On his answer to the question
which he raises respecting the identity of states modern
politics has left him sharply behind. Whether a state is the
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14 ANNAI^S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
same or not the same he says depends on the identity of
constitutions. That his answer is not satisfactory to himself
appears from his hedging about the repudiation of contracts.
His answer is all the more unsatisfactory because his dis-
tinction between state and government should have led him
to a different view; but it is evident that in this respect he
shared the weakness of certain distinguished modern writers
who state clearly and emphasize broadly the distinction
between the state and the government and then proceed to
neglect at once the distinction drawn. For a clear answer to
what constitutes the identity of states we are no doubt most
indebted to the canons of international law, a service which,
by the way, will not long stand by itself. The present
tendency in literary political philosophy to abstract the
state, will likewise have its permanent refutation from the
imperative realities underlying our data for that branch of
political science which deals with the relations of states to
one another.
4. The relation of ethics to politics. Aristotle's concep-
tion of the relation of ethics to politics cannot be satisfactorily
discussed in the few words which can be given here to the
question which he so often asks: Is the virtue of a good
citizen and of a good man the same ? It does not appear
that his answer is always the same. His answer in the
main is undoubtedly an affirmative one, but there are
phases of the question which evidently perplex him, and he
attempts discriminations and distinctions. For example, in
the fifth book, in urging high and specific qualifications for
office, he remarks: In the choice of a general, we should re-
gard his skill rather than his virtue; but in selecting a cus-
todian of the public treasure we should follow the opposite
rule.*
5. The functions of government or the ends of the organ-
ized state. These are defence, the administration of justice
including repressive justice, that is, police, and the general
* Blc. v, Cap. ix, \ 10.
[326]
THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF ARISTOTLE. 15
welfare. The chief end of the state, that is, its latest or
/ highest end is culture. In the words of Aristotle, ' ' The state
exists for the sake of living well. ' ' The state as the highest
of human associations and including all others, is not only
for the sake of life, but for the sake of good life.
"Man is by nature a political animal, that is a city animal, a social
animal. And, therefore, men even when they do not require one
another's help desire to live together, and are brought together by
their common interest even in proportion as they attain to any
measure of well-being. ' ' *
" It is clear then that a state is not a mere society, having a common
place, established for the prevention of crime and for the sake of ex-
change. These are conditions without which a state cannot exist;
but all of them together do not constitute a state, which is a com-
munity of well-being in families and in aggregations of families called
villages or communes, for the sake of a perfect and self-sufficing life." f
To what extent Aristotle believed in public expenditure
for the common good, appears from what he has to say on
virtue and public education. lyike other Greeks he empha-
sizes with earnestness the aesthetic element in social culture. t
All public works must, whenever practicable, be beautiful
as well as useful.
6. The forms of government or the forms of the organized
state. The form of the state is determined by its constitu-
tion, that is, by its form of government. Aristotle's
enumeration of the forms of government is probabty the
most widely known part of the politics and is commonly
taught in our elementary schools. Governments are classi-
fied as true or false according to their end, and they are:
The true or normal forms monarchy, aristocracy, polity;
the false or abnormal forms tyranny, oligarchy and demo-
cracy. The last false form has been described as ochlochracy
to distinguish it from polity which may be described as
* Bk. iii, Cap. vi, 3.
f Bk. iii., Cap. ix, I 12.
tin his " Theory of Social Forces," Cap. v, 7, Professor Simon N. Patten calls
attention to the importance of this factor in the promotion of the general welfare.
[327]
1 6 ANNAI^S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
democracy in its best form. Aristotle comments in extensa
on the relatively best form and on the natural fitness of the
several forms for differing conditions and peoples; and his
observations touching these important topics still rank easily
among the best that has been thought and said by political
philosophers of any time. One of the latest tributes by a
competent critic to Aristotle for his thoroughgoing analysis
of government is paid by Mr. Godkin in his recent essay on
" Democratic Tendencies." * Aristotle knew, too, that his
three fundamental forms were, after all, but bold generaliza-
tions, and that each particular state was organized by a com-
position of all the elements, e. g., the legislature might be
aristocratic, the chief courts democratic, and the executive
head a monarch. There is indeed some danger that in
passing criticism upon particular doctrines of " The Politics ' '
the critic will find himself engaged in an attack upon a
legendary instead of a real Aristotle, for Aristotle may suffer
at the hands of politicists much as Ricardo has suffered from
economists who have never taken the time and the pains to
read him carefully.
7. The relatively best form. Aristotle is profoundly
attracted to democracy. He holds distinctly that supreme
authority should ultimately rest with the many and not with
the few, and he thus decides in favor of polity, his third
form, as the absolutely best. The keynote of his constitu-
tional theory is found in the following sentence: ' ' The only
.stable principle of government is equality according to pro-
portion (qualitative as distinguished from quantitative
equality), and for every man to enjoy his own." We are
left somewhat in doubt as to the meaning of equality accord-
ing to proportion. The distinction corresponds to the
arithmetical and geometrical ratios upon which justice is
based in the ' ' Nichomachaean Ethics, ' ' and is practically in-
comprehensible at best by the modern mind; it is a Pythago-
rean concept which can at any rate not be understood without
* The Atlantic Monthly, February, 1897.
[328]
THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF ARISTOTLE. 17
a sympathetic familiarity with Greek philosophy. His recog-
nition of private property as a corner-stone in social organi-
zation is more readily apprehended by modern thought. All
we can definitely say is that Aristotle is aware of the
dangerous quality of the formula of human equality ' ' when
applied indiscriminately to all stages of society and all sorts
of men." He is aware too, as Professor Jowett observes,
that democracy represents an irresistible trend in history and
he desires to impose checks and limitations for its guidance.
In support of an extensive political status and a wide rule
of the many he makes citations the import of which is that
many heads are wiser than one. "But, by Heaven," he
suddenly exclaims, " in some cases this is impossible of
application; for the argument would equally hold about
brutes. ' ' * Therefore to numerical equality he opposes pro-
portional equality; instead of a mere head for head count
wealth and education and merit are to be regarded. Citizens
are to have powers and rights in proportion to their qualities,
inclusive of their status and possessions. In short, he
modifies the supremacy of numbers by subordinating all to
the order of reason, to law.
8. The supremacy of law. To the Greek mind, law in its
widest sense was the order of reason. Sovereignty must there-
fore lie with the law, and ought not to be vested in persons;
but sovereignty as ordered reason should gain expression so
that great things be not left to caprice. Law thus blended with
religion, morality and public opinion; and much of what was
due to national history and character, to the silent impact of
society upon the individual, was ascribed to the direction of
law. "We have here," as Butcher observes, "not a con-
ception of law upon which a system of jurisprudence could
be based, but one on which a theory of society might be
reared." f Well might the orators declare that democracy
in its true idea was the reign of law, and a hard headed
*Bk. iii, Cap. xi.
tFor an admirable statement of the Greek idea of law as an expression of
reason, see S. M. Butcher, " Some Aspects of the Greek Genius," pp. 53-60.
[329]
1 8 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
Greek like Aristotle could say : ' ' He who bids the law rule
may be deemed to bid God and reason rule."
But law also spoke in terms of stern compulsion. Law as
, J the order of the universe gained expression in statutory enact-
.' ments or in command of king, council, or assembly. Thispos-
' itive announcement of the law through governmental agency
was not always complete and perfect. So there was place left
for emendations of the law regarded as formal expression of
the will of governments or peoples; and progress in adapta-
tions " which experience suggests " was provided for. There
is too, in "The Politics," a recognition of the distinction
between positive law and its administration. The training
of judges is advised and the necessity of occasional decisions
in equity is understood.
To the writer, no passages in "The Politics" have a
; greater charm than those paragraphs in which the cus-
tomary and the written law are balanced against each other,
since they reflect the two-sided conception of law as the order
of the universe and imminent in human nature, and law as
positive enactment or written law. Aristotle exalts the
authenticity, the authority of customary law, and he ex-
presses the following remarkable opinion:
" Customary laws have more weight and relate to more important
matters than written laws, and a man may be a safer ruler than the
''written law, but not safer than the customary law." *
This is akin to the respect and reverence which many a
thoughtful lawyer develops for our English common law.
9. Political revolution or the permanence of constitutions.
Aristotle seriously studied the conditions of Greek political
experience and pointed out with minute care the disorders
common to the Greek city-states. His treatment of politi-
cal revolutions is in no sense what modern political phil-
osophy discusses under the title, the right to revolution; it
is rather an analysis of political revolutions as to their
* Bit. iii, Cap. iii, \ 17.
[330]
THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF ARISTOTLE. 19
nature, their causes and occasions, their results and the
means of avoiding them. He did not think deeply enough
however when he said that if we know the causes of the
ruin of states we know the remedies.
IV. The Ideal State. The attempt to describe an ideal
state leads to a consideration of the life of the state behind
the constitution, but itself conditioning the constitution,
that is, the form of government. In order to show the
significance of this topic in the discussion of political
theory, it ought to be the subject of an entire paper.
I can only indicate the suggestive method of Aristotle's
analysis. The conditioning forces of the state Aristotle
seeks to find: In an examination of the population, the
social population, its composition and constitution; in a
consideration of the territory, its character, climate, situa-
tion, fertility, extent, its economic resources and conditions;
in a study of its industrial organization, its political econ-
omy, using the phrase here in the concrete sense as distin-
guished from the abstract science which we can better
designate as economics; in its social institutions, its moral
standards, its religion, its family life, and its system of
education. In this seventh book Aristotle comes back to a
number of fundamental problems considered in the intro-
ductory book; and we may say of the seventh book as we
said of the first, that it occupies a field which is in part
claimed by the sociologist.
V. Administration. I have placed the eighth book with
the end of the sixth to give our modern point of view, but
this cannot be regarded as Aristotelian. In Aristotle's dis-
cussion the treatment of education grows out of his attempt
to construct an ideal state. Both Plato and Aristotle merge
the construction of an ideal state into a system of education.
They accord a high place in the state to education, " whereas,
in modern treatises on politics, education is generally ban-
ished as being a part of another subject or a subject by
itself." To Aristotle as well as to Plato education was a
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2o ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
part of the constitution. For both its form and its per-
manence were determined by educational aims and ends.
11 But of all things which I have mentioned that which contributes
most to the permanence of institutions is the adaptation of education
to the form of government." *
Modern scholars can still turn to the book on education to
find both current ideas in happy phrase, and suggestion of ed-
ucational philosophy and method. But of the other subjects,
the magistracies or the civil service, which can be classed
here, little can be said. He barely enumerates the magistracies
and only incidentally describes their functions. His ideas
of efficiency of service were extremely crude and primitive.
He advocated a more than Jacksonian democracy when he
proposed that offices should rotate semi-annually. There
are scattered and incidental references to other subjects
which properly fall under administration, and an exhaustive
essay on ' ' The Politics ' ' would require that these be pointed
out.
What now is our conclusion touching the aim and scope
of ' ' The Politics ?' ' We have reviewed the analysis of the
initial elements of the state, which Aristotle makes the bases
of certain auxiliary sciences, which we now call sociology
and economics, and which he regards as forming a necessary
prelude to the study of politics, that is, the study of the
organized state which is the largest of all associations and
which includes all the rest. We have taken a brief look at
what had been thought and said by the predecessors of Aris-
totle and what had been inwrought into the political experi-
ence of his time as typified by certain concrete constitutions
like that of Carthage, Crete and Sparta. We next set our-
selves the task of following Aristotle in his discussion of
the state as organized for purposes of government, arid we
sketched, though briefly, the following topics which form
the body of his great work: The distinction between state
*Bk. v, Cap. ix, 2 ii.
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THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OP ARISTOTLE. 21
and government; the definition of citizenship; the identity
of states; the relation of ethics to politics; functions of
government or the ends of the organized state; forms of
government; the relatively best form; the supremacy and
authority of law, and the permanence of constitutions. If
the discussion of the state had stopped here, would it not be
necessary to concede to the writer of ' ' The Politics ' ' the
rank of a great political philosopher ? But the discussion of
the state did not stop with a discussion of the state as
organized. In the closing books of this masterpiece of the
classical age, we find a discussion of the state which raises
many of the questions that are engaging the attention of
political philosophy to-day, a discussion of questions that lie
back of the constitution and in a manner determine it, a
consideration of ways and means of social amelioration, and
a prescribing of a regime of education which only states of
the nineteenth century have come in a measure to incorpo-
rate. And finally, has Aristotle anything to contribute to
the classification of the political sciences at the present time?
Do we not yet, in accordance with principles laid down by
him and in accordance with his method, distribute the field
of investigation that lies back of and outside of the consti-
tution among a group of special sciences, which we can call
social if we will, but which we may, with no less propriety,
call political ?
ISAAC Loos.
State University of Iowa.
UTILITY AND COST AS DETERMINANTS OF
VALUE.
1 . The general conclusions of the Austrian school in re-
gard to the determination of value are stated in a paper by
Professor von Boehm-Bawerk, on " The Ultimate Standard
of Value," in the ANNAI^S for September, 1894. The es ~
sence of this paper would seem to be, that as a rule, utility
(defined in the "Positive Theory of Capital," page 133,*
as ' ' capacity to subserve human weal' ' ) , finally determines
the value of goods practically to the exclusion of all other
determinants in all important cases. Cost, in particular, is
proclaimed to officiate as a final determinant of value only in
a comparatively limited number of unimportant cases, f
Those who regard cost as a factor of equal, or nearly equal,
importance with utility in the final determination of value
are declared to be mistaken, no matter what their idea of
cost is.
While I never could agree with this doctrine, I have long
hesitated to publish my objections against the conclusions of
economists of so conspicuous and recognized ability as the
Austrians, and Boehm-Bawerk in particular. Withal I am
not unmindful of the fact that I owe to them the very foun-
dation of much that I have to say.
2. The conclusions of Boehm-Bawerk as to the determina-
tion of value, in his paper in the ANNANS, seem to be at
variance with some of his other teachings. He explains
[repeatedly in his writings that value nearly always is finally
(determined by marginal utility; even in his paper in the
ANNAivS he bases his arguments in favor of utility and
against cost almost altogether upon explanations of that
kind. He further says (in the ' ' Positive Theory of Capi-
tal") that marginal utility is determined by utility and
*The references are to Professor Smart's English translation,
t Pp. 7 and 60.
[334]
UTILITY, COST AND VALUE. 23
scarcity. Scarcity being nothing but a particular state of
the supply (as compared with the demand), and supply
being largely determined by cost, does it not follow from
Boehm-Bawerk's own teachings, that after all cost nearly
always is at least as final a determinant of value as utility ?
But Boehm-Bawerk, where he speaks of ' ' utility ' ' as the
final determinant of value, perhaps means marginal utility.
For this, something might be said, i. e., that the real argu-
ments of Boehm-Bawerk toward establishing utility as the
final determinant of value, do not go beyond those which
tend to establish marginal utility as such final determinant.
Still marginal utility has, even according to Boehm-Bawerk
himself, absolutely nothing final about it. Can he speak of
marginal utility in contrast to cost as the final determinant
of value, when he declares, though indirectly, that marginal
utility is determined by cost ? The insignificance of the
influence, furthermore, which Boehm-Bawerk ascribes to cost
in the final determination of value, rather precludes the
idea that by the utility which he declares to be, in contrast
to cost, the sole final determinant of value in the large ma-
jority of cases, he means a utility which itself is determined
by cost (z. e., marginal utility).
3. No matter whether Boehm-Bawerk refers to utility,
as he defines it, or to marginal utility, when he declares
' ' utility " to be the sole final determinant of value in all
important cases his conclusion seems to be unsatisfactory
either way. If he means utility, as he defines it,* he fails
since he has declared value to be determined by marginal
utility, and this by utility and scarcity to account for
scarcity, jumping in his argument from a determination of
value by marginal utility to one by utility with utter neglect
of the element of scarcity just as if scarcity were a fixed and
given element, instead of being just as much a variable factor
of marginal utility as utility. If he means marginal utility
where he speaks of ' ' utility ' ' as the final determinant
* See p. 22, above. .
[335]
24 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
of value, then his very statement that utility is the sole
final determinant of value in all important cases, leads to
the conclusion that in all of these cases cost is an even more
final determinant. For Boehm-Bawerk himself shows that
marginal utility is determined by utility and scarcity; and I
have shown * that it follows therefrom that cost is a determi-
nant of marginal utility.
It seems, therefore, that Boehm-Bawerk 's statement in
regard to cost is erroneous under all circumstances.
My conclusions in this matter are not affected, as some
have thought, by the fact that Boehm-Bawerk, when he
speaks of utility, invariably refers, not to something like
Adam Smith's "value is use," but to individual utility of a
concrete good or quantity of goods.
4. How far I agree with others who declare cost to be a
determinant of value, will appear below. I here desire to
call attention only to a peculiar mistake which many cham-
pions of cost make. They try to defeat utility as the almost
sole final determinant of value by battling and that, of
course, in vain against marginal utility as fully determin-
ing value, and by trying also, of course, in vain to show
that cost, to a greater or lesser extent, determines value
either together with or in contrast to marginal utility, in-
stead of putting cost in opposition to utility, and showing
that it, as well as utility, is one of the determinants of value,
because it affects value, just as utility does, through marginal
utility. Many of the champions of utility and opponents
of cost, on the other hand, trying to establish their point by
showing that marginal utility is practically the sole deter-
minant of value, an issue between marginal utility and cost
is strangely created and often prevails throughout the argu-
ment, yielding suddenly in the conclusion to the issue be-
tween utility and cost, and leaving the allegations as to the
relation of these conceptions standing in the air. Neither
party seems to recognize that marginal utility and cost,
* See p. 22, above.
[336]
UTILITY, COST AND VALUE. 25
properly conceived, stand in no opposition to each other
whatever, and that the determination of value by marginal
utility even implies a determination of value by cost. The
result is much confusion and lack of mutual understanding.
The confusion is increased by the circumstance that
many of the writers apparently regard a determination
of value by cost as necessarily involving an equality of
value and cost;* while it is very plain that value may be
determined by cost without being equal to it and also with-
out being determined by it alone. Cost is merely one factor
of the variable which we call value.
5. Marginal utility^ always and everywhere fully determines
value.
Boehm-Bawerk cites the case of the ticket for which
another one can be obtained by the small personal trouble
of another application, as illustrating a determination of
value by disutility. % But a few pages farther on he says
himself that, after all, we have in this case a determination
of value by marginal utility. And, indeed, want is satis-
fied as well by averting and saving trouble as by procuring
pleasure. The power of the ticket to save the trouble of
another application is its true marginal utility.
Another instance cited by Boehm-Bawerk of determina-
tion of value by disutility (the only case in which it occurs
* What has come to be called "equality" in this connection is really not equality
at all, but rather a correspondence. Here and elsewhere quantitative compari-
sons between value, cost, utility, etc., must be understood to refer to degree of
affection (positive and negative) of human weal only, without reference to kind.
At best, we have equality in a certain respect only.
t By marginal utility, I mean the utility of the last increment contemplated. It
refers to the last want which is actually or hypothetically satisfied, and which
would go unsatisfied without the possession and use of the increment in question.
Why in any case we should have recourse in this matter to the " first unsatisfied.
want,' 1 I fail to see. In reference to things we possess we look at the last wants
satisfied by them and not at those beyond; while in contemplating the value to us
of things we do not possess, we look at the wants which they would satisfy if we
should possess them, and not at the first want which they would leave unsatisfied
In no case is the value of the thing in question dependent upon the first want
which that thing leaves or would leave unsatisfied. The matter-of-course-fact that
we produce for unsatisfied want has no bearing on this question.
J Conrad's Jahrbucher, New Series, Vol. xiii, p. 42.
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26 ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
in full force, according to him*), is that of the product of
leisure hours. Tools made in leisure hours, he says, are
valued by the amount of disutility involved in the labor
devoted to them. I regret I cannot agree with Boehm-
Bawerk. If a man whittles an ax-handle in his leisure
hours and discovers afterward that he has made a bad job
of it, he does not value it much, though, perhaps, he spent
much time on it; and if, on the other hand, he did a very
nice job in a very short time, he values his work not the
less because he did it in his leisure hours. Products of
leisure hours, it seems to me, are valued just as other prod-
ucts. For similar reasons, I believe, all the other cases
must be dismissed which might be or have been regarded as
exceptions to the determination of value by marginal
utility.
In some of the cases referred to there is really a peculiar-
ity, but it seems to me that what has been taken for a pecu-
liarity of determination by disutility, is really a peculiarity
of measurement by a foreign negative value. The case of
the ticket above cited is a good example of this class of cases.
It is not a disutility of the ticket in the sense of cost, nor
any other cost- disutility, but simply the negative value and
marginal utility of another application something altogether
foreign to the ticket itself which serves, not as the determin-
ant, but merely as the measure of the value and marginal
utility of the ticket; and this happens simply because this for-
eign negative value and marginal utility, while indicating,
negatively, with accuracy, the amount of the value and
marginal utility of the ticket, present themselves more vividly
to the mind and are more readily grasped by it than the value
and marginal utility of the ticket itself. There is a peculiar
measurement, but hardly a peculiar determination, of value
in these cases. Surely there is as full and complete a deter-
mination of value by the marginal utility of the object in
question in these cases as in any other case.
* ANNALS, Vol. v, p. 200, September, 1894.
[338]
UTILITY, COST AND VALUE. 27
My view of this matter is further confirmed by the fact
that we have an exact correlative to the phenomenon just
discussed in the occasional measurement of negative value
by a foreign positive value. The negative value of a flood
which cannot be prevented is, for instance, often measured
by the value of the goods destroyed; and a similar measure-
ment is the rule wherever a good object is defeated or a ser-
vice prevented by the thing in question; provided, of course,
the defeat of that object or prevention of that service
constitute the marginal utility of the thing in question.
In all these cases we have simply a measurement of one
value and marginal utility by another value, and marginal
utility conceived in the negative. At the utmost we can
aver a determination of the value of an object by the nega-
tive of the marginal utility of another object. At any rate,
the phenomenon works both ways, from the negative side to
the positive as well as from the positive to the negative, and
cost of the object in question is not involved, except
indirectly.
6. By what is marginal utility determined ? The Austrians
tell us "by the relation of wants and their provision," "by
utility and scarcity," "by human well-being." Scarcity,
they say, determines how far the marginal utility actually (
does rise in the concrete case, while utility fixes the limit to
which it ma}' rise. The information received from the Aus-
trians on this point seems rather meagre. It leaves us
somewhat in the dark as to the influence which cost exerts
through marginal utility upon value. It leads us, indeed,
indirectly to the conclusion that cost is as final a determinant
of value as utility is, but this is apparently contradicted by
the final conclusion of the Austrian school.
7. The truth in the matter, it seems to me, is this: Mar-
ginal utility is always a resultant of utility and of the con-
dition of the supply, present and prospective. All supply is
nothing but the available output of the forces at work for its
production. The total product of these forces falls short of
[339]
28 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
the demand; though in some directions, principally where
not controlled by man, they produce a supply much larger
than that needed by man. In some instances, i. e., in cases
of actual over-supply, a burdensome excess of the supply
even creates a want, i. <?., for protection and removal. As
far, therefore, as man controls the forces of production,
including those he exerts himself, he aims to economize
them, and to regulate the production of his supply so as to
obtain the greatest amount of satisfaction from them. Other
things being equal, he would aim to supply the wants not
satisfied by forces outside of his conscious control, in the
order of their importance. But other things are not equal.
There is a great difference in the difficulty of satisfying the
different wants. Quite as much consideration is, therefore,
given to this difficulty as to the urgency of the different
wants. In consequence, therefore, many less urgent wants,
whose satisfaction is easy, or incidental to that of urgent
wants, are quite commonly and normally satisfied, while
more important wants remain unsatisfied because of the
great sacrifice which their satisfaction invol ves.
It is on account of the difficulties which nature and man-
made conditions interpose between us and the satisfaction of
our wants that this satisfaction does not everywhere extend
to the point of satiation. Without this difficulty marginal
utility everywhere would be equal to zero, and the concep-
tion of economic value would hardly ever have bothered
man's mind.
8. We find ( ) that the difficulty in the way of satisfying
all our wants, or of acquiring (and in particular producing)
the total amount of the things by which these wants might
be satisfied, limits this satisfaction, and the supply on which
this satisfaction depends. () That the satisfaction of
each particular class of wants, and also that of each indi-
vidual want, depends upon the comparative difficulty of
their satisfaction; and that the amount of the supply serv-
ing to satisfy the different wants always depends upon the
UTILITY, COST AND VALUE. 29
comparative difficulty of procuring or acquiring the different
supplies. In consequence, marginal utility and value are in
absolutely every case determined as much by the difficulty
of procuring or acquiring supply as by anything else.
The difficulty of procuring or acquiring supply which is
effective in determining value in this way is not the difficulty
of procuring or acquiring any amount of supply, and like-
wise not the actual difficulty, encountered in the past, of
procuring the goods under consideration themselves, * but
the difficulty of procuring or acquiring then and there, or
within fairly discountable distances of time and place, and
by the means within reach, at the margin of difficulty, f
additional supply equal, in capacity to subserve human weal,
to the things under consideration under the particular cir-
cumstances; or, in short, the marginal difficulty of substitu-
tion, or replacement.
The difficulty of anything is measured by the sacrifice
necessary to overcome such difficulty. Sacrifices, in relation
to the object for which they are made or would have to be
made, are called cost. Marginal cost of substitution, or replace-
ment, is therefore a determining element of value to the same
extent as marginal difficulty of substitution, or replacement.
Cost may consist of any sort of discomfort or of pain, of loss
of goods or services, loss of the benefits to be derived there-
from, loss of time and opportunity to enjoy pleasures, or of
any other sacrifices. These sacrifices may, like the utilities
of things, be spiritual or moral as well as temporal; may be
measured each in terms of the others, by the same process of
mental balancing as that by which we measure pleasures,
utilities and values; and may, also each and all, be measured
in terms of pain, contemporary or other, or even in terms of
value and pleasure. J
*See Sections 10 and 13, below.
tWhat is meant by the "margin" of difficulty hardly needs further explana-
tion; likewise, it is hardly necessary to warn against its confusion with the " mar-
gin " of utility.
J Compare Section 5, above.
[341]
30 ANNAI.S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
9. The marginal cost of substitution to which I have
referred is a cost of acquisition, not of production or of re-
production. To him who produces his supply himself, and
to society as a whole, the marginal cost of acquisition of
supply is of course the same as the cost of production of it.
The same holds true with the so-called ' ' free goods, ' ' the
cost of production of which is equal to zero. It is otherwise,
in many respects, with the goods which man obtains by
barter or exchange; and these, at least under present social
conditions, constitute the bulk of the goods which claim our
interest. Their cost is affected by division of labor, indus-
trial organization and combination, and restriction by law and
natural conditions. In particular these factors cause a great
decrease in the general cost of production, as compared with
what it would be if everybody produced for himself. But
the full benefit of this decrease goes to the acquirer (buyer)
as such, as a rule in the case of freely reproducible goods
only. In their case, cost of substitution is usually about
equal to that of production (including, in the wider sense,
cost of exchange, delivery, etc., of additional supply) or of
reproduction. In many cases, however, much more has or
would have to be sacrificed for substitution, i. e. t acquisition
of further supply, than what it costs, or would cost, to pro-
duce further supply at the margin. This is the rule where
the supply is controlled by a monopoly. With other supplies
again, in particular with irreproducible scarcity -goods and
with depreciated goods, the reverse holds true: the marginal
cost of substitution is commonly lower than that of the pro-
duction of additional supply, or of reproduction. Every-
where, even where cost of acquisition, of which that of
substitution is only a particular kind, is in individual cases
so very different from cost of production, the former is in the
long run largely controlled by the latter; though to perceive
this plainly we must consider the whole field of production
and exchange within long periods of time. But, after all, it
is only in so far as cost of production, or reproduction, is
[342]
UTIUTY, COST AND VALUE. 31
equal to, or influences marginal cost of acquisition, and in
particular marginal cost of substitution, that it is an element
of value.
10. It must be observed, furthermore, that it is a con-
temporary cost of substitution, and not the actual cost in the
past of the object under consideration, which determines
value. The actual cost of acquisition of the particular goods
which we may be considering is of moment for the determi-
nation of value only in so far as it is equal to or influences
the contemporary cost of substitution. But this is very
frequently the case, since economic conditions are more or
less stationary, and since custom and habit have a certain
weight in fixing values and prices. In the continuous pro-
cess of events, furthermore, past and contemporary cost
merge into each other, and even in individual cases there is
often very little difference between the actual cost of the
things under contemplation and the cost of additional
equivalent supply. Thus, the impression of a complete
dependence of value on actual cost of acquisition, and pro-
duction,* is easily produced on an untrained or careless
observer. Except in the case of scarcity-goods (where as a
rule there is a marked difference between actual cost of
acquisition and production in the past, and contemporary cost
of acquisition and production of additional supply) it has
often been held therefore that there is a more direct and funda-
mental dependence of value upon actual cost of acquisition
.and production in the past, than that seeming determination
which I have just described, and which partakes rather of
the nature of a concurrence than of that of a dependence.
But one has only to observe how value is affected by a sud-
den great change of marginal cost of acquisition or produc-
tion, resulting in a great difference between contemporary
cost of substitution and actual cost, in the past, of the object
considered, to be convinced that actual cost in the past is not
a determinant of value in the strict sense.
* See Section 9, above.
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32 ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
In general it may finally be observed that, from the
relation of marginal cost of substitution to marginal utility
and value, the relation of any other kind of cost to marginal
utility and value may easily be determined by a contem-
plation of the relation of such cost to marginal cost of sub-
stitution.
ii. The character of the determining influence which
marginal cost of substitution exerts upon marginal utility
and value, and the result of this influence may be stated in
the form of a law or rule as follows:
Marginal utility and value * never rise above marginal cost
of substitution; if lower than this cost, they generally tend to
rise up to it; being limited, however, in following this ten-
dency by the upper bounds of tdility. In a shorter form, giv-
ing the most important application of the rule only: Value
generally tends to equal marginal cost of additional supply,
but not beyond the bounds of utility.
This rule applies to the whole field of valuation. The
reason of the rule is plain. On the one hand, the value and
marginal utility of an object can never be higher than the
cost of a substitute equally capable to subserve human weal.
On the other hand, they can be lower than this cost only
where the supply is so plentiful in comparison with the
demand, that there is no use for any addition to it. But
consumption and the decay incident to the lapse of time
generally reduce the supply and tend to move marginal
utility and value upwards to the upper limit of utility; ex-
ceptions, other than temporary, occurring only where the sup-
ply lastingly increases as much as or more than the demand.
*To obviate misunderstandings I wish to remark that by " value " in this paper
I refer, in accordance with Boehm-Bawerk's definition on page 130 of his " Positive
Theory of Capital," primarily to the importance for human welfare possessed by
an object. Those who prefer to apply the term to the importance for human wel-
fare ascribed to an object, will find little difficulty in recognizing how my conclu-
sions would have to be modified in order to adapt them to that definition. Any
object, for the purpose of this discussion, I regard as important for, and as sub-
serving, human weal, according as it satisfies human wants and desires, regardless,
of their moral quality.
[344]
UTILITY, COST AND VALUE. 33
Now the upper limit of utility either (a) may attain or sur-
pass the marginal cost of substitution this is the rule with
the utility of most of the goods with which we have to deal
or () it may not do so as in the case of an original
masterpiece of which no duplicate exists or can be made.
In the former case (a) marginal utility and value will
frequently be, or become, equal to marginal cost of substitu-
tion and will generally have a tendency to do so; in the lat-
ter case () marginal utility and value cannot equal marginal
cost of substitution, but will tend to do it as far as the upper
limit of a possibly falling utility permits.
The equalization of value with marginal cost, or the ten-
dency toward it, is carried into effect by a rise or fall either
of marginal utility and value, or of marginal cost, or of all
of them such rise or fall being the result either of changes
in natural conditions, or of the acts of man. Man is guided,
in his actions which affect marginal utility, largely by con-
siderations of marginal cost, and vice versa, and, therefore,
a mutual interdependence subsists between the two concep-
tions. We have not a simple dependency of marginal utility
upon marginal cost; though the determination of the former
by the latter is the phenomenon which most impresses us.
The explanations of this section might be amplified by a
discussion of the phenomena appearing under certain more
complicated conditions. An instance is the case of alternate
uses, where we have as a rule to consider several costs of
substitution as well as several uses and utilities in regard to
one and the same object. I desire, however, to confine
myself in this paper to the discussion of leading principles.
12. Even defenders of cost have said that in the case of
scarcity-goods, value is determined by utility alone. At first
glance this would indeed seem plausible. But what makes
goods scarcity-goods ? Is not a scarcity-good a good whose
marginal cost of substitution is disproportionately large or
infinite ? And is it not merely because marginal cost of sub-
stitution is so large with these goods, that utility apparently
[345]
34 ANNAI<S OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
rules supreme in their case ? This cost, therefore, is just as
much an essential element of the value of these goods as
their utility.
In the case of free goods, marginal cost of substitution is
equal to, or below, zero, and marginal utility and value are
equal to, or below, zero. That this is not a mere accident
appears quite clearly whenever these goods cease to be free,
i. e. , whenever their marginal cost of substitution goes up
above zero. I,et water or air become scarce, and there is
eventually hardly anything man will not give for even a
small quantity of them. In this instance, as elsewhere in
the case of necessaries, the highest utility being infinite and
the demand constant, value adjusts itself so closely to
marginal cost that it hardly ever deviates from it.
Suppose, next, that marginal cost of supply of an article
be made uniform through a monopoly at a certain price. If,
before this occurs, marginal utility has been above that
price, it comes down to it at once; if marginal utility has
been below the monopoly price, it tends to rise to this price,
and, in the long run, stays below it only if the utility of the
article nowhere attains the monopoly price. So long as this
is the case, the marginal cost of substitution being beyond
the upper bounds of the utility of the article, its value will
never equal this cost, but will constantly tend to rise to it,
ultimately equaling the highest utility of the article, but of
course unable to rise beyond that. Practically, such a case
rarely occurs, because monopoly prices are usually fixed so
that sales can take place.
In the case of freely reproducible goods finally we have as a
result of the working of the forces described under Section
1 1 , a constant tendency of value and marginal utility to equal
marginal cost of substitution. This tendency is none the
less potent because a nice adjustment in accordance with it
is frequently prevented by disturbing factors, or by the in-
direct manner in which the tendency often has to exert
its influence.
[346]
UTILITY, COST AND VALUE. 35
13. The law of costs, which holds that the value of freely
reproducible goods, in the long run, adjusts itself according
to their cost, has its foundation in this tendency. It holds
true, not only if understood to refer to marginal cost of
substitution, but also if understood to refer to cost of repro-
duction, or even to actual cost of production.*
The medium in which we calculate cost in this connection
does not make any essential difference. We may calculate
cost in goods, labor, money, pleasure, or anything else of
value and positive utility, or in pain, and find the law of
costs confirmed. But of course we must calculate correctly.
We cannot obtain correct results, unless in summing up
costs and in bringing them under one denominator, we take
account of all the sacrifices actually incurred as cost, and
employ true economic equivalents for them. We must, for
instance, not neglect the influence of time or the differences of
quality. To illustrate: Though to the skilled laborer himself
his work is perhaps less painful than to the unskilled, still
it costs a great deal more to procure additional supply or
a substitute in the case of skilled labor than in the case of
unskilled labor, and, therefore, a greater amount of economic
sacrifice, pain and discomfort is represented by the expendi-
ture of skilled labor, and involved in its (at the same time
more productive) employment. Very manifestly, if, in cal-
culating cost, we take account of one kind of cost only,
where other kinds are involved at the same time, or if we
neglect time and quality, we cannot but arrive at the conclu-
sion that if we calculate cost in that manner, the law of
costs does not hold true.
14. Boehm-Bawerk, the other Austrians apparently agree-
ing with him, says that the cost referred to in the " law of
costs " in most cases is determined by utility, and by it
alone. This doctrine, and the reasoning upon which it is
based, seem to be open to objection. If cost is identical
-with the value of the productive power, and this is determined
*See Sections 9 and 10, above.
[347]
36 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
by marginal utility,* it does by no means follow that value
is finally determined by utility. We can, at best, reason
from value and marginal utility through cost to another
value and marginal utility; but thence, without heed of the
"marginal," to utility, or even to sacrifice-utility is a jump
fatal to the soundness of any conclusion. Sacrifice-utili-
ties, f by the way, look to me much more like costs than like
utilities; disbursements are not receipts.
But what of the leveling of marginal utilities with mar-
ginal utilities of which Boehm-Bawerk makes so much?
This leveling fulfills an important function, but it affords
only a very partial explanation of the law of costs. It does
not go to the root of the matter. After all the leveling of
marginal utilities with each other has been done in a specific
case that can be done, we still may properly inquire: What
determines these marginal utilities in their totality, and
thereby every one of them, and why do we not find all of
them at zero ? The leveling of marginal utilities with mar-
ginal utilities gives no answer. We find it in the difficulty
of procuring supply which is represented by cost.
// is a balancing of utilities with costs which in the end
determines the margin of either, under consideration of the
urgency of human wants on one side, and of the difficulty of
their satisfaction, growing out of natural or artificial condi-
tions on the other.
This balancing of utilities with costs Boehin-Bawerk has,,
it seems to me, confounded, or certainly neglected in com-
parison, with the leveling of marginal utilities with each
other. He apparently overlooks the intrinsic distinction
between utility and cost as well as the great independent
influence of the latter. But for cost the problems of value
would hardly vex us at all.J Here want, there difficulty
of supply; here pleasure, there pain; here gain, there
sacrifice; both sides have an importance of their own, and,.
* ANNALS, Vol. v, p. 199, September, 1894.
t Ibid, p. 207.
\ See Section 7, above.
[343]
UTILITY, Cost AND VALUE. 37
to that extent, must be kept strictly apart. The one is the
economic reverse of the other. The excess in favor of
pleasure and gain largely determines human well-being,
progress and increase. Value is determined in the effort to
make these as large as possible. Human well-being itself,
though apparently an independent factor in the determina-
tion of value, is, in the long run, largely a result of the same
conditions and forces which determine value.
15. So far we have considered almost exclusively positive
value. Value, however, often is, or becomes, negative,
going down with marginal utility below zero. In all such
cases we find the limit below which the negative value and
marginal utility of anything cannot fall, marked by "the
cost of then and there, or within fairly discountable distances
of time and place, and by the means within reach, either
preventing or removing, according to circumstances, a sup-
ply, including here the object under consideration, of equal
detriment to human welfare, at the margin of easiest pre-
vention or removal," or by analogy: by the marginal cost
of repression. This means that negative value never grows
larger in the negative direction than marginal cost of repres-
sion, or, what means the same, never falls below it, con-
sidering marginal cost of repression as negative cost. This
limitation on negative value equally applies to value in gen-
eral. So likewise does the rule stated for positive value
under Section 1 1, above. By combination we obtain then the
following general rule:
Value and marginal utility of an object never rise above
marginal cost of substitution and never fall below marginal
cost of repression. Within these bounds they generally tend
toward an equality with marginal cost of substitution ; this t
however, not beyond the upper bounds of the positive utility of
the object in question*
* This rule, under consideration of what is said in the note to Section 4 above,
and under Section 21 below, I should prefer to frame as follows: The value of an
object always corresponds to the economic efficiency of such object. Value, in
amount, never rises above marginal cost of substitution, and never falls below
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38 ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
1 6. From what I have said I hope it appears clearly that
cost is always a distinct and most essential factor in the
determination of value. But its function, if my view is cor-
rect, is more or less different from what it is said to be by
most, if not all, other defenders of its value-determining
quality. Sharp distinctions must be drawn, in the way indi-
cated in my previous remarks, between the different kinds
of cost which I have mentioned. These distinctions, though
most, and perhaps all, of them not new, are frequently over-
looked. Cost, furthermore, does not by itself alone deter-
mine value in any case. Without utility there is no value
in the case of freely reproducible goods as little as any-
where else. He who regards cost as the sole determinant
of value in the case of freely reproducible goods, assumes
utility as a matter of course, just as he who regards utility
as the sole determinant of value in the case of scarcity-goods,
assumes cost as a matter of course; the one as much as the
other erroneously. Those who represent value as determined
by utility and cost in conjunction, come nearest to the truth,
if I am not mistaken. But (a) most, if not all, of those
who stand for this view of the question, except scarcity-
goods. Some of them (), furthermore, represent value as
either generally, or at least in the case of freely reproducible
goods, always determined by a meeting of utility and cost
(comparison with the blades of a pair of shears). In reality
(a) the same law applies to the whole field of valuation, and
() even in the case of freely reproducible goods there is
only a strong tendency of value (and marginal utility) to
equal cost, but by no means always a meeting of the two.
Finally, the rule given under Section 15 states a twofold
limitation on value and marginal utility by, indeed two differ-
ent kinds of, cost, which seems to have been overlooked in
this connection.
17. As to the connection of labor with value, it is indeed
marginal cost of repression. Within these bounds value tends to correspond in
amount to marginal cost of substitution; this, however, not bes'ond the upper
bounds of the positive economic'capacity of the object in question.
[350]
UTILITY, COST AND VALUE. 39
clear that labor has much to do with the determination of
value. But utility and cost fully cover the ground. L,abor
determines value in so far only as it constitutes either cost
or utility ; it may constitute either because labor has come to
be used in economics to denote not activity only; but, among
other conceptions, also the sacrifice involved in labor,
and the advantage of command over labor. In the
former sense labor constitutes the most important ele-
ment of cost; in the latter it constitutes frequently the
chief utility of an object. It is manifestly untrue that the
labor socially necessary to produce or reproduce a good
finally and completely determines its value in all cases. It
is not true, not even in a single case, because such a propo-
sition ignores altogether the important part which utility
plays in the determination of value.
Those who represent value as ultimately and completely
determined by labor have fallen into their error, I believe,
through a confusion of the determination of value with
the creation of wealth ; through a tendency to exag-
gerate the importance of labor; through a confusion of
determination and measurement, and through a mis-
taken notion as to the dependence of socialism on such a
theory. The mistakes here involved, in connection with
the fact that to the man without property most sacrifices he
makes in the procuring of goods resolve themselves into
labor, evidently served as the basis of, and have given a
specious plausibility to, that straight and uncompromising
labor theory of value which was apparently thought by
Marx and others to be the very key to the position of
socialism. Socialism, however, is not dependent upon this
sham, and does not rely upon it except in wrong theories.
If the socialists want a society in which labor (-cost) regu-
lates all values, what necessity is there of alleging that
labor completely and finally determines values everywhere,
and especially in the present society ? It is not difficult to
refute such a proposition. But to refute it is not to refute
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4o ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
socialism. The socialists, therefore, had better give up this
mistaken support and change their position in regard to this
matter so as to demand simply a society in which labor
(-cost) regulates values to a larger extent than it does in the
present society. It would relieve them from defending an
absolutely untenable position, and some of their adversaries
from believing that they have captured the citadel of the
enemy, while they have taken merely a worthless breast- work.
Even in a socialistic society, though there might be a
regulation of values according to labor, there would be a com-
plete determination of values by labor only in a limited sense.
There would be something in the nature of a pooling of all
the other sacrifices, all except labor, which the procuring of
goods would make necessary; they would be borne by society
as a whole, and thrown upon the different goods and
thereby upon the consumers in proportion to the labor in-
volved in producing or procuring them. It is evident that
the influence of these other sacrifices would thereby not be
abolished, but merely regulated, and concealed to superficial
observation, being made to follow the determining influence
of labor (-cost). There would, furthermore, not infrequently
occur more or less serious deviations of value and price from
the (labor-) price of the socialistic state, because, as we
have seen, marginal cost of substitution, presuming even
that the socialistic state should gain full control of that,
holds by no means absolute sway over value and price. It
would require prudent management to overcome the diffi-
culties which would arise from this source.
As to Adam Smith, he evidently regarded labor not as the
exclusive determinant of value, but merely as a superior
measure of it, and even that not without qualifications. He
speaks of labor indeed as of an ultimate standard of value;
but a standard is a very different thing from a determinant.*
*The German word " Bestimmgrund" may properly be translated by "deter-
minant," but not by "standard." The German equivalent for "standard," in its
proper application in the discussion of value, and in the sense in which Adam
Smith uses it in this counectionis, "Normal mass," or simply "Mass."
[352]
UTILITY, COST AND VALUE. 41
18. We have reached the conclusion that value and mar-
ginal utility are determined by utility and cost (of substitu-
tion). Any disturbing factors, if there are any, can be
important only in the contemplation of individual cases of
valuation. In the long run they merge into utility and cost.
Cost of substitution, furthermore, in the long run is the
same as cost of supply, and this in turn is, in the long
run, the same as cost of production in the wider sense.
In a general way, then, utility and cost may certainly
be regarded as the great determinants of value, com-
prising all the elements which enter into the problem, and
fully covering it; the one from the side of advantage, con-
tentment and pleasure (not to be understood in the narrow,
hedonistic sense), derived from the satisfaction of wants, the
other from the side of the difficulty of the attainment of an
equivalent satisfaction, and of the pain to be endured in
such attainment. If more attention and space have been
devoted in these pages to the discussion of the influence of
cost upon value than to that of utility, it is, of course, not
because I regard the latter as the less important of the two,
but simply because its importance has been better demon-
strated and its influence on value better explained.
19. I proceed, in this paper, upon the theory that useful-
ness {Nuetzlichkeif) and utility (Nutzen} are essentially
synonymous. Common usage and the acknowledged authori-
ties on language alike sanction this theory; it has the approval
of so thorough an exponent of the Austrian school as Profes-
sor W. Smart,* and Boehm-Bawerk's use of the words in
many places seems to confirm it. There are, however, strong
indications that utility is often used by most, if not all, of
the Austrians in quite a different sense from that of ' ' capa-
city to subserve human weal," and I apprehend that the
various meanings inconsistently attached to the word
" utility " have been the source of not less serious misunder-
standings than the variety of conceptions covered by the
*" Theory of Value," p. 12.
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42 ANNAI.S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
word ' ' cost. ' ' Two meanings in particular have been at-
tached to the word "utility," which widely differ from the
conception of " capacity to subserve human weal." One is
" importance;" the other "influence upon human weal."
Boehm-Bawerk himself speaks of marginal utility as an
"importance;" and if marginal utility denotes importance >
utility denotes importance also.
Utility in this sense is always equal to marginal utility in,
the corresponding sense.* If Boehm-Bawerk uses utility,
in contradistinction to usefulness, to denote importance,,
then, of course, he cannot be criticised for jumping from
marginal utility to utility. But his position regarding cost
still remains wrong. Cost in this case is, in common with,
usefulness, always a determinant of value through utility,
and it is, therefore, wrongly put in opposition to utility.
Besides, two further objections have to be raised if utility is
used in the sense of importance. The first is that utility is
used in an altogether unusual sense, and, that, without a
special declaration to that effect, a distinction is introduced
into the use of two common words (utility and usefulness)
which is neither in accordance with common usage nor sanc-
tioned by the authorities on language. The second is that
utility, in the sense of " importance, " is synonymous with
(subjective) value; so that the discovery that value depends
on utility amounts to nothing, and constitutes even a step
backward from the valuable discovery that value is deter-
mined at the margin. All the purposes which marginal
utility, in the sense of " importance of the marginal incre-
ment," serves may just as well be attained by the conception
of marginal value. There is no need in the theory of value
for two conceptions, both denoting importance ( ' ' Bedeutung' '
or " Wichtigkeit"} of goods.
*Some might think that marginal utility, if utility is used in the sense of
"capacity to subserve human weal," would be as large as this utility is in general;
for is not the marginal increment just as capable "to subserve human weal" as
any other increment? This objection is obviated if we regard marginal utility as
that " capacity to subserve human weal " to which the marginal increment is
limited as such marginal increment.
[354]
UTILITY, COST AND VALUE. 43.
The employment of utility in the sense of ' ' influence
upon human weal " largely obviates the last two objections
urged against its employment in the sense of " importance."
The allegation that value, i. e., " importance for human
weal," depends on utility, z. e. , "influence on human
weal," would seem to constitute a real logical step, though
a very short one. The two conceptions are not synonymous;
still, there is so little difference between them that the sec-
ond one is not absolutely necessary as a regular part of the
theory of value. From the standpoint of language, not very
much objection can be raised against the use of utility in the
sense of " influence on human weal;" such use is not extra-
ordinary, though, as a rule, confined so as to denote beneficial
influence on human weal, or positive efficiency in subserv-
ing it.
But what I have said about utility, in the sense of ' ' im-
portance," regarding its relation to the determination of
value, to marginal utility and to cost, also holds true with
utility in the sense of " influence upon human weal." I
have searched in vain for a meaning of the word utility
which would justify its being set up, as against cost, as the
exclusivejbr approximately exclusive, final determinant of
value, even in a single case.
20. P^saaps it would be desirable to eliminate, in accordance
with Professor Smart's suggestion,* the word utility alto-
gether from the discussion of the theory of value, and to use
usefulness exclusively. Until some agreement is reached, I
shall use utility as synonymous with usefulness, and both
in the sense of " capacity to subserve human weal." Per-
sonally, I should prefer to employ usefulness, if the word
is retained at all in this connection, to denote "influence
on human weal," and to express the conception of
' ' capacity to subserve human weal " by " capacity for
usefulness" {Nutzfahigkeif) . Then value, being equal to
marginal value, would be fully determined by usefulness >
* " Theory of Value," p. 12.
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44 ANNALS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
which, in turn, would be equal to marginal usefulness, and
would be determined (like marginal usefulness) by ' ' capa-
city for usefulness " and " cost " in conjunction. Utility, if
its use were retained in this case, I should prefer to have
used as a synonym of usefulness.
Best of all it would seem to me to use neither utility nor
usefulness in the discussion at hand. They cannot be used
in their really proper sense; every teacher of elementary
economics now finds it necessary to explain to his pupils that
the most useless and vicious object may be an exceedingly
useful thing from the standpoint of economics. Why continue
this distortion of language, if it can be avoided ? It seems
to me that the expressions ' ' economic efficiency ' ' ( Wirth-
schaftliche Wirksamkeif) , and ' ' economic capacity ' ' ( Wirk-
ungsfdhigkeif} , would answer every purpose. All that
would have to be explained is that by ' ' economic ' ' we refer
to that which pertains to the satisfaction of human wants,
regardless of the effect such satisfaction has on human well-
being.* It is furthermore manifest that in the course of
economic discussion the proposed terms often might be used
without the qualifying " economic;" especially where " mar-
ginal ' ' is added. The proposed terms would have the
further advantage that they would lend themselves as well
to the discussion of negative value as to that of positive
value; this cannot be said of utility and usefulness.
21. A full determination of value by the conceptions of
utility and cost does not exclude equally full determinations
of value by other conceptions, and the importance of the
theory of utility and cost must not be overestimated in this
direction. A triangle is determined in several waj^s, and
the same chemical compound as a rule may be formed or
dissolved by several methods. So, there is no doubt, a
determination of value may be made in other ways than that
* The adoption of the proposed terms would also counteract the economic misuse
of "human welfare" and "well-being" as identical with the satisfaction of
human desires. I have given way to that in this paper because I wished to follow
the phraseology and definitions of others.
[356]
UTILITY, COST AND VALUE. 45
discussed above. For instance, supply and demand, marginal
pleasure and pain, wants and aversions, benefits and sacrifices,
and marginal value suggest themselves as conceptions by
which other possibly in many ways not as expedient, but in
many ways better solutions of the problem have been or might
be arrived at, even without any mention of utility and cost at
all. For we must be conscious of the fact that utility and
cost are by no means elementary factors. The elements
contained in them may, therefore, easily be comprised in
other conceptions, differing from utility and cost, not only
in name, but also more or less in individual content. Of
course any correct theory operating with such other concep-
tions, would, if the theory here presented is right, confirm
and support it. This, I believe, is the case with the present
demand-and-supply theory, if rightly understood.
22. It is because utility and cost are not elementary factors
that I do not call them final determinants of value. Though
I objected, under Section 3, above, to marginal utility only as
a final determinant, it must not be inferred that I would ap-
prove of utility as such. All I intended to say was this: That
marginal utility, being determined in part by cost, could not
be set up as against cost as the final determinant of value, not
even in the limited sense in which the expression has come
to be used in the controversy over the final determination of
value. Nothing that is not really, at least to our best
knowledge, a final element, ought to be distinguished by
this adjective. We have found such elements in mathe-
matics and logic, and in a more limited sense in physics and
chemistry; in economics, strictly speaking, we have not
found them. It may, however, be said that economics is a
science of the third or fourth grade, not aiming to trace its
conceptions to absolutely elementary foundations, but oper-
ating with the complex conceptions of the fundamental
sciences (mathematics and logic physics and chemistry-
physiology, biology, psychology, etc.), as its elementary
ones. From this standpoint possibly utility and cost, and
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46 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
certainly pleasure and pain, might be regarded as final or
ultimate in economics. It is in this sense, it would seem,
that these adjectives have been frequently employed in the
controversy over the final determination of value, while on
many other occasions in that controversy they have been
used in a relative way merely: referring to utility, or mar-
ginal utility, as final determinants only in comparison with
other determinants (i. e., labor, cost, etc.), and vice versa.
The really final determinants of value, if there are any,
and their relations to value, are beyond our vision, and
plain and intelligible to an all-comprehensive mind only.
Nevertheless it is a task not only of theoretical interest, but
also of eminently practical importance, to penetrate further
and further into the maze of relations before us, and to gain
all possible clearness about them.
CARI< STROEVER.
Chicago.
THE PLACE OF THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL
SCIENCES IN MODERN EDUCATION,
AND THEIR BEARING ON THE TRAINING FOR CITIZENSHIP
IN A FREE STATE.*
It will be noted that among the subjects to which the
Academy has given some attention from the beginning of its
work belongs the wide field of education, and I have been
asked on one or two occasions why an Academy of Political
and Social Science should concern itself with education or
educational problems which seem to belong rather to a
society for the promotion of pedagogy than to ours. In
reply we may say that education has become one of the
great branches of public administration. This century
will be known to coming generations very largely for
the fact that education has become a function of the
state. It is becoming to an increasing extent, secular.
It is passing in an ever larger proportion from the con-
trol of the church to the control of the state. If you
were to look over the budget of any of our great modern
cities for the eighteenth century, you would find that
education, as a subject of expenditure on the part of the
community, played almost no part whatever; whereas, if you
examine the budget of these cities to-day, you will find that
it is one of the largest departments of public administration,
that it involves an expenditure oftentimes in excess of that
of any other single branch of public service. Now this
passing of education from the hands of the church, and
private individuals, or of private associations and corpora-
tions, into the hands of the state, cannot have occurred
without a deep and fundamental reflex effect upon the
* An address delivered before the American Academy of Political and Social
Science at the general meeting, April 21, 1897, by the President of the Academy,
ECdmund J. James, A. M., Ph. D., Professor in the University of Chicago.
[359]
48 ANNAI.S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
methods, spirit and attitude of education itself. The ques-
tions relating to educational organization, to educational
integration, have become among the most important falling
within the general field of the political and social sciences.
So that, so far from our having gone out of our way in giv-
ing so much attention to these problems, we are really face
to face to-day with the question of education as never before.
We must give therefore an increasing rather than a decreas-
ing attention to a subject which thus presents itself at many
unexpected points in the problem of city and state govern-
ment, and from all present indications is destined to assume
an ever-increasing importance.
There is another and perhaps an even more intimate
aspect to the relation of the Academy to educational ques-
tions, and that is, the relation of the subject-matter to the
cultivation of which the Academy is devoted, to the great
problems of education higher and lower in this and other
countries. The social sciences, using that term in the
broadest sense, are concerned with society, its organization,
its history, its characteristics, its relationship to other sides
of the history of mankind, etc. It is natural that as our
knowledge of these subjects increases, it should assume a
new and more important relation to pedagogical questions
in the narrowest sense of the term than it had in the earlier
days. It is therefore appropriate for an organization of this
kind to give a somewhat special attention to this particular
subject in these times when every man, and possibly every
woman, is called upon at one time or another to express a
judgment or possibly to undertake an action, prompted by,
or at least based upon, some theory in regard to these funda-
mental questions. I have no apology to make, therefore,
for the topic which I have chosen to discuss and to which I
wish to call your most careful consideration.
What is the relation of the political and social sciences;
those subjects to the cultivation of which the Acadeni)' is
devoted, toward the great problems of modern education >
[360]
THE POUTICAI, AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. 49
and what is their bearing upon the problem of training for
citizenship in our modern free states ? It will be, perhaps,
as well if, for the sake of clearness, I lay down in a some-
what direct and dogmatic way the proposition which I propose
to advance for your consideration, and in regard to which I
shall offer certain suggestions. I propose, then, this thesis:
that the political and social sciences, or perhaps better, that
the subject-matter of the political and social sciences must be
utilized for purposes of education or instruction in all grades
of our educational system, from the university to the kinder-
garten. I mean that politics and economics, using those
terms in the largest sense, or that the subject-matter of these
sciences, must become a constituent part of the educational
curriculum, using that term in the largest sense, of our
system of intellectual, political and industrial training.
I am aware that, in using these terms, the sciences of
politics and economics, I am assuming something which many
able authorities would maintain stands in need of proof;
namely, that these subjects are real sciences. I know a dis-
tinguished college president, who in opposing the develop-
ment of these subjects in college, said, not long ago, that
there was nothing, no branch in this whole field, to which
the name science could be strictly applied. They were at
most subjects of investigation and research of more or less
value, evidently implying in his remarks that they were of
less value. Now it is undoubtedly true that you may make
a definition of the term science which will exclude from
that designation political economy even in the highly
developed and complicated formulae of the mathematical
school, or in the only less complicated and somewhat
attenuated formulas of the Austrian school. If, for example,
you make a definition of science which would include only
mathematics, or a subject similar to mathematics, it is evident
that none of these subjects would properly fall under the
term science. Or, if you included under that term only such
a subject as inorganic chemistry or mathematical physics,
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50 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
these topics might be excluded in the same way. I am not,
however, much concerned about this particular proposition.
Whether the so-called political and social sciences are
really sciences or not, or whether they are merely subjects for
investigation and research, or whether they are mere aggre-
gations of more or less interesting facts, is for my purpose
a matter of indifference. Whatever they may be from
this point of view, my proposition is that this sort of
instruction, the information we have about these particular
subjects, is destined to be utilized more and more in our edu-
cational system. Perhaps in order to place the proposition
in a clear light, we may take an analogy from the history
of the natural sciences. The whole group of natural
sciences as they exist to-day were at one time nothing
more than subjects of investigation and research, and they
stood if not absolutely outside of, certainly in no intimate
relation whatever to, the educational system as such.
They were not subjects of instruction in the educational
institutions; the}- were not instrumentalities or means of
educational training. They formed the subject-matter of
investigation on the part of isolated scholars; men some-
times, it is true, who were professors in universities, but
men who were compelled to carry on their investigations
largely outside of the university, because of the non-recogni-
tion given by the university system to these subjects. They
were above all, topics for an academy, in the sense of a
body of investigators who, without any necessary relation to
the educational system of the country, were carrying on their
various researches into these and other subjects. We find
that after a while the natural sciences, as they became more
distinctly differentiated, as the number of people interested
in them increased, as the results of investigation and research
in the respective fields became more valuable, passed into the
universities as a part of the curriculum, as a part of the
means of instruction, as an essential element in the edu-
cational system itself. They became in the first place, in
[362]
THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. 51
the universities on the Continent, not merely subjects of
investigation and research, but also means of giving a pro-
fessional training to people whose future vocations and
pursuits were based upon a knowledge of the content of these
subjects. Thus, in the universities, they became of impor-
tance in connection with a training for a medical career,
with the training for an agricultural career in a large way;
they became, in a word, the basis of professional instruction
in the schools. This remained for a long time their sole
function. But, as their content increased, as the bounds of
knowledge were pressed ever farther into the region of the
unknown which surrounds mankind, they began to have a
reflex effect upon the cultivation of all branches of learning,
even those which like philosophy and grammar and literature
had stood most completely outside of all relation to the
development of these subjects. They began to influence in
a most profound way the attitude of students and investi-
gators in every other department of human science. It soon
became evident, as a result of this development, that natural
science had come to have a new relation to educational prob-
lems. The time had come when this new relation was to
be realized by a change in educational methods, in educa-
tional curricula, and educational machinery and organization.
Natural science became a recognized element of general
training, a recognized element in the culture of the educated
man. It was thus passed down into the sphere of secondary
training, and in the first place, in this country, in what
might be called the upper part of secondary training, namely
the college.
The opposition offered to the introduction of this element
into our educational system was so prolonged, so severe and
so bitter, and the progress for a time seemed so slow, that
many men despaired of the time ever coming when the
proper claims of this department of human knowledge should
be recognized. And it is interesting to note that the estab-
lishment of the American high school side by side, and for a
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52 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
time out of connection with the college, was one of the most
efficient instrumentalities in the introduction of the natural
sciences, as a means of education and training. The high
schools beginning under auspices and under conditions
which put them to a certain extent in antagonism with the
colleges, tried from the very first to assign a large part in
their scheme of education to training in natural science.
Those of you who have followed the history of this move-
ment know well under what discouragements it was carried
forward, and even within ten years it has been possible to
hear distinguished college presidents, and distinguished col-
lege professors, declare that natural science is not a proper
subject of instruction for pupils in the high schools; that
natural science should be reserved, if not for the post-grad-
uate student, at least for the college student in the last year
or two of his course. But the logic of events has been too
strong for such mediaeval theories of education, and so far
from being content with the introduction of instruction in
the natural sciences into the lower grades of colleges and
into the upper grades of high schools, the effort is now mak-
ing to carry down instruction in these subjects through all
grades of schools, even into the very kindergarten. The
wisest and most progressive educators are standing to-day for
the introduction of the study of natural science, under the
term nature study, into the very lowest grades of our schools.
We are beginning to recognize that the study of the ex-
ternal world about us is not only valuable as a means of
intellectual discipline, but that no education can be complete,
no education can be well rounded, no education can be
natural and in harmony with the conditions under which
human beings must live and grow, which does not from its
very beginning incorporate as an essential element the sys-
tematic study of the great world of nature about us. It is
not merely a question of information about botany, or
zoology, or geology, it is a question of the mental attitude
of the individual, of the generation, of the race, one may
[364]
THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. 53
say, toward all problems which confront it. There is no
doubt that when this instruction has become an essential
part of ever)' grade of our school work, we shall have a
new, a higher, a better developed scheme of education than
we have thus far elaborated. The notion that the study of
things must be preceded by the study of words, or that the
formal training of grammar and philology and philosophy,
and the formal training in aesthetics which we may obtain
from literature, must precede a study of nature which was
the idea of the old education, and continues to be the policy
upon which our educational system, as a whole, is based at
present I say such an idea must give way before the
sounder view that the study of nature is fundamental and
elemental, that just as from the very beginning the child
comes in contact with nature in his unconscious education,
so he should come into conscious contact with nature when
the period of his conscious education opens. Nature study,
then, will not follow, but will accompany; and if there is
any question of precedence, will probably precede, the kind
of education and training characteristic of our educational
system up the present. Thus nature study has become, or
is becoming, an essential part of every grade of our educa-
tion. So, I believe, will social study in the same way become
an essential and necessary part of every grade of our syste-
matic education.
This development will, in my opinion, occur, because, in
the first place, of the importance of these subjects and
studies to the welfare of modern society in general, and
especially to the welfare of modern free societies, of which
ours is a type.
Human society, for the first time in history, is coming to
itself, is becoming conscious of definite ends and purposes
toward which it is striving; of the possibility of setting up
certain ideals toward which it can ever struggle. It is
reflecting upon its own constitution, the ends and purposes
of its own existence, as never before. I do not mean to say,
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54 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
of course, that there have not been men in preceding ages
who have reflected upon these important and fundamental
problems of human existence. The philosophers of Athens
and Rome, the leaders of mediaeval and early modern
thought, concerned themselves with these questions to a
very considerable extent; but the number of people who are
interested in these subjects to-day is so enormously greater
than ever before, the belief of modern society in the possi-
bility of self-improvement and ultimate perfectibility is so
much more vivid than at any preceding period in the life of
humanity, that we may fairly say we have entered upon a
new era in this respect. Now it does not take a reflecting
society or community very long to come to the conclusion
that the possibility of attaining to such ideals as it may set
before itself turns among other things upon its own knowl-
edge of the underlying principles of social organization, of
the tendencies and forces at work in social, political, indus-
trial and commercial life. These questions are destined,
therefore, to receive an ever-increasing attention. The
sciences devoted to these subjects must therefore increase and
not decrease, must wax and not wane, must be multiplied
and not diminished.
One may object to this argument from the philosophic
point of view that human progress in social, political and
industrial lines is very largely unconscious; that human
beings secrete institutions as bees do honey; that the part
which the individual or the generation, or the sum total of
individuals or generations, have in determining by conscious
volition the progress or discipline of human society is so
infinitely small as to minimize to the lowest point the impor-
tance of all such considerations as I am advancing. It will
be pointed out that at no period in the history of the world
has anyone been able to prophesy the lines along which
human society would develop. At no period in the history
of the world has anyone been able to point out the direction
in which subsequent development would take place. Indeed,
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THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. 55
some people even say that the effort of every generation is
devoted to undoing the well-meant efforts of former genera-
tions which were directed toward accomplishing certain defi-
nite ends under the impression that along that line lay the
hopes of human progress. They will call attention to the fact
that the Athenian, who saw the former power depart of his be-
loved city, which to him stood as the very eye of Greece and
all the world, as the very light of the world set upon a hill,
no matter how wise, no matter how philosophic, he might
be must have felt that the end of the world had indeed
come when the Macedonian legions encamped at the foot of
the Acropolis and the sceptre passed forever away from the
Athenian democracy. Yet this even, so far from mark-
ing the end of Athens and the end of Greek culture, was
only the beginning of its influence over a large part of the
known world; an influence which shows itself in countless
directions in the Orient even down to the present day. How
much more completely must he have felt that the end of
Greece had come when the Roman eagles were carried into
every separate valley and planted upon every separate hill-
top in his beloved land ! And yet the final subjugation
of Greece by the Romans marked not the end of Greece,
Grecian influence and Grecian civilization, but the very
beginning of the widest and most permanent sphere of influ-
ence ever opened to that wonderful people. The western
world to-day is at every point different and better because of
the fact that Greece existed, and Greece was enabled to
exercise this influence by virtue of the fact that the Roman
people, by their military and political genius, brought to the
civilization of Greece an agency and instrumentality through
which it could project itself into the unborn centuries, and
through which it could set its stamp upon all generations
which followed it.
You will remember how Cicero and Cato, and the men of
their type in the last days of the Roman republic, thought
that the end of the Roman state had come, that civilization
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56 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
was to be swallowed up in a despotism or barbarism, and the
sun of Roman genius was to be obscured by a never-ending
night. No philosopher of that day could have seen that the
end of the Roman republic was in reality the beginning of
the life of Rome, that from the very days of Julius Caesar
was laid the foundation of that empire of law, of organiza-
tion, of civilization, which makes Rome an ever- living and
ever-present force in every village and hamlet of the civilized
world to-day.
How could any man have seen in the dark days in which
the Roman Empire was overthrown, and the wild barbarian
hordes poured down over southern Europe from the north,
when the light and life of letters and science and culture
seemed to have been extinguished once for all, how could
any man have seen or believed that all this was simply the
beginning of a new era which should throw far into the
background in material and moral advancement, the most
glittering achievements of the human race up to that time ?
As a result of this circumstance, that in this field prophecy
is perhaps impossible, that a shaping of ends to results seems
to be difficult, it has happened that in all the great eras of
human history many of the best and purest and most upright
minds of the time have been enlisted in the support of insti-
tutions, and the support of policies, the very destruction of
which was necessary to the next stage in world advance-
ment. This is the irony of fate, surely the tragedy of history,
that, owing to our ignorance on these subjects, we may be
struggling and striving all the time with all our energies to
maintain institutions, to preserve policies fundamentally
opposed to the truest and best interests of mankind, properly
understood.
There is a certain justification in this point of view. It is
difficult to give a thoroughly satisfactory answer to it, and
yet for our purpose possibly the briefest answer is the
best. We are impelled by an inner necessity, if we work at
all, to work toward ends, if we strive at all, to strive toward
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THE POWTICAI, AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. 57
ideals. We are compelled to select the best we know and to
direct our efforts in the wisest way we know to these ends,
and certainly, if there is anything in human science, or
human knowledge, the fuller and more complete our knowl-
edge becomes, the more accurate and the more satisfactory
must our prevision become. We are driven by this inner
necessity, before referred to, as moral beings to select an end
not merely for ourselves, but for the society of which we are
a part, and to put forth our best efforts, based upon our best
knowledge to the accomplishment of such an end. The
cultivation of these sciences, therefore, which have as their
function, investigation into the nature and constitution of \
human society, must assume an ever-wider and more impor- "
tant place in our society.
But there is a special reason why these subjects must
acquire an ever-increasing importance to us in the United
States of America and ultimately to all other modern
nations. We have adopted a theory of government quite
opposed in some respects to that underlying any other great
political organization, and based upon what is essentially
and fundamentally a very different state of society from
that which has characterized any nation in which similar
experiments have been tried. We are trying to-day to,
govern a great political community upon the theory andi
principle that every man, and perhaps before long every ^
woman, is a political expert, entitled to have an opinion
upon all political questions, and upon all social and economic I
questions which may become political, and in this age of '
the world, there is scarcely any economic or social question
which may not also become political. In doing this we are
flying not only in the face of all political history, but also in
;the face of some of the most fundamental principles of our
modern social and industrial organization itself. If there is
j any one principle which we may say characterizes the
I modern industrial system more than another, it is that of
V the division of labor, it is that of setting aside in our body
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58 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
economic and body industrial, either by force of law or more
commonly by force of circumstances, or of will of the
. individuals I say it is the setting aside of certain people to
f perform exclusively certain social functions, resting the wel-
fare of our body economic upon the final harmonious out-
working of all these different occupations. We are not content
with having a maker of boots, but we divide the business of
making the boot into twenty-five or thirty different occupa-
tions in each of which certain individuals occupy themselves,
one may practically say, for their entire lives. We set
aside the business of curing people by the administration of
drugs to a peculiar class in the community known as physi-
cians, and we prosecute anybody who undertakes to prescribe
\ without having the recognition of the community which is
\ involved in the right to practice medicine. We set aside
\ certain people for the cultivation of the law and others for
' the cultivation of theology.
Yet, in strange contrast to all this, we make the busi-
ness of politics, the business of governing and ruling the
state, the business of controlling by the power of the state,
the lines along which human society shall develop we
make this, or attempt to make this, the business of every-
body. We undertake to say in theory, if not in fact, that
one man's opinion upon these subjects is as good as another;
that the average man and woman in our society has sufficient
knowledge and skill and understanding, or is sufficiently
under the dominion of people who have the knowledge,
skill and understanding to make it practically a safe thing
to entrust the control of this most important of all businesses
to the common man. No other country has ever attempted
this. No other country attempts this to-day; at least no
other country which may be for an instant compared in
population, in wealth, in the complexity of its social and
\ industrial problems to the United States. No country in the
'ancient world ever tried such an experiment.
The Athenian tried the problem of such government on a
THE POUTICAI, AND SOCIAI, SCIENCES. 59
small scale, but he was careful to limit the number of people
who might take part in this government in a very narrow
way, feeling that no man could take part intelligently in
governing who did not have an opportunity to prepare him-
\ self especially for this sort of work. The whole organization
i' of the state was ultimately made to conform to the condition
/ that the individual Athenian citizen should be put in a posi-
\ tion to post himself upon political problems, upon political
j ideas, and upon political notions, upon political policies in
I such a way as to be entitled to an independent and intelli-
gent judgment upon the same. To do this, however, it was
- necessary that the great mass of the people should be abject
slaves, to the few citizens, for only in this way could the
latter secure the requisite leisure and time to study and
understand these grave, political problems. The state went
even further, recognizing that no man could attend to the
business of earning a living and yet be entitled to have that
kind of an opinion which the theory of the Athenian state
implied he must have, unless he were a citizen of wealth and
| resource; the state provided that the citizen should be paid
/ for the performance of his political duties. This was not as
it is sometimes depicted, a degeneration in the world of
\ politics. It was an absolutely essential outgrowth of the
/ whole theory and practice of the Athenian government.
The same thing was true of the Roman state. It was a
f mere handful of people whose material and economic welfare
was based upon the plundering of the rest of the world, upon
whose shoulders was placed the management of the Roman
state. The average Roman could take part in the political
management of the Roman Empire because and by virtue of
the fact that he had at his disposal practically a sufficient
number of slaves to support and take care of him while he
^ T U-^MIII n UK "II I" " Ti . LI' ~ i j,. Hi r JH i III f11f~iiB IIIIL jrT*
gave his attention to politics.
The government of England to-day is in the hands of what
may be called governing classes, people whom the entire
mass of the community look up to as entitled, par excellence,
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60 ANNALS OF THE; AMERICAN ACADEMY.
by their training, by their financial resources, by their
hereditary connections, to the work of directing the political
policy of the state.
Injjermanv. which has been the scene of many struggles
between the government on the one hand and the so-called
I representatives of the people on the other, the average man
is still of the opinion that in the case of a dispute between
the king and the commons, which to his mind is the case of
a dispute between the king and his neighbor Rhoderick
Schmidt, whom he may have helped to elect to the House,
and whom he knows to be a merchant or a farmer, like unto
himself I say, in case of such a dispute, the average man
ft sides with the king, because he says, ' ' It is his business to
\ u govern, and he knows more about this matter than my
,neighbor, good fellow though he is." In other words,
' ' nearly all other countries are still conducting their governing
on the plan that there is a certain class in the community
i set apart by heredity, by wealth, by social position, to have
\ the controlling and governing voice in shaping the political
policy of the society.
We have thrown that theory overboard entirely. We
have perhaps gone to the other extreme, and it looks some-
times as if we considered that intelligence, and wealth, and
social position were absolute disqualifications for the kind of
service we expect of our representatives. At any rate, we
have put into our representative bodies in many instances,
poverty, ignorance and corruption, villainy and crime itself.
We are proceeding, then, in our government to-day upon
the assumption that the average man is not only a patriot, is
not only upright and honest, is not only desirous of doing
the best he can, but that he is also an expert in the business
of governing, or at least, in a position to pass upon the work
and proposals of those who are actually doing the governing.
(How can our government succeed unless we realize this
assumption by training each individual for his duty as a
citizen ?
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THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. 6r
The subject-matter of these sciences, then, being of such
fundamental importance to modern society in general and
our own American society in particular, I think there is
little doubt that it must assume a new relation toward our
education. It must become the subject-matter of instruc-
tion in all grades of our educational system. I do not think j
it is possible for any great department of human learning j
which is of fundamental importance to the intellectual, moral, '<
political and social training of the mass of the people to
remain forever entirely outside of all connection with educa-
tion. Just as the great field of natural science has been
seized and its results exploited, so to speak, by educators ;
for the purpose of the intellectual and moral training of all '
members in our society, so I believe the subject-matter of ;
the political and social sciences will be utilized in the same '
way by our educators, in as extensive and fundamental a
way.
I may venture to make one other remark before I pass
from this aspect of the subject. Modern pedagogy empha-
sizes the fundamental necessity of the element of interest on
the part of the child who is to be educated in the subject-
matter of his instruction before the best results can be
accomplished. It is a principle of wide and ever widening
application. We cannot hope to work out the best results^
in a political way through the machinery of the modern free
state unless every individual in that community becomes
thoroughly and profoundly interested in political questions
as such, and I am using that term " political questions " in
a large sense, as questions in regard to which a politically
organized society may be required to have a positive policy.
Now I do not think that it is possible to develop this interest
in any large way in the masses of the people, unless the
conscious consideration of these questions be taken up as an
integral part in all grades of our educational system.
We can only make the average man an expert in political
matters by rousing his permanent and fundamental interest
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62 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
in political things. Men will give their time and thought
and feeling to things in which they become profoundly inter-
ested, about which they are deeply concerned. One of the
great justifications for the introduction of natural science
into all grades of our schools is to be found in the desira-
bility of interesting the average individual in our society,
in the world of natural phenomena about him. We ought
to bring him to see in the flutter of every leaf upon a tree,
in the flight of a passing bird, in the roar of the waves of
the seashore, in the growth of the daisy at his feet, in the
silent sweep of the stars above his head, a fact of interest
and moment to him, the consideration of which will lift him
out of himself and up into the higher sphere of intellectual
efibrt and usefulness. I do not believe that he can get this
interest, at least not in any large numbers, unless our educa-
tional system is directed toward producing this interest in
him, toward bringing this sort of thing into relation with the
things in which he is already interested, toward giving him
an appreciation for these interesting and important natural
phenomena.
The same thing is true of the phenomena of our social
life. Our laws, our institutions, our economic and social
and industrial relations are full of the most interesting phe-
nomena, offering the most valuable material for thought and
reflection and study, the consideration of which will lift the
individual man and woman out of the narrow round of the
routine duties characteristic of the ordinary life up into the
larger sphere of communion with the great thoughts that
have made our world for us, and with those larger thoughts
which have made the universe in which we live. If we can
get this interest for these things, we shall find an increasing
attention and an increasing devotion to these subjects on the
part of every man and woman in our society, but to do that
I think these subjects in some form must be brought to the
attention of our children as systematically and as regularly
as nature itself is brought to them, in the best integration
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\
THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. 63
.and by the best presentation which modern educational
methods can give.
Thus far, I have dwelt upon the desirability of utilizing
the subject-matter of the political and social sciences as
means of instruction in our schools from the point of view
of their importance to our social welfare. It seems to me
that the certainty of a more extensive utilization of this
same subject-matter for educational purposes may also be
based upon what may be called the pedagogical or educa-
tional availability of these sciences as means of instruction
from two points of view, what may be called the purely
-disciplinary or liberal training, and what may be called the
informational or special training. I would not wish to be
understood as divorcing these two considerations; they are
really not two distinct qualities of these subjects, but rather
two aspects, two sides of the same thing. I think it is not too
much to say that the tendency in modern pedagogy at present
is toward recognizing a similar or equal value for the purpose
of training and instruction in nearly all branches of human
science. The old idea that a liberal education can only
be obtained from an extensive study of the classics, that
strength of mind and purpose can only be derived from a
detailed study of mathematics has disappeared along with
many another equally defective notion as to the pedagogical
nature of various disciplines and branches of knowledge. I
do not know that it would be fair to say to-day that there is
a concensus of the best opinion in favor of the view that all
subjects of study are of equal educational value, but certainly
the tendency of modern philosophic and pedagogical thought
lias been steadily in the direction of recognizing the truth of
this principle in regard to an ever-increasing number of sub-
jects. Human science is becoming so large in its scope, so
multiformTnT^vaneTy, that no one man can hope to master
even the rudiments of it in the course of a single lifetime.
We must, if these different departments are to be adequately
cultivated, look forward to an ever- increasing specialization
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64 ANNAI.S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
in many directions, and it would certainly be an unfortunate
outlook for the race, if this increasing specialization were to
be accompanied by decreasing discipline of the human mind.
Now the subject-matter of the political and social sciences,
from whatever point of view it may be considered offers most
valuable material to the educationist. No one who has
studied political economy, as it is set forth in the great
treatises on this subject, can help realizing that the mastery
of the line of argument adopted in economics must result in
mental development just as surely and as truly as does the
mastery of propositions in geometry. No one can take the
trouble to understand the celebrated proposition of John-
Stuart Mill, ' ' that a demand for commodities is not a
demand for labor," without feeling that he has made as
definite and as distinct an advance in his power to grapple
with abstruse questions as would have been occasioned by the
mastery of a difficult proposition in Euclid. If the general
public, if our clergymen and our newspaper writers, under-
stood this proposition and what it means a proposition
which may almost be called the pans asinorum of economic
students, we should certainly be spared many of the elaborate
and misleading expositions by our newspapers and other
so-called leaders of public thought upon the subject of luxu-
rious expenditure. The notion that the expenditure of
hundreds of thousands of dollars upon an evening's enter-
tainment is productive expenditure of wealth in a narrow
economic sense would not commend itself to anyone who
understood the proposition referred to.
John Stuart Mill's theory of international trade; his pre-
sentation of the subject of rent, of wages, and many other
similar topics as discussed by him and subsequent writers, to
say nothing of the refinements of the Austrians, offer an
abundance of material for purely disciplinary or formal train-
ing; material which, while quite as difficult and obstinate as
mathematics or logic, has the great advantage of appealing
to some types of mind as of far more interest than mathe-
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THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. 65
matics, and is consequently for those particular persons, a
better material for formal or disciplinary training than the
latter.
The same thing is true of politics in the form of constitu-
tional law. No youth can master the line of reasoning
pursued by the great jurists, who have developed a theory
of constitutional law based upon our constitutional system,
without feeling new virtue come into him, without ex-
periencing a new sense of power, without undergoing a real
process of development. Education has been defined by
some one to be "a development of the power to draw dis-
tinctions." And the power to understand and appreciate
the distinctions which our jurists have drawn in the process
of elaborating the set of constitutional principles upon which
our system of state and federal government rests can only be
the result of a serious and valuable discipline.
Aside from this mental discipline, this formal training,
which in an eminent degree may be made the accompaniment
of such studies, they have the additional value of impart-
ing information relating to the conditions of life under
which the modern citizen is placed which cannot be without
its effect in interesting the individual in these social, political
and industrial problems, which face our modern state. And
if, with this formal training, we can secure this interest, we
shall have gone a long way toward laying the foundations
for an intelligent and useful citizenship. The highest value
of these subjects from this point of view, from the point of
view of the formal or disciplinary side is perhaps attainable
only in our high schools, or in the upper grades of our high
schools and of similar institutions. But the youth or maiden
of sixteen or seventeen can grapple with and understand
some of these problems which I have indicated, in such a way
as to derive very great benefit from the pursuit of these
subjects.
If the line of thought thus far adopted is a sound one, it
is evident that we are face to face With the important problem
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66 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
of the adjustment of this branch of instruction, of this depart-
ment of human science in our educational system to the
other branches of instruction in the various grades of our
educational scheme.
While I cannot go in any great detail into the discussion
of this question, there are some salient points so important that
they cannot be passed over without at least a cursory notice.
The term university in our modern educational system is com-
ing to be applied to the great system of professional schools
whose curriculum is based upon an extensive secondary train-
ing. It includes a complex of medical, law, divinity and philo-
sophical faculties, comprising under the latter head the so-
called advanced or graduate work in pure science which is
made the basis of special training for people who are looking
forward to an academic career. The university in the true
sense is an institution organized for a twofold purpose, that
of promoting original investigation and research, that of
widening the bounds of human knowledge, and secondly of
furnishing a specific professional training based upon the
utilization of the highest results of human science for this
purpose. Now in this department of our education certainly
the political and social sciences must assume a most important
part, and with every passing year a more important one.
As subjects of study and investigation, they certainly may
lay claim to a fair share of the attention of these great
foundations, organized for the promotion of human science.
There is, moreover, an increasing number of callings in the
community, proper preparation for which would certainly
include a period of study of these subjects. As our civil
service becomes more thoroughly developed in this country,
as our standard of efficiency and our ideas of what a civil
service system ought to be in a great country like this rises,
we may be sure that a professional training looking toward
qualifying people for these important and difficult positions
will certainly be required. There will come a time when we
shall expect an American consul to be a man who knows
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THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. 67
something of industry and trade and commerce, who has
some knowledge of thtf inter-relations of the great industrial
and commercial machinery of the modern world; when we
shall expect the n4#n who are at the head of the important
departments in ottf municipal governments and of the impor-
tant departments in our national and state governments, to
have some eiepert knowledge of the subject-matter under-
lying the administration of their offices. When that time
comes, the universities must offer special professional instruc-
tion looking to these places, based upon the political and
social sciences. Certainly the great business of managing
and directing the newspaper in the modern world is another
department of life in which the presence of experts in these
subjects is absolutely essential, if these so-called leaders do
not become mere blind leaders of the blind. Surely the
men who make politics a business, and draw up our laws for
us, and shape our administration, ought to be men with
knowledge of these subjects, such as at present they have
not. When we do come to require this knowledge, the
place to obtain it will be in the university under the leader-
ship of men who make the study of these things and
instruction in these things their life work. These depart-
ments are, therefore, in connection with our universities,
bound to increase and multiply, to be developed and ex-
panded, and made more serviceable for the important function
which they are destined to fulfill.
There are not wanting signs that this development has
already begun. Our great universities in this country have
in the last twenty years begun to make more or less adequate
provision for the cultivation of these subjects. In no place is
it at present adequate; in no place is it at present more than
a mere beginning; in no institution has more than a fraction
of the effort and time and money been devoted to this
department of human knowledge which is given to natural
science.
I may note here, that the question of the suitable or-
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68 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
ganization of this instruction in the university is a mere
matter of detail; and yet it is not by any means an un-
important matter of detail; on the contrary, it may have
the most profound effect upon the manner in which our
whole educational scheme may develop. Thus, if we or-
ganize the political and social sciences in such a way that
that they can be set over as a group of social sciences against
a group of natural sciences, we may be very certain that
they will be more adequately cared for, than if, grouped
together under one head, or one science, they be set over
against some one division of the natural sciences, like chem-
istry or physics. It is interesting to note that for some time
in this country there was a tendency to recognize this
co-ordinate position of the political and social sciences, as over
against the natural sciences. And we had the school of
political science, organized in Columbia in 1881, for just the
kind of advanced work which I have been describing; we
had the school of political science organized at Cornell, at
Michigan and at Wisconsin. The only place in which the
organization was fairly well carried out was at Columbia,
and there are not lacking a good many signs at present of a
determined attack upon this claim of the political and social
sciences to be considered as a group of equal importance and
equal dignity with the natural sciences, or with the histori-
cal and philological sciences. The question will probably
ultimately be decided by the final development and arrange-
ment and organization of the sciences among themselves,
and I am free to say that, in my opinion, we have no indica-
tions at present which enable us to determine what that
final classification of the sciences is to be. There are
tendencies at work in political economy which would reduce
it to a mathematico-physical science, others which would
hold it in its present relation to the moral sciences. There
are tendencies which would reduce politics to history, and
others which would reduce history to politics. There are
claims that economics is the basal science of all social
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THE POLITICAL, AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. 69
sciences, etc. The arc of the circle is not as yet suf-
ficiently large to enable us to determine the size of the circle,
or indeed whether it is a circle at all, whether it may not be
an ellipse, or possibly a parabola or an hyperbola. But for
the present, the immediate problem before our universi-
ties from this point of view is the relation of this group of
subjects to the old historical subjects of university instruc-
tion, history, grammar, and philosophy on the one hand,
and to the newer subjects grouped under the head of natural
sciences on the other. As said above, the question is by no
means unimportant. In our modern universities, for ex-
ample, a certain sum of money is set aside for the purchase
of books, which is to be divided up among the departments,
and according as this group of subjects constitute one depart-
ment, or is broken up into several distinct departments, will
it receive a small, or, in the aggregate, a large proportion of
the total available funds of the institution. The money may
be divided more and more among the various departments
of the institution which are to be developed and, according
as these subjects are grouped as one department, or broken
up into a number of departments, will they obtain a small
or, in the aggregate, a large proportion of the university's
revenue. In the University of Pennsylvania senate, for
example, this whole group of subjects, is represented by
one man, while the field of natural science, pure and ap-
plied, is represented by six or seven men, and the field
of the old subjects by as many more; language itself
being represented by no less than three. In Columbia Uni-
versity this group of subjects has a position and a dignity
which secures for them a much larger share of university
attention and university support than in the University of
Pennsylvania. In the University of Chicago, out of some
fifteen departments organized with head professors, three
are assigned to this general field, but it is interesting to note
that the number in the field of natural science is steadily
increasing, and from all present indications will soon far
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70 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
outweigh the relative position at first assigned to the social
sciences. Those of us who believe that these subjects rep-
resent a large and vital portion of human science must exert
our efforts upon all occasions, and in all legitimate ways, to
secure for them their proper and adequate attention, even
in what seems to be the small matter of university organi-
zation.
The relation of the political and social sciences to what
may be called secondary and college education is no less
important than that to the great field of professional or uni-
versity training. The condition of higher education in the
United States is at present in many respects so chaotic that
it is difficult to classify sharply and draw the line between
what is professional, what is higher, what is secondary and
what is elementary. But leaving to one side all such educa-
tion as may be considered professional, whether it be given
in the upper years of a college course, or in the strictly
graduate years of university work, let us turn our attention
for a moment to what may be called preparatory or secondary
work, such as is involved in the high school curriculum, and
in the first two years of our most advanced colleges. Calling
all that work secondary, therefore, which comes after the
elementary school and prior to the professional work of the
university, what is the relation of the social and political
sciences to this department? The number of people who
attend the universities in any country is very small. The
average condition or height of education in a country at
large depends to a far greater extent upon the number of
people who may take this liberal or disciplinary training,
which is characteristic of secondary education. And the
effort has, of course, been made to extend and invigorate
this branch of our education in the United States, but thus
far without that marked success which we might hope for.
As a result of this we find that a large proportion of persons
who are taking the so-called professional education of the
university, that in law, medicine, theology, have not taken
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THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. 71
this preliminary or secondary work, but have gone directly
from the elementary school into the professional school.
There are many different causes which have conspired to
bring about such a result, but prominent among them cer-
tainly is the fact that within a comparatively recent date our
colleges and universities threw the whole weight of their
authority in favor of the view that there was only one road
to the higher education, that through the study of the classics
and mathematics, and that no one could claim to be cultured
who had not spent years of his life in the pursuit of what we
sometimes call the formal sides of culture. A great epoch
came in the history of education when the adherents of
natural science succeeded in establishing a college curriculum
based upon the study of the natural sciences as the old classical
curriculum had been based upon the study of the classics and
mathematics. When this second road was opened to higher
education, it was found that a vastly larger number of the
3'outh of the country desired a liberal or disciplinary culture,
than had desired, or had been willing to take it through the
medium of the old training. We are face to face to-day
with the necessity of opening up still other roads to this same
end of a liberal and general culture, to cast up still other
highways than those which rest upon the classics and the
natural sciences. One road in our view lies certainly through
the study of the social sciences. A liberal curriculum may
be laid out having for its nucleus the great field of social
science, the study of man in his political and economic
institutions, which shall be as valuable as either of the
other courses. With this is indicated our view as to the
relation of the political and social sciences to this problem of
secondary education, at least from one point of view. We
must work out a secondary curriculum based largely on
these subjects.
The University of Pennsylvania made the first movement
in this direction, in the establishment of the Wharton School
of Finance and Economy, some fifteen years ago. As this
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72 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
experiment was the first, so it has remained the most suc-
cessful of the kind up to the present time. It is not destined
to remain without imitation and without a profound reflex
influence upon the course of college education throughout
the country. The president of the University of Chicago
has announced that a department with similar ends and aims
and with similar methods is to be opened in that institution,
as soon as the requisite funds are forthcoming. The plan
has received the assent of all the academic authorities, and
is simply waiting for the financial support necessary to its
inauguration. The University of California, that wonderful
institution, one of the most remarkable in the United States,
is at work at present upon a similar project which it is
believed will be launched within a year or two. I have no
doubt myself that the establishment of such a curriculum
in every one of our great institutions would be attended by
another large increase in the number of those young people
in the community who aspire after a higher education, but
who are not attracted to the study of either the classics or
natural sciences as at present conducted.
The considerations which I have thus far adduced relating
to the college, or higher, secondary curriculum, apply with
equal force, it seems to me, to the high school or lower sec-
ondary curriculum. Everyone is aware, who has followed
the history of the public high school in the United States,
that it has begun to influence very profoundly the attitude
of the colleges upon the subject of popular education. The
high school was the first constituent part of our secondary
educational system which insisted that training in the natural
sciences, being universal in character, ought to enter into
all grades of our education; that secondary education must
not be devoted to the mere study of grammar and mathe-
matics, while the study of all other branches of knowledge
should be deferred until the close of the period which the
average child could devote to education. It insisted that
natural science must become a constituent part of the
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THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. 73
education of the high school, and high school curricula have
t>een worked out based largely upon training in natural
science. I do not doubt but that we must work out exactly
the same kind of a problem in connection with instruction
and training in the social sciences. And there are not
wanting signs at numerous places in the country that so-
called commercial high schools are to be developed, whose
curricula will be based to a very large extent upon the
subject-matter of these same political and social sciences.
We now come to the third and last of my propositions, in
regard to the relation of our education to the subject-matter
of the political and social sciences, and that is that our
-elementary schools must also make a place in their curricula
for the elements of these subjects, which we have been dis-
cussing. The period of elementary education is perhaps not
altogether as clearly defined as one might wish, but for our
purposes, I should take as the period suitable to elementary
-education the school life up to thirteen or fourteen years of
;age, the time at which the pupils in our public schools are
ready for the high school, the period usually covered by the
-compulsory school laws, the period which, roughly speaking,
has come to be pretty generally accepted as extending from
the sixth to the fourteenth year. It is in this period that
the question of the relation of these sciences to the general
training for citizenship in a republic becomes of special
importance. If every man, and possibly, in course of time,
every woman, in our society is to be called upon to take an
;active part in the work of governing, or of passing upon the
success with which other people govern, or to have the privi-
.lege of passing judgment upon the adoption or rejection of
great questions of public policy, it would seem to follow as a
matter of course that every citizen ought to have some spe-
cific and special training to prepare him for this important
duty. Now the number of young men or women who enter
our high schools or our colleges, or our universities is very
indeed. If we are to do anything effective in this
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74 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
direction, we must begin with the boys and girls in those insti-
tutions of our school system in which the great majority of
them are to be found, and they are the elementary schools.
It is not necessary, I presume, at this time to enter
upon an elaborate argument in favor of the view that there
is need for a more general, a more fundamental, a more satis-
factory training for citizenship in our society than we have
at present. We need only to look about us to see ample
evidence that our society, political, social, economic and
industrial, is suffering from a thousand and one defects
which would be remedied if our sense of civic duty were
quicker and our knowledge of civic relations more ample and
thorough. The tendency to sacrifice the public interest to-
private interest, the shameless betrayals of trust in our city
and state governments, the outrageous exploitation of the
weak and unfortunate by the strong and unscrupulous, the
combinations of the rich and the poor to plunder the public
at every possible point, are such common phenomena of our
social and public life in every direction that they have almost
ceased to attract public attention. Now the training for
citizenship necessary to bring about a new state of things in
these respects is, of course, an extremely broad one. It
implies that training for citizenship, which comes as a result
of all the complex forces of life in a free state, which work
together to make or to mar the character of every citizen in
it. The training in the family, in the school, on the play-
ground, in the church, in business, in politics, in all the
various relations of life, goes to make up that complex
resultant, the good, or the bad citizen. The only point I
care to urge in this immediate connection is that specific
instruction in the nature, constitution and relationships of
human society in its political aspects, should be a part, indeed,
an important part, a part which has been hitherto overlooked
and neglected, in this great and comprehensive process of
developing the intelligent and conscientious citizen. A man
is a citizen by virtue of the fact that he lives in society, that
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THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. 75
he must enter into social relations with a vast number of
human beings in immediate or remote proximity to himself,
and according as he bears himself in these relations wisely
and conscientiously or the opposite, will the outcome of
human society be a blessing or a curse. We have to develop,
of course, a social consciousness in the child as it grows up
through the family, and the school, and prepares itself to
emerge into the wider relations of political and industrial
society. And if we can only develop the right social ideals
in the child, can only develop the right mental and moral
social attitude in the youth, we need not be afraid of the
result, for society, government, politics bear the same rela-
tion to these social ideals, these social standards, these social
views, that the fruit or the blossom bears to the bud or the
seed. If we can get the right attitude and the adequate
knowledge in the green tree, the dry will surely take care
of itself.
I am not sure that I have sufficient knowledge of the cur-
riculum, of the difficulties and possibilities of elementary
instruction in our schools as they exist, to outline in any
satisfactory way exactly what form this specific instruction
in the elements of political and social science shall take, in
order to secure the highest social results. But I am sure
that the burden of working out this problem rests upon the
school teachers and the university experts alike, and it can
only be solved by their persistent co-operation. Just as it
has taken two generations of work on the part of our ele-
mentary school teachers, on the one hand, and of our scien-
tists on the other, to prepare the subject-matter of the
natural sciences to become a mental pabulum for the children
in our elementary schools, so it may possibly be another
generation or two before this same problem can be worked
out for the political and social sciences; but it is my firm
belief that worked out it must be if our social progress is to
be as continuous, as rapid, as our social welfare demands.
I do not mean by this, of course, that it is necessary to
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76 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
introduce into the lower grades of schools systematic subjects
of instruction which we shall call politics, and economics, or
sociology. But certainly from the very earliest life of the child
in the school, to the last day he continues in it, the manage-
ment of the school itself, in all its relationships, in the class-
room, on the playground, etc. , ought to be such as to tend
steadily toward developing the social instinct and the social
attitude which will finally blossom into the fruit of perfect
citizenship. In what manner in connection with this uncon-
scious training specific instruction in the constitution of
government and society, and in their relation to the citizen
and the citizen's relation to them may be introduced, I
cannot undertake to say at present. That is a practical
problem of school pedagogics. But I am inclined to think
that it may be done much earlier than is at present supposed,
and I am convinced that every passing year will demon-
strate even more imperatively than our past development
has already demonstrated, the necessity of beginning this
instruction as early as possible.
The practical solution depends on the hearty co-operation
of layman, school teacher and university professor, and to
this work the interest of modern society summons us all
alike.
EDMUND J. JAMES.
University of Chicago.
THE ADMINISTRATION OF PRUSSIAN
RAILROADS.
WITH SPECIAI, REFERENCE TO THE ADJUSTMENT OP
RAILWAY RATES.
The necessity of comparative studies in the various natural
and social sciences is an accepted fact. It has come to be
well understood that the institutions of other countries must
be known before we can thoroughly understand those of our
own. This is certainly no less true of railroads than of other
institutions. While our railroads may often have been culpably
managed, it is equally true that at times they have been most
indiscreetly dealt with by some of our legislatures, arousing
popular prejudices, which are as unjust and injurious ta
sound enterprise as they are unfounded in fact. A study of
a foreign system of railroads should aid us in gaining an
accurate knowledge of the nature of railroad enterprises. It.
should reveal those tendencies which are inherent in the
business and those which are distinctly due to administra-
tion. It should dimmish criticism and make critics more
discriminating and judicious. In spite of excellent civil
service and greater prudence in legislation, Prussia during
the reign of the ' ' railroad king, ' ' Dr. Strousberg, developed
railroad problems essentially like those which led to the
institution of the Interstate Commerce Commission in this,
country, and which prompted much of the restrictive legisla-
tion in our states.
Prussia began with general, our states, with special legis-
lation. Prussian theory placed railroads in one category and
ordinary businesses in another. We have until very recently
insisted upon their essential similarity. Prussian railroad
history establishes the soundness of the first and the fallacy
of the second theory. Continental Europe recognized the
dangers of laissez faire in the railroad business much earlier
than America.
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78 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
An objection which the student of foreign institutions fre-
quently meets, especially if he is inclined to suggest
improvements in our own institutions along lines which he
has found acceptable in those of other countries, is that the
' ' conditions ' ' are so different there that the experience of
those countries is not applicable to our own. No intelli-
gent person would deny that conditions may differ, and that
neither theory nor practice can be sound which takes no
cognizance of them. It would be folly to neglect the atti-
tude which certain nationalities habitually take toward
public affairs generally, especially in matters concerning
administration and legislation. Measures which the Ger-
mans might placidly accept might make a nest of rebels of
Americans within twenty-four hours, and -vice versa. But
let the student place in one column things in which, for
instance, Prussia and the United States are essentially alike,
and in another those in which they differ, and the result
will surprise him. Speaking generally, it is safe to say that
the great manufactures and trades manifest universal rather
than national characteristics. Economic and social con-
ditions are everywhere becoming more and more alike. A
universality, rather than nationality, of conditions is the
much safer hypothesis under our present industrial regime.
It should no longer be permissible to dismiss valuable expe-
riences of other countries simply because of the alleged
differences in conditions.
The railway charters of Europe and America were largely
influenced by English experience. The Liverpool- Man-
chester Railway charter was based upon the earlier English
canal legislation, and the general law of Prussia was con-
structed upon the same model. The charters granted by our
state legislatures reveal almost at a glance their common origin
in English law. Granted, as many of them were, by legisla-
tures composed of frontiersmen, they show a frontiersman's
intolerance of restraint, and many of the restrictive clauses
and reservations contained in the early English and Prussian
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ADMINISTRATION OF PRUSSIAN RAILROADS. 79
laws were shaken off as the charters were carried westward.
The struggle in Parliament over the Liverpool and Manches-
ter charter centred about the preamble, which set forth in
detail the desirability and justification of the enterprise. In
Prussia, a memorial, required by law, performs the same
functions. In several of our states, bills praying for railroad
charters contained a preamble not unlike that in the English
bill. With the downfall of the custom of incorporating
preambles in our charters, and of deliberating over them,
an element of wholesome restraint was lost, especially in the
conspicuous absence of general legislation in most of our
states, during earlier years. What the continuance of this
custom signifies, Prussian history illustrates. Survivals of
this custom are found in a Maine law, which requires a
1 ' petition ' ' giving information on specified points, and in
the New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut acts which
require railway companies to satisfy the railway commissions
or the courts, of the public " utility " of the railroads for the
construction of which charters are desired. Prussia was
more systematic at the beginning than we were.
A single test will impress us with the planlessness of our
earlier and most of our later railroad charters. Take early
charters granted by legislatures of a dozen different states,
cut these into slips each of which shall contain a single
provision, put the slips containing similar provisions into the
same box, shake the boxes, take one slip from each box
although all the way from one to a dozen boxes may be left
untouched without affecting the result ! and by rearranging
the slips held in the hand, without paying particular atten-
tion to their order in detail, a charter will have been con-
structed which in all essentials is as perfect as many of the
earlier charters granted by the legislatures of any one of the
northwestern and no doubt also of other states. Let any
one who doubts this analyze twenty-five or fifty charters.
The prudence with which Prussia began her railroad build-
ing and the evils from which such a policy saved her has its
8o ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
lessons for us to-day. The following sections will show a part
of the Prussian system, and that part which to me seems to-
be the most valuable, at least from an economic point of view.
The Relation of the Federal Government to Railroads*
There is only one federal railroad in Prussian territory a.
short military road from Berlin to the shooting grounds at
Zossen. In the eyes of the Prussian law this is a private
road. There are federal railroads in Alsace-Lorraine which
were acquired after the Franco-Prussian war. A num-
ber of these have been leased by the empire to Prussia.
Though the federal roads took the lead in drawing into their
council advisory bodies like those treated of in a subsequent,
section, and while the system of rates in existence on these rail-
roads at the time they were acquired contributed an element
toward the formation of the present mixed system of rates-
or " reform tariff," as it is called, which is in effect on all
German roads, the importance of federal railroads can hardly
justify further treatment of them in the present essay.
The constitution of the new German Empire, of April 16,
1871, confers upon the federal government extensive powers
over all the railroads in the Empire. No German railroad,
whether state or private, whether located in Saxony or in.
Prussia, or any other German state except Bavaria, which
secured special concessions in the constitution, can withdraw
from the active or potential power reserved in the imperial
constitution. These powers may conveniently be grouped
under five heads:
1. The right to legislate, which, in a sense, includes all the others.
2. The right to grant concessions.
3. The right to control rates.
4. The right to supervise the building, operation and administration.
of railroads.
5. The right to employ the railroad for the national defence.
Portions of this and the two following sections, about one half of their con-
tents, have previously appeared in a paper by the author on " The Adjustment of
Railway Rates in Prussia," published by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, ArtSi
and Letters.
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ADMINISTRATION OP PRUSSIAN RAILROADS. 81
The federal constitution makes it the duty of the govern-
ment to cause the German railroads to be managed as a uni-
form network in the interests of the general traffic. This
phrase, " as a uniform network," is an elastic one, and
probably would suffice to give the federal government most
of the powers it exercises; yet, nine articles of the constitu-
tion are either wholly or in part devoted to the subject of
railroads, embracing matters pertaining to construction,
equipment, operation and repair. These articles declare
that the government shall strive to introduce a uniform
system of regulations for the operation of all German rail-
roads, and a uniform system of rates; that it shall strive to
secure the greatest possible reduction of rates, especially for
long hauls of articles supplying the wants of agriculture and
of industry, such as coal, coke, wood, ore, stone, salt, pig-
iron, fertilizers, etc. In times of distress and famine the
emperor, on the recommendation of the, railroad committee
of the Bundesrath, a standing committee required by the
federal constitution, may temporarily fix rates for the trans-
portation of the necessaries of life, provided that such a
reduction shall not reduce rates below those charged on the
respective railroads for the transportation of raw material.
These constitutional provisions have been well carried out,
for the German railroads are operated as a system, and their
system of rates and of regulations has developed a high
degree of uniformity. The emperor has not yet been called
upon to exercise his special prerogative during times of dis-
tress because the railroads have voluntarily met the needs of
such times. The constitutional provisions have been supple-
mented by ministerial rescripts, royal orders and statutes,
and together they form a complete system of responsibility
and of control.
Important Provisions of Prussian Railroad Law.
The most important and the most commendable feature of
the Prussian s}^stem, when we consider it from the point of
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82 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
view of the service which it performs and which it can be
made to perform for the public, seems to me to be the
advisory bodies which will be discussed later. It would be
impossible, however, to understand and to appreciate their
full significance without a knowledge of the general char-
acteristics of Prussian railroad law.
In the first place, we should note the classification of
Prussian railroads, since the duties and privileges of railroads
in their relation to the general public and to the government
vary with the class to which they belong. Prussian railroads
are classified as:
A. State . /-I. Primary (Haupt- or Vollbahnen ).
or \ whlch may J 2 . Secondary (Neben- or Sekunddrbahncn).
B. Private) lther 1 3. Local (Kleinbahnen).
4. Private branches (Privatanschlussbahn-
en).
5. Isolated private roads "not operated by
machines."
Objectively considered there are no important differences
between primary and secondary railroads. Primary roads
correspond somewhat to our trunk lines. Both primary and
secondary railroads have tracks of normal width, and use
similar cars and engines. They differ in equipment, as the
secondary railroads have fewer and slower trains, and a
smaller percentage of brakes to axles. The two classes are
subject to different operating regulations and to different
laws in their relation to the post-office, the adoption of rate
schedules, etc. The law of November 3, 1838, which is the
fundamental railroad law of Prussia , recognizes only primary
and secondary roads. Local roads, legally created by the
law {Gesetz uber Kleinbahnen und Privatanschlussbahnen)
of July 28, 1892, are not " railroads " within the scope of the
law of 1838, and hence not subject to the provisions of the
general railway legislation. Local railroads are placed in the
same category with ordinary businesses, and as such are subject
only to ordinary trade regulations. If, however, at any time,
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ADMINISTRATION OF PRUSSIAN RAILROADS. 83
in the opinion of the Staatsministerium a local road attains
such a degree of importance in the public traffic that it may
be regarded as a part of the general network of railroads,
the state may, on the payment of the full value of such a
railroad, and after one year's notice, add it to the state
system of railroads. The fourth and fifth classes have no
significance for the purposes of this paper. Any recent
railroad map will distinguish at least the first two classes.
It has already been stated that the fundamental railroad
law of Prussia is the law of November 3, 1838. In all its
essentials it is the law of to-day. It grew out of the dis-
cussions and negotiations on the first applications for
"concessions" or charters, especially out of the careful
investigations and statesmanlike considerations preceding
the granting of the Magdeburg-Leipzig charter, which in
turn was based upon " Grundbedingungen der Erlaubniss
zu bffentlichen Eisenbahnen durch Privatunternehmungen"
(Fundamental conditions for permission to build public rail-
roads by private enterprise). By this law, the state, acting
through the minister of public works, has the right, after
the expiration of three years from the first of January next
following the opening of the road, to supervise, approve or
disapprove, (i) all tariff schedules, (2) any proposed change
in existing rates, and (3) the establishment of tariff instruc-
tions and regulations, special and differential rates. How-
ever, the three-year limit is practically void because of the
reservations which the state makes in granting concessions.
The granting of concessions has from the first been sur-
rounded by wholesome restrictions. The law aims to fix
responsibilities and duties in every instance. It requires
the company to furnish proof of the usefulness of the
proposed enterprise before its application can receive atten-
tion from the authorities. It must furnish reliable state-
ments concerning the capacity of the territory through
which the road is to pass to support a railroad, and to give
reasons for the choice of a route. It must furnish objective
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84 ANNAIvS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
proof of its ability to meet all the requirements of the
concession. This involves not only sufficient capital to
build and equip the road, but also the ability to operate it suc-
cessfully. The proposed railroad must be technically prac-
ticable. It must neither frustrate nor make more difficult
other and more useful enterprises. It must be permissible
from a military point of view, and, above all, it must serve
public interests. These preliminary requirements having
been complied with, the detailed plan is subjected to an exam-
ination by the president of that circuit {Regierungsbezirfc)
in which the central office of the proposed railroad is located.
This examination considers primarily private and local in-
terests. All the changes which are brought up for consid-
eration in the course of this examination, whether agreed to
or not by the parties interested, are submitted, together with
the plan, to the minister of public works. By the latter it
is sent to the war office for a special examination with ref-
erence to military interests, while mechanics and builders
examine the technical details of the plan. The final exam-
ination is made by the minister of public works, who pays
special attention to the project as a whole in its relation to
the entire system of railroads. If he finally approves the
project, he recommends it to the king, through whose order
the concession is finally granted. The power of the min-
ister of public works does not cease with the grant of the
charter, but continues during the period of construction and
during the entire life of the road.
The building of state roads, being an attribute of sover-
eignty, does not require a concession. The building of a
private road involves two elements: legal privilege and
enterprise, or "undertaking." In the case of state roads
only the latter element is involved. In other words, the
building of a railroad by the state is purely an act of adininr
istration. But before this administrative act is exercised the
most rigid and comprehensive investigations are made, which
are in general like those indicated above in case of private
[396]
ADMINISTRATION OF PRUSSIAN RAILROADS. 8
railroads. Were we to trace the development of the Prus-
sian system we should find that most of the railroads have
been built from social and economic considerations, although
political and military considerations have at times been pre-
dominant factors. It is absolutely untenable, however, to
maintain, as is sometimes done, that Prussia makes her rail-
roads a military and a political machine. Certainly these
elements may be discovered in the history of Prussian rail-
roads, but one may unhesitatingly say that if there is any
system of railroads in the world which truly and effectively
serves all the interests of a nation, that system is the
Prussian.
We have already noticed three powers of the minister of
public works over railway rates. They apply only to
primary roads. Secondary roads may, during the first eight
years of their existence, raise or lower rates to meet their
own desires, provided they do not go above a certain maxi-
mum prescribed by the minister for that period of time; and
provided further, that their rates do not conflict with the
general principles of rates enforced on state lines. But in
no case can these concessions invalidate the general super-
visory right of the state. The rates on local roads are pro-
vided for in the law of July 28, 1892, as follows:
"The authority upon which the approval of the project devolves is
required to make an agreement with the owner as to time-table and
rates, aiid the periods of time in which such agreements shall be sub-
jected to revision, provided that the owner may be allowed to estab-
lish his own rates during the first five years, and that thereafter the
state shall only fix maximum rates, in doing which due consideration
shall be given to the financial interests of the road."
The law reserves to the state this power, but it does not
make it a duty; and it is the policy of the state not to interfere
with any arrangements the owner may see fit to make, pro-
vided he neither practices unjust discriminations nor does
anything else contrary to the interests of the public. The
law simply reserves to the state the right to act if circum-
stances require it.
[397]
S6 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
The publicity of rates is adequately secured in Prussian
law. All railroads state or private, primary, secondary or
local are required to publish their rates under the super-
vision of the same authorities that fix them. Such publi-
cation includes all tariffs passenger (which are also printed
on the tickets) , freight, local, through rates, terminals, inci-
dental fees, etc. Not only the bare schedules, but also the
rules and regulations governing their application, as well as
all changes which have been made in them, must be pub-
lished. Every advance in rates must be published, together
with the old rates, at least six weeks before they can take
effect. Reductions likewise require the consent of the
proper authorities and must be published. Any deviation
from published rates is prohibited, and every person has a
right to insist upon a computation of the price of transporta-
tion on the basis of rates properly published, and no other.
Any violation of these regulations may be punished in the
ordinary courts of law. During the last decade there has
been a tendency to shift points of dispute more and more
from the administrative department over to the regular
channels of the civil courts. Paragraph 35 of the law of
1838 names the minister (then the minister of trades and
industry) as the authority that shall decide disputes be-
tween railroads and shippers arising out of rate-questions.
The motive which led to such a provision was that this
official was best fitted to give right decisions, but with the
growth of the railroad system, and with the later develop-
ment of the courts of justice, the opinion gained ground
that the administrative department should be released from
the judicial duties imposed upon it by section 35 of the law
of 1838. Legislation of 1876 and 1883 was aimed in that
direction, and the law of April i, 1890, transferred all claims
arising out of rate-questions to the ordinary courts of law for
redress.
In our discussion of the direct administrative organs it
will be necessary to pass over the older organization. On
[398]
ADMINISTRATION OF PRUSSIAN RAILROADS. 87
April i, 1895, the Prussian railroad administration was
completely reorganized. Previous to that time there had
existed two distinct official bodies, or " resorts," immediately
below the minister of public works. The latter was then,
and is now, the executive head of the railroad administra-
tion, and the two bodies subordinated to him were known
as Eisenbahndirektionen and Eisenbahnbetriebsiimter, respect-
ively, the one having direct charge of the operation of the
railroads and the other performing purely administrative
functions. Of the Direktionen there were eleven, and of the
Detriebsamter seventy-five. The functions of both of these
have now been consolidated in the royal state railroad direc-
tories, of which twenty have been created, with their seats
at Altona, Berlin, Breslau, Bromberg, Cassel, Cologne,
Danzig, Elberfeld, Erfurt, Essen, Frankfurt a. M., Halle
a. S., Hannover, Kattowitz, Konigsberg, Magdeburg, Miin-
ster, Posen, St. Johann-Saarbriicken and Stettin. Each
directory is composed of a president, appointed by the king,
and the requisite number of associates, two of whom, an
Ober-Regierungsrath and an Ober-Baurath, may act as sub-
stitutes of the president under the direction of the minister.
Each directory has complete administrative control over all
the railroads within its limits, although the subordinate civil
administrative organs of the state, such as the Oberprdsident,
Regierungsprasident and Landrath have certain powers in
the granting of concessions, police regulations, etc. The
directory decides all cases arising out of the action of special
and of subordinate branches of the administration; and, rep-
resenting the central administration, it may acquire rights
and assume responsibilities in its behalf. The directories
may be characterized as general administrative organs, one
of whose great functions is the proper co-ordination of all
the parts of the railroad system.
Below and subordinated to them are special adminis-
trative organs, upon whom falls the duty of local adapta-
tion and supervision. There are six classes of these local
[399]
88 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
offices, and their names indicate in a general way their
functions: operating, machine, traffic, shop, telegraph, and
building offices or Inspektionen, as they are called. Shortly
before the new system went into operation the minister
of public works issued special business directions for each
class of offices. The contents of each of these ministerial
orders maybe grouped under three heads: (i) the posi-
tion of the office in the railroad service; (2) its jurisdic-
tion in matters of business; (3) general provisions. To
give a detailed analysis of the functions of the local offices
is out of the question here. It should be added, how-
ever, that all phases of the service, whether from the point
of view of the railroads or of the public, are carefully pro-
vided for. Thus one of the foremost duties ' ' die vor-
nehmste Aufgabe " of the local traffic office is to maintain
a "living union" between the railroad administration and
the public. For this purpose the chief of the office is in
duty bound, by means of numerous personal interviews and
observations, to inform himself concerning the needs of the
service in his district, to investigate and to remedy com-
plaints and evils without delay, and to take such measures
as will secure the most efficient service. It is also one of his
duties to inform the public concerning the organization and
administration of the railroads, so as to avoid idle com-
plaints. This single provision in the rules governing one
of the local offices illustrates the spirit of them all.
Private railroads, which before April i, 1895, had been
supervised by a special railroad commission, are now subject
to the jurisdiction of the president of a directory and his
alternates. This was another step toward greater unity in
the system. The directories upon whom the supervision of
the private roads devolves are those at Altona, Berlin, Bres-
lau, Cassel, Cologne, Elberfeld, Erfurt, Essen, Frankfurt a.
M., Halle, Hannover, Konigsberg, Magdeburg, Miinster,
St. Johann-Saarbriicken and Stettin. As there are twenty
directories, and only sixteen supervise private railroads, it is
[400]
ADMINISTRATION OP PRUSSIAN RAILROADS. 89
evident that jurisdictions for private roads are not identical
with those of directories. Nor does each directory have an
equal number of miles of private or state roads within its
jurisdiction. This depends largely upon the geographical
distribution of the railroads and upon the intensity of the
traffic. Thus, the Berlin directory supervises 587 kilometers
of state roads, while Halle has 11,884 kilometers. The
other directories lie between these two extremes. It may
be added that on April i, 1895, the private roads represented
together only 2200 kilometers (not including Anschlussbah-
nen and 71 kilometers rented to private parties) against
27,060 kilometers* of state roads, of which 10,479 kilome-
ters contained two or more tracks.
All Prussian railroads, then, whether state or private, are
subject to the jurisdiction of a carefully graded administra-
tive system local, intermediate and central each part of
which is connected with every other part in such a manner
that, without interfering with the ability to act promptly in
cases of emergency, every act not only finds its responsible
agent, but the central organ can also make its influence felt in
the remotest branch of the system, and at the same time not
transcend its responsibility to the public.
Advisory Councils and other Bodies.
Whether we regard the interests of the railroads and of
the public as identical or not, there are certainly times when
harmony between the two does not exist. This may be due
to the failure of each to understand the other, or to some
wrongful act which one of them may have committed.
Whatever the cause, if such circumstances do arise, any
organ which can promptly and prudently remove the friction
performs an admirable service in the interests of public traf-
fic. Such an agent is found in Prussia in the advisory
councils and other bodies which co-operate with the legally
responsible parts of the railroad administration. These
* Increased to 27,911 km. by the close of 1896.
[401]
90 ANNAlvS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
councils are created by law and are required to meet regu-
larly for the purpose of co-operating with the state adminis-
tration upon all the more important matters pertaining to the
railway traffic, especially time-tables and rate-schedules.
The first German advisory council was organized in the
federal domain of Alsace-Lorraine. Through an impulse
given by the chamber of commerce of the city of Miilhausen,
a conference between the representatives of the chambers of
commerce of Alsace-Lorraine and the general imperial rail-
road directory at Strassburg was held at Miilhausen on
October 21, 1874. Organization, composition and functions-
of the council were agreed upon during the first session.
Originally its membership was confined to the chambers of
commerce of Alsace-Lorraine, but later representatives of
the various agricultural and industrial bodies were also ad-
mitted. All matters falling within the domain of at least two-
chambers of commerce could be brought before the council.
The proceedings of this conference made such a favor-
able impression upon the federal railroad commissioner
that he attempted, although without immediate success, to
induce the other German railroads, both state and private,
to assist in this movement toward a closer union and a better
understanding between the commercial and railroad inter-
ests, by instituting similar councils. The circular letter of
the commissioner, addressed to the railroads on January 1 1 ,
1875, is one of the most significant steps in the development
of the councils.
"This arrangement," says the letter "primarily strives to establish
an intimate connection between the places entrusted with the admin-
istration of the railroads and the trading classes. It will keep the
representatives of the railroads better informed as to the changing
needs of trade and industry and maintain a continued understanding
between them ; and, on the other hand, it will impart to commerce,
etc., a greater insight into the peculiarities of the railroad business
and the legitimate demands of the administration, and consequently,
by means of earnest and moderate action, it will react beneficially
upon both sides through an exchange of views."
[402]
ADMINISTRATION OF PRUSSIAN RAILROADS. 91
This statement sounds the keynote of the whole move-
ment. For a time the railroads were not very ready to
respond, and the movement made little progress until the
policy of the state to purchase private railroads was about
to be inaugurated. The Prussian Landtag made its ap-
proval of the first bill for the nationalization of railroads
dependent upon certain wirthschaftliche Garantien (economic
guarantees) which it demanded of the government. A
resolution to this effect was adopted by the Landtag in
1879. The minister of trade and industry had already
taken active steps during the previous year. In 1880 a
bill embodying the motives of the resolution of the Land-
tag was introduced, and after having undergone various
changes and modifications was approved and published as
the law of June i, 1882.
Prussia was thus the first, and, up to the present time,
is the only, country in which advisory bodies of this
nature were placed upon a legal basis. The law is en-
titled Gesetz, betreffend die Einsetzung von Bezirkseisen-
bahnrathe und eines Landeseisenbahnraths fur die Staats-
bahnverwaltung . As the name indicates, it creates a class
of advisory boards or councils known as Bezirkseisenbahn-
rathe (circuit councils), and one national council, called
Landeseisenbahnrath. The national council is the advisory
board of the central administration, and the circuit councils
of the railroad directories. Since the reorganization of the
railroad administration, April i, 1895, eight circuit councils
have been in existence, with their seats in Bromberg,
Berlin, Magdeburg, Hannover, Frankfurt a. M., Cologne,
Erfurt and Breslau. It will be remembered that there are
twenty directories, so that a circuit council serves as an
advisory board for more than one directory. The national
council is composed of forty members, holding office for
three years. Of these, ten are appointed and thirty are
elected by the circuit councils from residents of the province
or city, representing agriculture, forestry, manufacture and
[403]
92 ANNAI^S OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
trade, according to a scheme of representation published in
a royal decree. Of the appointed members, three are named
by the minister of agriculture, domains and forests; three
by the minister of trade and industry; two by the minister
of finance; and two by the minister of public works. An
equal number of alternates is appointed at the same time.
Direct bureaucratic influence is guarded against by the
exclusion from appointment of all immediate state officials.
The elective members are distributed among provinces,
departments and cities, by the royal order to which reference
has just been made, and both members and alternates are
elected by the circuit councils. The presiding officer and
his alternate or substitute are appointed by the king. In
addition, the minister of public works is empowered to call
in expert testimony whenever he may think it necessary.
Such specialists, as well as regular members, receive for their
services fifteen marks (about $3.60) per day and mileage.
The national council meets at least twice annually, and
deliberates on such matters as the proposed budget, nor-
mal freight and passenger rates, classification of freight,
special and differential rates, proposed changes in regula-
tions governing the operation of railroads and allied ques-
tions. It is required by law to submit its opinion on any
question brought before it by the minister of public works;
or, on the other hand, it may recommend to the minister
anything which it considers conducive to the utility and
effectiveness of the railroad service. Its proceedings are
regularly submitted to the Landtag, where they are consid-
ered in connection with the budget, thus establishing " an
organic connection ' ' between the national council and the
parliament. In this way the proceedings are made accessible
to every one, and an opportunity is given to approve or dis-
approve what the council does, through parliamentary rep-
resentatives. The system is one of reciprocal questioning
and answering on part of the minister of public works, the
national council and the parliament.
[404]
ADMINISTRATION OP PRUSSIAN RAILROADS. 93
The circuit councils are equally important and interesting.
Since January i, 1895, nine of these have been in existence.
Their membership, which varies considerably with the dif-
ferent councils, was fixed by the minister of public works
in December, 1894. Any subsequent modifications which
may have been made have no bearing on what we are con-
sidering here. At that time the council at Magdeburg had
only twenty-four while that at Cologne had seventy-five
members. The nature of their composition can best be
illustrated by presenting an analysis of the membership of
one such council. The council of Hannover, comprising
the railroad directories of Hannover and Miinster-Westphalen,
seems to be a fair type. In that council we find one repre-
sentative from each of the chambers of commerce of Bielefeld,
Geestemiinde, Hannover, Harburg, Hildesheim, I,uneburg,
Minden, Miinster, Osnabriick, Ostfriesland and Papenburg,
Verden and Wesel; one representative from each of the
following corporations or societies: Society of German
Foundries in Bielefeld, German Iron and Steel Industrials in
Ruhrort, Craftmen's Union of the Province of Hannover,
Branch Union of German Millers in Hannover, Union of
German Linen Industrialists in Bielefeld, Society for Beet
Sugar Industry in Berlin, Society for the Promotion of
Common Industrial Interests in the Rhine Country and
Westphalen, in Diisseldorf, and the Society of German Dis-
tillers in Berlin; four representatives from the Royal Agri-
cultural Society in Celle; three from the Provincial
Agricultural Society for Westphalen in Miinster; one from
the German Dairy Society in Schladen and Hamburg, the
Society of Foresters of the Hartz, the North German
Foresters in Hannover, the Union of Forest Owners of
Middle Germany in Birnstein, and from the Society for the
Promotion of Moor Culture in the German Empire; and,
lastly, one from the Society of German Sea-fishers in
Berlin. This one illustration is probably sufficient to show
the thoroughly representative character of the circuit
[405]
94 ANNAIS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
councils. If a circuit comprises railroads covering territory
of other German states, the chambers of commerce, indus-
trial and agricultural societies of such territory may also be
represented in the council. The minister of public works
has power to admit other members, and frequently does so
when the nature of the questions upon which the council
deliberates makes it desirable. Thus, at a meeting in which
the rates on coal and coke to be noted hereafter from the
Rhenish mining districts to the seashore were to be con-
sidered there were present an Ober-prasident accompanied by
an assessor, a deputy of a Regierungsprasident, a Landrath
(these three are civil administrative officers presiding over a
province, circuit, and department, respectively), a repre-
sentative of the Upper- Mine-Office at Bonn and at Dortmund,
of the Royal Mine Directory at Saarbriicken, of the Royal
Railroad Directory at Hannover, of the Dortmund & Gronau
& Knscheder Railroad Company (private), in addition to
the regular representatives and voting members.
The circuit council, as has been indicated above, stands in
a relation to the railroad directory similar to that of the
national council to the minister. The law makes it man-
datory upon the directory to consult the circuit council on
all important matters concerning the railroads in that cir-
cuit. This applies especially to time-tables and rate-
schedules. On the other hand, the council has the right,
which it freely exercises, of making recommendations to the
directory. In case of emergency the directory may act
according to its own judgment, independently of the council,
but it is required to report all such cases to the standing
committee of the council and to the council itself. This
provision supplies the elastic element which enables the
railroads to meet momentary wants. The standing com-
mittee of the council is an important body. It meets regu-
larly some time before the full council holds its sessions, and
its proceedings form the basis of the deliberations in the
council. The committee receives petitions, memorials and
[406]
ADMINISTRATION OP PRUSSIAN RAILROADS. 95
-other communications. The bearers of these are invited to
-appear before the committee and to advocate their cause.
Questions are asked and answered on both sides, and after
-all the arguments have been presented the committee votes
upon the petition or request, usually in the form of a resolu-
tion adopted by majority vote recommending the council to
.accept or reject the demands made in the petitions. The
action of the committee is reported, on each question, by a
member designated for that purpose, to the full council at
its next session. While the decision of the committee is
usually accepted by the council, it in no way binds that
body. Before the council meets each member has an oppor-
tunity to examine the arguments presented before the com-
mittee and the facts upon which its decisions are based. If
the advocates of the petitions before the council present new
evidence, or if the recommendations of the committee are
shown to be unsound, the council simply reverses the
decision of the committee. Of the nature of these petitions
I shall speak later.
These advisory councils have spread into Bavaria, Saxony,
Wiirtemberg, Hesse, Oldenburg, Mecklenburg-Schwerin,
Austria, Italy, Russia, Denmark, Roumania, and, in a much
modified form, into France. An examination of the coun-
cils in these countries shows the same principle underlying
them all: the representation of all the different economic
interests in the conduct of the railroads. In composition and
organization they are much alike. They owe their existence,
however, not, as in Prussia, to law, but simply to adminis-
trative orders. In Switzerland there are no real advisory
councils, but the public is represented by the regular civil,
commercial and industrial organizations. These submit
memorials to the Department of Railroads and Post. The
wishes of the public as to the time and frequency of trains
are presented regularly twice each year by the cantonal
governments. The railroad department then calls a joint
.session of the representatives of the cantons and of the
[407]
96 ANNALS 01? THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
railroad companies, where these questions are considered..
In passing, we may notice, among civilized nations, the
absence of England and of the United States from this list.
There are still other bodies which, although not created by
law and not confined in their activity to Prussia, have long
exerted a powerful influence throughout the empire. Fore-
most among these stands the Generalkonferenz (General Con-
ference). Under its guidance the modern German system
of rates, called Reformtarif, has been systematically devel-
oped. The general conference meets annually, and dis-
cusses matters relating to tariffs, fees, operating regulations,,
etc. Thus, at a recent meeting the conference disposed of
no less than fifty-three different items, relating mostly to the
classification of goods and the adjustment of rates, all of
which, as in case of the circuit councils, had been previously-
considered in subordinate bodies whose deliberations lie at.
the basis of the proceedings in the general conference. It is>
composed of members representing all the German railroads,
and votes are distributed according to the number of miles,
of road the members each represent, and the total number
of votes increasing, of course, with the growth of the Ger-
man system. At the meeting referred to, the total number
of votes was 322, of which 51 were not represented. Of
these 51, 28 belonged to roads having i, 10 to those having-
2, and i to those having 3 votes. The Prussian state rail-
roads had 139 votes, the Bavarian state railroads 28, those
of Saxony 16, the state roads of Alsace-Lorraine n, the
state roads of Baden 10, and so on down; the remainder rep-
resenting the smaller state and private railroads. These
figures show the predominating influence of Prussia in the
conference.
Bodies subordinate to the general conference have already
been alluded to. These are the Tarif-Kommission and the.
Ausschuss der Verkehrsinteressenten (Tariff Commission and
Committee of Those Interested in Transportation). The
tariff commission is a standing committee whose members;
[408]
ADMINISTRATION OF PRUSSIAN RAILROADS. 97
represent Prussian state roads, two Swiss roads, and one of
the railroads of Mecklenburg. It meets three times a year,
and occupies itself with petitions and other communications
from shippers. The committee of shippers ( Verkehrsinter-
essenteii) is composed of members representing agriculture,
trade and industry; and some of the matters brought before
it are previously discussed by a sub-committee. Both of
these bodies occupy themselves almost exclusively with
freight rates and matters immediately connected with them.
Out of twenty-three items brought before them during a two
days' session in 1893, twenty-two were deliberated upon in
joint session, although each body voted separately. The
discussions in these sessions are so thorough that the recom-
mendations made are, in the great majority of cases, ap-
proved by the general conference. Those conclusions of the
commission which are adopted in the form of a declaratory
statement become binding upon members unless protests are
made. Subjects discussed in the conference and commission
may, and frequently are, brought before the councils.
Among the various railway traffic, and rate-unions which
might be mentioned, none have exerted an influence on rates
at all comparable to that which has been exercised by the
Society of German Railroad Administrations. Founded as a
Prussian society in 1846, it became in quick succession a
national and an international organization, embracing the
railroads of Germany, Austria, Hungary, Roumania, Lux-
emburg, Holland, Belgium, Bosnia and Russian- Poland.
Both state and private railroads are eligible to membership.
A series of eight standing committees covers the special
branches of the service, and if extraordinary matters arise
they are referred to special committees. Questions upon
which the society is to act must be published at least three
months preceding the meeting. The proceedings have long
been published in an official paper, and, through custom,
exert a powerful influence. The attainment of uniformity,
in construction and other matters, has been one of its great
[409]
98 ANNAI<S OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
aims. In Europe the necessity for international uniformity
is much greater than with us, and in the domain of freight
traffic this has been well attained by means of an interna-
tional treaty, signed at Berne on October 14, 1890, by diplo-
matic agents from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, I/ux-
emburg, Holland, Austria, Hungary, Russia and Switzer-
land. It is officially known as the "Convention Internationale
sur le transport de marchandises par chemins de fer."
The history of this international agreement dates back to
1874, the same year that Miilhausen inaugurated the move-
ment which led to the institution of advisory councils. In
that year two Swiss citizens, residents of Bale, directed to
the governments of the surrounding states inquiries concern-
ing their willingness to enter into an international freight
treaty. Drafts of such a treaty were worked out in both
Germany and Switzerland, and discussed in a congress at
Berne in 1878. This congress submitted the draft of a treaty
to the different governments for examination. Many objec-
tions were raised and improvements made. Further confer-
ences, dealing also with questions of technical uniformity,
were held in 1882 and 1886, and on October 14, 1890, the
draft approved by the third congress, was formally drawn up
as a treaty and approved. The original treaty has been
modified and supplemented in various ways, partly by
agreements among all these countries, and partly by agree-
ments among several of them. Every three years, or sooner,
if one-fourth of the treaty-making states demand it, a
general congress must be called together, to consider im-
provements in the agreement.
As its name indicates, the Bernese treaty applies only to
international freight traffic. Excepting articles, the trans-
portation of which is regularly monopolized by the post-
offices of the contracting states, the treaty governs all ship-
ments of goods from or through one of the states to another.
It provides for uniform through-bills of lading, prescribes
routes for international traffic, fixes liability in cases of delay
[410]
ADMINISTRATION OF PRUSSIAN RAILROADS. 99
and loss, prohibits special contracts, rebates, and reductions,
except when publicly announced and available to all, and
prescribes certain custom-house regulations. Not the least
important feature of the treaty is the creation of a central
bureau, organized and supervised by the Swiss Bundesrath,
with its seat in Berne. The duties of the bureau are five:
1. To receive communications from any of the contracting states,
and to transmit them to the rest of them.
2. To compile and publish information of importance for inter-
national traffic, for which purpose it may issue a journal.
3. To act as a board of arbitration on the application of the countries
concerned.
4. To perform the business preliminaries connected with proposed
changes in the agreement, and, under certain circumstances, to
suggest the meeting of a new conference.
5. To facilitate transactions among the railroads, especially to look
after those which have been derelict in financial matters. After notice
has been given by the bureau, the state to which the railroad belongs
or by whose citizens it is owned can either become responsible for the
debts of the road or permit the expulsion of the road from inter-
national traffic.
The expenses of the bureau are met by contributions of
the contracting states in proportion to mileage.
The original agreement provided that any of the states
might withdraw at the end of three years, on giving one
year's notice. No such notice has ever been given. Any
violation of the treaty can be punished in the courts, and a
judgment having been rendered in one country, the courts
of the others are bound to assist in its execution, unless the
decision conflicts with their own laws. But so far as the
question of fact is concerned there is no appeal, and a Ger-
man court is bound to accept the findings of a court in
France. Germany, Austria, Hungary, Russia, Switzerland
and, to a less extent, France have embodied provisions of
the international code in their internal code, thus leading to
unification beyond the limits of international trafiic. To
what extent the Bernese treaty may influence other phases
of the national and international law of the states of central
ioo ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
Europe cannot well be foreseen. That states differing widely
in forms of government, geographical position and commer-
cial interests have voluntarily made themselves amenable to
a common code of law under these circumstances, again
impresses one with the great power and many-sided influence
of railroads, and the healthy development of closer inter-
national relations. The code is binding for a domain
embracing nearly three millions of square miles and two
hundred and sixty millions of people. It ranks in impor-
tance with the international postal, telegraph and copyright
unions.
Proceedings of Advisory Councils.
The leading features of the Prussian railroad administration
relating to rates have now been presented. It remains to
illustrate by means of a few sidelights from the proceedings
how a part of the machinery acts. To convey a somewhat
detailed view of the workings of the administrative organs
directly concerned with the operation of the railroads would
unduly extend this paper ; besides, it would be a little
technical and not essential from the economic point of
view. So we shall content ourselves with a brief account
of some of the deliberations of the advisory and other
bodies directly occupied with questions about rates. We
shall save time by first obtaining a general idea of the
German system of rates, for which purpose a rough summary
of the German Reform Tariff is here given.
German Tariff Scheme.
1. Fast freight by the piece.
2. Fast freight by the carload.
3. Piece goods.
4. General carload class At, in shipments of at least 5000 kg.
5. General carload class B, in shipments of at least 10,000 kg.
6. Special tariff As, in shipments of at least 5000 kg.
7. Special tariff I, II and in, in shipments of at least 10,000 kg.
The rates and what pertains to them are officially published
in volumes not unlike our monthly magazines. This tariff
'
ADMINISTRATION OF PRUSSIAN RAILROADS. 101
scheme was first introduced in 1877, an ^ through the
influence mainly of the general conference it has become
gradually more unified. It is obvious that the price of trans-
portation of a good becomes less as it falls into a class farther
down the list. The general carload classes include goods
of higher value not enumerated in any of the special tariffs,
while the special tariffs I, II and III embrace less valuable
goods their value falling by degrees so that, generally
speaking,
Special tariff I includes manufactured goods.
Special tariff II includes intermediate products.
Special tariff III includes raw materials and bulky goods of small
value, such as certain waste products of gas factories, tanneries, paper
factories, slaughter-houses, etc.
Special tariff A2 is for goods belonging to special tariffs I
and II in consignments below 10,000 and above 5000 kg.
Goods belonging to special tariff III, but weighing less than
10,000 though at least 5000 kg. , are transported at the rates
of special tariff II. Then there are special rules arid rates
for such things as explosives, precious metals, vehicles,
timber, fish, bees, meat, carrier doves, etc. Questions as to
classification and the transference of goods from one class to
another often arise. Here is a typical case:
The chamber of commerce of Lennep, a Rhenish city,
petitioned the general conference to transfer manufactured
horseshoes ' ' raw hoof- irons ' ' the Germans say, but which
will here be designated simply as horseshoes from special
tariff I to special tariff II. A prominent business firm
brought the question before one of the railroad directories,
and from there it was carried before the minister of public
works. The minister consulted the permanent tariff com-
mission and the committee of shippers, and finally the ques-
tion was brought before the advisory councils.
The petitioners asserted that the manufacture of horse-
shoes was a new industry, which, after many costly experi-
ments, had only recently gained a firm foothold; that the
[4i3]
102 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
trade had been gradually growing, especially with the East,
and that consignments had been sent to Russia, Italy,
Austria and other countries. In domestic trade, the use of
these horseshoes had been promoted by military authorities
and street car companies, because it lessened cost and relieved
the blacksmith of much purely mechanical work. It
enabled him to do better work more cheaply and with
greater uniformity. The charge that it hindered the edu-
cation of skillful blacksmiths was untrue.
Extensive statistical tables were introduced to show that
the life of the industry depended upon the desired change
in rates. Horseshoes were subjected to the same rates as fine
iron and steel goods, while they properly belonged to inter-
mediate products in special tariff II. Many of the factories
were unfavorably located, and it was one of the highest
duties of the state to promote industrial activity in regions
which lie away from the great channels of trade, if it could
be done without too great a sacrifice on part of the public.
The desired concessions on part of the railroads would do
this. It was unjust for the representatives of the Saxon
state railroads to assert, as they had done in the tariff com-
mission, that the change in the classification of horseshoes
would benefit the Rhenish industry only. Particularistic
designs should not be suspected in a movement which was
deeply rooted in economic necessities. The representatives
of the Bavarian railroads had considered fiscal reasons only,
but these alone could not be decisive. It would not be
business-like for the state, in order to gain a temporary
advantage, to sacrifice the very source of this gain. The
railroads would fare worse with high rates and a stagnant
industry than with lower rates and a prosperous industry,
and it was safe to assert that the desired change would,
through an increased output, ultimately yield a greater in-
come to the railroads. The established system of rates
would not be prejudiced; besides, when the question of
system is balanced against that of the welfare of an industry
ADMINISTRATION OF PRUSSIAN RAILROADS. 103
the latter should prevail. The nationalization of railroads was
undertaken, not for fiscal but for economic reasons.
These were the main features of the petition. The peti-
tion, together with the records of previous deliberations on
the question, was brought before the standing committee of
one of the circuit councils by which the arguments were
reviewed and new evidence introduced. Can these horse-
shoes be classed with rod-iron ? Are they an intermediate
product? Could not ploughshares and other articles
demand a like change? What is the relation of the pro-
posed change to the competition of Swedish iron ? Is it true
that the manufacture of horseshoes injures the craft of
blacksmiths ? Will it lead to a wider use of horseshoes and
consequently to an improvement of agriculture? Such
were the questions which the committee considered, and in
response to which evidence of individuals and of societies
was presented and subjected to the most rigid examination
by specialists of various classes. From the committee the
question went, as all questions considered by the committee
do, before the full council, by which the report of the
committee was reviewed and the horseshoe problem finally
disposed of.
In a similar manner both the committee and council
deliberated upon a petition of the Agricultural Society of
Rhenish Prussia to place street sweepings in the special
class with fertilizers, and to reduce rates for shorter dis-
tances, because sweepings are used only within from ten to
twenty kilometers of the cities. The sweepings, it was
asserted, had considerable value for agriculture, but that the
difficulty of disposing of them had led some cities, notably
Hamburg, to destroy them, thus depriving agriculture of a
valuable agent. The composition and value of sweepings
were examined and compared with other fertilizers now
available, and the probable effect on the use of these consid-
ered. At the same session of the committee the change in
time-tables for the summer period was regularly considered.
104 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
Twenty-eight items were presented by the fourteen different
members, involving the time and frequency of passenger
trains. All propositions which received a majority vote in
the committee were brought, of course, before the full
council.
In speaking of the composition of circuit councils refer-
ence was made to the question of rates on coal and coke.
One of the railroad directories brought before the standing
committee of the circuit council a question first submitted
in a petition of the chamber of commerce of Bielefeld and
subsequently endorsed, either in part or entire, by other
organizations. The petition sought a temporary suspension
of rates applicable to coke and coal sent from the Rhenish
mining districts to the German seashore and to foreign
countries. The suspension was to remain in effect until the
prices in the coal market should return to a normal level.
In the consideration of this question the railroad directory
asked the committee and council to deliver an opinion on
each of the following points: (i.) Is the level of prices of
coke and coal in the Rhenish- Westphalian district an
abnormal one ? ( 2 . ) How must the prices of coke and coal be
constituted in order that their level may be characterized as
normal ? (3.) Should a permanent or temporary suspension
of existing freight rates on coke and coal be recommended
in order to effect a reduction of prices within the country ?
(4. ) What markets and what rates come into consideration in
case of the temporary or permanent suspension of the rates
in question ? Shall the rates to foreign countries or also
the rates to the seashore be changed ? (5.) What will be the
probable effect of the proposed suspension of rates with
reference to the sale and the price of coal and coke within
the country ?
In both the committee and in the council this problem
was thoroughly dissected. Naturally there were differences.
Abnormal prices were thought to be prices which include an
element of profit out of proportion to the other constituents
[416]
ADMINISTRATION OF PRUSSIAN RAILROADS. 105
of price. On the one hand, a profit of 40 per cent was
shown to exist, which, however, the experts present at once
proved to be confined to two specially favored mines. In
computations to ascertain the average selling price of coal
there was a difference of several marks, which called forth
the most rigid examination of the statistics and other evi-
dence upon which the figures were based. The railroad
authorities showed that in five years the outlay for coal for
locomotives had risen from 4^ to 7 per cent of their total
expenses, while coal was still rising, and the coal men
showed that their costs of production had risen because of
advances in wages and expenses connected with insurance.
It was said that the present low rates for the transportation
of coal had been introduced at a time when the coal industry
had lain prostrate, and that now all other industries were
suffering from the high price of coal, and that this advance
in freight rates on coal and coke would check exportation
and force down prices at home. A decrease in exportation
was deplored by representatives of the German marine. In
conclusion, among both the advocates and the opponents of
the change the opinion was expressed that there was reason
for rejoicing in the thorough airing which this question had
received; that it would lead to a better understanding of
actual conditions, and that the coal industry would hereafter
be more inclined to give due consideration to the condition
of other German industries.
We come now to the consideration of a question which,
perhaps even more forcibly than what has just been related,
illustrates the comprehensiveness and fair-mindedness with
which the railroad authorities investigate the problems
which affect wide economic interests. It is a petition, sub-
mitted by the minister of public works to the national
council for an expression of opinion. The printed evidence
sent to the council alone covers about 500 folio pages. The
problem submitted by the minister to the national council
was this: Giving due consideration to the financial condition
[417]
io6 ANNAI^ OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
and the financial interests of the state, is it conducive to the
general economic interests of the country ( i ) to introduce
special reduced rates for all kinds of manures and fertilizers,
irrespective of their nature, and, if so, what rates? (2)
to introduce special reductions, and to what extent, for the
transportation of (a) potassium salts without discrimina-
tion or only "raw salts " and phosphate; and () lime, in
pieces or powdered, used for fertilization ?
This was submitted in October, 1893. During March of
that year the Herrenhaus had passed a resolution requesting
the government to introduce reduced special rates for fertil-
izers, a number of which were specified in the resolution. As
stated in support of the resolution, the necessity for it lay in
a cheapening of elementary utilities in order to maintain and
promote agriculture, and to increase the receipts of the rail-
road from the traffic with the interior. The same resolution
had previously been adopted by the budget commission of
the Landtag.
In response to this resolution the minister of public
works sought information from the minister of agriculture,
domains and forests, and all the different agricultural
experiment stations as to the occurrence and production
of natural and artificial manures in different parts of the
country, their price and value in use, and the nature of
their application. Various commissions reported on the
prices at which different fertilizers could be profitably used
on different soils. The agricultural authorities showed
where and to what extent these soils existed, and elaborate
statistics of the railroads and manufacturers told how much
had actually been consumed. In this lay the vital issue
the capacity of the land to absorb profitably artificial
manures, and, the ability of the farmer to secure them.
The national council said that a simple expression of its
appreciation of the great economic significance of the use
of both natural and artificial manures was not sufficient, but
that an exact and conscientious examination of the effect of
[418]
ADMINISTRATION OF PRUSSIAN RAILROADS. 107
existing rates on the widest and most effective use of these
was necessary. The deliberations of the committee of
shippers, the tariff commission, the general conference, and
the evidence submitted through the minister of public
works were all thoroughly sifted by the standing committee
of the national council before the case went before the full
council for its final verdict.
Marbles, slates and pencils even have been the object of
the most serious deliberations of bodies so large and so
dignified as the general conference and the national council.
A memorial was addressed to one of the railroad directories
by the marbles, slate and pencil industry of Thiiringen,
praying for a detariffization of these articles. The memorial
gives a detailed account of the manufacture of marbles,
slates and pencils in Thiiringen, and points out the places
where it meets competition. It gives the cost of production,
output, markets, prices and the rates of transportation. The
conditions of the laboring population are described, and the
probable effect of a change in rates, on their welfare, is
analyzed. One may be pardoned for turning aside to state
that the laborers there engaged in the manufacture of slates,
although exposed to the danger of completely undermining
their health, receive often no more than twelve cents for a
day's work of eighteen hours. American boys would smile to
know that gray marbles sell there for 26.3 cents per thousand,
while the polished ones cost about 29.7 cents. The railroad
directory to which the memorial was sent addressed a letter
of inquiry to the manufacturer of slates and pencils in West-
phalia, whose business would be affected by the competition
of Thiiringen, calling for information on various points relat-
ing to this industry. This reply, together with the memorial
and supplementary material, was submitted, through the
minister of public works, to the national council.
One can not read these documents without being im-
pressed with the sincere desire of the railroad authorities
to do justice to all competitors, and at the same time to
[419]
io8 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
make such changes as will better the conditions of people
like these laborers in Thiiringen. Whether or not the
benefits arising from a change in rates would really
accrue to these people was most carefully considered. The
material submitted for consideration in deciding this question,
as in case of the preceding questions, furnished evidence on
every point which was raised. The moderation with which
the petitions are drafted, the high plane upon which the
debates are carried on, the thorough conscientious and judi-
cial-mindedness with which the arguments are balanced in
reaching a decision, all manifest a tone not unlike that of
the decisions of our best courts of justice.
Summary and Remarks.
Prussia began with a general law. In this respect her
history is the direct opposite of that of our states. Treating
this general law as a nucleus, legislation, royal and minis-
terial orders and rescripts, and custom have developed two
distinct groups of railway administrative organs, each repre-
senting distinct sets of interests, yet both working co-
operatively. On the one hand, we have a group of organs
which represents railroad interests in particular and which
take the railroad point of view. The minister of public
works, the railroad directories, the general conference
and tariff commission and the Society of German Railroads
fall into this group, although the two latter stand in a
measure on the border line, and of them are none confined
exclusively to railroad interests. Legal responsibility is fixed
in the first two. On the other hand, we have the national
and circuit councils with their standing committees and the
committee of shippers. These primarily take the social and
economic point of view. They are not legally responsible
for the conduct of the railroads, but act as advisory bodies.
They represent all the different interests of the nation, and
through them every citizen has not only an opportunity but
a right to make his wants known.
[420]
ADMINISTRATION OP PRUSSIAN RAILROADS. 109
The marble and slate industry of Thiiringen is relatively
insignificant, yet of vital importance to the inhabitants of
that section of the country. We have seen how complete
an examination the petition of these people received at the
hands of the highest authorities of the land. A fair and
prompt hearing can be denied to no man, rich or poor. The
railroads are made real servants. All the administrative,
legal and advisory bodies are organically connected with one
another and with the parliament. The lines may be drawn
taut from above as well as from below. The elaborate
system of local offices makes the system democratic, and the
cabinet office and the directories give it the necessary cen-
tralization. The system presents that unity which a great
business requires, on the one hand; and, on the other, that
ramification and elasticity which the diverse and manifold
interests of a great nation need for their growth and expansion.
In the formation of the councils the elective and the
appointive elements are so well proportioned that it is im-
possible to " pack " any one of them. In this respect, each
body is a check on the other. It is easy to reproach the
system with "bureaucracy," but to give adequate support
to such a stigma would be an impossible task. We need
only recall the analysis of the membership of one of the
councils. Farmers, dairymen, fishermen, foresters, traders,
miners, manufacturers the long array of human profes-
sions have here their representatives. One representative
may shape his views according to some particular philosophy
of the state. Another will at once restore the balance by pre-
senting the opposite. One member may make extreme state-
ments about some branch of trade or industry. Another will
furnish exact information for its refutation. I doubt whether
we can find anywhere in the world deliberative or adminis-
trative bodies in which the tone and the many-sidedness of the
proceedings, the amount and variety of special knowledge
displayed, and the logic of the debates present more points
of excellence than in these councils and other bodies.
no ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
If from the point of view of the railroads nothing should
come of these proceedings a most violent assumption
the information brought together would alone make them
invaluable. No investigating committee of congress or
legislature ever had such an array of talent in every field
at its disposal and under its control as is found in one of
these councils or commissions.
It is not my purpose here to present new schemes or to
suggest ways and means by which existing institutions of
our own country might be modified to perform similar
functions. But let me ask whether, if our coal and iron
industry, or fruit and cattle raising, or any other industry
were to receive an examination like that given to the
Rhenish coal and coke industry, many things might not be
different from what they now are. Imagine a well-organized
assembly whose members could speak for the railroads,
for wheat and cattle, for fruit and steel, for forests and
for mines, and is it not probable that the effects anticipated
in the circular letter of 1875 would make themselves felt
also in the United States? Both our railroads and the
public have repeatedly gone to extremes because neither
understood the other. A system like the Prussian, reveals
the railroads to the public and the public to the railroads.
It tends to remove blind prejudice and violent measures
on both sides. By reflecting accurately the existing condi-
tions, these conferences lead to tolerance, forbearance and
mutual concessions. The conclusions reached often have as
salutary an effect on industrial situations as suspended
judgments of our courts on defendants. It would be difficult
to find in Prussia to-day, among the representatives of
any class or interest, objections to the entire railroad
system which are not relatively insignificant. Both the
public and the railroads have gained more and more as the
system has developed.
It will doubtless have been noticed that in the discussion
of the council proceedings the decisions and their effect were
[422]
ADMINISTRATION OF PRUSSIAN RAILROADS, in
not stated. It was my purpose simply to show the nature
of the councils, and either a negative or an affirmative vote
would throw no additional light on the problem. Without
a full presentation of local details it could mean little to state
that the council voted to place sweepings into the special
tariff with fertilizers.
SOURCES.
1. Vorschriften fur die Verwaltung der Preussischen Staatseisen-
bahnen, Amtliche Ausgabe, Berlin, 1895.
2. Archivfur Eisenbahnwesen.
3. Reichs-Gesetzblatt.
4. Gesetz-Sammlung.
5. Ministerialblatt der Inneren
Contain rescripts, orders and
- other official matter, as well as
contributions on railway subjects.
Verwaltung.
ft. Eger, " Handbuch des Preussischen Eisenbahnrechts," first two
volumes, Breslau, 1889 and 1894.
7. Gleim, " Preussisches Eisenbahnrecht" first volume, Berlin, 1891.
8. Gleim, " Kleinbahnen," Berlin, 1895.
9. Hoeper, " Preussische Eisenbahn-Finanz-Gesetzgebung," three
volumes, Berlin, 1879.
10. Schroetter, " Preussisches Eisenbahnrec ht, " Berlin, 1883.
u. Riegel, " Verkehrsgeschichte der deutschen Eisenbahnen"
Elberfeld, 1889.
12. Hansemann, " Kritikdes Preussischen Eisenbahngesetzes" Leip-
zig, 1841.
13. Indicator, " Die Entwicklung unserer Staatsbahnen," Berlin,
1891.
14. Rank, "Das Eisenbahntarifivesen in seiner Beziehung zur Volk-
swirthschaft und Verwaltung,'''' Wien, 1895.
15. v. Mayer, " Geschichte und Geographic der deutschen Eisen-
bahnen," two volumes, Berlin, 1891.
16. Official publications on rates.
17. Proceedings of advisory bodies.
1 8. Nitschmann, " Eisenbahnbetrieb " (I/ectures.)
19. Gleim, "Preussisches Eisenbahnrecht." (Lectures.)
20. v. der Ley en, " Nationalcekonomie der Eisenbahnen, insbesondere
Eisenbahntarifwesen. " (Lectures.)
21. Roll, " Encyklopddie des gesamtnten Eisenbahnwcsens" seven
volumes, Wien, 1892.
B. H. MEYER.
University of Wisconsin.
[423]
PERSONAL NOTES.
AMERICA.
Bowdoin College. Dr. Henry Crosby Emery* has been advanced
to the position of Professor of Political Economy and Sociology at
Bowdoin College. During the past year he published:
" Speculation on the Stock and Produce Exchanges of the United
States,' 1 ' 1 Columbia University Studies in History, Economics and
Public Law, Vol. VII, No. 2.
University of Chicago. Dr. R. C. H. Catterallf has been advanced
to the position of Instructor in History at the University of Chicago.
He has written :
"The Issues of the Second Bank of the United States." Journal of
Political Economy, September, 1897.
Dr. Charles Richmond HendersonJ has been advanced to the po-
sition of Professor of Sociology in the Divinity School of the Univer-
sity of Chicago. His recent publications include the following:
"Methods of Helping the Poor." Proceedings of Illinois County
Commissioners, 1896. (Also published in Charities Review, February,
1896.)
"Crime and its Social Treatment." Chicago Daily Tribune, June
14, 1896.
" The German Inner Mission," American Journal of Sociology,
March, May, July, 1896.
"Preventive Measures, Educational and Social." Proceedings of
National Prison Association, 1896.
"Ethics of School Management." Proceedings of Northern Illi-
nois Teachers' Association, April, 1896. (Published also in the
University Record. )
" Voluntary Organization in Social Movements." Proceedings of
American Economic Association, April, 1896.
"Christianity and Childhood." Biblical World, December, 1896.
" Development of Doctrine in the Epistles " (containing a summary
of primitive social teachings of Christianity). Pp. 116. American
Baptist Publication Society, 1896.
* See ANNALS, Vol. viii, p. 350, September, 1896.
f See ANNALS, Vol. vii, p. 92, January, 1896.
| See ANNALS. Vol. v, p. 274, September, 1894.
[424]
PERSONAL NOTES. 113
"Principles and Methods of Charity Organization." Proceedings
of National Conference of Charities and Correction, 1896.
"Civil Service Reform in Public Institutions." Ibid.
" The Principle of Charity Organization in Towns and Villages."
Proceedings of Illinois State Conference of Charities and Correction,
1896.
"Co-operation in Philanthropy." The Open Church, 1897.
"The Social Spirit in America." Pp. 350. Meadville, Pa., 1897.
"Comparative View of American Poor Laws." National Confer-
ence of Charities and Correction, 1897. (Also published in Charities
Review, August, 1897.)
Dr. Frederic W. Sanders has been appointed Lecturer in Statistics
at the University of Chicago. Dr. Sanders was born January 17, 1864,
in Westchester County, N. Y. His early education was obtained in
the public schools of New York City. In 1883 he graduated from the
College of the City of New York with the degree of A. B. During the
next four years he was engaged in teaching, in editorial work, in the
employ of the government, and in studying law. From 1887 to 1891,
he practiced law in Rochester, N. Y., and in eastern Tennessee. He
then entered Harvard University and engaged in post-graduate work
for one year, receiving the degree of A. M., in 1892. The succeeding
year he was minister of the Unitarian Church, in Asheville, N. C. He
then entered the University of Chicago for post-graduate study, re-
maining there until 1895, and receiving that year the degree of Ph.D.
During these two years he was Assistant Editor of Unity and New
Unity. He was appointed University Fellow in Sociology at Columbia
University, remaining there during the year 1895-96. The past year
he has lectured for the University Extension Department of the Uni-
versity of Chicago. Dr. Sanders has written the following:
"Social and Ethical Teaching of Mohammed." Quarterly Calen-
dar, University of Chicago, November, 1894.
"Outline Criticism of Herbert Spencer's Philosophy of the Know-
able." The Unitarian, February, 1895.
"Outline Criticism of Herbert Spencers Philosophy of the Unknow-
able." Ibid., March, 1895. Republished in the Indian Messenger
(Calcutta), Vol. XII, No. 13.
"Islam: Past and Present ." Arena, June, 1895.
" A Brief Critical Examination of Herbert Spencers System of
Ethics, with Particular Reference to its Consistency. ' ' The Unitarian,
August, 1895.
"The Natural Basis of Interest." Journal of Political Economy,
September, 1896.
[425]
ii4 ANNAI,S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
Dr. Francis W. Shepardson * has been advanced to the position of
Assistant Professor of History at the University of Chicago. He has
recently contributed several papers to the Dial, and to the Denison
Quarterly on special subjects in American history.
Mr. Edwin E. Sparks f has been advanced to the position of Assistant
Professor of History in the University Extension Department of the
University of Chicago. Professor Sparks has written the following:
"Panoramic Historical Writing." Dial, December i, 1896.
"The Preservation of Historical Material in the Middle West."
Ibid., April 16, 1897.
"Certain Methods of Teaching United States History." Teachers'
Institute, May, 1897.
Dr. James Westfall Thompson has been advanced to the position of
Associate in History at the University of Chicago. Dr. Thompson was
born June 3, 1869, at Pella, Iowa. His early education was obtained
in the public schools of New York City, and in private academies at
Somerville and New Brunswick, N. J. In 1888 he entered Rutgers
College and graduated in 1892 with the degree of A. B. From 1892 to
1895 he was engaged in post-graduate work at the University of
Chicago, holding a Fellowship in History during 1893-95, receiving
the degree of Ph.D. in 1895. Since then he has been Assistant
in History at Chicago University. Dr. Thompson is a member of the
American Historical Association, and the Political Science Associa-
tion of the Central and Western States. He has contributed a number
of articles upon historical literature to the Dial.
Cornell College. Dr. George H. Alden has been appointed Profes-
sor of History at Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa. Professor Alden
was born August 30, 1866, at Tunbridge, Vermont. His early educa-
tion was obtained in the public schools at Waseca and Albert Lea,
Minnesota. He entered Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, in
1885, and graduated in 1891 with the degree of B. S. The following
year he was Superintendent of Public Schools at Tracy, Minnesota.
The succeeding four years he pursued post-graduate study as follows:
Harvard University, 1892-93; University of Chicago, 1893-95; Univer-
sity of Wisconsin, 1895-96. He received the degree of A. B. from
Harvard in 1893, and the degree of Ph.D. from the University of Wis-
consin in 18964 During the past year he has been Acting Assistant
Professor of History at the University of Illinois.
* See ANNALS, Vol. r, p. 275, September, 1894.
fSee ANNALS, Vol. viii, p. 352, September, 1896.
J See ANNALS, Vol. viii, p. 366, September, 1896.
[426]
PERSON AI, NOTES. 115
Professor Alden has written:
"New Governments West of the Alleghenies before 1780." Bulletin
of the University of Wisconsin, Vol. II, No. I. Pp. 74. 1897.
Harvard. Dr. Albert Bushnell Hart has been advanced to the posi-
tion of Professor of History at Harvard University. Dr. Hart was
born on July I, 1854, at Clarksville, Pa. His early education was
obtained in the schools of his native county and the public schools of
Cleveland, Ohio. He entered Harvard in 1876, and graduated in 1880
with the degree of A. B. He then pursued graduate studies at Harvard
University 1880-81; University of Berlin 1881; University of Freiburg
1882-83; and the School of Political Science at Paris 1882-83. Dr.
Hart received the degree of Ph.D. from the University of Freiburg in
1883, and the same year was appointed Instructor in American History
at Harvard University. In 1886 he was appointed Instructor in His-
tory at Harvard, and in 1887 Assistant Professor of History.
Professor Hart is a member of the following societies: Massachusetts
Historical Society, Military Historical Society of Massachusetts, Har-
vard Historical Society, American Historical Association, Wisconsin
State Historical Society, American Statistical Association, Harvard
Teachers' Asssociation, National Geographic Society, Sbepard His-
torical Society of Cambridge, and the Massachusetts Society for Pro-
moting Good Citizenship.
Professor Hart is an editor of the Harvard Graduates' Magazine,
and of the American Historical Review. He has contributed articles
at various times to the Atlantic Monthly, Forum, Review of Reviews,
New Review, Chatauquan, New England Magazine, Bond Record,
Political Science Quarterly, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Maga-
zine of American History, Educational Review, Academy (Syracuse),
School Review, Nation, Outlook, Congregationalist, and various Bos-
ton and Cambridge newspapers. He has also contributed to the Pro-
ceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, American Historical
Association, National Educational Association, and the New England
Association of Colleges and Preparatory Schools. Besides these he
has written:
"The Coercive Powers of the Government of the United States." A
thesis presented to the University of Freiburg for the degree of Doctor
of Philosophy. August, 1883. Part III. "Coercive Provisions of the
Constitution." Pp. 22. Eisenach, Germany, 1885.
"Topical Outline of the Course in History of the North American
Colonies and their Growth into a Federal Union ( 1492-1789), given
at Harvard College in the Academic year /88j-f886." Pp. 165.
Cambridge.
[427]
n6 ANNANS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
"Introduction to the Study of Federal Government." Harvard Uni-
versity Publications. Harvard Historical Monographs, No. 2. Pp. x,
200. Boston, 1891.
"Epoch Maps, Illustrating American History." Pp. iv, 14, with
colored maps. New York, 1891.
"Formation of the Union, 1750-1829." With five maps. "Epochs
of American History," Vol. II. Pp. xx, 278. New York and London,
1892.
"Practical Essays on American Government." Pp. viii, 311. New
York, 1893.
"Revised Suggestions on the Study of the History and Govern-
ment of the United States." Pp. 164. Cambridge.
"Studies in American Education." Pp. viii, 150. New York and
London, 1895.
"Methods of Teaching History." Boston, 1885. (With A. D.
White and others.)
"Guide to the Study of American History." Pp. xvi, 471. Boston
and London, 1896. (With Edward Channing.)
"Harvard Debating. Subjects and Suggestions for Courses in Oral
Discussion." Pp. 55. Cambridge, 1896. (With George Pierce Baker.)
"American History Leaflets." 35 numbers. New York, 1892-97.
(Edited with Edward Channing.)
"American History Told by Contemporaries." Vol. I. "Era
of Colonization, 1492-2689." Pp. xviii, 606. New York and London,
1897.
Haverford College. Mr. Don Carlos Barrett has been appointed In-
structor in Political Science and History at Haverford College, Pa.
Mr. Barrett was born April 22, 1868, at Spring Valley, Ohio. He at-
tended the public schools of his native place, and in 1885 entered
Earlham College, Richmond, Ind. He graduated from that institution
in 1889 with the degree of Ph.B. From 1889 to 1892 Mr. Barrett was
engaged in teaching in the schools of Fountain City and Muncie, Ind.
The next year he was Instructor in History and Economics at Earlham
College. He then engaged in post-graduate study at the University
of Chicago (1893-94), and at Harvard University (1895-96). He re-
ceived the degree of A. M. from Earlham College in 1893, and the
same degree from Harvard in 1896. During the past year he has been
Assistant in Economics at Harvard University.
Iowa State University. Dr. Benjamin F. Shambaugh* has
been advanced to the position of Professor of Government Adminis-
See ANNALS, Vol. viii, p. 516, November, 1896.
[ 4 28]
PERSONAL NOTES. 117
tration at the Iowa State University. His recent publications include
the following:
"An Important Manuscript." Iowa Historical Record, January,
1897.
"Documentary Material Relating to the History of Iowa." Vol.
II, containing material on Local Government. State University of
Iowa. (In press.)
Kansas Agricultural College. Dr. Edward W. Bemis* has been
appointed Professor of Economic Science at the State Agricultural
College, Manhattan, Kans. Since leaving the University of Chicago
in 1895, Dr. Bemis has engaged in varied lines of work in economics.
He has given courses of lectures at the University of Wisconsin, and
Syracuse University, and has appeared by invitation before the com-
mittees of the Legislature of New York and the Legislature of Pennsyl-
vania, who were engaged in investigating the gas question. He has
contributed many articles on municipal problems to the New York
Journal, the Chicago Record, and the Bibliotheca Sacra, of which he
was an associate editor, and he made the special studies for the
United States Department of Labor and the Illinois Bureau of Labor
Statistics referred to below. His publications of the last five years are :
"Recent Results of Municipal Gas Making in the United States."
Review of Reviews, February, 1893
"The Discontent of the Farmer." Journal of Political Economy,
March, 1893.
"The Silver Situation in Colorado." Review of Reviews, Septem-
ber, 1893.
"Local Government in the South and Southwest." Johns Hopkins
University Studies, in History of Political Science, Vol. XI, Nos. n
and 12.
"Co-operative Life Insurance." Johnson's Encyclopedia, new
edition.
"The Homestead Strike." Journal of Political Economy, June,
1894.
"Relation of Labor Organizations to the American Boy, and to
Trade Instruction." ANNAI.S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY, Sep-
tember, 1894.
"The Chicago Strike of 1894." Revue d' Economic politique, July,
1895-
"The Restriction of Immigration." Bibliotheca Sacra, July, 1896.
"Co-operative Distribution." Bulletin of the United States De-
partment of Labor, September, 1896.
*See ANNALS, Vol. iii, p. 90, July, 1892.
[429]
n8 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
"The Question of Free Coinage of Silver." Bibliotheca Sacra,
October, 1896.
"Municipal Lighting.' 1 '' New York Independent, May 6, 1897.
"Chicago Gas and Chicago Street Railway Report of the Illinois
Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2806." (In press.)
fir. Frank Parsons has been appointed Professor of History and
Political Science at the State Agricultural College, Manhattan, Kans.
Professor Parsons was born November 14, 1854, at Mount Holly, N. J.
His early education was obtained at a private school in Mount Holly.
In 1869 he entered Cornell University, and graduated in 1873 with the
degree of B. C. E. He pursued the profession of civil engineering for
a year, and then engaged in teaching in Southbridge, Mass. He
studied law and was admitted to the bar in Boston in 1881. Since 1887
Professor Parsons has been engaged in the work of editing and revis-
ing legal text-books for Little, Brown & Co., and since 1891 he
has been a Lecturer in the Boston University School of Law, which
lectureship he will continue to hold. He is also one of the lecturers
for the National Direct Legislation League. Besides numerous maga-
zine articles on Proportional Representation, the Referendum, etc.,
Professor Parsons has written the following:
"The World's Best Books." Boston, 1893.
"Our Country's Need." Boston, 1894.
" The Telegraph Monopoly." The Arena.
' ' The People's Lamps. ' ' Ibid.
"Philosophy of Mutualism. " Boston.
"Government and the Law of Equal Freedom."
' ' The Drift of Our Country. ' ' The New Time.
"Public Ownership of Monopolies."
fir. Thomas E. Will,* Professor of Economics and Philosophy at
the Kansas State Agricultural College, has been elected President of
that institution. Professor Will's recent publications include the
following:
"Abolition of War," with data and bibliography. Arena, Decem-
ber, 1894.
"Bibliography of Charity." Ibid., January, 1895.
" Bibliography of Gambling." Ibid., February, 1895.
"How to Organize the Union for Practical Progress." Ibid.,
March, 1895.
"The Problem of the City." American Magazine of Civics, Sep-
tember, 1895.
" The End of Education." The Open Court, October 17, 1895.
*See ANNALS, Vol. v, p. 416, November, 1894.
[430]
PERSONAL NOTES. 119
" Bibliography of the Literature of the Land Question." August,
1896.
"The Social Movement in England." New York Christian Advo-
cate, 1896.
"Modern Wealth- Distribution and Some of its Corollaries." Stu-
dents' Herald, February 10, 1897.
"College Conservatism," Industrialist, August 16, 1897.
"The Warfare of Science," Ibid., September 2, 1897.
"The Owners of the United States," Ibid., September 13, 1897.
"Public Ownership and Socialism," Ibid., October n, 1897.
Leland Stanford Junior University. Dr. Clyde A. Duniway*has
been appointed Assistant Professor of History at the Iceland Stanford
Junior University. He has written:
"Restrictions upon the Freedom of the Press in Massachusetts."
"Graduate Courses, 1897-1898. (Editor-in-Chief.)
Dr. Edward Dana Durand has been appointed Assistant Professor of
Economics at Stanford University, with leave of absence until Sep-
tember, 1898. Dr. Durand was born October 18, 1871, at Romeo,
Macomb County, Mich. He attended the public schools of his native
place and of Huron, So. Dak., and the preparatory school of Yank-
ton College. In 1889 he entered Oberlin College, graduating with the
degree of A. B. in 1893. From 1893 to 1895 he pursued post-graduate
studies at Cornell University and received the degree of Ph. D. from
that institution in i8g6.t During the past two years Dr. Durand has
been Legislative Librarian in the New York State Library, having
charge of the statutes and documents of New York and other states and
countries. He will continue this work during the present year. Dr.
Durand has written the following:
"Voting Machines." Johnson's " Cyclopedia," 1894.
"Political and Municipal Legislation in 1895." ANNALS, May,
1896.
"Comparative Summary and Index of Legislation by States in
1895." Pp. 310. New York State Library, Legislative Bulletin, No.
6, 1896.
"Political and Municipal Legislation in 1896." ANNALS, March,
1897.
"Comparative Summary and Index of Legislation by States tn
f8o6." Pp. no. New York State Library, Legislative Bulletin, No.
7, i897.
"Comparative State Finance Statistics, /8oo and 1895." Pp. 52.
New York State Library, Legislative Bulletin, No. 8, 1897.
*See ANNALS, Vol. viii, p. 354, September, 1896.
fSee ANNALS, Vol. viii, p. 365, September, 1896.
[431]
120 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
" The City Chest of New Amsterdam." Pp. 30. New York, Half
Moon Series, 1897.
"The Finances of New York City." New York. (In press.)
University of flichigan. Dr. Frank H. Dixon* has been advanced
to the position of Acting Assistant Professor of Political Economy and
Finance at the University of Michigan, and is to fill the chair of Pro-
fessor Adams during the absence of the latter abroad. Dr. Dixon has
written:
' ' The Teaching of Economics in Secondary Schools" The National
Herbart Society. Third Year-book.
Northwestern University. Dr. James A. Jamesf has been ap-
pointed Professor of the History of Continental Europe at the North-
western University. His recent publications include the following:
"The Beginnings of University Extension in Iowa." Extension
Magazine, 1895.
"College Education." Report of the Iowa Teachers' Association,
1895-
University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Edward Potts Cheyney has
been advanced to the position of Professor of European History at the
University of Pennsylvania. Professor Cheyney was born January 17,
1861, at Wallingford, Pa. His early education was obtained in the
public and private schools of Philadelphia. In 1879 he entered the
University of Pennsylvania, and graduated with the degree of A. B.
in 1883. The following year he engaged in study in the Wharton
School of Finance and Economy of that institution, and in 1884
received the degree, then conferred but since abolished, of B. F.
(Bachelor of Finance). In 1886 he received the degree of A. M. from
the same university. He was appointed Instructor in History at the
University of Pennsylvania in 1884, and in 1890 was advanced to the
position of Assistant Professor of History, which chair he has filled
until the present time. Professor Cheyney is a member of the Penn-
sylvania Historical Society and of the American Historical Association.
His publications include the following :
"Early American Land Tenures." Pp. 26. Wharton School
Annals of Political Science. University of Pennsylvania, 1884.
"Anti-Rent Agitation in the State of New York." Pp. 65. Polit-
ical Economy and Public Law Series, Vol. I, No. 2. University of
Pennsylvania, 1886.
"Recent Decisions of Courts in Conspiracy and Boycott Cases."
Political Science Quarterly, 1889.
* See ANNALS, Vol. viii, p. 359, September, 1896.
t See ANNALS, Vol. iv, p. 647, January, 1894.
[432]
PERSONAL NOTES. 121
"Conditions of Labor in Early Pennsylvania." The Manufacturer,
February-April, 1891.
"Recent Tendencies in Reform of Land Tenure." ANNAIS, Novem-
ber, 1891.
" Historical Introduction" to Report of State Bureau of Statistics of
Pennsylvania on Commerce and Shipbuilding on the Delaware, 1891.
Pp. 80.
"Der Farmerbund in den Vereinigten Staaten." Archiv fur
Gesetzgebung und Statistik, March 1892.
"A Third Revolution." ANNALS, May, 1892.
"Die Achtstundenbezvegung in den Vereinigten Staaten" Archiv
fur Gesetzgebuug und Statistik, December, 1892.
"Social Changes in England in the Sixteenth Century." 1895.
As editor of the University of Pennsylvania " Series of Translations
and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History," Pro-
fessor Cheyney has prepared the following numbers:
"Early Reformation Period in England;"
"England in the Time of Wycliffe;"
"English Constitutional Documents;"
"Manorial Documents;"
"English Towns and Gilds;"
"Documents Illustrative of Feudalism."
Ursinus College. Dr. James Lynn Barnard has been appointed
Professor of History and Political Science at Ursinus College. Dr.
^Barnard was born on July 9, 1867, at Milford, N. Y. He attended the
high school at Cooperstown, N. Y., and in 1888 entered Syracuse Uni-
versity, from which institution he graduated in 1892 with the degree
of B. S. The next year he was Instructor in Mathematics and Politi-
cal Economy at Epworth Seminary, Epworth, Iowa. He then entered
the University of Pennsylvania for post-graduate study, and received
the degree of Ph.D. from that institution in 1897. While studying at
the University of Pennsylvania he was Instructor in Mathematics and
History at the Koehler Institute, Philadelphia. Professor Barnard is
a member of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
West Virginia University. Hon. Richard Ellsworth Fast has
been appointed Instructor in History and Political Science at the West
Virginia University. Mr. Fast was born on October 31, 1858, at White
Day, Monongalia County, West Virginia. After teaching in the public
schools for a number of years, Mr. Fast entered the West Virginia
TJniversity in 1880 and remained there until 1882, when he became
deputy clerk at the Monongalia County Court. Two years later he
"was chosen clerk of the Circuit Court. While holding this position
[433]
122 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
he re-entered West Virginia University, and in 1886 graduated with
the degree of LL. B. After the expiration of his term in 1890 he
engaged in the practice of law. Mr. Fast has been five times elected
Mayor of Morgantown, and in 1896 was elected to the State Senate.
He was chairman of the joint committee appointed to revise the
Constitution of West Virginia, and the report of this work, which he
has prepared, is now on press. Mr. Fast has recently taken a special
course in history at Harvard University. He is a member of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science.
Dr. Jerome H. Raymond * has been elected President of the West
Virginia University. In addition to his administrative duties he will
be Professor of Sociology and will give a number of courses.
University of Wisconsin. Dr. Balthasar Henry Meyer has been
appointed Instructor in Sociology and University Extension Lecturer
in Economics at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Meyer was born
on May 28, 1866, at Cedarburg, Wisconsin. He attended the local
schools and the State Normal School at Oshkosh. He entered the
University of Wisconsin, graduating in 1894 with the degree of B. L.
He studied at the University of Berlin during the following year,
and then returned to the University of Wisconsin to engage in post-
graduate work. He has held a Fellowship in Economics at that
institution during the past two years, and received the degree of Ph.D. f
at the last commencement. Dr. Meyer is a member of the Wisconsin
Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. He has written the following:
" The Adjustment of Railroad Rates in Prussia." Transactions of
the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. XI.
"The Administration of Prussian Railroads with Special Reference
to the Adjustment of Rates.''' 1 ANNAI.S, Current number.
"The History of Railway Legislation in Wisconsin." Wisconsin
Historical Collections. (In press. )
IN ADDITION to those previously mentioned, the following students
received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy for work in political and
social science, and allied subjects during the past year:
University of Jlichlgan. Ira D. Travis, A. M. Thesis: The Clay-
ton-Bulwer Treaty.
New York University. Julius W. Knapp, A. M. Thesis: Indis-
criminate Charity.
IN ADDITION to those previously mentioned, the following ap-
pointments to post-graduate scholarships have been made for the year
1897-98:
See ANNALS, Vol. vi, p. 398, September, 1895.
fSee ANNALS, Vol. x. p. 259, September, 1897.
[434]
PERSONAL NOTES. 123
University of Wisconsin. Graduate Scholarships in History,
Carl Lotus Becker, B. L., and Louise Phelps Kellogg, B. L.
AUSTRIA.
Cracow. Dr. Alexander Wladimir von Czerkawski has recently
been appointed Extraordinary Professor of Political Economy at
the University of Cracow. Born at Bursztyn in Galicia, Feb-
ruary 17, 1867, he was educated at the gymnasium at Rzeszow, and
entered the University of Lemberg in 1885. The following year he
went to Cracow where he remained until he secured in 1890 the degree
of Doctor Juris. Thereupon he pursued further special studies in
Berlin, 1890-91, and Paris, 1892. In October, 1893, he became
Decent at the University of Cracow, and has also been since 1894 vice-
director of the Municipal Statistical Bureau of Cracow. Professor
von Czerkawski is a member of the Juridical Philosophical Commis-
sion of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Cracow. His publications
have been :
"Statystyka parcelacyi w Austryi" Ekonomista Polski. Lemberg,.
1891.
" Ruch spoleczny a> socyalizm." Ibid., 1892.
" Teorya czystego dochodu z ziemi." Pp. 229. Lemberg, 1893.
" Zadania panstwa na polu gospodarstwa spolecznego" Ateneum,.
Warsaw, 1896.
" Wielkie gospodarstwa^ ich istota iznaczenie" Proceedings of
Cracow Academy of Sciences, 1896.
" Ruch ludnosci miasta Krakowa 1887-1804. Cracow, 1896.
1 ' De la nature et de I 'influence des grandes exploitations, ' ' Cracow,
1896.
" Recherches sur Petat de la population en Pologne a la fin du XVI
siecle." Cracow, 1896.
" Krakau," in " Oestereichisches Stadtebuch." Vol. VII.
GERMANY.
Berlin. Dr. Ernst von Halle has recently become Private-docent
for Political Economy at the University of Berlin. He was born at
Hamburg, January 17, 1868, and attended the Johanneum gymnasium
of that city. He pursued university studies at Munich, 1887-88 ; Bonn,
1888-89; Berlin, 1889-90 and Leipzig, 1890-91. At the last named
university he obtained the degree of Ph.D. in 1891. In the
following year he occupied a post in the Deutsche Bank in Berlin
and attended the economic seminaries of the university. In the fall
and winter of the year 1892 he was occupied with studies in the archives
of Belgian, Dutch and Hanseatic cities. From March, 1893, until April,
[435]
124 ANNAIS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
1896, Dr. von Halle traveled in the United States, Canada, the West
Indies and in South America. Dr. von Halle is a member of the his-
torical societies of Hamburg and Lubeck, of the Verein fur Social-
politik and of the American Economic Association. He was the
translator of the paper by Professor Gustav Schmoller entitled ' ' The
Idea of Justice and Political Economy," which appeared in the
ANNAIS for March, 1894. Dr. von Halle has written :
" Die Hamburger Giro Bank und ihrAusgang." Pp. 43. Berlin,
1891.
" Die Fleischversorgung Berlins" Schmoller' sjahrbuch, 1892.
" Arbeiter-Kolonien und Natural-Verpflegungs Stationen in
Deutschland." Handel's Museum, Vienna, 1892.
" Derfreie Handelsmaklerin Bremen. 1 ' 1 Schmoller'sjahrbuch, 1893.
" Die Cholera in Hamburg in ihren Ursachen und Wirkungen."
Pp. 92. Hamburg, 1893.
" Brief e von der Columbischen Weltausstellung" Hamburgischer
Correspondenten, 1893.
" Industrielle Unternehmer und Unternehmungs Verbande." Pp.
230. Leipzig, 1894.
"Die wirthschaftliche Krisis des Jahres 1893 in den Vereinigten
Staaten." Schmoller'sjahrbuch, 1894.
" Trusts or Industrial Combinations and Coalitions." Pp. xvi and
350. New York and London, 1895.
" Reisebriefe aus West Indien und Venezuela." Pp. 128. Ham-
burg, 1896.
"Das Interesse Deutschlands, an der Amerikanischen Prasidenten
Wahl des Jahres 1806." Schmoller'sjahrbuch, 1896.
41 Zur Geschichte des Maklerwesens in Hamburg." Pp. 44. Ham-
burg, 1897.
" Baumwoll- Production und Pflanzungswirthschaft in den Nord-
Amerikanischen Sudstaaten. " Vol. I, "Die Sclavenzeit." Pp. xxiv
and 396. Leipzig, 1897.
Freiburg. Dr. Heinrich Johann Sieveking has recently become
Privat-docent for Political Economy at the University of Freiburg. He
was born August 20, 1871, at Hamburg, and received his early education
at the Matthias Candius Gymnasium at Wandsbek. He pursued legal
studies at the Universities of Leipzig, Tiibingen and Strassburg, and
philosophical studies at Gottingen, Leipzig, Berlin and Munich. He
obtained the degree of Doctor Juris in 1893, and that of Ph.D. in
1895. Dr. Sieveking has published:
" Das Seedarlehen des Alterthums." Leipzig, 1893.
"Die rheinischen Gemeinden Erpel und Unkel und ihre Entwicke-
lung im iften und i^ten Jahrhundert." Leipzig, 1895.
[436]
PERSONAL NOTES. 125
" Hamburgische Colonisationsplane 1840-42." Preussische Jahr-
biicher, October, 1896,
"Die Genneser Seidenindustrie im i$ten und i6ten Jahrhundert, ein
Beitrag zur Geschichte des Verlagssystems." Schmoller's Jahrbuch,
1897.
Gottingen. Dr. Richard Ehrenberg has been appointed Extraor-
dinary Professor of Political Economy at the University of Gottin-
gen. He was born February 5, 1857, at Wolfenbiittel. His early
education was received at Wolfenbiittel and Brunswick. In 1873 he
went into business, but began university studies in 1884. He fre-
quented until 1887 the Universities of Munich, Gottingen and Tubingen,
receiving the degree of Doctor of the Political Sciences at the last
named. After travels in England, Belgium, France and Italy, he
became in 1889 Secretary of the Royal " Commerz Kollegium" at
Altona, a post which he has held until the present year. In addition
to numerous articles in Conrads "Handworterbuch" Professor Ehren-
berg has written :
" Die Fondspekulation und die Gezetzgebung." Pp. 232, 1883.
"Ein Hamburgischer Waaren und Wechsel f*reiscourant aus dem
i6tenjahrhundert." Hansische Geschichtsblatter, 1883.
"Zur Geschichte der Hamburger Handlung im i6ten Jahrhun-
dert" Zeitschrift des Vereins fur Hamburger Geschichte, 1884.
"Hamburger Handel und Handelspolitik im i6ten Jahrhundert"
Hamburgs Vergangenheit, edited by Karl Koppman, 1885.
"Makler Hosteleirs und Borse in Brugge vom ijten bis zum i6ten
Jahrhundett. Zeitschrift fur Handelsrecht, 1885.
"Wie wurde Hamburg gross? Streifziige in der hamburger
Handelsgeschichte. " I. " Die Anfange des hamburger Freihafens. ' '
Pp. 109. 1888.
"Hamburg und Antwerpen seit ^oojahren" Pp.49. 1889.
"Die alte Nurnberger Borse" Mittheilunger des Vereins fur
Geschichte der Stadt Niirnberg. 1889.
"Die ersten tiroler Gulden" Bayerische Numismatische Zeit-
schrift, 1889.
"Ein Finanzund social politischer Projekt aus dem i6ten Jahr-
hundert." Zeitschrift fiir die gessamte Staatswissenschaften. 1890.
"Jahresberichte des Koniglichen Commetz Kollegiumsin Altona"
1889-1896.
"Altona unter Schauenburgischen Herxschaft" 1891-93. Six num-
bers of about 70 pp. each.
"Hamburger Handel und Schiffahrt vor 200 Jahren" Pp. 34, 1891.
"Das Konigliche Commerz Kollegium in Altona. Pp. 67. Printed
as MS. 1892.
[437]
i26 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
"Hans Kleberg, der gute Deutsche sein Leben und Charakter"
Verein fur Geschichte der Stadt Niirnberg, 1893.
"Francis Estrup, Rechtspflege im i6ten Jahrhundert." Zeit-
schrift des Vereins fiir Hamburger Geschichte, 1894.
"Burger und Bla mte. " Pp. 61. 1894.
"Altona's topographischer Entwickelung." Pp. 38, with maps, etc.
1894.
"Aus der Hamburgers Handels geschichte. ' ' Zeitschrift des Vereins
fiir Hamburger Geschichte, 1895.
"Altona's Fischereihafen und Fischmarket." 1896.
"Hamburg und England im Zeitalter der Konigin Elisabeth" Pp.
362. 1896.
"Das Zeitalter der Fugger," Bd. I. "Die Geldmdrkte des i6ten
Jahrhundert." Pp. 420. 1896. Bd. II. "Die Weltborsen und
Finanzkrisen des i6ten Jahrhundert. Pp.367. 1897.
"Der Handel seine wirthschaftliche Bedeutung, seine nationlen
Pflichten und sein Verhaltniss zum Stadt." Pp. 98. 1897.
" Handelshochschulen I. Gutachen von Kauflenten Industriellen
und anderen Sachverstandigen." Printed as MS. Pp.275. 1897-
"Handelshochschulen II. Denkschrift uber die Handelshochschulen
Pp. 56. 1897.
"Der Ausstand der Hamburger Hafenarberiler, 1896-97." Con-
rad's Jahrbiicher, 1897.
Halle. Dr. Wilhelm Kahler has become Privat-docent for Political
Economy at the University of Halle. He was born in that city February
5, 1871, and attended the Latin School of the celebrated Francke
educational foundations. He pursued legal and economic studies at
the universities of Halle and Berlin. At the former he secured in
1893 the degree of Doctor Juris, and in 1896 that of Doctor of Philoso-
phy. From 1892 to 1896 he was Referendar'va. the service of the court.
Dr. Kahler has written:
"Die Stellvertretung im Gezverbebetrieb, eine gewerberechtliche
Untersuchung . " Pp. 53. Leipzig, 1894.
" Gesinderwesen und Gesinderecht in Deutschland '." Pp. 229. Jena,
1896.
"Beitrage zur Lehre von den offentlichen Schulden." Vol. I. "Die
preussichc Kommunal anleihen." Pp. 121. Jena, 1897.
"Die Bedeutung des Reichsinvalidinfonds fur den preussischen
Kommunalkredit." Conrad's Jahrbiicher, 1897.
Jena. Dr. Fyduard Rosenthal was appointed last year Ordinary Pro-
fessor of Public Law at the University of Jena. He was born Septem-
ber 6, 1853, at Wiirzburg, Bavaria, where he attended the gymnasium,
[438]
PERSONAL, NOTES. 127
sium, and began his university studies. During his university studies,
1872-76, he also attended the Universities of Heidelberg and Berlin.
At the university of his native city, he obtained the degree of Doctor
Juris in 1878, having been engaged in legal practice since 1876. In
1880 he became Privat-docent at Jena, and in 1883 was appointed
Extraordinary Professor. Professor Rosenthal is Chairman of the
Thuringian Historical Commission. His writings include articles upon:
"Handelsgeschafte," Muhlenrecht" "Speditionsgeschafte" "Un-
lauterer Wettbewerb, ' ' and ' ' Gesellschaften mit beschrankter Haftung> ' '
in Conrad's Handworterbuch.
"Zur Geschichte des Eigrutunes in der Stadt Wiirzburg." Pp. 153.
1878.
"Die Rechtsfolger des Ehebruchs nach canonischen und deutschen
JRechte." Pp. 104. 1880.
"Beitrage zur deutschen Stadtrechtsgeschichte." Vols. I and II.
4 'Zur Rechtsgeschichte der Stadte Landshut und Straubing. ' ' Pp. 337.
1883.
"Die Behordenorganisation Kaiser Ferdinands /," Archiv fur
osterreichischen Geschichte, 1887.
"Geschichte des Gerichtswesens und der Verwaltungsorganisation
Baierns." Vol. I, 1180-1598. Pp. 602. 1889.
"Internationales Eisenbahnfrachtrecht auf Grund des internation-
alen Uebereinkommens vom 14 Oktober, 1890." Pp. 398. 1894.
flarburg. Dr. Karl Oldenberg * has recently been appointed Extra-
ordinary Professor of Political Economy at the University of Marburg.
In recent years Professor Oldenberg has published:
"Studien iiber die rheinisch-westfdlische Bergarbeiterbewegung."
Pp. 124. Leipzig, 1890
"Die Ziele der deutschen Sozialdemokratie. Pp. 104. Leipzig, 1891.
"Der Kellnerberuf, Eine sociale Studie. " Pp. 57. Leipzig, 1893.
"Der Maximalarbeitstag im Backer- und Konditorengewerbe"
Pp. 212. Leipzig, 1894.
" Ueber Deutschland als Industriestaat . Pp.45. Vortrag, Gottin-
gen, 1897.
"Die Generalversammlung des Vereins fur Socialpolitik sSyo."
Schmoller's Jahrbuch, 1891.
"Ueber den Einfluss der Verkehr auf die Koalitionsgeselzgebung.' 1 ''
Ibid., 1891.
"Die heutige Lage der Commis nach neuerer Litteratur." Ibid.,
1892.
"Die Ausbreitung der Gewerkschaften in Deutschland und Eng-
land." Ibid., 1892.
* See ANNALS, Vol. ii, p. 109, July, 1891.
[439]
128 ANNAI<S OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
"Neuere Zeitschriften fur sodalpolitische Berichterstattung. Ibid,
1894.
"Statistik der jugendlichen Fabrikar better. " Ibid., 1894.
"Arbeitslosenstatistik, Arbeitsvermittelung und Arbeitslosenver-
sicherung." Ibid., 1895.
"Die Form des geplanten Arbeitslosenstatistik des Deutschen
Reiches." Ibid., 1895.
' 'Der Berliner Bierboycott int Jahre 1894." Ibid. , 1896.
" Der Arbeitsnachweis in Berliner Braugewerbe." Ibid., 1896.
"Die Arbeitseinstellungen in Deutschland." Conrad's Handwor-
terbuch, Vol. I, 1890.
"Die Arbeitseinstellungen in Deutschland." Ibid. First Supple-
mentary volume, 1895.
"Die Gewerkevereine in Dcutschland." Ibid., 1895.
4 ' Ueber sociale Steuerpolitik in Preussen . ' ' Preussische Jahrbiicher ,
1893-
"Die Backer- verordnungsdebatten und die Rechtsgultigkeit der
Backer- verordnung." Ibid., 1896.
"Die Arbeitslosenstatistik des letzten Winters." Socialpolitiscb.es
Centralblatt, May 8, 1893.
"Arbeitslosigkeit." Fliegende Blatter aus dem Rauhen Hause.
Hamburg, 1897.
"Ortspolezei und Maximalarbeitstag." Blatter fiir sociale Praxis,
August 30 and October 25, 1893.
"Die Arbeitslosen versicherung in Basel-stadt. Ibid., February,
1895-
SWITZERLAND.
Basle. Dr. Fritz Fleiner has recently been appointed Ordinary Pro-
fessor of Public Law at the University of Basle. He was born January
24, 1867, at Aarau, and attended the schools of his native city and the
gymnasium of the Cantonal School of Aargau. He studied law at the
University of Zurich, 1887; Leipzig, 1887-88; Berlin, 1888-89; and re-
turned in the fall of 1889 to Zurich, where he obtained the degree of
Doctor Juris in 1890. He then entered legal practice in Aarau, be-
coming in 1891 advocate and notary. After passing a year in Paris,
Dr. Fleiner became Privat-docent at the University of Zurich in 1892.
In 1895 he was appointed Extraordinary Professor at the same institu-
tion. Professor Fleiner has written :
"Obligatorische Civilehe und Katholische Kirche." (Awarded the
Royal Prize by the Law Falcuty at Berlin. ) Leipzig, 1890.
"Die tridentinische Ehevorschrift." Leipzig, 1892.
"Die Ehescheidung Napoleons I. " Leipzig, 1893.
[440]
PERSONAL NOTES. 129
"Die religiose Erziehung der kinder, nach schweizerischen Bundes-
recht." Zeitschrift fiir schweizerisches Recht. N. F. XII.
"Staat und Bischofswahl in Bistum Basel.' 1 Leipzig, 1897.
"Aargauische Kirchenpolitik in der RestauralionszeitS* Taschen-
buch der historischen Gesellschaft des Kantons Aargau, 1897.
Dr. Traugott Geering has recently become Privat-docent for Statis-
tics in the University of Basle. He was born in that city Febru-
ary 21, 1859, and received there his early education in the gymnasium.
He began his university studies at Basle in the year 1876, and in 1879
went to Leipzig. After a year there and a further year in Berlin, he
returned to Basle in 1881 for a final year's study. His degree of
Doctor of Philosophy was granted by the university of his native city.
On the completion of his university work Dr. Geering devoted himself
to literary pursuits, which bore fruit in i8S6 in a "History of the Trade
and Industries of Basle." In 1887 he became chief of the Swiss Com-
mercial Statistics, in the Federal Customs Department at Berne. He
resigned this post in 1896 to become secretary of the Chamber of Com-
merce at Basle. Dr. Geering is a member of the Swiss historical and
statistical associations, and has been a member of the International
Statistical Institute since 1896. In the latter organization he has borne
a prominent part. The session at St. Petersburg, held in August of
the present year, discussed upon his suggestion the comparability of
commercial statistics and his proposal for a commercial year ending
August 31. His contributions to the Schweizerische Blatter fur Wirt-
schaft und Socialpolitik, and to the Schweizerische statistische Zeit-
schrift have been numerous. He has also published:
"Handelund Industrie derStadt Basel bis zum Endedes XVIIten
Jahrhunderts." Pp. xxvi and 678. Basle, 1886.
"Jahresberichte der Schweizerischen Handelsstatistik." 1887-95.
"Zusammenfassender Berichte uber den Schweizerischer Handel
von 1885 bis 1895."
"Staatswirtschaft," and "Volkswirtsckqfl." Articles in Fiirrer's
" Volkswirtschaftslexikon der Schweiz." Vols. Ill and IV.
"Die Erhebungsperiode der Handelsstatistik." Bulletin de 1'Insti-
tut Internationale de Statistique. Vol. IX.
Berne. Dr. Lud wig Rudolf von Salis has been appointed Honorary
Professsor of Public Law at the University of Berne. He was born at
Maienfeld, Grisons, Switzerland, May 28, 1863, and received his early
training at the gymnasium of Basle. There he also began his legal
studies at the university, and received in 1885 the degree of Doctor
Juris. In the meantime he had pursued his studies at the universi-
ties of Heidelberg, Leipzig, Strassburg, Berlin and Paris. He entered
[440
130 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
the judicial service in Basle as clerk of court, became later a member
of the court of first instance, and in 1894 of the court of appeals.
In 1886 he became Privat-docent at the University of Basle, and in
1888 was appointed Ordinary Professor in the legal faculty. In the
year 1894 Professor von Salis was Rector of the University. In the
present year he left Basle to enter the Federal Department of Justice
at Berne as Chief of the Division of Legislation, etc. Besides articles
in the Zeitschrift fur Schweizerisches Recht, Professor von Salis has
written:
"Beitrage zur Geschichte des Eherechts." 1886.
"Der Tridentinische Eheschliessungsvorschrift." 1888.
"Rechtsquellcn des Kantons Graubunden." 2 Vols. 1888.
"Leges Burgundiorum in Monumentae Germanicce" Halm, Han-
nover. 1892.
"Schweizerisches Bundesrecht" i 4 Vols. 1892-95.
"Die Religionsfreiheit in der Praxis" 1892.
4 'Der Erlass einer burgerlichen Gesetzbuches. ' ' 1 894.
BOOK DEPARTMENT.
NOTES.
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY have just brought out a second edition of
Professor Bastable's useful ' 'Theory of International Trade,"* of which
the first edition was published ten years ago. Within this period
much attention has been given to problems of foreign trade, especially
in connection with the policy of protection. Professor Bastable is
unswerving in his devotion to free trade, but he gives somewhat more
extended attention to the arguments on the other side in this than in
the previous edition of his manual. Believing in the essential sound-
ness of the Ricardian theory of international trade, a considerable
portion of the first five of the ten chapters of his work is devoted
to the explanation of that theory and a refutation of its critics. The
' ' applications ' ' alluded to in the title are contained in the last five
chapters, which treat respectively of, "the influence of foreign trade
on the internal distribution of wealth," " taxation for revenue in
its effects on foreign trade," " the rationale of free trade," "argu-
ments for protection reasons for its prevalence," and the "conclu-
sion." The latter "is a negative one," and is to the effect that,
"governments in their dealings with foreign trade should be guided
by the much-vilified maxim of laissezfaire."
MR. LOUGH'S forcible presentation of the financial relations of
England and Irelandf has been issued in a third revised and cor-
rected edition. In the revision he has used much important
material gathered by the royal commission on the financial relations
between Great Britain and Ireland. The book is a strong statement,
couched in temperate yet vigorous language, of the disadvantages
which Ireland suffers in her present relations to the exchequer of
the United Kingdom. While population and wealth have decayed
during the century, taxation has increased and the per capita burden
is greater than ever. The actual sums collected may appear small,
but the proportion of taxable wealth taken by the state nearly ex-
hausts the entire income of the people above the requirements of a
* The Theory of International Trade, with Some of its Applications to Economic
Policy. By C. F. BASTABLK, M. A., LI, D. Second edition, revised. Pp. xii, 183.
Price, $1.25. London and New York: The Macmillan Co., 1^97.
t England's Wealth, Ireland's Poverty. By THOMAS LOUGH, M. P., with ten
colored diagrams. Pp. 223. Price, is. London ; Downey & Co., 1897.
[443]
132 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
bare subsistence, so that the slightest breath of ill-fortune causes
widespread want and destitution. For those who desire a knowledge
of the latest phase which the Irish question has assumed, Mr.
Lough's book offers a compact statement of the nature of the griev-
ance, together with interesting suggestions of a remedy.
REV. CORIXAND MYERS, pastor of the Brooklyn Temple, has
printed under the title "Midnight in a Great City"* the substance
of some recent discourses on the moral degradation incident to
modern urban life. The evils of tenement house life, the ruin of
child life, the clouds in rich homes, the influences of the saloon,
the low-grade theatres, gambling houses and houses of ill-fame are
depicted in plain language and with a directness and power of
illustration well fitted to arouse moral indignation, which is the
main purpose of the book. Evils connected with the factory system
and the mad rush for wealth at all cost and the partial rescue work
of the hospitals and prisons, which gather in the physical and
moral wrecks, come in for a share in the discussion. The author
has made an honest effort to get at the real facts about which he
talks, and, though much of his observation has been necessarily
superficial for the purposes of the scientific study of the evils in
question, he has gone far enough to avoid many of the exaggerations
and mistakes of similar attempts to deal with these conditions for
the purpose of arousing the moral conscience of the community.
He has also wisely refrained from suggesting sweeping remedies for
specific evils on the basis of hasty generalizations. His book will
have accomplished its purpose if it arouses its readers to study some
of its problems more deeply than its author has yet been able to do
and to attack them with the true Christian's earnestness of purpose
and love of righteousness.
IN "Z-a Sociologie. Par Auguste Comte, "~\ M. Emile Rigolage has
issued a condensation of the last three volumes of the "Philosophie
Positive" which were included by Comte himself under the title
"Social Physics." Comte originally intended that this subject
should make up the fourth and last volume of his "Positive Phil-
osophy," but the work of creating the new science of sociology,
as he termed the task, grew in his hands until it required three
volumes, and was then regarded by its author as only the prospectus
* Midnight in a Great City. By CORTLAND MYERS. Pp.252. Price, $1.00. New
York: Merrill & Baker. 1896.
t La Sociologie. Par A ugvste Comte. Resume par EMILE RIGOLAGE. Pp. xv,
472. Price Tfr. 50. Paris : Felix Alcan, 1897.
[444]
DIE FlNANZVERHALTNISSE DER ElNZEI^STAATEN. 133
of what was to come. Rigolage published in 1881 a "Re'sume" of
the Positive Philosophy" in two volumes which were later translated
into German. The original French edition is now out of print and
the present volume is practically a new edition of the second vol-
ume of the work published in 1881. The author does not think
that the interest in the first part of the "Positive Philosophy" is
sufficient to warrant a republication of the first volume of his " R&-
sum. ' ' The chief interest which English readers will take in the
new volume consists in the significance of the publication as an
index of the interest of French readers in this part of Comte's writ-
ings and their unwillingness to struggle with the heavy and mon-
otonous style of Comte's own writing. Even his ardent followers
see the necessity of meeting the demand for a more palatable if less
accurate presentation of the positive philosophy. No condensation
could be more satisfactory than the excellent piece of literary work
done by Harriet Martineau. In her English translation, published
originally in 1853, and of which we have had recently a new edition
in three volumes in the Bohn Library, she reduced Comte's vol-
umes to about one-fourth of their original bulk. Comte wel-
comed her book with profuse thanks, and one of his pupils
rendered this English translation back into French. In its French
form it has been widely used. Yet Comte, with all his peculiarities
of style, was not simply verbose ; he had some reason, some expla-
nation or some attempt to guard against misconception hid away
in all his long sentences. His followers will not admit the validity
of criticisms based on the Martineau condensation or any other, and
those who are able to read French would better consult and read
the original six volumes by Comte, or such parts of them as are of
present interest and value. His French followers would render an
ultimately greater service to the scientific study of his philosophy,
and the present interest in Comte would doubtless justify the under-
taking, if they would issue a really good edition of the "Positive
Philosophy" supplied with notes and a good introduction. An an-
notated edition of part of the work, but preserving the words of the
original as far as it goes, is also a desideratum.
REVIKWS.
Die Finanzverhaltnisse der Einzelstaaten der Nordamerikanischen
Union. By Dr. ERNEST LUD^OW BOGART. Pp. xiii, 157. Jena:
Gustav Fischer, 1897.
This adds another to the long list of economic studies made by
American students under the direction of Professor Conrad. The title
[445]
134 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
is a little misleading, for it is not the "Finanzverhdltnisse " that the
author treats of, but certain phases of the ' 'Finanzwesen " of the differ-
ent commonwealths. The book contains an introduction and four parts.
The introduction is for German readers. It tells them, what they are
so prone to forget, that the American commonwealths have indepen-
dent fields of action. The first part is descriptive and historical. It
deals mainly with the history of state debts and with the constitutional
limitations of the power of the legislatures in regard to finance. The
second part deals with the procedure in the formation of the budget,
and includes in translation the author's paper on " Financial Pro-
cedure in State Legislatures. "* The third part is an analysis of the
budgets of the different commonwealths and includes au outline of
the different forms of taxation in use. The fourth and last part dis-
cusses the present conditions of state debts.
Dr. Bogart has worked at a great disadvantage, since he has con-
sulted the works of but few of the previous writers in this field. He
apparently has not seen Cooley's treatise on the " Law of Taxation,"
nor Patten's "Finanzwesen der Staaten und Stadte der Nordameri-
kanischen Union" an admirable little pamphlet on precisely the same
subject and published in the same series of economic studies. He has
no references to Trotter's "Observations," Scott's "Repudiation,"
Johnson's "Report on the Relief of the States," Wood's " History of
Taxation in Vermont," Ripley's "Financial History of Virginia,"
Douglas' " Financial History of Massachusetts " nor to a number of
other contributions to this field. Not one of the numerous cases bear-
ing on taxation or financial procedure that have been decided by the
courts is cited. The reports of state officials, the census, and the statutes
form his chief sources.
The best part of the book is the sketch of financial procedure in
state legislatures, half of which, that dealing with appropriations, has
already been printed in English in the ANNAW. The other half,
dealing with the procedure in raising money, is equally good. Out-
side of this sketch there is little that is new in the book. The first
part is drawn mainly from Adam's "Public Debts," and the third
from Seligtnan's various works.
There are a number of misprints and errors. Here are a few that
were noted. On page 6 the commonwealths are credited with spend-
ing only $77, 105,91 1 in 1890. As a matter of fact they spent over $i 16,-
000,000 that year. On page 7 and in the table on page 8 the states are
charged with a debt of $228,297,093 in 1890; the figures should be
$228,997,389. There are other misprints in the same table. On page
8 it is stated that Wisconsin was the first state to place constitutional
ANWALS, VoL Tili, p. 236, September, 1896.
[446]
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ECONOMICS. 135
restrictions upon the power of the legislature to make debts (1848),
but that honor belongs to Rhode Island, which introduced such a
restriction in the constitution adopted in 1842, at the close of the Dorr
War. On pages 15 and 20 occurs the statement that the last payment
on the old national debt was made in 1834; this should read 1836. In
the discussion of the causes of the growth of state debts between 1830
and 1840, no consideration is given to the fact that railroads were a
new invention and that they were absolutely necessary at any cost in
the Western states. In table vii, page 37, it is stated that the sessions
of the Legislature of California are limited to 100 days. There is no
fixed limit, but the legislators can collect a per diem for sixty days
only. But the first legislature after the adoption of the constitution
was allowed payment for 100 days. On page 112 California is omitted
from the list of states which exempt growing crops. In the discussion
of the forms of the tax rate, page 1 14, no mention is made of the
peculiar forms of the tax base, such as the Grand I/ist of Vermont,
from which a new form of the tax rate arises.
Some rather naive judgments are expressed. Thus, on page 61 it
is said that the members of the state legislatures are convinced of the
correctness of the "theory of the diffusion of taxes," and that hence
they consider no tax as good as an old one. We were not aware that
the members of the state legislatures thought seriously of any tax
theory. On page 147 the differences in the financial systems of the
states are spoken of as insignificant, and the author reaches the con-
clusion that they will gradually disappear. The present tendencies
are, however, all in the opposite direction, and the differences are
anything but insignificant.
The treatment of the tax systems of the different states is extremely
confused and well illustrates the necessity of studying the system of
each state by itself. The similarities which tempt to a general discus-
sion are very superficial.
CARI, C. PLEHN.
University of California.
Introduction to the Study of Economics. BY CHARLES JESSE Bui,-
LOCK, Ph. D. Pp. 511. Price $1.25. New York, Boston and
Chicago: Silver, Burdett & Co., 1897.
As another attempt to formulate in an elementary text-book the
results of recent investigation and analysis in the field of economics,
Dr. Bullock's " Introduction " will be welcomed by a wide circle of
readers. Its perusal, it is safe to say, will arouse feelings both of
satisfaction and of disappointment in the minds of those who seek
[447]
136 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
in its pages an explanation of the complex industrial phenomena
which surround them. The book is not easy to read, nor are
its theoretical parts easy to understand. On the other hand, it
abounds in useful statistical information and illustrations drawn from
actual business life, which are sure to make it interesting to stu-
dents. The author shows a wide acquaintance with the literature of
economics, and his references are nearly always well selected, though
somewhat too copious for practical use.
The work is divided into sixteen chapters, of which the longest
(56 pp.) is devoted to the "Distribution of Wealth," while the
shortest and concluding chapter (14 pp.) discusses the "Economic
Functions of Government." Each chapter is followed by a short
table of references for collateral reading, while the whole work is
concluded by a sixteen-page bibliography, referring to French and
German as well as to English and American literature.
How best to introduce economics to the unsophisticated student is
a question that perennially harasses the minds alike of teachers and
text-book writers. With accepted methods the author of the book
under review evidently has little patience. Instead of commencing
with the usual observations in regard to the relations between eco-
nomics and business, he introduces his treatise with a summary
account of the economic history of the United States. Well-balanced
as this account undoubtedly is, I cannot but think it out of place as
a preparation for the chapters on economic theory which follow. The
institutions of private property, freedom of contract, money, credit,
and even capitalistic production, a study of whose origins would be
most helpful to the beginner in political economy, were borrowed by
us from the mother country. Aside from slavery, therefore, our own
economic history has been exceedingly simple. An understanding of
how population has increased and spread out over our West, of how
we have utilized our natural resources, and of how manufactures and
means of communication have grown up among us, however important
to the American citizen, is of little direct assistance to the student of
economics.
However, I agree with Dr. Bullock in believing that the ordinary
text-books plunge too precipitately into an analysis of economic phe-
nomena. It seems to be forgotten by the writers of these works that,
whereas the older economists addressed themselves to the business
community and could take for granted a thorough acquaintance with
business phenomena, their pages will be read mainly by students
as unfamiliar with the subject-matter of economics as with the science
itself. It is easier to appreciate this difficulty than to discover the
best means of coping with it. With some diffidence I would suggest as
[448]
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF ECONOMICS. 137
a better introduction to the study of economics than industrial history,
a concrete description of the actual structure and methods of modern
business, which should pave the way for, and in a sense, justify the
abstractions subsequently employed.
Coming to the portion of Dr. Bullock's book treating of economics
proper, a chapter on consumption is found to prepare the way fort wo
on the production of wealth, an arrangement which attests the
author's conversion to the modern view of what clearness and logic
require. Exchange is taken up after production, and introduces
three excellent chapters treating of money. Chapters on monopo-
lies and on international trade are then interjected before the
long chapter on distribution, already alluded to, while the work
concludes with three chapters discussing in a sympathetic, and, at the
same time, critical spirit, such matters as labor unions, land national-
ization and socialism.
The principal fault to be found with the body of the author's work,
refers to his literary style rather than to the matter presented. Short,
feverish sentences hurry the reader along from one topic to another,
until his head fairly whirls. Scarcely any subject is treated calmly
and exhaustively, but each is dismissed with an outline-like paragraph
or page, reading often more like a note-book than like a serious work.
For example, on pages 186 and 187 we have the following: "<j no.
We must consider next the causes that determine the value of com-
modities. In this question economists are not yet agreed concerning
certain points. First, it is necessary to distinguish between market
value and normal value. During 1895 the price of a bushel of wheat
in New York varied from fifty-six to eighty-three cents, and was
seldom exactly the same on any two successive days," etc. Aside
from obvious infelicities of expression, the rushing quality of this dic-
tion should be apparent.
Since the author is persuaded and rightly so, I believe of the
unwisdom of introducing "the beginner to many controversies on
fundamental points of theory," it would be unfair to criticise too
minutely the chapters treating of value (" exchange "), and distribu-
tion. After reading them over carefully I am at a loss to understand
how he escapes from the logical circle involved in explaining normal
value by a reference to the money cost of production (p. 195), and
subsequently finding the "upper limit" to wages (p. 406), in the
fact that enough must be left after wages are paid to remunerate the
entrepreneurs and capitalists for their contributions to the productive
result. This may be due, however, to the author's effort to simplify
the theory of distribution rather than to any vagueness in his own
thinking. In any case, I believe a straight forward explanation of the
[449]
138 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
"productivity" theory of distribution would give to beginners a
clearer and more accurate idea of the influences determining wages,
interest, profits, and rent, than the somewhat confusing combination
of theories that Dr. Bullock presents.
H. R. S.
A General Freight and Passenger Post. A Practical Solution of
the Railroad Problem. By JAMES LEWIS COWI.ES. Pages xii, 155.
Price, $1.00. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1896.
This little book is characterized by the general advantages and disad-
vantages of the other volumes in the Questions of the Day Series.
It presents a brief and somewhat dogmatic view of the question
discussed. The book contains four chapters. The first, devoted to
the post-office since 1839, contains a brief general description of the
development of the post-office in England and the United States. The
second chapter discusses the abuses of the present system of railway
management, setting forth in a clear way the absurdities and incon-
sistencies underlying the system of passenger and freight tariffs in
existence in the United States to-day. The author has a tolerably
easy task to prove that very few systems could be worse or more illogi-
cal. He emphasizes properly enough the proposition that the railways
are, from an economic and social point of view, really public instead
of private institutions, while they are managed as if they were purely
private in character. The third chapter takes up the real discussion
of the subject, and attacks the principle of distance as a basis for the
determination of railway rates. Much interesting evidence is adduced
to show how steadily and rapidly the cost of transportation decreases
as the traffic grows. The fourth and last chapter considers the prin-
ciple of cost of service as a basis of public transportation charges,
and an interesting argument is made in favor of adopting this prin-
ciple instead of the distance principle.
There is no doubt that American railway managers have failed to
discern the possibilities of the passenger traffic as a source of income.
Their minds have been so exclusively fixed upon the freight business,
and we may say, upon the long-distance through-freight business,
that they have been blind to the possibilities of profit in the develop-
ment of the passenger traffic and of local freight business.
Of course from an economic point of view the whole possibility of
going over to the system of uniform rates for passengers and freight,
independent of distance, turns at bottom upon the possible increase
of the business itself, and it must be confessed that at this time any
set of railroad managers who should adopt this reform would be
[450]
THE EVOLUTION OP THE CONSTITUTION. 139
walking by faith instead of by sight. That, of course, is of itself no
argument against the wisdom or feasibility of adopting such a reform.
On the contrary, the great changes and improvements which have
come about in questions of public policy have been the result of such
faith, of such intuitive insight and foresight, rather than of timid and
overcautious experimentation. But those who believe in the possi-
bility of the reform need not be surprised at the conservatism of
practical railroad managers on this subject. There is little doubt,
however, of a steady development in the direction indicated by the
author of this book, unless our ideas as to the social function and
possibility of the railway and its management should develop along
entirely different lines from those which seem likely now. In spite
of its brevity the book gives the best account of the movement for a
reform in our freight and passenger tariff policy and the best argu-
ment in its behalf which have thus far been given in English.
EDMUND J. JAMES.
The Evolution of the Constitution of the United States. By SYDNEY
GEORGE FISHER. Philadelphia: The J. B. Lippincott Co., 1897.
"If I find on American soil the footprints of a man, and wish to
discover whence he came, I surely ought not to assume at once that
he is a foreigner, and take the next steamer for England or Holland,
to see if I can find footprints over there that are like his. . . . for
it maybe that he is a native." With this for his text, and the
growth of American institutions for his topic, Mr. Fisher has given us
a brief, but comprehensive, study of the sources of our national con-
stitution. He summons before him the various theories on this
subject, the English, the Dutch, the ancient Greek, and even Mr.
Gladstone's memorable dictum ; he examines each with a criti-
cal, and often a hostile, eye, and finds them all wanting. These
critical chapters, while not well condensed, contain much that is val-
uable. Having disposed of these theories of the foreign origin of
our institutions, the author next turns to American sources, and
in three excellent chapters, one on "Evolution from the Colonial
Charters," and two on the " Evolution of Federalism," he shows the
direct influence exerted on our constitutional development by the ex-
perience of the colonies and states. In this part of the work the
author is at his best; he portrays most accurately the growth of the
legislative, executive and judicial departments of the federal govern-
ment from the colonial charters, and shows with a clearness that is
almost startling, the logical growth of the federal idea through the in-
numerable plans of union. These plans begin with the New England
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140 ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
Union in 1643, and include the drafts and frames of government of
Charles II., James II., William Penn, Charles D'Avenant, Robert Liv-
ingston, Earl of Stair, Daniel Coxe, Benjamin Franklin, Peters, Hutch-
inson, Johnson, Drayton, Noah Webster, and the various suggestions
in this line offered in the convention. One of the most interesting
parts of the work is the discussion of the sources of Puritan ideas on
government. There were, says Mr. Fisher, three different sets of con-
ditions, of climate, soil, character of Indians, etc., in the territory to
be settled, making three distinct regions, New England, the Middle
Provinces, and the South. Corresponding to these three sections we
find, says the author, three different forms of local government arising,
and therefore since the character of the immigrants was, in general at
least, the same, we must account for the differences in govermental
ideas almost entirely by these differences in physical environment.
But was the character of the immigrants the same ? Certainly our his-
tories would make us believe that the Puritan settlers were mostly
middle-class folk and tradesmen, while the immigration into Virginia
and Carolina was largely made up of younger sons of the nobility, of
mere adventurers and idlers. If this be true then Mr. Fisher must
admit that a powerful influence was exerted on the formation of planta-
tions, and of the parish-county form of government by the character
of the population, but this he could safely do without modifying in
essential particulars his contention that it was American conditions,
and not English traditions which gave rise to our systems of local ad-
ministration and eventually to the peculiar organization of our national
government. Obviously the author's views stand in marked contrast
to the usually accepted doctrine as expounded by Bryce, Stevens,
Taylor, Howard and a host of others, who have written on our local
as well as our federal constitutional development. It seems highly
probable that the light of future research will lead to the rejection
of both sides of the controversy as half-truths or extremes. On the
one hand the ultra-English tendency which persists in tracing all im-
portant features of our institutions to their "English originals " must
be regarded as definitely refuted by Mr. Fisher, who shows the in-
fluence of physical environment and, above all, the application of
colonial experience in the make-up of the federal constitution. On
the other hand Mr. Fisher certainly underestimates the influence of race
traditions and inclinations when he excludes from calculation the
democratic tendencies of the Anglo-Saxons, their undoubted political
genius and the influence which these would naturally exert on the
formation of a peculiar form of government more or less similar to that
obtaining in the mother country. In one sense our institutions are
English in that they were erected by Englishmen, with English habits
[452]
SYSTEM DER EISENBAHNBENUTZUNG. 141
of thought; in another, they are not English because they were in-
fluenced in a greater degree by the circumstances of time and place,
by environment.
The arrangement of the work is not all that could be desired. It
would have been more helpful to the reader had the author's theory
of our constitutional development been 'placed in its logical sequence
after the critical portions of the work. It is also to be regretted that
the author has devoted one-sixth of his entire book to a refutation of
Campbell's theory regarding the Dutch sources of the constitution.
Mr. Campbell's theory has already served its term as the literary
punching-bag for writers and speakers in this field, and it has been hit
so often and so hard that it no longer rebounds properly. In conclu-
sion, the reader, if he be a student of constitutional history, must feel
grateful for the clear and forcible explanation of the influence of natural
surroundings on the formation of governmental systems, since it is from,
this point of view that we have most to expect in the future study of
our institutions.
JAMES T. YOUNG.
University of Pennsylvania.
Geschichte und System der Eisenbahnbenutzung im Kriege. Bin
eisenbahn-technisches und militarisches Hiilfsbuch. By Dr. JoE-
STEN. Pp. 88. Leipzig. Deutsche Verkehrs-Blaetter, 1896.
In Great Britain and the United States the development of railroads
has been primarily determined by industrial conditions, while military
considerations have played but a secondary role. On the continent of
Europe, however, the location of railroads, and the manner of their
construction and operation, have been influenced by the probable
demands to be made upon them in time of war. Railroads have acted
upon the military, somewhat as they have upon the industrial organ-
ization of European states; armies have become differentiated, and a
division of labor has been systematically carried out upon a large
scale. Armies have become greater and their movements quicker,
and wars have become more rapid and destructive but less frequent in
consequence.
The writer of this volume is a recognized authority on the subject
of the military use of railroads. Under the pseudonym of Miles Fer-
rarius, he has already contributed several books and some fifty articles
to the literature of the subject. In the present book, Dr. Joesten
draws attention to the importance of railways in mobilizing armies at
the outbreak of a war, and in maintaining the forces during its con-
tinuance. Such is the rapidity of mobilization of the armies of lo-day
[453]
142 ANNAIS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.
that the loss of a few hours may be fatal to the success of a whole
campaign. This is the chief employment for military railroads, but
they may also be used in provisioning the army, and in bearing away
wounded and prisoners. For purely tactical purposes, the use of rail-
roads is more limited; since the conveyance of troops upon the field is
dangerous and even ruinous, unless the road is quite secure from
attack, but circular railways, for the defence of extensive fortifications,
have been of great service and may be a salient feature in future cam-
paigns. Dr. Joesten gives an admirable historical account of the
military use of railroads from the campaigns of 1848 and 1849 to the
Franco-Prussian war, but is guilty of one or two needlessly prolix
digressions. The book concludes with a systematic account of the
military organization of the railroads in Germany, France, Russia,
Austria-Hungary and Italy.
WAI/TER E. WBYI,.
Philadelphia.
Conscience et Volonte societies. Par J. Novicow. Bibliothque Soci-
ologique Internationale. Pp. 380. Price, 6 francs. Paris: V.
Girard & E. Brie're, 1897.
This is a fascinating book to any one interested at all in social
philosophy. It is an attempt to construct, in rough outline at least,
a social psychology. The subject is fresh and the author's style
so clear that one is carried along with ease and interest from be-
ginning to end. Alas, when he has finished, the reader feels
that the hopes that have been raised by the proposed solution of
many knotty problems are vain. With all the array of interesting
facts, to a consideration of which we are treated, there is much to wish
for in the reasoning and method of discussion. The author accepts
the organic theory of society in all its literalness and explains and
defends it in his introductory chapters and in his concluding one
with admirable clearness. He is right in maintaining that we must,
in order to refute a theory, meet it with a counter theory, but not
correct in thinking that the idea of unity in the universe and in
the laws governing it, forces us to believe that human beings in
their relations to each other are parts of a biological organism work-
ing out a life of its own. He is also asking too much of us when
he says that because the organic theory brings sociology into rela-
tion with more general sciences it therefore contains a greater sum
of truth than other theories of society, which is the test he has
previously established of a good and acceptable theory. This is
[454]
CONSCIENCE ET VOLONTE SOCIALES. 143
poor reasoning and is accompanied by a loose use of terms, as for
-example in the use of the words ' ' general science. ' '
His answers to some of the opponents of the organic theory, and
especially in commenting on M. I/eroy-Beaulieu's criticisms, are
often well taken, but this negative proof does not help to establish
the positive of the theory M. Novicow defends. His whole ar-
gument that the organic theory can be used as a support for absolute
individualism is about as unscientific an appeal to reason as the
misuse of the theory with which he charges the socialists.
One of the most interesting parts of the volume, to most readers
will be that in which the position of those who accept the organic
theory in toto is explained. With this established to the satisfac-
tion of the author, his method renders the remainder of the book a
little curious and one must hand it over for criticism to a psycholo-
gist. On almost every topic the process or mechanism by which
the individual mind acts is explained, and then comes the phrase
"just so in society" forces A and B work to produce result C, etc.
One suspects at times that the cards are packed to produce such
neat results. The attempt to establish fixed laws to read in good
form is sometimes more satisfactory than the following, where on
page 243 we are told that the individual is interested only in those
things of which he can form some mental representation or pic-
ture ; therefore, the journali 
