.ansii 
 
 Southern Branch 
 of the 
 
 University of California 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 Form L-1 
 
 ?c 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
 ^ It,::
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 MAR 1 8 1960 
 
 EENCT 
 
 1 
 
 w 
 
 
 .^-. 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 .i-7,'22
 
 Other Works by the same Author: 
 
 AUSTRALIAN CIVIC SERIES 
 
 1. "OUR COMMONWEALTH" 
 
 For High Schools and General Readera. 
 
 "Calculated to excite a patriotic interest in our Federal institu- 
 tions." — Hon. Sir John Quick, K.C. 
 
 "A simply admirable book." — Age (Melbourne). 
 
 "A clear and concise summary of a very important subject." — 
 Argus (Melbourne). 
 
 "A valuable addition to the Civic Series." — Herald (Newcastle). 
 
 "The author is eminent for the breadth and soundness of his 
 constitutional views." — Daily Telegraph (Sydney). 
 
 2. "THE TRUISMS OF STATECRAFT" 
 
 A Manual for Politicians and Political Students. 
 
 "ALPHABET OF GOVERNMENT' 
 
 (In the Press.) 
 
 "LIBERTY AND LIBERALISM" 
 
 Longmans, Green & Co., I,ondon and New York, 1887. 
 George Robertson & Co., Melbourne. 
 
 ' 'Mr Bruce Smith has anticipated me in attempting to remove 
 the current confusion of thought." — P*rof. Henry Sidgwick 
 (Cambridge) ("Elements of Politics"). 
 
 "Thoughtfully written, with great wealth of illustration." — 
 Literary World (England). 
 
 "A most exhaustive treatise on the science of government — 
 both historic and theoretic." — Scotsman (Scotland). 
 
 "Evidently a man who has read widely and thought deeply." — 
 Nonconformist and Independent (England). 
 
 "An elaborate and carefully-wrought argument." — Graphic 
 (England). 
 
 "The result of much thought and research upon political 
 problems." — Daily Telegraph (Victoria). 
 
 "A bold advocacy of the doctrine of liberty." — Sydney Morning 
 Herald. 
 
 "HONOUR TO WHOM HONOUR." 
 
 McCarron, Stewart & Co. I,td., Sydney. 
 
 "FREE TRADE AND LIBERAL 
 INSTITUTIONS." 
 
 'THE PARALYSIS OF A NATION.'
 
 THE 
 TRUISMS OF STATECRAFT
 
 TO THE YOUTH OF AUSTRALIA, 
 
 IN WHOSE RESTLESS HANDS 
 
 LIES THE DESTINY OF THE 
 
 "NEWER" WORLD.
 
 THE 
 
 Truisms of Statecraft 
 
 An attempt to define, in general terms, 
 
 the Origin, Growth, Purpose, and 
 
 Possibilities, of Popular 
 
 Government. 
 
 BY 
 
 THE HON. BRUCE SMITH, K.C. 
 
 Nineteen Years Member of Australian 
 Federal House of Representatives. 
 
 
 LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 
 
 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON 
 
 FOURTH AVENUE AND 30th STREET. NEW YORK 
 
 BOMBAY, CALCUTTA AND MADRAS 
 
 1921 
 3-55^5
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PREFACE. 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 BOOK I.— THE STUDY OF HUMAN NATURE. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. — Its Bearing on the Art of Statecraft 
 
 II. — Human Characteristics 
 
 III. — Human Evolution, as Bearing on Man's Progress 
 
 IV. — Man's Origin, as Bearing on the Study of Human 
 Nature 
 
 V. — Human Government 
 
 VI. — Man's Ascent, as Bearing on the Possibilities and 
 Direction of his Improvement 
 
 BOOK II.— HUMAN RECORDS. 
 I. — The Bearing of History on the Art of Statecraft 
 II. — Prehistoric Data — Their Teachings 
 III. — Written History — Its Use and Interpretation 
 IV. — Nature and Use of History in the Art of Statecraft 
 
 BOOK III.— HUMAN NEEDS. 
 I. — Their Bearing on the Art of Statecraft 
 II. — Human Needs Defined 
 III. — Social Organisation 
 IV. — Individual Liberty 
 V. — Private Property ■ ^ I 
 
 \ ^YI'.-MThe Static m deletion +^^0 Ind.istry "; I I 
 
 VII. — National Defence 
 yiJO;.— ^Taxation, ^ ; : 
 
 ' feOO'K IV.— Ali>S AND OBSTACLES TO HUMAN 
 PROGRESS. 
 I. — Their Bearing on the Art of Statecraft 
 II. — True Progress Defined 
 III. — Political Knowledge 
 IV. — Economic Knowledge 
 v.— Moral Standards (The Elector) 
 VI. — The Press — As an Aid and an Obstacle 
 VII. — Public and Party Influence 
 VEIL — Prejudice 
 IX. — Over-Legislation 
 X. — ^The Legislator
 
 
 t)0 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 "VT O one who is familiar with the WTitings of the best- 
 ir known thinkers on political economy can have 
 failed to be impressed with the lack of human interest, 
 that the subject-matter of their treatises seems to 
 4 aflford to the popular reader, by reason of the abstract 
 J nature of the discussions involved. It has always seemed 
 ^ to the present writer that, inasmuch as the real starting- 
 ^ point in all such studies is man himself ; his nature ; 
 his needs ; and the means (in the shape of laws and 
 ^ administration) by which his activities, in obtaining 
 sS those needs, are best encouraged and regulated ; it 
 ^ would help to popularise the study of an otherwise 
 dry subject, if writers could, as a preliminary to, or 
 essential part of, their discussions, show the general 
 ^ bearing of it all on the people's personal interests, 
 A and so make them feel that soimd economic views in 
 t their legislators would contribute to the domestic and 
 personal happiness of everyone. If man and his needs, 
 as a member of any community, be the true starting- 
 point in such a study, his nature becomes a matter of 
 the first importance ; in order that his weaknesses 
 may be guarded against, and his quahties, that make 
 for the good of himself and his fellow-men, maj^ be 
 encouraged and guarded, for the general weKare. 
 
 Even Adam Smith, the father and pioneer of all the 
 systematic economists, starts his epoch-marking treatise
 
 VI. The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 with an abstract examination of the results of the 
 "division of labour," and, whilst deahng with every 
 aspect of trade and commerce, as bearing on human wel- 
 fare, does not devote any part of his treatise to the study 
 of the nature and needs of man, for whose edification 
 this great body of economic doctrine is designed. For 
 it must be always remembered that but for man's 
 presence in the world, poUtical economy would be a 
 needless and non-existent study ; and nature would go 
 her own uninterrupted way in regard to the production 
 and distribution of the world's fruitfulness. 
 
 John Stuart Mill again opens his widely known 
 treatise on Pohtical Economy with an examination of 
 the conditions of "production," and then passes on to 
 "distribution" and "exchange"; and it is only in the 
 latter portions of his work that he deals with the 
 "Influence of the progress of society on production and 
 distribution," and with the "Influence of Government," 
 as if they were subordinate topics. It may be truly said 
 that Pohtical Economy, considered scientifically, is only 
 concerned with "the nature of wealth, and the laws of 
 its production and distribution"; but, nevertheless, 
 Mill himself includes, in the latter portion of his work, 
 among the factors of the study, several more personal 
 aspects of human affairs. 
 
 It is sufficiently evident that he considered that the 
 study of human nature was involved in Economics ; 
 for, in his opening chapter, he says that the subject 
 "includes directly or remotely the operation of all the 
 causes by which the condition of mankind, or of any 
 society of human beings ... is made prosperous or the 
 reverse."
 
 Preface. vii. 
 
 The work of Ricardo (one of the world's greatest 
 Economic thinkers) is even more closely confined to 
 trade and commerce than those of Adam Smith and Mill ; 
 whilst Professor Fawcett breaks fresh ground, and 
 follows Mill, in dealing with such personal problems as 
 "socialism" and "strikes." 
 
 I quite recognise that it has been the custom to confine 
 the subject of political economy to the operation of 
 these laws, which, as it were, play round human society 
 in comiection with human needs and human activities ; 
 but I cannot help thmking that, inasmuch as pohtical 
 economy has its very root in human nature and human 
 needs, it is not only pertinent to such an enquiry, but 
 directly essential to its clear and comprehensive under- 
 standing, and certainly to its being popularly studied, 
 to ascertain and explain of what this element of "human 
 nature" consists, and what are the best methods of treat- 
 ing it, in most successfully ministering to its needs, when 
 its units are grouped in co-operative communities. 
 
 These thoughts are the justification I respectfully 
 offer for my departure from other writers ; although, 
 as I am dealing with Statesmanship in general, in matters 
 outside as well as bearing on Economics, I consider I am 
 entitled to claim a wider scope. 
 
 Now, as to my title. By "Truisms" I mean to convey 
 to my readers that I am not professing to propound 
 any new truths, but only to be presenting, in something 
 like comprehensive form, the various factors that go 
 to qualify a man to take an inteUigent part in public 
 life — in short, collecting and collating old truths that 
 every well-read man already knows, 
 
 "Statecraft" has been defined as "The art of conduct-
 
 viii. The Truisms of Statecraft, 
 
 ing State affairs ; State management ; Statesmanship"; 
 and the simpler word "craft," taken alone, has acquired 
 two regular meanings ; the one being "art or skill"; 
 the other being "cimning ; art or skill in a bad sense, or 
 as appHed to bad purposes." 
 
 Hobbes, the learned author of Leviathan (who wrote 
 in the 17th century), speaks of "that crooked wisdom 
 which is called 'craft' "; but that is only another way 
 of stating the second part of the above definition, the 
 synonjon for which is "cunning," which is not the sense 
 in which I am using it in the title of this little work. 
 
 "Statesmanship" is defined by others as meaning 
 the quahfications, duties, and employments of a states- 
 man ; whilst the word "Statesman" is defined as "a 
 ma.n versed in public affairs, and in the principles and 
 art of government." 
 
 The statesmen of ancient times, in such long extinct 
 polities as Persia, Egypt, Rome, and Greece, were 
 a mixture of the priest, the soldier, and the poHtician, 
 but later ages have brought changes. In Lord 
 Macaulay's essay on Lord Bacon, there are some interest- 
 ing pages, on the origin and development, in England, 
 of the "professional statesman"; that is, the type of 
 pubUc men who first devoted themselves to the Hfe- 
 occupation of statesmanship ; not as a money-making 
 calling, but as aflfording a self -satisfying and useful career 
 for men of independent means and intellectual parts. 
 
 Macaulay considers that that special type of men 
 began with Sir Nicholas Bacon (Lord Chancellor in the 
 reign of Elizabeth), the father of Lord Bacon, and that 
 they afterwards became a distinct class of pubHc men, 
 who followed no other regular occupation. He shows
 
 Preface. ix. 
 
 that, prior to that period, statesmanship was in the 
 hands of two classes of men, "warriors" and "priests." 
 Of the former, he says that their "rude courage was 
 neither guided by science, nor softened by humanity." 
 Of the latter, he says that their "learning and abiUties 
 were patiently devoted to the defence of tjnranny and 
 imposture." In the social evolution of that period, 
 continues Macaulay, "the nobles ceased to be mihtary 
 chieftains, and the priests ceased to possess a monopoly 
 of learning." It was then that what Macaulay caUs 
 "a new and remarkable species of politicians appeared." 
 Some interesting references are made to the prevailing 
 characteristics of this new class. "They were (he says) 
 free from that childish love of titles which characterised 
 the successful courtiers of the generation which preceded 
 them, and of that which followed them. . . . Their 
 fidehty to the vState was incorruptible, their households 
 were sober and well governed." 
 
 The true test of sound, as distinguished from showy, 
 statesmanship was weU focused in the motto which Sir 
 Nicholas Bacon inscribed over his hall, "Mediocra firma": 
 "the middle course is safe." This sound maxim at once 
 suggests to the reader of history, or the thoughtful 
 observer of current events, that rash class of pohticians 
 who are ever seeking the "Umelight" of notoriety, by 
 trying to "cut figures" on the thin ice of poHtical 
 novelty or popular experiment, and so jeopardising 
 the stabihty of the community, in which, in many 
 cases, they have Httle or no stake. 
 
 This little work is designed to place on record, and 
 so remind the average man and woman of, the funda- 
 mental principles of human nature, upon which that
 
 X. The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 "middle course" rests ; and I have used the term 
 "truisms," because I claim no novelty for my little 
 treatise ; as the principles laid down in it are well known 
 to every wide reader of history and close observer of 
 human affairs : such as read between the lines of 
 history. Nature is fixed, regular, and unrelenting in 
 its operations ; and so is human nature, if only studied 
 in its broader and deeper aspects, and over a sufficiently 
 wide field of human records, as pointed out by Buckle in 
 his History of Civilisation. Unfortimately for the 
 few, the many prefer amusement to instruction, showi- 
 ness to soundness, the novel to the familiar ; and the 
 word-conjurer, who can excite the imagination of his 
 audience, is always more attractive than the sage, who 
 recites and emphasises home truths, that lie in the tried 
 and "middle way," and so constitute a more sound 
 footing for the community and the individual ahke. 
 We all recognise that knowledge, wisdom, and sagacity 
 are more often associated with age than with youth ; 
 for the truth of things comes with years ; whereas, the 
 yoimg insist on "finding out for themselves," and often 
 go stumbling over hurdles and pitfalls, that the 
 experienced traveller knows and avoids. But, unfor- 
 tunately for the body-pohtic, in which we all — old and 
 young ahke — have an interest as shareholders, every 
 fresh generation yearns for excitement and novelty ; 
 and, inasmuch as youth prefers to "find out" by per- 
 sonal experience, rather than to "be told" by those who 
 have already found out before them — sometimes after 
 many wasteful mistakes — the process of experiment 
 away from what the before-mentioned motto calls "the 
 middle course" seems inevitable in every generation.
 
 Preface. xi. 
 
 As I have already said, the subjects of both "nature" 
 and "human nature" are inextricably involved in 
 politics ; they afford the data or raw material from a 
 knowledge of which poUtics must be framed into Acts 
 of ParUament. How, then, can a citizen become useful 
 as a poUtician, unless he first acquires a knowledge, 
 and a wide knowledge, of society, in its pohtical sense, 
 and of men and women in their individual and collective 
 activities? To do that, involves an understanding of 
 their physical, mental, and moral nature ; their needs, 
 as distinguished from their wants, which are quite 
 different things ; their capabihties ; their vices and their 
 virtues ; their instincts, and their susceptibihties to 
 outside influences, for good or for ill ; their tendencj^ to 
 think and to provide for the present, only, and to lose 
 sight of the future and its necessities ; their inclination to 
 attach too much importance to what they can see, 
 and too little importance to what they cannot see, of 
 the things and the movements around them, and ahead 
 of them. 
 
 Then, man in general must be studied in relation 
 to nature itself, to its laws, to the regularity and unre- 
 lenting nature of those laws, as also to man's dependence 
 upon those laws, and their operations upon his present 
 and future weKare. 
 
 If all these subjects of study, and a himdred others, 
 which are subordinate to them, have to be understood 
 by the pohtician, so as to prevent him from becoming a 
 menace, instead of a benefactor, to his fellow-men and 
 women, when he is entrusted to lay down rules or laws 
 for their conduct ; how essential is it for the welfare of 
 any community that those who select the makers of
 
 xii. The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 those rules or laws, which all of us have to obey, should 
 be versed in a knowledge of those subjects ! 
 
 Many of the facts which are thus necessary to be 
 known to the statesman or wise poHtician are what we 
 call self-evident to the thoughtful man or woman ; 
 they are what I have called "Truisms"; but, unfor- 
 tunately, thousands of those who choose, or "elect," 
 the men who govern us are not thoughtful, but sometimes 
 utterly careless or thoughtless ; and the only hope of 
 avoiding harmful rules or laws is by inducing such 
 people at least to recognise their pohtical short -comings, 
 and allow others, older and wiser — or wiser, though not 
 older — than themselves, to be the better judges of the 
 men who are most fit to be entrusted with pohtical 
 power. 
 
 This httle work has been written in the hope that 
 by laying down the elements or axioms — or truisms — 
 of the political art, many of those, who do not know, 
 may come to recognise and acknowledge the hmits 
 of their qualifications for choosmg the men who are 
 properly equipped for managing the public affairs of 
 portion of this complex world, and the increasingly 
 complex social conditions operating in it. The customs 
 or laws necessary in a state of primitive society, 
 in which personal possessions are tangible and few, 
 in which needs are simple, and the occupations of hfe 
 Hmited in number and nature — in such a society, the 
 wisdom or unwisdom of a rule that says "you must do 
 this," or "you must not do that" (which are the essence 
 of all laws) can easily be judged and criticised. But 
 in the twentieth centmry, in which "property" takes a 
 thousand, not only material, but invisible forms ; in
 
 Preface. xiii. 
 
 which the needs of our daily Kfe have become multiplied 
 and involved in a thousand details, and in which man's 
 occupations have become not only practical, but 
 theoretical, technical, analytical, artistic, intellectual, 
 microscopical, experimental, statistical, and scientific, 
 in a thousand forms ; who can say, with any degree of 
 certainty, and without long and careful study, what 
 efifect a law or regulation is going to have on every 
 class of society, or on a whole community ? Who, but 
 those who have made it a special study, can honestly 
 claim to be able to make wise laws for a community, so 
 complex as that type which the twentieth century has 
 evolved ? 
 
 It must be remembered, too, that men and women 
 differ in character and capacity for different professions 
 or occupations, as widely as do the different forms of 
 vegetation around us in their special power of pro- 
 ductiveness. One tree or plant bears grapes, out of 
 which we make wine as a drink, another produces 
 wheat which we use as a food, a third produces tobacco 
 which we smoke, a fourth cotton, with which we clothe 
 ourselves, another india rubber, which we use for a 
 hundred and one purposes, and so on. In a similar 
 way, men differ in their aptitudes and capabihties. 
 One man finds a congenial vocation in mechanics, another 
 in the exactitude and controversy of the lawyer, a third 
 in the microscopic work of the botanist or the chemist, a 
 fourth in the aesthetic role of the artist, a fifth in 
 the anatomical and physiological investigations of the 
 surgeon or physician, a sixth in the out-door life of 
 farming, and a seventh in the study of human nature, 
 human needs, history, economics,^^^and sociology, as
 
 xiv. The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 required in the expert politician or statesman. Just 
 as it is impossible to find a thistle capable of producing 
 figs, a vine that can produce apples, or a rose bush that 
 will produce cotton ; so is it impossible to get learned 
 legal work from a mechanic ; scientific chemistry from 
 an artist ; inspired pictures from a chemist, or a skilful 
 surgical operation at the hands of a farmer. 
 
 It is equally disappointing to look for sound and wise 
 law-making from a man who has not studied history, 
 economics, and sociology, but who has devoted his Ufe 
 exclusively to brick-making or sheep farming. Man 
 is, in some instances, a versatile creature ; and it is 
 quite possible for a fencer (as in the case of Abraham 
 Lincoln) to become, by reading and thinking, a states- 
 man ; for an engineer (as in the case of Herbert Spencer) 
 to become a great authority on theoretical statecraft 
 and law-making ; for a cotton printer (as in the cases of 
 Cobden and Bright) to become a statesman ; but an 
 examination of the biography of these men will show 
 that while, and though, they followed their several 
 vocations, as means to the "main chance," they were 
 close and earnest students of the subjects that are 
 involved in statesmanship. 
 
 It is chiefly with a view to inducing men, no matter 
 what their everyday vocation, to study the various 
 subjects essential to the higher politics or true statesman- 
 ship, that this little work has been written. 
 
 It will be seen that in order to make each chapter as 
 complete as possible under its own head, some repetition 
 or overlapping of the subjects was inevitable. That 
 must be allowed and excused for completeness' sake.
 
 "There can be no understanding 
 of social actions, without some 
 knowledge of human nature; there 
 can be no deep knowledge of human 
 nature, without some knowledge of 
 the laws of mind ; there can be no 
 adequate knowledge of the laws of 
 mind, without some knowledge of 
 the laws of life. And in order that 
 knowledge of the laws of life, as 
 exhibited in man, may be properly 
 grasped, attention must be given to 
 the laws of life in general." 
 
 HERBERT SPENCER 
 
 ' 'Study of Sociology,
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 The empirical stages in politics. 
 
 'T^HE written political history of the world now covers 
 so long a period, and comprehends such an infinite 
 variety of social conditions, that it is almost impossible 
 to conceive a theory of government that has not, at 
 some period of history, been tried in the fire of experience. 
 In the history of every civilised race, and mider almost 
 every possible set of social circmnstances, experiments 
 in human government have been proposed and practically 
 tested, in the hope of securing an increased diffusion 
 of worldly happiness for those who were at the time 
 deemed entitled to have their welfare considered by 
 the governing power. Such experiments in social 
 regulation have not been the outcome of genuine 
 thinking minds only, but have proceeded, in innumerable 
 instances, from mere theorists or empirics, who were 
 incapable of working out their conceptions to their 
 logical conclusion, before subjecting hundreds or 
 thousands of their fellows to incalculable inconvenience 
 and economic loss, by their fallacious theories. 
 
 Surplus of reformers in every age. 
 
 We see frequent instances in our own day, in every 
 self-governing community, of enthusiastic men and 
 women, possessing the smallest knowledge of human 
 history, and the most superficial and biassed acquain-
 
 xviii. The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 tance with human nature in general, who are ready to 
 impose and re-try every variety of legislative prescription 
 upon their fellow citizens, without possessing the in- 
 dustry to study carefully the results of similar experi- 
 ments as recorded in history, or to respect the opinions 
 of others who have done so, as to the consequences which 
 must follow upon the practical appHcation of their 
 ill-digested schemes. Many of these proposals are, 
 possibly, honestly conceived, with the view of adding 
 to the sum of human happiness ; but many others are 
 projected recklessly, in regard to consequences, as the 
 outcome of personal vanity, seekmg pubHc recognition 
 and applause. 
 
 Unfortimately, there is no recognised method of 
 visiting upon these ill-informed and thoughtless would-be 
 reformers the consequences of their reckless social 
 experiments upon others ; and, even if there were, the 
 evil consequences which flow from their reforming 
 activities are so difficult to trace into and through all 
 their innumerable channels of near and far-reaching 
 influence, that the promoters, in most cases, escape 
 retribution. 
 
 Grote, in his monumental history of Greece, tells us 
 of one of its innumerable colonies, in which this tempta- 
 tion to try fresh legislative experiments had been so 
 abused — doubtless, at considerable inconvenience to 
 their many citizens — that at last means were adopted 
 to check further social annoyance and injury of the kind. 
 Some of the ancient Greeks, however, who recognised 
 the impossibihty of tracing all the consequences of 
 such short-sighted and injurious attempts at human 
 regulation, would not permit such meddlesome tjros to
 
 Introductory. xix. 
 
 await results and so escape. They hinged the punish- 
 ment, not on the effect which will probably follow 
 when the author has been forgotten, but on the bare 
 proposal of a stupidly-conceived law. According to 
 the historical authority named, the people of Lokris 
 adopted a social regulation which provided a check 
 on what we now call "over-legislation," by requiring the 
 advocate of any new law to make his proposal in public, 
 with a halter round his neck ; and, in the event of his 
 faihng to persuade the people to adopt the proposal, the 
 halter was employed to strangle the proposer! This 
 drastic method had the advantage of compelling every 
 tyro, who was disposed to put his hands, recklessly, 
 on the starting gear of the legislative machine, seriously 
 to review his own quahfications for such an important 
 work, even before engagmg the attention and involving 
 the welfare or otherwise of his fellow citizens. Without 
 some such method, there was no means of impressing 
 upon the would-be reformer the importance of ascertain- 
 ing, by prior thought and study, the limitations of his 
 own knowledge. 
 
 The same situation confronts us to-day in the midst 
 of our theoretical belief in the equal political wisdom 
 of all men and women. Mr. Frederick Harrison has 
 well said, in addressing a working man's club : "In every 
 occupation, whether it be a profession or a trade, man 
 is acknowledged to require some years of practice or 
 apprenticeship to become an expert — what is called a 
 quahfied practitioner or a 'tradesman' — but in the mak- 
 ing of laws, one of the most complex of all studies and 
 occupations, every man is supposed to be bom ready 
 equipped for its performance."
 
 XX. The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 Serious consequences of legislative errors. 
 
 Modern society is literally infested with would-be 
 millennialists, who have just enough knowledge to 
 be dangerous to everybody, especially if, at the same 
 time that they are obsessed with the reforming fever, 
 they are endowed with sufficient fluency and self- 
 confidence to hold out to the average man and woman a 
 prospect of universal happiness, as likely to flow from 
 the adoption of their particular nostrum. It has been 
 frequently shown by the more widely recognised thinkers 
 of the EngHsh-speaking world (Spencer, Mill, Maine, 
 Sidgwick, and many others) that the effects of a wrongly 
 conceived law, appUed universally in any community, 
 are, not merely those which immediately result from its 
 enactment, the consequences of which can probably 
 be seen and traced, but innumerable others of a more 
 remote and untraceable nature, which extend them- 
 selves into remote times, and remote avenues of social 
 activity, beyond the eye or the mind of the keenest 
 critic or investigator. 
 
 Difficulty of tracing legislative consequences. 
 
 In an age such as the present — one essentially, and at 
 bottom so largely commercial, financial, and industrial — 
 human affairs have become a wide-spreading labyrinth 
 of economic forces, interweaving their influences so 
 as to make it impossible to demonstrate, even if we can 
 trace, the relationship of cause and effect. If the 
 world knew of, and took to heart, but a proportion of 
 the entire array of legislative experiments which have 
 been essayed in different ages, so as to be able to dis-
 
 Introductory. xxi. 
 
 criminate between those which have produced good, 
 and those which have produced injurious, consequences ; 
 the communities of to-day would be considerably 
 benefited by noting the one class for repetition, and 
 the other class for avoidance. 
 
 The possibility of a code of acknowledged 
 principles. 
 
 It cannot be doubted that a wide study of universal 
 history, not in a vain search for specific precedents, 
 but with the legitimate aim of coming to understand 
 the more abiding characteristics and tendencies of 
 human nature, as keys to failvure or success in all attempts 
 at social regulation — such a study would enable those 
 who aspire to help in the poUtical work of their time 
 and country to avoid the failures, and note for future 
 guidance, the successes of the past. 
 
 Every earnest student of history, and of its bearing 
 on sociological problems, has, consciously or uncon- 
 sciously, laid down in his mind a more or less systematic 
 and accurate body of general principles or axioms, 
 illustrated by personal observation of his own times, 
 as guides to future legislative attempts to drill society 
 into an ultimately just and harmonious recognition 
 of the rights and responsibilities of all its units. 
 
 That such a code or body of axioms is possible of 
 general settlement no one can doubt, who is familiar 
 with the writings of acknowledged thinkers in poHtical 
 science ; for on many of the broader principles those 
 authorities are already fairly unanimous ; but the 
 statements of these principles are so scattered, through 
 a variety of abstract writings, that a mental collection
 
 xxii. The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 of them by every individual student involves a wide 
 study of history, philosophy, anthropology, economics, 
 and political science, generally, constituting a formidable 
 obstacle, such as few people, or even professing 
 politicians, would be able to surmount. 
 
 Nevertheless, just as the leading economists are 
 more often agreed on the main principles of their science ; 
 80 such a code of a wider scope — which we may call 
 "political science" — could be ultimately built up by 
 competent hands, out of the general principles accepted 
 by the world's thinkers on the various branches of 
 knowledge involved in the art of nation-building and 
 nation-upholding. Just as the science of jurisprudence, 
 for instance, as a code of generalisations in regard to 
 the basis of just laws, is gradually acquiring definiteness, 
 and is coming to be accepted in an international sense, 
 notwithstanding the differences of opinion on many 
 outlying questions of detail ; so might, and in time 
 probably will, be built up a body of general principles, 
 bearing on the political science, which would, and wiU, 
 come to be accepted as authoritative. 
 
 It is not suggested that such a code or body of prin- 
 ciples could be reduced to a set of concrete guides for 
 the practical legislator ; since no two poHticians of 
 average ability would consent to accept the identical 
 inferences drawn from such a code by others. That 
 would be attempting an impossibihty ; but, neverthe- 
 less, there is no good reason why general principles, 
 more in the form of guides of a less didactic character, 
 should not be set out under each of the heads of know- 
 ledge that bear on the ultimate problems of the legis- 
 lative art, leaving their application to particular sets of
 
 Introdtictory, xxiii» 
 
 circumstances, open to all who chose to make use of 
 them. 
 
 Such a code could stand and be referred to, as being 
 generally accepted by advanced students of the art, 
 as a body of principles, which everyone should be at 
 least acquainted with, before professing to be equipped 
 for doing practical legislative work. To-day there is 
 no such body of acknowledged principles ; and, as a 
 consequence, the numerous political empirics, who 
 mistake fluent utterance for legislative genius, and 
 rapidity of superficial thought for deep thinking, cannot 
 be referred to any recognised code of principles, a perusal 
 of which would impress them with their own Hmitations, 
 and possibly set them on to a Line of thought and study, 
 of a soimder and more thorough nature than that which 
 they had formerly followed. 
 
 Scope of statesmanship. 
 
 One of the most obvious and fatal objections to 
 any sanguine attempt to lay down a body of didactic 
 guides for practical legislators — guides, that is, in the 
 nature of advice as to the wisdom or imwisdom of this 
 or that particular kind of legislation — ^is the varying 
 scopes which men's mmds adopt in regard to the 
 functions of statesmanship. There have been statesmen 
 of acknowledged ability, who, consciously or uncon- 
 sciously, hmited their consideration of the public weKare 
 to the people of the present or approximate generations ; 
 whilst there have been others who directed their more 
 far-reaching attention to the welfare of the race, and 
 objected to legislation, which, though benefiting the 
 generations of their own time, did so at the expense of
 
 xxiv. The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 gradually enervating the generations which were to 
 follow, so as ultimately to undermine the character 
 and stamina of their own nationahty, in the racial 
 competition of the world. The former class in some 
 cases openly claim that the Uving generations are, 
 and should be, the first care of the pohtician or the 
 statesman ; and that, though their immediate welfare, 
 beyond a certain point, can only be secured at the cost 
 of the generations that are to follow, posterity should 
 be left to look after itself. The latter class, on the 
 other hand, have sometimes contended that it is to the 
 interest of the generations of to-day and to-morrow, 
 that they should be disciplined in the practice of self- 
 help and self -discipline, in order to "harden" the race, 
 on the supposition that the international struggle for 
 racial supremacy is ever going on, however slow and 
 imperceptible in its progress. 
 
 This fundamental difference in the scope of legislative 
 aims would, in some cases, entirely shift the logical 
 pivot upon which the desirabihty or undesirability 
 of a proposed legislative measure would turn ; and it 
 is upon this same pivot that the broader distinction, 
 between the two extreme policies of socialism and 
 IndividuaMsm, would, on full discussion, be found to 
 hinge. It would be out of place to enter upon such a 
 discussion here ; but it is proper to observe that each 
 of those extreme poHcies is in itself a generahsation, 
 drawn from a variety of data, which would come imder 
 such heads of knowledge as "human nature," "human 
 needs," "obstacles to human progress"; and it would 
 be quite feasible for each class of poHticians or states- 
 men, in any discussion, to espouse their own particular
 
 Introductory. xxv. 
 
 policy, though they acknowledged it to be deducible 
 from some or other of the same data. In some cases 
 there would be scope for scientific compromise, as to 
 how far the State was justified in "leaving future 
 generations to look after themselves." 
 
 The people's attitude and estimate. 
 
 It has long since and repeatedly been acknowledged 
 by the world's deeper political thinkers that there 
 is no subject of study that is more profoimd or less 
 possible of rapid and superficial treatment than that of 
 true statesmanship : such as involves an acquaintance 
 with, and the espousal of, the truths of poHtical science. 
 It has, too often, been the practice, in ancient, as well as 
 modem, times to admit that, ultimately, the statesman 
 should do, by way of legislation, whatever the people 
 require him to do ; and no doubt he is so bound, if the 
 people so resolve ; but the absurdity of this universal 
 acknowledgment as to the wisdom of such a principle 
 must be apparent, when we consider the relative posi- 
 tions of a professor of any other branch of knowledge, 
 and of the general caHbre of the people who look up to 
 him for advice on his special subject. In the case of an 
 eminent physician, who has devoted the greater part 
 of his life to a study of his profession, and acquired an 
 extensive reputation ; the world would consider it 
 ridiculous, if his patients were to form themselves into a 
 body in the event of some epidemic, and demand that 
 he should recommend a particular prescription or 
 course of treatment that they thought desirable. The 
 physician's attitude in such a case — presuming he were a 
 man of individuahty and self-respect — ^would be one
 
 xxvi. The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 of quiet but decided protest ; because he would know 
 that, whereas he had, by years of study and practice, 
 made himself a master of his science, his body of patients 
 had contented themselves with a superficial knowledge, 
 and a narrow outlook as to the consequences. Such an 
 attitude on the part of the body of patients towards 
 the physician would seem, and be, equally absurd, since 
 they would, as a body, be helpless to advise themselves. 
 A physician of ability and self-respect would maintain 
 his opinions, and allow his patients to go their way. 
 By parity of reasoning a statesman of position and self- 
 respect would, if allowed, refuse to be dictated to by 
 the people on a subject concerning which he felt he was 
 better informed than they ; and if he were as true to 
 principles as the physician, he would, rather than 
 sacrifice his matured convictions and his political self- 
 respect, allow the people to "call in" another adviser, as 
 many eminent English statesmen have done in the past. 
 Unfortunately, that principle is not now widely 
 practised under democratic government ; and the 
 world is being constantly afforded the humiliating 
 spectacle of the "pohtical physician" tearing up his own 
 prescription, reversing his own honest course of treat- 
 ment, and adopting an entirely new prescription, 
 dictated by his patients, lest those patients should appeal 
 to some competing practitioner who stood by (in opposi- 
 tion), offering to prescribe just what the patients 
 themselves desired to take. 
 
 Comprehensive scope of statecraft. 
 
 To bring together such a code of principles or axioms 
 (as distinguished from a policy for any particular
 
 Introductory. xxvii. 
 
 community or jmicture), as here suggested, involves a 
 reference to branches of human thought, many of 
 which may at first sight, as already pointed out, seem 
 to be as much in the domain of philosophy and science 
 as in that of pohtics ; but further consideration will 
 show that all these more abstract subjects are indirectly 
 involved in the more practical one of pohtics proper ; 
 and that the scientific study of man, his origin, nature 
 and history ; the philosophic consideration of his purpose 
 in the world, and the poUtical study of the best means 
 of securing his happiness as a member of a civihsed 
 community, are closely interwoven as subjects of study. 
 
 It will be observed, too, that the various heads, under 
 which the principles hereafter enunciated are classified, 
 have been limited to those which are thought to have a 
 direct or indirect bearing on the numerous and various 
 sociological problems which arise from time to time in 
 history, as subjects of statesmanship. 
 
 There is this advantage in presenting a body of 
 isolated principles on any branch of knowledge, instead 
 of that which professes to be a systematic treatise on 
 the same subject — that many pohtical readers would 
 be more ready to acknowledge their soundness, where 
 they themselves could seem to be the authors of the 
 pohtical conclusions which are deducible from those 
 principles, treated as data or premises. 
 
 Rotation of historical data unimportant. 
 
 In formulating any code of principles, which seem 
 to involve a series of historical steps, as, for instance, 
 under the head of social evolution ; it is not necessary 
 to insist on any particular sequence in the events or
 
 xxviii. The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 stages recorded; as they may have resulted in dif- 
 ferent societies, in quite different rotation, and yet 
 remain perfectly sound as historical generalisations. 
 It may have happened, for instance, in the repeated 
 oscillations of human opinion, that certain communities 
 in the history of the world passed through alternate 
 experiments in sociahsm and individualism with the 
 regularity of the swinging of a pendulum, though at 
 long intervals, extending over centuries ; yet the con- 
 clusion would be soimd, that ultimately those com- 
 munities abandoned the sociahstic form, and settled down 
 to the individualistic form, which now — subject to 
 various modifications — obtains, more or less, in all 
 civiUsed communities. It may be also, that many 
 transitional states of society intervened between those 
 which are enunciated with definiteness ; yet that 
 fact would not interfere with the correctness of the 
 statement as to the ultimate preference, to which a long 
 and wavermg course of experience had ultimately led. 
 
 Bearing of headings on study of statecraft. 
 
 The bearings of the various groups of principles, 
 under the different chapters which follow, may seem 
 to some to need general demonstration, in order to 
 maintain the proposition that they should be under- 
 stood by all who profess to be qualified to take a useful 
 part in the public affairs of their community. But 
 that should not require any laboured argument, although 
 something is said by way of introduction to each group. 
 
 "Human nature," as understood from a wide study 
 of man's origin, characteristics, biological history, 
 and mental and bodily capabilities, must be admitted
 
 Introductory. xxix. 
 
 to constitute the tap-root of all discussion as to the 
 most successful way of regulating human activities. 
 If there is any value in human history, as a means of 
 recording, for the advantage of subsequent generations, 
 the successes and failures of ages of effort to solve the 
 problems of human government ; then "Human records," 
 whether read by the dim and distant Hght of archaeology, 
 or in the variously-tinted, but, nevertheless, clearer 
 light of written records, must have an important 
 relevance to statesmanship, as also must a knowledge 
 of that written history's various forms, and of the 
 lessons of experience in construing and applying them 
 to the affairs of our own times. Inasmuch as "Human 
 needs" comprehend all the real wants of men and women, 
 under a system of "social organisation"; and as "Liberty" 
 and "Property" constitute two of the most important 
 pillars upon which the edifices of society and civiHsation 
 seem to rest ; the principles brought imder these several 
 heads must also have direct appHcation to the study of 
 statecraft. Equally obvious must it be that one 
 who professes to assist inteUigently in the political 
 work of his time, should have acquainted himself with all 
 the leading "Obstacles to Hxmian Progress," which 
 have operated in the past, and are operating in his own 
 time ; in order that he may appreciate the importance 
 and advantage to his community, of reducing their 
 number or altogether surmounting them. 
 
 Popular Government demands an 
 acknowledged cult. 
 
 In every branch of scientific knowledge, experts have 
 laid down in their writings, in more or less definite
 
 XXX. The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 language, a body of generally accepted principles, in 
 the nature of axioms ; and that fact becomes known 
 and acknowledged ; so that any confident empirics, who 
 would otherwise revive a discussion of the "alphabetical 
 truths" of that science, are likely to be silenced or 
 caused to halt in arriving at final conclusions, by being 
 confronted with such a body of estabhshed testimony. 
 The science of politics, and the art of statecraft, have, 
 within the last half-century, by reason of a constantly 
 extending franchise, become the subjects of discussion 
 among hundreds and thousands of citizens, many of 
 whom know little more about the scientific side of 
 pohtical study than they do about the higher mathe- 
 matics, or the inner spirit of classical studies. Such 
 people are susceptible to the glowing promises and 
 attractive probabiUties held out to them by men, whose 
 chief merits are the fluency of their utterance and the 
 rhetorical plausibihty of their reasoning, which are 
 natural results of a Umited acquaintance with the 
 subject-matter of their opinions. Although it is 
 generally — one may say almost universally — acknow- 
 ledged that sociology is a science, few writers have 
 dealt with it in a popular form — as so successfully 
 accompHshed in Spencer's Study of Sociology — so 
 that those who study, or profess to study, it, even in a 
 superficial way, may be confronted with a widely recog- 
 nised hterature, having the effect of impressing such 
 students with their own limitations. There never was 
 a time when this was more necessary than now, when 
 so many, and such completely uninformed aspirants to 
 statecraft, are offering themselves as representatives 
 of the people. If a scheme for producing and publicly
 
 Introductory. xxxi. 
 
 acknowledging a growing body of first principles, such 
 as is here suggested, were adopted by all those who have 
 entered upon the subject seriously and thoroughly, 
 the pohtical science would in time come to be more 
 widely and accurately understood ; and a collection 
 of those first principles would serve as a standing re- 
 minder to all who seek to engage in the art of statecraft, 
 how much there is to be learned, before they can justifi- 
 ably profess to be equipped for such an enterprise. 
 
 It is not improbable that, in time, chairs of sociology 
 will be estabhshed in most of the world's universities, 
 and that in each case a sociological academy will be 
 inaugurated ; so as to give a definite place and reputa- 
 tion to the science, and thus raise the standard of 
 knowledge supposed to be sufficient to qualify a man as a 
 practical politician.
 
 BOOK I. 
 THE STUDY OF HUMAN NATURE 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 Chap. I. Its Beahing on the Art of Statecraft. 
 
 „ II. Human Characteristics. 
 
 „ III. Human Evolution, as Bearing on Man's 
 Progress. 
 
 „ IV. Man's Origin, as bearing on the Study 
 OF Human Nature, 
 
 ,, V. Human Government. 
 
 „ VI. Man's Ascent, as Bearing on the Possi- 
 bilities AND Direction of His Higher 
 Development.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE STUDY OF HUMAN NATURE 
 Its Bearing on the Art of Statecraft 
 
 TT is generally, if not universally, recognised that a 
 modem civiHsed community is not a mere "mob" of 
 men, women, and children, brought together indis- 
 criminately, and suddenly called upon to live peaceably 
 with one another. Every uiformed person knows that 
 what is politically called "Society" is an organised body, 
 that has been gradually evolved or developed over a 
 long period, possibly centuries, of time, from primitive 
 life ; and that it has been built up, by slow degrees, 
 out of individual men and women, and bound together 
 by laws and regulations, which have the same effect 
 on the units as mortar or cement has upon the bricks 
 or stones out of which a great building is erected, 
 and so converted into a substantial edifice. If society 
 were a mere disorganised mob, without laws and 
 regulations to control its members, and a general under- 
 standing as to what each one was allowed, or not allowed, 
 to do ; what we call "life" would be a lawless scramble ; 
 for there would be no means of checking or regulating 
 the strong and the cunning in their attempts to do as 
 they liked ; and the weak, the simple, the peaceful, and 
 gentler individual members of it would be overwhelmed, 
 and literally trampled imder foot by the rough, the 
 
 reckless, and the selfish. All the laws and restrictions 
 1
 
 2 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 which serve in a well-regulated community, to prevent 
 such a human scramble, have been built up, law upon 
 law, regulation upon regulation, custom upon custom, 
 tradition upon tradition, until a more or less definite 
 code of conduct has been established; and the community 
 has reached the "civilised" condition in which it stands 
 to-day. 
 
 There is this great difference between a building of 
 bricks or stones and a community of human beings ; 
 that, while the former is built up of inert matter, which 
 rests where it is placed, and may be comited upon to 
 remain where it has been so placed ; the human units, 
 out of which a community is built, are constantly dropping 
 out, and being replaced by others ; and, while some are 
 satisfied with the places in which they find themselves 
 in the commimity, others, unable to hold up the weight 
 of their own nature, drop down to a lower level ; and, 
 still others, who have fomid themselves placed low down 
 in the human structure, are constantly endeavouring 
 to get out of their original position, and to work their 
 way up into a higher social level, or a higher story 
 in the social edifice. 
 
 The commmiity is thus built up of live and restless 
 units or materials, differing in body and in mind, in 
 desires and in purposes, in ambitions and in needs, in 
 energj^ and in outlook. In short, no two units are 
 exactly alike ; and the problem of reconciUng them 
 all to their present positions, or enabhng them to reach 
 new ones, or to change with one another, so as to satisfy 
 their desires, and satisfy their needs, whilst allowing 
 others the same privileges — all without friction — this 
 is one of the chief provinces of the poHtician or statesman.
 
 The Study of Human Nature. 3 
 
 It is, therefore, self-evident that, before anyone can 
 be considered quaHfied to assist either in the building 
 up of a well-organised community, or in facilitating and 
 superintending the multiphcity of changes that are 
 everjrwhere and always going on in its establishment 
 and maintenance; he should become, not only acquainted 
 with, but well versed in, the character and composition 
 of those units out of which the commmiity is built. 
 He should know something of their origin, their nature, 
 their habits, their needs, their aptitudes, and their 
 disqualifications, as units of types ; so that he may be 
 able to take a wise and unbiassed part in the peaceful 
 ordering and regulation of their activities, as individuals 
 in the complicated structure of the social and political 
 organisation. 
 
 As every community is built up of individual citizens, 
 each composed of the varying attributes of human 
 nature, the characteristics of that human nature become, 
 not only an indispensable, but also the primary, study 
 of the would-be statesman ; for, without man and the 
 human nature of which he is composed, there would be 
 no community ; and there would be no need for parlia- 
 ments, statesmen, laws, regulations, customs, or any of 
 the other mcidents of the social and poHtical labyrinth, 
 that is interwoven with man's activities in the world's 
 ever-changing panorama.
 
 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 IV /TAN, considered as a political vinit, is but a bundle 
 of appetites — some of the body and some of the 
 mind ; of the first, hunger and thirst, freedom of locomo- 
 tion, etc.; of the second, curiosity, ambition, freedom of 
 thought, of conscience, of beUef, etc. 
 
 The mind and the body may seem, when superficially 
 regarded, to be capable of working quite independently 
 of one another ; but in the end they are foimd to be 
 interdependent ; that is to say, an unhealthy body 
 disturbs the regular and balanced Avorkings of the mind ; 
 and a deranged mind disturbs the digestive organs 
 and the nervous system, which react on the mind. 
 
 The body is man's more immediate connecting link 
 with nature ; and, when it ceases to live, the mind also 
 dies, as would the activities of a clock, when the source of 
 its motive power rims down ; although the body can 
 survive the conscious, capable, and balanced mind, 
 in which case it becomes a mere flesh-casing to a deranged 
 thinking organ. 
 
 The mind is the guide or pilot of the body, prompting 
 its locomotion, directing its movements, and, through 
 the medium of the will, checking and regulating — more 
 or less according to the individual power — its various 
 and varying appetites.
 
 The Study of Human Nature. 5 
 
 The first law of human nature is self-preservation, in 
 fulfilling which law, both mind and body are involved. 
 
 Next to self-preservation, is the desire to preserve or 
 protect other human beings or things, upon whose wel- 
 fare or safety our o\\u happiness or welfare seems to 
 depend. 
 
 Man's activities are therefore exerted, primarily and 
 necessarily, on behalf of, or in defence of, himself and 
 those whose existence he cherishes, next to his own ; 
 more particularly the members of his family. 
 
 Man is undergoing gradual but numerous changes 
 in body and mind ; although the transition is so slow 
 and gradual that human records have been too imperfect, 
 or too perishable, to afford a complete or even detailed 
 history of the extent of the changes. 
 
 Man's mental development has enabled him to 
 increase and concentrate his control over nature, so 
 as to modify or gradually dispense with the more 
 strenuous exercise of some of his bodily f mictions ; which, 
 where not exercised for other purposes, are therefore 
 gradually becoming, and will continue to become, 
 atrophied by disuse. 
 
 As this gradual disuse of his bodily activities thus 
 leads to atrophy, many of his former bodily provisions 
 are gradually losing their vitality and disappearing ; 
 and, as the persistent activity of mind or body leads to 
 increased capability, many of man's once crude mental 
 powers are gradually acquiring increased force and 
 dexterity. 
 
 The key to man's bodily and mental vitality is activity 
 and exercise of all the fmictions that contribute to 
 homogeneity ; for decreased activity and exercise are
 
 6 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 followed by gradual but sure atrophy ; and men die in 
 parts of body or mind, while they are yet alive as a whole, 
 as trees die in some of their outlying branches, whilst 
 the trimk is still flourishing. 
 
 There is a natural tendency or inclination in human 
 nature to avoid bodily or mental exertion, and to fall 
 back into a state of inactivity and inertness. Only a 
 small minority of men and women acknowledge Ruskin's 
 plea for the nobility of labour, or realise that continued 
 activity of mind and body is a personal investment, 
 the reward of which is improved health and added years 
 of life to the investor ; and it is only by reason of such 
 spurs as hunger, thirst, excessive cold or heat, or by the 
 infliction of some form of pain, that the lower types of 
 human nature are stirred into activity, in the effort to 
 satisfy the appetites, or to remove the particular forms 
 of pain or discomfort, from which they are suffering. 
 In the case of the more civilised, or more reflective tjrpes 
 of men and women, the energies and activities of body 
 and mind are spurred by such influences as ambition, 
 pride, self-respect, and a desire for continued health and 
 ultimate longevity, to practise various forms of bodily 
 and mental activity. Otherwise, these types would be as 
 liable to the natural tendency to inertness, as in the 
 lower and less reflective tj^es. 
 
 From aU of which it follows, that one of the legitimate 
 objects of statecraft is the discouragement of the 
 tendency to idleness of the one type, by avoiding the 
 offering of undue encouragement to inactivity, and by 
 checking all possible causes through which the incentives 
 to activity in the higher types may be discouraged. 
 
 Man's mind is more capable of developing further
 
 The Stvdy of Human Nature. 7 
 
 appetites or desires than is his body ; so that his aims, 
 ambitions, and aspirations are, by cultivation, almost 
 Umitless in number. 
 
 As a general rule, to which there are exceptions, 
 the appetites of the body consume what they desire ; 
 whilst those of the mind do not affect the materiahty of 
 the things sought after, but, on the contrary, frequently 
 have the effect of adding to the existing store, by develop- 
 ing new creative tastes or desires. 
 
 The progress of the more civilised tj^pes of man is 
 in the direction of reducing the bodily appetites to 
 their minimum, consistent with the preservation of 
 bodily health, and the maintenance of the fullest mental 
 and physical vigour. 
 
 Mankind, in its highest forms of civihsation, is cultivat- 
 ing, multiplying, and elaborating innumerable new forms 
 of mental desires, and thus tending more and more to 
 individualise, instead of grouping, themselves, in their 
 efforts to acquire happiness. 
 
 Happiness, in its most universally accepted form 
 (as distinguished from the more ephemeral state, known 
 as "pleasure"), is that condition of human existence in 
 which men and women approximate most closely to a 
 complete realisation of their more abiding mental desires. 
 
 The general happiness of a group of human beings 
 (termed "society") is most surely promoted by social 
 organisation, which permits every responsible unit 
 to pursue his or her own aims to attain to that condition, 
 in any direction, and to whatever extent he or she may 
 desire, up to that point at which any further extension 
 would interfere with the equal freedom of others in a 
 similar direction.
 
 8 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 That limit is the point at which compromise must 
 be exercised, to preserve social harmony in the group 
 (society), and obviate conflict of interests among the 
 units. 
 
 The limits to which the imits of the group (society) 
 can, without conflict, extend their exercise of Uberty, 
 depend upon the density of the social group ; for, whilst 
 one human being, livmg alone, as on an island, could do 
 no wrong, each additional unit necessitates the restriction 
 of the area — whether in concrete or abstract matters — • 
 within which the other units can exercise their individual 
 freedom ; imtil, as with physical freedom, in a dense 
 crowd, there may be no liberty or "elbow room" possible. 
 
 The extent of liberty among the units of a community 
 is more rapidly Hmited where uniformity in tastes or 
 activities is enforced ; for, in such case, each is exercising 
 his tastes or activities in the same or similar directions, 
 and covering a larger area ; whereas, where greater 
 freedom is permitted and exercised in more varied 
 directions, the exercise of it will dovetail with, instead 
 of overlapping, the exercise by others ; and, thereby, a 
 greater number can find satisfaction in a more limited 
 area, and, as a result, a greater aggregate of satisfied 
 desire will be possible in a similar area. 
 
 It follows from this fact, that the fullest amount of 
 individual liberty that can be allowed to the imits of 
 society, is, in the end, the most economical for all ; 
 inasmuch as it encourages versatihty of taste and desire 
 among the units, in directions so varied as to involve 
 less possible points of impingement. 
 
 Where men and women have enjoyed greater freedom 
 in the development of their personahty, they have more
 
 The Study of Human Nature. 9 
 
 rapidly acquired the habit of self-analysis or intro- 
 spection, and, in time, have come to classify their 
 desires and estimate their relative moral values and 
 capabiHties of producing lasting satisfaction, or in other 
 words, happiness. 
 
 There comes a time, in ethical evolution, when 
 men and women recognise the distinction between 
 benefits bestowed on themselves, which may there end 
 as Dead Sea fruit, and benefits conferred on others 
 in whom they have a general or particular interest ; 
 in which latter event there is frequently a return effect, 
 as in "bread cast on the waters." 
 
 At a later stage in ethical evolution, the satisfaction or 
 pleasure, resulting from a benefit conferred on grounds 
 of dependence (as in the case of offspring), on grounds of 
 affection (as in the case of a wife), on grounds of parental 
 sympathy (as in the case of a child to a parent), comes to 
 be extended to friends, congenial companions, and ulti- 
 mately the stranger, who seems to need and merit it (as in 
 the case of philanthropy). 
 
 In this way there is a tendency, in free and highly 
 civihsed groups, for egoism to find an outlet in altruism 
 or philanthropy, which comes to be recognised as a 
 higher form of egoism, because of its concurrent effect in 
 benefiting others, and, simultaneously, affording satis- 
 faction to the benefactor. 
 
 Further detailed comments in regard to the character- 
 istics already generally enumerated will be found to fall 
 in place under other special heads.
 
 10 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HUMAN EVOLUTION 
 
 (As Bearing on Man's Progress) 
 
 TF the doctrine of universal evolution — as a law 
 operating throughout nature — be true, then man has 
 developed, on an ascending grade, through untold and 
 unrecorded ages. 
 
 But, irrespective of the scientific question as to man's 
 biological origin, there can be no difference of opinion 
 that, in the primitive forms, man must have midergone 
 untold vicissitudes, including famine, disease, and 
 disastrous conflict with his fellow men, by one or other, 
 or all of which, those that were least "fit" for the struggle 
 have disappeared, in numbers too vast for notation. 
 
 In his less animal but savage stages, man's coarse 
 foods were taken direct from nature ; his covering 
 was no more than that which nature provided ; his 
 habitations consisted of caves and hollow trees ; his 
 social customs were little above those of the animals 
 around him ; whilst his rehgion was based on fear and 
 superstition, produced by the sounds, forces, appear- 
 ances, and other phenomena of nature, which he had 
 not yet the knowledge to understand or accoimt for. 
 
 Warfare of the most primitive character, against 
 individuals and families who trespassed beyond their 
 tribal limits, was then their highest calling throughout
 
 The Stvdy of Human Nature. 11 
 
 life ; and the making of weapons, the search for food, 
 and the adornments, for purposes of warfare and personal 
 vanity, were their chief industries. 
 
 The oft-repeated recurrence of nature's phenomena, 
 such as thunder and lightning, storms, floods, disease, 
 and famine, spread over centuries of time, gradually 
 led to a modification of fear, and taught man 
 various lessons of self -protection, leading to improved 
 dwellings, more effective methods and appliances 
 for the supply of foods, and a growing though 
 primitive knowledge of the simpler human ailments. 
 Tribes, hitherto antagonistic, in time softened their 
 hostile feehngs towards one another, and developed 
 a practice of mvitual exchange of their particular local 
 products ; the medicine man came into being with a 
 special study of herbs and treatment, though still steeped 
 in suspicion and superstition, and using his craft and its 
 mysteries for personal or tribal ends ; the economy of 
 cultivation, and the domestication of animals, came 
 to be recognised as a provision against famine ; and a 
 rough sort of tribal government, controlled by the 
 recognised chief, was gradually developed. 
 
 During all this slow, primitive, possibly sometimes 
 spasmodic, but, looked at over a long period of time, 
 steady progress; the relentless principle of "the survival 
 of the fittest" was operating, in weeding out those tribes 
 which failed to solve the problem of social regulation, 
 who either died out, through failing to combat nature's 
 forces, or were decimated by stronger or more capable 
 groups. 
 
 The operation of this principle of the survival of the 
 fittest thus made more territorial room for those most
 
 12 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 capable of meeting and combating the hostilities of 
 neighbours, or of avoiding conflict with them ; of pro- 
 viding against famine by enterprise and foresight ; of 
 averting the calamities of the extremes of climate and 
 weather, by the invention of improved dwellings ; of 
 discovering the best means of coping with destructive 
 diseases as they occurred ; and, last but not least, of 
 avoidmg internal dissension, by adopting some methods 
 of social organisation, and peaceful adjudication in 
 tribal disputes. 
 
 At a later stage, there was developed a recognition 
 of the right of individual property in the fruits of 
 individual effort (at first in regard to ornaments and 
 weapons, afterwards of more substantial, if less personal 
 belongings, such as houses, canoes, etc.), and of the 
 importance of securing to every unit in the commmiity 
 the fullest allowance of personal liberty, compatible 
 with the equal liberty of other miits of the tribe. 
 
 The recognition of the right of each individual or 
 group to the liberty to pursue personal enterprises, 
 and of the right of each individual or group to enjoy 
 the fruits of his or their labour, involved the establish- 
 ment of some rough un technical tribimal of justice, 
 probably consisting of one or more chiefs, whose decision 
 must have been respected. 
 
 The work of such a tribunal, consisting of a chief or 
 body of chiefs, in enquiring into and deciding the rights 
 and wrongs of a tribal or individual dispute, constituted 
 the germ of our modern law courts, as well as that of our 
 legislative bodies of to-day ; for it would, as a law court, 
 have decided between conflicting units or groups as to 
 the merits of the particular dispute, and would, simul-
 
 The Study of Human Nature. 13 
 
 taneously, be laying down, in however rough a manner, 
 some general principle for the future guidance of the 
 members of the tribe; thus gradually building up 
 a crude code of laws or traditions. 
 
 A time would come when the tribe had developed 
 into clans, a group of wliich, having put aside war as a 
 primary occupation, would, instead, occupy themselves 
 primarily over the cultivation of the soil, the domestica- 
 tion and breeding of stock, and the beginnings of in- 
 dustries required for the community. Thus the elements 
 of a small nation would have been formed. 
 
 At a later stage the population of so successful a 
 commvmity would have spread over a wide area ; so that 
 a chief or body of chiefs would be unconditionally 
 accepted as the best form of tribunal for making laws, 
 and settling disputes which had already arisen. Then 
 there would be (as we know there were) meetings of the 
 people in the fields, to discuss public matters; and 
 resolutions would be come to by the people as a whole, 
 in co-operation with, or independently of, a chief or king, 
 in order to lay down a satisfactory code for the guidance 
 of members of the community. These would be the 
 laws of the country ; and, by this time, special provision 
 would be made for hearing disputes or actions, as they 
 arose, between units of the community. 
 
 At a later stage, when the community had grown 
 too large to meet as a whole in the fields (as is done in 
 some parts of Asia even to-day, and in an earlier age, in 
 the old Anglo-Saxon communities), there was a move- 
 ment to elect representatives, to devote special attention 
 to the questions of tribal or national interests requiring 
 to be dealt with ; and when this stage of representative
 
 14 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 government was reached, the people would be on the 
 road to the conditions of a modern community. The 
 principles laid down in the old adjudications of the com- 
 mrniity would continue to be respected, where applicable 
 to existing conditions, and would exist as a body of 
 traditions or precedents, similar to the common or 
 "customary" law of England ; the new laws, made by the 
 Parliament, being as the Statute law of our own time.
 
 The Study of Human Nature. 16 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MAN'S ORIGIN 
 (As Bearing on the Study of Human Nature) 
 
 npHE study of man's biological origin has, in the past, 
 been seriously discouraged, and even materially 
 checked, by the fear of its leading to conclusions incon- 
 sistent with the traditional tenets of various religions, 
 as to his unchanging and unchangeable nature. 
 
 The traditional beliefs regarding man's origin are not 
 now regarded as unchallengeable, even by leading 
 modern churchmen and theological authorities, who 
 admit that strictly scientific investigations and con- 
 clusions must be respected. 
 
 Without entermg further into this vexed philosophical 
 and theological problem as to man's inherent spiritual 
 nature ; this can be said — that the scientific study of 
 the truths of nature, including human nature, can never 
 lead permanently to conclusions inconsistent with any 
 religion, which itself is based on truth. 
 
 If that be so, the scientific study of man's origin, 
 as a means of understanding his real nature, natural 
 tendencies, and legitimate place in the order of the 
 world's economy, should be pursued, irrespective of all 
 forms of religious and superstitious embargo. 
 
 Man's obvious superiority over all other types of 
 existing animal life is not in itself conclusive proof of
 
 16 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 the absolute permanence, in the past, or m the future, 
 of his present form and characteristics, or of his being 
 the result of a separate and distinct act of creation, 
 differentiating him from all other types. 
 
 If it were so, and, from any possible cause, all existing 
 human nature and its traces were suddenly obliterated, 
 the same process of reasoning might be used to establish 
 the j&xity or permanence of form and characteristics 
 of the next highest type of animal life. 
 
 It is, nevertheless, the universal verdict of all recog- 
 nised biologists, that the bodily characteristics of man, 
 and of other forms of animal life, are, in their embryonic 
 stages, practically im distinguishable, and only cease to be 
 identical in later stages of their development. 
 
 Light is thrown on the problem of man's origin by 
 the fact, universally recognised by all leading biologists, 
 that he is now undergoing slow and gradual, but distinct 
 physical and mental changes, and losing, by a process of 
 gradual atrophy, many of his physical characteristics, 
 which have, in the past, identified him with many other 
 forms of animal Hfe. 
 
 Modern scientific opinion is unanimous also that 
 man, in common with many other forms of animal life, 
 is undergomg a gradual process of evolutionary develop- 
 ment, from a less to a more complex form. 
 
 Human remains have been foimd and traced through 
 a number of "links" — sufficient for scientific demands — 
 in the chain of development, from the stage which aUies 
 man with certain advanced animal forms up to the 
 recognised civilised form. 
 
 The period required for such a process of evolution 
 is not regarded as a logical difficulty ; since scientistg
 
 The Study of Human Nature. 17 
 
 of the more conservative and less speculative a priori 
 school, such as Lord Kelvin, have estimated the period 
 of the world's history, since life of any kind could have 
 first existed on its cooling crust, at many hundreds of 
 millions of years ; and numerous scientists of reputation 
 have estimated the ages of well-known human remains, 
 foimd in different parts of the world, in calculable 
 geological strata, at at least many hundreds of thousands 
 of years. 
 
 Such periods are so far beyond human compre- 
 hension that the ratio of steady progress, over the few 
 thousands of years covered in the oldest of human 
 historical records, would be almost infuiitesimal. 
 
 It may be said to follow from these premises that 
 man is not a "fixed" quantity in his nature and 
 characteristics, as a distinct and differentiated branch 
 of creation, but has advanced from a primitive and 
 inferior form up, through a long succession of evolution- 
 ary steps ; and, further, that he is now undergoing a 
 slow but steady and continuous "ascent," in both mind 
 and body, not even vaguely anticipated m the present 
 day, by the generality of men and women. Nor need 
 this interfere with the outlook of the more rigidly ortho- 
 dox school of thought as to man's origin ; for the possi- 
 biHty of further ascent of human nature, into higher 
 regions of civilisation, culture, and altruism, is in no 
 way incompatible with the beHefs of that orthodox 
 school as to man's separate creation and distinct spiritual 
 nature. 
 
 The conclusion that man, as we know him, in the 
 twentieth century, has gradually developed or evolved 
 from an extremely low form, in which "self" was the
 
 18 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 dominant note of all his activities ; and that the same 
 process, by means of which he has reached his present 
 condition of civihsation, gives every promise of his 
 future ascent to a still higher level — these conclusions 
 are all-important and inspiring, as factors in the high 
 calling of true statesmanship ; by which civihsation may 
 be further promoted, and society, in its political sense, 
 may be further uplifted hereafter, m all the best interpre- 
 tations of the term. 
 
 These characteristics and physical and mental possi- 
 biUties in man, depending largely for their evolution 
 upon his own efforts to acquire further knowledge 
 of his own nature, and of the nature of the world and 
 universe around him, demonstrate the need for the 
 maximum measure of personal freedom, for each and 
 for all aUke ; so that every facility may be afforded to 
 those by whom the mysteries of nature may be probed, 
 discovered, and utihsed, in every possible way open to 
 ingenuity and invention ; so as to obtain for mankind the 
 greatest possible control over the hidden forces of 
 nature, capable of contributing to his individual and 
 collective welfare. 
 
 The conviction is that man has not travelled, in his 
 development, along a horizontal luie of progress since he 
 was created, thus retaining the identical bodily and mental 
 characteristics, with which he started, though in a more 
 cultivated form; but that he has come up from a much 
 lower plane of bemg to his present altruistically -inclined 
 nature and character, from a lower form of animal 
 life, in which the motives of "self" and self-preservation, 
 dominated every activity. This conviction surely affords 
 a powerful argument in support of a theory of man's
 
 The Study of Human Nature. 19 
 
 prospective continuous ascent, and supplies a splendid 
 note of encouragement for philanthropists and 
 humanitarians, to go on and help the human race to 
 reach a higher and still higher plane of civilisation 
 and mental and moral cultivation: having in view a 
 time to come, when each unit of society shall recognise 
 and acknowledge that the welfare of all is involved in 
 the egoism or rational self-interest of each.
 
 20 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 HUMAN GOVERNMENT 
 
 npHE acme of human government, according to 
 anarchical ideals, is that a man should govern 
 himself, which means that he should be allowed to "do 
 as he likes," with no law or influence, but those of nature, 
 to restrict him in his activities. But this would only be 
 possible where, as in the case of Defoe's hero — Robinson 
 Crusoe — one person lived alone on an island. Where 
 there are many men and women who desire, or are forced, 
 to live together, this anarchical state of things would 
 obviously be impossible, for it would inevitably result 
 in struggle and conflict, and ultimate miitual destruc- 
 tion, if reason did not prevail. The nearest approxima- 
 tion to it would be a mutual arrangement, by which each 
 one was permitted to do as he or she wished, subject to the 
 equal right of every other person to do as he or she wished, 
 subject, again, to the same restriction or limitation ; 
 and this would involve an all-round mutual curtailment of 
 individual rights, according to which each would enjoy 
 the fullest freedom, up to the point at which the extended 
 exercise of that freedom would bring the one individual 
 into conflict with another. 
 
 Therefore, where men and women are grouped together 
 in a modem democratic community, they must, if they
 
 The Study of Human Nature. 21 
 
 wish to remain members of it and enjoy its advantages, 
 be reconciled to limit their activities to a sort of series of 
 circular areas, within which circles they are satisfied 
 to limit the exercise of their freedom ; and, if they wish 
 to live peaceably and harmoniously together, they 
 must so arrange among themselves as to avoid allowmg 
 the edge of any one circle to overlap another. This is 
 a sort of diagrammatic illustration of the social, political, 
 or legal needs and limitations of human society. 
 
 Therefore, the legitimate scope and province of state- 
 craft, as I have endeavoured to define it ; that is to say, 
 the "whole duty" of the politician, comprehensively 
 considered, is reducible to two general heads. 
 
 1. So to use the regulating or law-making powers 
 which a community vests in him, as one of its governing 
 body, that, whilst preserving harmony in the relation 
 of its members towards one another, each individual 
 member should have guaranteed to him or her the 
 fullest possible measure of individual hberty, in the 
 pursuit of his or her own ends, and in the solution of 
 the problems of life in his or her own way : compatible, 
 always, with an equal measure of freedom being enjoyed 
 by each and all of his or her fellow citizens. 
 
 2. So to organise and maintain the defensive forces of 
 the commimity, and so conduct the community's 
 relations with other communities, that its corporate 
 interests and peaceful progress may be secured against 
 the danger of aggression from without. 
 
 A detailed examination of any legislative or regulating 
 proposal, whether of a socialistic or individualistic 
 character, wiU prove the soundness of these two generali- 
 sations ; for the sociaHst and the individuahst are alike
 
 22 The Truisms of Statecraft, 
 
 in their aims in this one respect : that they both profess 
 to champion the cause of the individual or social unit 
 of the community, though the former advocates a more 
 restricted limitation on the activities or exercised Hberties 
 of each unit, in order to lessen the struggle for existence 
 of the "less fit" in their competition with the "more fit," 
 when on equal terms. 
 
 The fact that this championship by the socialist, 
 wherever successful, is to discourage, and ultimately 
 lessen, the energy and enterprise of the "more fit," 
 and, in the end, lead ultimately to lowered racial 
 standards, does not disprove the contention that the 
 individual or unit is ultimately the professed concern 
 of both schools of pohtical thought. 
 
 The art of regulating the conduct of the members 
 of a community, so as to secure the before -mentioned 
 results, involves a full knowledge of the particular type 
 or types of human nature, of which the community to 
 " be governed is constituted ; that is to say, the stage of 
 civilisation of its people, their history and traditions, 
 their national characteristics, their rehgious convictions, 
 their superstitions, their habits and customs, and their 
 national aspirations ; and it equally involves a know- 
 ledge of the national character, national aims, national 
 prejudices, and national capabihties of those outside 
 communities, against whose possible aggression pre- 
 cautions may need to be taken and maintained. 
 
 Human nature in general, therefore, in regard to 
 both its abiding characteristics and its possible develop- 
 ments, under abnormal but feasible circumstances, 
 becomes one of the primary studies of all who desire 
 to become versed in the art of statecraft.
 
 The Study of Human Nature. 23 
 
 The art of statecraft, more particularly defined, 
 further involves a study of the most successful method 
 of regulatmg and co-ordinating the activities of the 
 individuals who co-operate in the formation of a civilised 
 commmiity, so as to offer the fullest encouragement 
 to the cultivation and development of the various and 
 varymg talents and capabihties, which are most success- 
 fully nurtured in an atmosphere of freedom. Generally 
 speaking, no citizen of a modern society is bomid to 
 remam as one of its members ; for he may, if he wish, 
 and if he possess the means, go forth to some other 
 portion of the world, and live apart from his fellows. 
 But, if he choose to remain in any particular civilised 
 commimity, he tacitly agrees to fall in with the code 
 and hmitations of conduct laid down by the governing 
 power of that community, for regulating the relationship 
 of one citizen to another, or of one class of citizens to 
 other classes. Those codes of conduct or laws vary 
 from time to time, in accordance with the growth and 
 progress, or in some cases, the decadence, of the com- 
 munity; or in accordance with the desire of those who 
 happen to direct the governing power for the time being. 
 For it should be remembered that, mider mi wise govern- 
 ment, in which the less law-abiding citizens are over- 
 indulged in their disregarding of the law ; the decadence 
 may be so gradual as to be mmoticeable to the less 
 reflective in any one generation ; and yet the standards 
 of national character may, to the more observant, be 
 surely sinking ; so that, in a few generations, the national 
 tone may be lowered to the point of possible national 
 danger, and certainly national inferiority, in comparison 
 with other communities.
 
 24 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 The art of statecraft, in another aspect, is the art of 
 regulating the activities of a conmimiity, so as to 
 f acihtate each of its units in his or her individual capacity, 
 as well as the community as a whole, in attaming to the 
 largest measure of security and happiness, compatible 
 always with the equal opportimity for enjoyment, 
 in a hke measure, by all other members. In order to 
 secure this end, it is obviously essential that the states- 
 man should miderstand the nature and average morale 
 of the individual citizens who form the community 
 which he is called upon to assist in governing ; and 
 the wisdom 'of his actions and advice in that respect 
 will depend upon the accuracy and extent of his know- 
 ledge of the actual nature and law-abiding susceptibiUties 
 in the matter of government, of those individuals who 
 compose the community. Human nature, therefore, 
 in whatever aspect the province of statecraft be viewed, 
 becomes one of the first and most indispensable subjects 
 of study, in order that the characteristics of man in 
 all his varieties may be fully taken into account. 
 
 If man were so altruistically constituted that his 
 first thought was always for others, and his last thought 
 for his own welfare ; he would need to be schooled by 
 his governors to consider his own self-preservation, 
 as the basis of his continued existence ; but, if, on the 
 other hand, he is so egoistically constituted that self- 
 preservation,^ even to the extreme of self-indulgence, 
 is one of the first impulses of his nature, involving, 
 frequently, disregard for the welfare of others ; then the 
 governing power needs to consider the best means of 
 allowing him to preserve and develop himself and his 
 individuahty, whilst, at the same time, constraining him,
 
 The Study of Human Nature. 25 
 
 as far as it is necessary, in regard to his tendency to 
 subordinate the interests of his fellows to his own. 
 If the governing power recognises that the members 
 of the community to be governed are but the latest 
 links in a long chain of human evolution and ascending 
 development, in which man's selfish characteristics were 
 originally restricted only by the physical superiority of 
 his competitors ; then that imiate tendency may require 
 to be carefully and judiciously checked by the governing 
 power, though, possibly, in such a way as not to prevent 
 him from doing full justice to himself as an individual, 
 in the direction of his own legitimate betterment and 
 uplifting. In this way, the origin and development of 
 human nature generally, so far as it can be investigated, 
 becomes an important, if not a primary factor in the 
 art of government ; and, in the same way, it becomes 
 necessary to closely study man's many other character- 
 istics, egoistic as well as altruistic, in order, not only to 
 avoid the tendency of a weak governing power to 
 allow him to abuse his personal liberty, but also to avoid 
 nurturing him so as to encourage him to neglect to 
 discipUne himself, and become dependent on his fellows, 
 individually or collectively. 
 
 Whatever may be the statesman's view of man's 
 origin in a biological sense, the study of human character- 
 istics involves an investigation of the process by which 
 he has, by slow stages, developed from a lower and less 
 civihsed condition ; and, if it be possible to find in his 
 nature certain tendencies which will enable him to 
 ascend to a still higher plane of civilisation and social 
 culture than he has yet reached; the attention of the 
 governing power should be ever watchful of them,
 
 26 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 and of the necessity for avoiding any undue interference 
 with their cultivation ; so that they may stand out 
 as guides or object lessons for the aspirations of their 
 fellows, and as factors in the upUfting of the moral 
 standards of the particular commimity, whose successful 
 government is under consideration.
 
 The Stiidy of Human Nature. 27 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MAN'S ASCENT 
 
 nPHE title of this chapter might, for a moment, lead 
 the reader to suppose that an attempt was about to 
 be made to invest human nature with ethereal attributes 
 that would unfit him for this workaday world ; but 
 it will be seen, by what follows, that no such impracticable 
 purpose is intended, and that nothing more is sought 
 than to show that man's worldly career is, apart from 
 the almost universal behef in his spiritual nature, 
 an ever-upward one, in regard to strictly mundane 
 characteristics alone ; and that, far from having reached 
 the top note in human culture and worldly improvement, 
 he has still before him an upward course, with as steep 
 a vertical slope as that along which he has travelled 
 in past ages from the lowest type of barbarism to the 
 highest form of mind culture and moral achievement. 
 
 Man, Uke every other form of animal hfe, is and has 
 ever been, undergoing ceaseless changes in body and 
 mind. That may be accepted as the uniform and 
 universal conclusion of all the world's greatest scientific 
 thinkers ; and it has become a fundamental truth of 
 human knowledge, whether we accept or reject the 
 doctrine of human evolution from the lower forms of 
 animal hfe.
 
 28 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 The line of man's evolution has been one of gradual 
 ascent — one movement being upwards, in regard to 
 greater complexity of organisation, and consequent 
 increased capabiUties, and another and contemporaneous 
 movement bemg lateral, in regard to time ; so that if his 
 career in the past be reduced to diagrammatic form, his 
 resultant course of progress has sloped diagonally across 
 the ages : as time has passed horizontally, man has moved 
 vertically, so that the resultant is obhque, if viewed 
 across the chart of universal history. 
 
 The ascent to a higher form has been in the direction 
 of an increased dexterity in the f mictions most frequently 
 and actively exercised, and of gradual atrophy of the 
 fmictions consciously or unconsciously allowed to fall 
 into disuse. 
 
 The best biological authorities of the twentieth century 
 enumerate upwards of one hiuidred functions of the 
 body that are slowly but surely undergoing this process of 
 atrophy; and the latest and most outspoken of these 
 authorities is MetchnikoJBf, who succeeded Pasteur as 
 head of the scientific institute that bears that great 
 man's name ; and that estimate is fully set out in his 
 (Metchnikoff's) work on The Nature of Man. 
 
 The conviction is now almost universal among thinkers 
 of scientific temperament, that man has not moved along 
 a horizontal line of progress since he was created ; and 
 that he has not retained his original bodily and mental 
 characteristics, but has come up to the level of his 
 present altruistically-disposed nature and character from 
 a much lower form of animal life, in which the motive- 
 elements of "self" and "self-preservation" originally 
 dominated every activity. This conviction, if it be
 
 The Study of Human Nature. 29 
 
 sound, affords a powerful logical support to the hopeful 
 and elevating theory of man's prospective and con- 
 tinuous ascent, and supplies a splendid note of encourage- 
 ment — quite independently of the larger problem of 
 man's strictly spiritual attributes — for philanthropical 
 and humanitarian minds to push on and help the human 
 race in its yeammgs and aspirations for a higher and 
 nobler plane of civiHsation, refinement, and moral 
 uphfting, having in view a time to come when each 
 unit shall recognise and acknowledge that the welfare 
 and abidmg happiness of all is involved in the rational 
 egoism — which coimotes altruism — of each. 
 
 Whatever be the view entertained, in regard to the 
 actual origin of man ; the aim is the same ; except that 
 those who accept the theory of evolution, in its miiversal 
 sense, have a more scientific ground for beheving in the 
 theory of "ascent," to almost imlimited heights, in man's 
 intellectual and moral improvement. 
 
 Sir John Herschel was of opinion that "in whatever 
 state of knowledge we may conceive man to be placed, 
 his progress towards a yet higher state need never fear a 
 check, but must continue till the last existence of 
 society." And that supremely-balanced logician, John 
 Stuart Mill, in his Autobiography, considers that 
 "poverty in any sense, imptying suffering, may be 
 completely extinguished by the wisdom of society, 
 combined with the good sense and providence of the 
 individuals . " He was so sanguine in regard to the future 
 of man, that he thought that "most of the great positive 
 evils of the world are in themselves removable, and will, 
 if human affairs continue to improve, be in the end 
 reduced within narrow limits."
 
 30 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 One important aspect of man's progress has been in 
 the direction of acquiring increased knowledge of 
 nature and the working of the laws of nature, and of 
 obtaining greater control over their forces ; also in 
 relieving the mind and the nervous system of much of 
 their wasteful expenditure, resulting from such disturb- 
 ing influences as fear, superstition, anger, and useless 
 intellectual speculation concerning problems clearly 
 beyond man's present solving powers. 
 
 It must ever be remembered, in pursuing such studies, 
 that human progress is not observable in regard to 
 individual men, over the short space of time of which 
 human records have been preserved ; but it is observable 
 in regard to the average condition of the masses of the 
 people, when we compare the physical comfort, the 
 extended liberties, and the improved social status of 
 the least intelligent and least civilised classes of the 
 twentieth century with those of ancient Egyptian, 
 Grecian, or Roman times, or even that of our own painted 
 and skin-clad British ancestors of 2,000 years ago, with 
 the average British citizen of our own time. 
 
 Human progress in social economy is observable in the 
 now almost imiversal aboHtion of slavery ; in the compara- 
 tive cessation and more humanitarian methods of national 
 warfare among the truly "higher" ranks of nations; 
 in the slowly-growing use of arbitration, now apparently 
 spreading to international proportions, as a substitute for 
 conflict; in the widespread cessation of unauthorised 
 punishment; in the diminished arbitrary power of 
 monarchs, and in the corresponding gradual assumption 
 by the people of the government of themselves ; in the 
 widespread education of the people ; in the marvellous
 
 The Study of Human Nature. 31 
 
 progress of science in relation to medicine, surgery, and 
 sanitation ; in the purification of foods, in the increased 
 economy, safety, and rapidity of traffic by land, sea, 
 and air ; in the scientific multipHcation and increased 
 penetration of human sight, in the microscopic purposes of 
 astronomy, biology, mineralogy, anatomy, physiology, 
 botany, and zoology ; and in the consequent increase 
 and rectification of human knowledge and intellectual 
 perspective, bearing on every department of human 
 welfare ; and, generally, and almost most important 
 of all, in the sanctification of truth as the goal of all 
 scientific investigations. 
 
 In moral philosophy, thinking men and women have 
 discovered the egoistic and satisfying value of altruism, 
 and come to understand the danger to man's racial 
 progress, of reheving enervated human nature of the 
 invigorating and vitalising effects of the discipHne of 
 self-help, self-reliance, and self-dependence. 
 
 In mental philosophy, thinking men and women have 
 discovered the paralysing intellectual effects of bias 
 and prejudice upon the mind, in the search for the truth of 
 things, and have come to recognise the higher intellectual 
 plane of tolerance towards other races, other religions, 
 other philosophies, other national standards of art, 
 literature, morality, music, and manners. 
 
 In philosophy, thinking men and women have come to 
 reahse the futility of the avaricious struggle for wealth ; 
 the degrading influence and reflex results of wasteful 
 and vulgar expenditure and ostentatious personal decora- 
 tion. The health-giving and life-prolonging results of 
 simple rational living ; and the incalculable superiority of 
 abiding forms of happiness, that come without caUing,
 
 32 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 as compared with the garish and palHng pleasures and 
 ephemeral gratifications that need to be pursued. 
 
 In political science, thinking men and women have 
 discovered that the scientific study of the history of 
 the past is as a lantern, to Ught the way to the solution of 
 new and future problems, and that the most truly 
 progressive form of government is that in which the 
 units of society are disciphned, by freedom carefully 
 guarded in all directions, to govern themselves, under a 
 judicious system of checks upon the abuse of equal 
 rights in others ; that the most complete social economy 
 is that which leaves human enterprise as much as possible 
 to find its own channels, and to travel along them as 
 the people's requirements seem to demand, so long as 
 the equal liberties of others are similarly respected ; 
 that it is beneficial to interfere by laws and regulations, 
 as Httle as possible, compatible with the equal freedom 
 of all ; and to afford the utmost liberty to each and all to 
 work out their own careers, their own individual tastes, 
 and their own destinies, as they may think best. 
 
 It is inevitable that the widespread distribution 
 of the governing power among the people, will, as it has 
 already done, lead to errors of judgment, crude mis- 
 conceptions, superficial miscalculations, and hasty and 
 injurious legislative abuses on matters of government ; 
 but they will be what Macaulay calls the "back wash" 
 of human progress ; whilst the general movement, 
 as the result of accumulated pohtical experience, will, 
 notwithstanding, be in a forward direction, towards 
 a more enlightened condition of human well-being. 
 
 Although the evolution of the institution of self- 
 government may produce many vicissitudes, and many
 
 The Study of Human Nature. 33 
 
 of them result in stupendous social cataclysms by the 
 way, such as the French Revolution ; the general trend 
 of the future of man maj^ be relied upon to be in an 
 ascending line, in which the highest and most far-seeing 
 tjrpes will, as ever, stand out from the rest of mankind, 
 as mountain peaks rearing their heads above the hills 
 and valleys of ordinary human beings ; but the general 
 level of those hills and valleys will be found to have 
 risen above that which they occupied in the past ; and, 
 when studied closely, the miits will be found to have 
 acquired a larger degree of self-respect and altruistic 
 consciousness. 
 
 The following propositions must be carefully borne in 
 mind, in judging as to the soundness and feasibility of the 
 optimistic prospect presented in this chapter: First, 
 that, in it, no more is anticipated than the "bridging" 
 of the chasm that now separates the lowest and most 
 degraded forms of human nature to be found in the world 
 to-day, from the morally noblest, most cultivated, and 
 rationally altruistic types to be found in its most 
 civilised communities. Those who accept the doctrine of 
 social evolution will readily acknowledge that the more 
 or less remote ancestors of the cultured and ethically 
 nobler classes of to-day were at one time on the same 
 plane as the now lowest and most degraded class, from 
 which they and their progenitors have emerged in an 
 ascending scale ; and if it were possible for that ascent 
 to have taken place from certain units of the lowest 
 kno^Ti types, to the highest as indicated ; it requires no 
 stretch of conjecture to recognise the feasibility of all 
 future generations reaching the same plane of character 
 and conduct of the present -highest. Before that
 
 34 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 transformation of the world's population has had time to 
 be realised — and it may involve centuries to complete — 
 the theories surrounding the doctrine of eugenics will 
 have been put into practice ; so that the world will be 
 saved the perpetuation of the more impossible lineages. 
 
 If the soundness of the preceding line of reasoning be 
 admitted; it is not difficult to realise a whole world of 
 men and women of the highest known types of our own 
 day — -a world freed from avarice, vulgar ambition, un- 
 reasonable seK-seeking, and from an overwhelming desire 
 to single themselves out from their fellows by ostentation 
 and other forms of vainglory and display. A world, 
 made up of men and women who earnestly joined in 
 the making and careful observance of wise and scientific 
 laws, could and would, in due time, reduce to a minimum, 
 if not put an end to, all forms of trespass on the equal 
 rights of their fellow beings — whether in regard to 
 tangible things or in abstract matters of opinion and taste. 
 Then would be reached a condition of things in which 
 it would be realised that, as Herbert Spencer once said, 
 the object of all laws was to render laws ultimately 
 unnecessary. The biographies of many remarkable 
 men and women, whose whole careers proved that their 
 happiness was found in their own inner sense of modest 
 contentment, will, if carefully studied, show that 
 their wants were simple, and free from the aggressive 
 spirit ; and that they always readily surrendered, in their 
 own individual natures, all desires that involved conflict 
 or interference with the rights, feelings, or tastes of 
 others, who reciprocated the same spirit. 
 
 It will be seen that such natures fully and openly 
 admitted in aU directions the rights of others to find an
 
 The Study of Human Nature. 35 
 
 outlet for their own particular tastes, however varied they 
 might be: practising the tolerance and the spirit of "give 
 and take" in everj' channel of mental and bodily activity, 
 and in all things recognising and practising justice 
 and goodwill to those who moved about them. If 
 all the world can some day reach that happy and 
 chivalrous state of things— all of which is feasible and 
 practicable — ^then the future will indeed be a time in 
 which many of us would desire to live. 
 
 The great European War, through which the world has 
 just passed — the greatest, the most decimating, and the 
 most wasteful that human history has ever chronicled — 
 is, apart from the terrors and the anguish with which it 
 has been accompanied, one of the greatest tributes to 
 the raised moral attitude of our collective human nature. 
 It has been, if viewed in a broad spirit, a mammoth 
 struggle between gross egoism, on the part of a nation 
 inflated with its o\^ti sense of superiority, and practically 
 the rest of the civiHsed world, imbued \^dth a fine sense 
 of national duty and altruistic disinterestedness, which 
 found almost universal expression in a determination to 
 resent the selfish domination of a powerful war-wor- 
 shipping race over smaller peace-loving races and 
 communities, which, without the world's help, would 
 have been swallowed up in a maelstrom of blood and 
 iron. 
 
 The nature of the international settlement that has 
 been arrived at shows that neither of the salving nations 
 sought personal or national aggrandisement, but 
 only wished to punish appropriately the selfish peoples 
 who attempted to perpetuate an inherited code of 
 "might" dominating "right." The world has now, at
 
 36 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 incalculable loss, vindicated the principle of the superior- 
 ity of "right" over "might" and brute force, and so 
 reversed, in regard to human affairs, a cruel law that 
 hitherto and to-day rages rampant among the lower 
 forms of animal life. It may be well and truly said that 
 the millions of justly disposed people, who gave their 
 lives in aid of so righteous a conflict, died not merely for 
 their country, which is compatible with an imjust 
 war-purpose, but in vindication of the greatest and most 
 widespread moral issue that the world has ever known.
 
 BOOK II. 
 HUMAN RECORDS 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Chap. I. Human Records : Their Bearing on the 
 Art of Statecraft. 
 
 „ II. Prehistoric Data : Their Teachings. 
 
 „ III. Written History : Its Application to 
 the Study of Statecraft. 
 
 , , IV. History : Its True Use in the Art of 
 
 Statecraft.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HUMAN RECORDS 
 Their Bearing on the Art of Statecraft 
 
 T^ WHETHER man be considered as a fixed and nn- 
 * ^ changeable portion of creation, distinct from all 
 other forms of animal hfe, or as one only of its iimumer- 
 able forms, midergoing, hke the rest, a continuous 
 evolution or exfohation through the ages, from a lower 
 to a higher type ; this fundamental truth is miiversally 
 acknowledged in aU thinking communities : that there 
 are certain human characteristics that have been common 
 to all races, in all ages : characteristics that spring from 
 the principle of hfe itseh ; from the needs imposed by 
 the everlasting struggle for existence, and from the 
 indispensable needs upon which human existence itself 
 depends. 
 
 These imiversal characteristics have caused man's 
 progress in all ages, and under all circumstances, to 
 present many similar results of a general character, in 
 regard to his struggle with nature ; his native curiosity ; 
 his more dehberate search for truth ; his micountable 
 successful and unsuccessful attempts at social organisa- 
 tion ; his material aims, and his vaguer and more remote 
 aspirations. 
 
 Li this slow but gradual progress towards a more 
 enhghtened solution of Hfe's problems, man has left 
 behind him many records in many forms, from which we 
 can learn of his successes and failures in these various 
 
 30
 
 40 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 struggles towards higher planes of knowledge, and 
 improved conditions of life. 
 
 We speak of "a man of experience," of "an expert," 
 of a "specialist," of "a wise man," of "one who knows" — 
 all expressions of a recognition of the value of individual 
 knowledge of what has happened in the remote or 
 immediate past, as a means of throwing light on the 
 possibiHties and probabilities of the future. We can 
 speak with equal truth of human history, which, if 
 accurately recorded, correctly read, and properly inter- 
 preted, throws light on the probabiHties of the future in 
 regard to human affairs. 
 
 Professor Stubbs, the famous constitutional historian 
 — one of the most accurate and acute students of human 
 records — has forcibly expressed this latter thought. He 
 says: "The history of Institutions presents, in every 
 branch, a regularly developed series of causes and con- 
 sequences, and abounds in examples of that continuity 
 of Ufe, the reaUsation of which is necessary to give the 
 reader a personal hold on the past, and a right 
 judgment of the present." 
 
 To attempt to solve the sociological problems of our 
 own generation, without avaiUng ourselves of a know- 
 ledge of the successes and failures of other generations 
 and other peoples, would be to ignore the experiences of 
 all others but ourselves ; to refuse to follow the success- 
 ful examples of those who have preceded us, and to 
 persist in the sociological blunders that have been 
 demonstrated in the world's groping for the truth of 
 things. 
 
 History therefore ; that is, human records of all kinds, 
 whether in the form of pre-historic data, written history
 
 Human Records. 41 
 
 in its various forms, or history, such as can be read in 
 the practical activities of man, about and aromid us — all 
 these throw important Hghts on the problems of to-day 
 and of to-morrow, and are therefore part of the proper 
 and indispensable study of those Avho seek to become 
 versed in the art of statecraft. For, inasmuch as the 
 true aim of politics is to devise means for preventing a 
 repetition of past sociological blunders, or for securing, 
 wherever possible, a recurrence of events that have 
 proved beneficial to other commuiiities ; the records of 
 those past blunders, and of their causes ; as well as of 
 the beneficial events of the past and their causes also, 
 are like lanterns to Hghten a doubtful way. And, apart 
 from this form of guidance for immediate purposes, 
 many historical events throw floods of hght on the less 
 immediate problems, as to the origin, nature, and future 
 of man, and so teach us more of the unit — man — with 
 which statesmanship is concerned. As Lord Acton has 
 said, in his Study of History : "The knowledge of the past, 
 the record of truths revealed by experience, is emmently 
 practical, as an instrument of action, and a power that 
 goes to the making of the future." History then ; that 
 is, recorded human experience of all kinds, is, or ought 
 to be the "bible" of the poHtician ; and to that extent 
 to which he studies it, and the lessons it affords, does he 
 approach the higher planes of "statecraft" or "states- 
 manship" as distinguished from mere "poUtics." 
 
 There is no royal road to the true imderstanding of 
 history. There is no such thing as an inherent know- 
 ledge of it ; though mental activity, the faculty for con- 
 centration, and the advantages of a clear and logical mind 
 render its understanding more readily attainable. John
 
 42 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 Stuart Mill said that "No political conclusions of any value 
 for practice could be arrived at by direct experience." 
 The mind that "jumps at conclusions"; that is "impatient 
 of details"; or that mistakes verbal fluency of speech for 
 accuracy of judgment — all these characteristics are posi- 
 tive dangers in statesmanship, and lead the poUtician into 
 a quagmire of errors, which, in pubHc affairs, may be the 
 means of producing inmeasurable injury and uncount- 
 able misfortunes to the body-poHtic, in whose concerns 
 such a politician takes part. 
 
 To read correctly the remote history of man, so as to 
 be able to deduce from it useful lessons for appUcation 
 to modem events, necessitates also a knowledge of the 
 broad principles of philosoph}^, and some conception of 
 the scientific evolution of the human race ; to read 
 correctly ancient and modem history, as recorded in 
 literature, and to be able to take from it no more and no 
 less than is helpful, as throwing light on current events, 
 necessitates also some knowledge of the relative merits 
 of the writers of history, and their accuracy as to 
 authorities, their normality in using their facts, and their 
 freedom from mere hterary ostentation in presenting 
 them to their readers. 
 
 Few men, who occupy themselves over practical 
 politics, are able to devote sufficient time to the careful 
 study of this important aspect of statesmanship ; and 
 of those who could afford the time, a large proportion 
 are seduced by the showier side of poHtical Ufe, on account 
 of its contributing more to their immediate popularity 
 than does the quiet and careful sagacity that results from 
 the deeper reading of political history and philosophy. 
 
 A review of the names of the men of the past, who have,
 
 Human Records. 43 
 
 in their time, enjoyed political prominence, will show 
 that the deeper students of history, with the somider 
 pohtical judgment that resulted, have left behind them 
 more abiding reputations, than have those who adopted 
 more superficial and ad ca-ptandum methods of com- 
 mending themselves to the particular generations in 
 which they Hved. 
 
 If, as there is good reason to believe, human affairs 
 are gradually, though slowly, improving, through such 
 influences as a wider spread of education, a further 
 cheapening of the better kinds of literature, and the con- 
 sequent infusion of a better sense of the value of political 
 science ; it may be that, in the future, the advantages of 
 historical studies, as a light to the people's feet in darker 
 roads, will be more clearly appreciated, and that they 
 will look more and more insistently for a larger measure 
 of such knowledge in their public men.
 
 44 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 PREHISTORIC DATA 
 
 Their Teachings 
 
 "PREHISTORIC data consist of a variety of materials 
 ^ and traditions from which we are able to formulate 
 theories of the maimer of man's hfe in the world, before 
 he himseh had begmi to leave behind him, intentionally, 
 anything that recorded his presence in it. 
 
 History, in the broader sense of the term, comprehends 
 all those forms of written records, whether on paper, 
 papyrus, leaves, stones, or other more or less lasting 
 material, on which man has attempted to chronicle what 
 he deemed to be important events— of what he did, tried 
 to do, hoped, feared, imagined, beheved, or suspected. 
 
 The preserved records of this kind do not date back 
 beyond an infinitesimal portion of the period over which 
 man, in a primitive or civihsed condition, has hved on 
 the globe. 
 
 The history of man, from the remote time in which 
 he emerged from the animal or the barbaric form, up 
 to that stage in which he was capable of depicting, in 
 some way or other, so as to be transmissible to others, 
 the records of his thoughts, hopes, fears, desires, imagin- 
 ings, or doings, can only be ascertained in our own day by 
 scientifically tracing the evolution of language, or by 
 studying a variety of material objects, the existence and
 
 Human Records. 45 
 
 nature of which mark man's presence on the earth, and 
 indicate to some extent his nature, whereabouts, and 
 manner of Hving, i.e., his own bones, or other remains 
 deposited with his own, his weapons, his boats, his 
 habitations. These archaeological remains indicate, in 
 the view of recognised scientists, that man, as man, in 
 however primitive a form, has lived on the earth at least 
 hundreds of thousands of years. 
 
 The variety of material employed in these various 
 objects, shows that, in the earliest stages at which man 
 first supplemented his own bodily powers, by using other 
 objects as tools or weapons, he resorted to stone, wood, 
 or sheUs, which he found at first hand about him ; and 
 thatit was not till subsequent ages that he discovered the 
 art of shaping stone to suit his purposes better ; and 
 still later that he discovered the secret of producing 
 metals for similar purposes. 
 
 Many of the earliest records of the later periods of 
 man's fife on the earth, which themselves come under the 
 head of "Written History," show that, ages before those 
 written records begin to appear, he must have domesti- 
 cated various animals and birds for his use, and dis- 
 covered the possibilities of cultivating the soil for what 
 it would produce. 
 
 Many of the earhest records indicating man's 
 presence on the earth show that he did, at a much earher 
 period, acquire the practice of propitiating the forces and 
 phenomena of nature — as "gods" — which he was miable 
 yet to understand; and that the then unexplained and 
 unexplainable phenomena formed the basis of human 
 wonder, fear, and superstition, which lay at the root of 
 most of the primitive religions of the world.
 
 46 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 There is another acknowledged sidelight in regard to 
 primitive a.nd unrecorded human history ; for it is 
 recognised by all the leading writers on anthropology, 
 archaeology, and primitive man; viz., that we can safely 
 assume that the original peoples, out of which modern 
 civilised nations have evolved, passed through conditions 
 of social development very similar to, if not identical 
 with, those that we see in existence to-day among 
 primitive peoples, in various parts of the world. 
 
 It may therefore be concluded that the different races 
 of the world have advanced along the line of develop- 
 ment or evolution at considerably differing ratios of 
 progress, but, nevertheless, with so much in common in 
 the nature and sequence of their different stages of 
 advancement, that primitive races of our own time may 
 be safely regarded as comiterparts of the infant stages of 
 our advanced society of to-day. And thus they serve 
 as educational examples of what men might be forced to 
 revert to, by sacrificing the results of centuries of civiHsa- 
 tion, and resolving themselves and their fellows into 
 their elemental conditions. 
 
 That this method of ascertaining the nature of our 
 own early social conditions, by studying the existing 
 conditions of primitive tribes of our own time, is a fairly 
 safe guide, is testified by excellent authorities. Sir 
 Edward Tylor, the author of several works on prehistoric 
 man, says : "A fair knowledge may be had of what early 
 rules of property were Hke by ascertaining what they are 
 like in the uncivihsed world still"; and Lord Avebury 
 (then Sir John Lubbock) says in his work on Primitive 
 Man : "The condition and habits of existing savages 
 resemble in many ways, though not in all, those of our
 
 Human Records. 41 
 
 ancestors in a period long gone by." Morgan, too, in his 
 Ancient Society says : "Since mankind were one in 
 origin, their career has been essentially one ; running in 
 different but miiform chamiels, upon all continents; and 
 similarly in all the tribes and nations of mankind." 
 
 The careless or superficial thinker, who "takes things 
 as they come," and gives little heed to the causes by 
 which our twentieth century civilisation was laboriously 
 reached, or is now maintained, would consider such 
 primitive human history devoid of interest or use in 
 his time ; but in truth, it is full of lessons for all who 
 value the maintenance of the present social status, and 
 desire to see the community in which they live kept at, or 
 advanced beyond, its present level of order and progress. 
 
 In the first place, a study of primitive man will 
 emphasise the important fact, that the difference between 
 barbarism and civilisation, with all the miseries of the 
 one, and all the advantages of the other, has not come to 
 pass by magic, but has been the result of steady, patient 
 growth, through centuries of order, recurring organisa- 
 tion, subdued anarchy, alleviated injustices, and con- 
 tinuous readjustment, where growing abuses were likely 
 to lead to social unrest and possible dismemberment. 
 These adjustments and readjustments, from time to 
 time, during the process of growth, have involved thought 
 and judgment in the rulers for the time being, without 
 which the commimity would have fallen back, if not 
 entirely out of the race of communities. If these facts 
 are impressed upon the student of primitive history, by 
 dweUing on the conditions of man in his prehistoric 
 stages, much error will be avoided in dealing with modern 
 conditions.
 
 48 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 It will be seen, too, that this progress, from primitive 
 to civilised conditions of society, has demanded at all 
 times the encouragement of individual energy, enter- 
 prise, and initiative; as a means to which those who 
 exerted themselves had to have secured to them freedom 
 of locomotion, freedom to think how best to do the things 
 they set their hearts upon, freedom to actually do the 
 things they desired, subject to the rights of others ; and 
 above all, continuous assurance, guaranteed by the com- 
 munity as a whole, that when they were done, those who 
 did them should enjoy the fruits of the efforts, enterprise, 
 thought, and ingenuity which they had put forth as 
 individual members of the community. 
 
 These needs of social progress go to the very root of 
 civilisation, and are now indicated, and often expressed 
 ghbly by people who do not reaHse their full significance, 
 in such phrases as "Liberty, Property, Security." Even 
 the once -notorious "Tom Paine," who was afterwards 
 prosecuted for his revolutionary writings, claimed these 
 advantages for society in his Rights of Man. He said : 
 "The end of all poUtical associations is the preservation 
 of the natural and unprescriptable rights of man ; and 
 these rights are liberty, property, security, and resis- 
 tance of oppression."
 
 Human Records. 49 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 WRITTEN HISTORY 
 
 Its Application to the Study of Statecraft 
 
 'X^HE written history of man's doings in the world 
 acquaints us with but an infinitesimal portion — in 
 point of time — of his past activities, calamities, doubts, 
 errors, hopes, fears, beliefs, imaginings, superstitions, 
 aspirations. 
 
 Written history includes not only that which has been 
 intentionally recorded for strictly historical purposes, in 
 a variety of dead and living languages, but a vast and 
 accumulating mass of pictures and hierogljrphics ; of 
 general literature, not intentionally historical ; as well 
 as of subsequent attempted dicipherings and interpreta- 
 tions of inscriptions on ancient monuments, and archi- 
 tectural and other remains of bygone, and otherwise 
 unknown peoples. 
 
 Written history includes also a large body of writings, 
 which have come down to us from ancient and later 
 times, in which they were written ; wherein are de- 
 scribed, or reflected, the traditions, manners, customs and 
 circumstances of the writers' contemporaries. 
 
 Portions of the wi'itten history, which have been 
 intended as records of the past, are inaccurately com- 
 piled ; in some instances by reason of want of care in
 
 50 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 studying or interpreting the original documentary 
 evidence from which its supposed facts are drawn ; in 
 other instances, by reason of the historian's relying on 
 hearsay statements, and recording them as authentic. 
 
 In a large part of Eastern history, imagination has 
 been substituted for facts ; and the conclusions drawn 
 from those imaginings have been little more than the 
 pious aspirations of the writers ; for the East has ever 
 been the nursery of legend, and, to a great extent, the 
 burial-ground of many unpalatable facts of human 
 history. 
 
 Other portions of written history are practically useless 
 except as works of imagination ; because they record 
 events as causes and effects, in regard to which there is 
 no such relationship ; or they attribute to supernatural 
 agencies events which never took place, or which 
 obviously resulted from natural causes. 
 
 Many portions of carefully compiled history are un- 
 trustworthy, on account of the writer having been so 
 biassed in favour of some cause or party, that he has 
 consciously or unconsciously, distorted the facts, or 
 misinterpreted the motives of the persons concerned 
 in his record. 
 
 A further, most frequent shortcoming in historical 
 writings, is the tendency of the historian to devote a 
 disproportionate amoimt of attention to the purely 
 personal or heroic aspects of his subject, in order to 
 interest or excite the popular reader. 
 
 The writings of many historians are of Uttle or no 
 value for political purposes, by reason of their want of 
 perspective in presenting the facts of the past in their 
 true proportion to one another.
 
 Human Records. 51 
 
 Many historians, again, fail to present a true picture 
 of the surrounding circumstances of an important event, 
 by means of which to supply to their readers the real 
 reasons which led to its occurrence. 
 
 In order, therefore, to obtain from the use of history 
 its highest purpose — that of reading modern events in 
 the light of the economic and sociological laws which 
 the true history of the past illustrates, it is essential to 
 discriminate between trustworthy and untrustworthy 
 records ; and this is one of the most difficult tasks 
 confronting the student. 
 
 It is essential also, in using the history of the past, as 
 a guide to the present or future, to avoid drawing com- 
 plete parallels between series of events, and to Hmit the 
 use of parallel or analogy to the deduction of trends or 
 tendencies in human affairs, or for purposes of political 
 caution in legislation or diplomacy. 
 
 A "Httle knowledge" of history is the most dangerous 
 of all intellectual attainments, in begetting undue poHti- 
 cal and legislative confidence, and in the careless use of 
 what are hastily supposed to be parallel circumstances. 
 
 The supposed teachings of history — even where scien- 
 tifically written — ^need therefore to be studied with care 
 and accuracy, and to be used with the utmost caution, 
 in view of its numerous and misleading characteristics. 
 
 We have dealt with the subject of history, as if the 
 knowledge of it, for purposes of statecraft, was more 
 particularly applicable to that class of writings wliich 
 the superficial reader knows by that definite title ; but it 
 is necessary to point out that current English literature is 
 prolific in writings of an equally, if not more valuable 
 kind to the political and sociological student. These are
 
 62 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 in the nature of systematic generalisations from historical 
 data ; which, in fact, use history for the identical pur- 
 pose for which the student himself does or ought to use 
 it ; that is to say : in order to discover the "tendencies" 
 of human activities as recorded in historical works, 
 strictly so called, with a view to their appHcation to 
 present times. And if this work of generalisation has 
 been well done by the writers of this class of works, it 
 is an economy to the student to use them for his purpose ; 
 as they gather up available data over a wider area — 
 probably from many more languages and national his- 
 tories — than the student himself can command, or have 
 access to, or would have time to consult. 
 
 Among the notable historical works to which I have 
 referred, as being other than "history" in the popular 
 sense, and yet as affording valuable historical generahsa- 
 tions, from which so much can be learned by the pohtical 
 student, is Buckle's History of Civilisation in England. 
 There are a few writers who affect to speak disparagingly 
 of this great work, but they have not ventured to justify 
 their criticism, beyond stating that its writer failed to 
 accomplish even a tithe of the stupendous programme 
 which he announced, when he pubhshed his first three 
 volumes. He died quite suddenly, when traveUing for his 
 health, but his work had ah-eady created an "extraordinary 
 sensation." Buckle enumerated over a thousand com- 
 paratively modem works, from which he professed to 
 have dra^Ti the materials for his then remarkable con- 
 clusions. In his undoubtedly great work he demon- 
 strated the mechanical character of human activities, 
 because of their being governed by well-known physical 
 and mental laws ; and he contended, from those facts,
 
 Human Records. 63 
 
 that both those sets of laws needed to be studied, in 
 order to deal properly with the regulation of human 
 affairs. He drew illustrations from a great variety of 
 countries, in order to show that cHmate, food, soil, and 
 the aspects of nature, played important parts in form- 
 ing and influencing national character ; and that, while 
 some peoples were governed by their imagination, others 
 were more subject to their understandings : in each case 
 as the result of their natural environment. He showed, 
 by a rich variety of illustrations from history, how the 
 progress of knowledge diminished the tendency to per- 
 secution, and the war-like spirit ; and how increased 
 knowledge disinchned the leading minds of a community 
 to devote themselves to military occupations. He 
 analysed the influence of religion, hterature, and govern- 
 ment, upon various peoples, and gave illustrations of his 
 arguments from the histories of Germany, America, 
 France, Spain, and Scotland. He showed that "the 
 accusation which the historian is bomid to bring against 
 every government which had hitherto existed, is that it 
 has overstepped its proper functions, and, at each step, 
 done incalculable harm." He contends that "all specu- 
 lations must be erroneous, that ascribe the progress of 
 Europe to the wisdom of its rulers"; for, he adds, "No 
 government having recognised its proper Hmits ; the 
 result is that every government has inflicted on its 
 subjects great injuries." He arrives at another bold 
 generalisation, which no serious student of statesmanship 
 can afford to ignore, without examining his data and 
 arguments ; that "legislators, in every attempt to pro- 
 tect some particular interests, and to uphold some 
 particular principles, have not only failed, but have
 
 54 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 brought about results diametrically opposite to those 
 which they proposed." Again, in deahng with the 
 French Revolution, the same writer shows that towards 
 the end of 1750, the French began their celebrated 
 inquiries respecting pohtical economy ; and that, in 
 their attempt to raise it to a science, they were led to 
 perceive "the immense injiiry which the interference of 
 government had produced on the material interests of 
 the country." The result of this inquiry was "a con- 
 viction that the authority possessed by the rulers of 
 France was mischievous ; since it enabled them, under 
 the notion of protecting commerce, to curtail the free- 
 dom of individual action and to prevent trade from nm- 
 ning into those profitable channels, which traders are 
 best able to select for themselves." Buckle's work is a 
 monument of research ; and, as it is a mass of generahsa- 
 tion, drawn from the whole world's history, and pre- 
 sented in an earnest, impartial, and logical spirit; it 
 affords a veritable magazine of pohtical and sociological 
 material for the student, who seeks to grasp the true 
 principles of statecraft. 
 
 Take again Lecky's Rise and Influence of Rationalism 
 in Europe. This is a work that takes a sweeping 
 panoramic survey of history, in tracing the gradual 
 apphcation of reason to human affairs ; by which touch- 
 stone matters of practical worldly importance were 
 slowly but steadily stripped of the cobwebs that had been 
 spun round them by the earher theologies, and had long 
 discouraged and hampered the logical discussion of the 
 relationship of such matters to man's daily Hfe. He 
 shows, by a wealth of historical illustration, drawn from 
 the histories of almost every European country, how
 
 Human Records. 65 
 
 bigotry and superstition had at one time enveloped and 
 clogged human thought ; and how, by slow degrees, 
 their influence had been discarded, as men acquired 
 confidence in their own reasoned judgment. 
 
 He shows, too, how the courageous and trenchant 
 writings of the occasional greater intellects of their time 
 had operated upon the more numerous but less-learned 
 classes, and thence filtered down to the masses, who 
 had previously been almost completely governed in their 
 emotional activities by the dogmas of the churches. 
 
 Human Hberty, as one of the most cherished of human 
 possessions, was here involved ; for it required centuries 
 to root out the widespread behef in witchcraft, by which 
 whole peoples were enthralled, and their views distorted, 
 in relation to their fellow beings, who were often mentally 
 in advance of their persecutors. Lecky quotes Lord 
 Bacon, to the effect that it is the duty of every man to 
 suspend his full and resolved assent to the doctrines he 
 had been taught, till he has impartially considered and 
 examined them for himself ; which maxim somids trite 
 enough in the twentieth century ; although that 
 apparently self-evident proposition is even to-day widely 
 ignored in regard to many current creeds and their 
 tenets. 
 
 In this comprehensive survey, Lecky deals not only 
 with the clarifying influence of reason upon the rehgious 
 and emotional side of men, but shows its effect in regard 
 to convictions of moral and scientific importance. He 
 traces the history of politics from their being at one time 
 largely imder the direction of churchmen, to their being 
 gradually rescued from their control and reposed in 
 monarchs ; who, in their turn, were constrained to exer-
 
 56 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 cise their governing functions on more worldly and 
 practical lines, or to have that exercise gradually wrested 
 from them, to be wielded by men of the world, who better 
 understood the people and their needs. He shows, too, 
 the growth of a reasoning spirit in its appHcation to 
 industrial history ; how political economy, as a science, 
 originating with the Venetians, imparted an intellectual 
 ascendancy to industry; how the Stage began to 
 operate as an educational influence, and as an 
 index of the conditions of civihsation ; how this 
 form of amusement and instruction provoked the 
 opposition of the Church, and, in France, led to 
 the condemnation and ostracism of actors. Then 
 came, by the further application of reason, the dispelling 
 of the economic misconception that gold was the only 
 form of wealth ; by which misconception undue atten- 
 tion had been devoted to gold mines and gold mining ; 
 whilst manufactures had been neglected, as not adding 
 to the national wealth. He shows how this misconcep- 
 tion led to the equally benighted embargo on the export 
 of money, and so effected the ruin of certain colonies. 
 
 The same work shows the gradual recognition of the 
 behef in manufactures, as a som-ce of national wealth, 
 and traces the invention and growing use of credit, and 
 the development of machinery, with its economic effects 
 on the welfare of the people. 
 
 The foregoing is but an outline of the mass of historical 
 knowledge, and the wealth of political and economic 
 illustration, which this work affords to those who seek an 
 easier, if less thorough, method of historical study. Let 
 me now turn to another of these works, in which the 
 student of politics will find a body of historical generahsa-
 
 Human Records. 67 
 
 tion that is full of intellectual food and valuable sugges- 
 tion, bearing on his study. I refer to Draper's Intellectual 
 Development of Europe, which affords a comprehensive 
 bird's-eye view of the world's history : dealing with the 
 more important steps, some forward, and some backward, 
 in the ever-present tendency of individuals and groups 
 to seek to discover and effect improvements in their 
 sociological condition. In this work are traced the rise 
 and fall of nations and races, extending over centuries 
 and even ages of time, and mvolvmg a great variety of 
 movements in rehgion and morahty, leading to wars and 
 cataclysms of every sort and dimension. Human affairs 
 are therein presented in a sort of panoramic view, as if 
 the reader had been taken up into a high momitain and 
 had the whole process of centuries of world-movements 
 passed before him in miniature for his personal edifica- 
 tion. Such a work must have involved its wi-iter in a 
 stupendous amomit and variety of research, such as 
 seems almost impossible in a single lifetime ; but it is 
 obviously the result of a resort to a veritable hbrary of 
 other encyclopaedic hterature, in which have been 
 gathered up and systematised, science, art, literature, 
 rehgion, morahty, pohtics, philosophy, and a score of 
 other important branches of human knowledge. Many 
 far-reaching theories in regard to human affairs are 
 advanced and fortified by historical illustrations ; and 
 these are not presented in isolated form, but in such a 
 maimer as to show the relative effect of one series of 
 events upon another, as weU as of the movements in one 
 age upon another age. Underlying this great body of 
 historical matter, the reader is confronted with the prob- 
 lem of determining whether the world in which we Uve,
 
 68 The Truisms of Statecraft, 
 
 with all its physical phenomena, upon which the human 
 race depends, is not a mere particle in a mechanical 
 universe ; and whether, notwithstanding man's apparent 
 voUtion in shaping his own course of events and destiny, 
 he is not being carried by the imdercurrents of nature, 
 in directions which his comparative insignificance in the 
 economy of things prevents him from discerning or 
 appreciating. Historical events are presented in broad 
 outhne, in such a way as to show that the progressive 
 stages of nations have their comiterparts in analogous 
 stages of growth and development in the individual ; and 
 events are passed in review in such a way as to produce 
 the conviction, which the waiter puts boldly forward, 
 viz., that everything in the world is undergoing so con- 
 tinuous a change that nothing is permanent or even 
 abiding, when viewed in a broad panoramic spirit. 
 Marked care is taken in the work to draw a careful dis- 
 tinction between philosophy and poUtics ; in which 
 latter, human affairs are looked at on a closer view. In 
 the former, we are told that "Empires are but sand hills 
 in the hour-glass of Time," whilst, in the latter, we are 
 led to see that the human events of our own time and 
 country are only discernible in detail by joining in them, 
 and, for the time being, losing sight of the greater whirling 
 movements of history as seen from the philosophic 
 outlook. As the writer informs us : "He who is im- 
 mersed in the turmoil of a crowded city, sees nothing but 
 the acts of men, whilst he who ascends to a sufficient 
 elevation loses sight of passing conflicts, and no longer 
 hears the contentions. If he attain to the truly philo- 
 sophical, he would fail to discern the sUghtest indication 
 of man, his free-will or his works."
 
 Human Records. 69 
 
 We are not here so much concerned with the "truly 
 philosophical" view of things ; but the perusal and study 
 of that aspect of this great epitome of human affairs 
 cannot fail to impart to those who pursue them a broad 
 cosmopoUtan spirit, and a fine magnanimous fervour 
 that would be a wholesome ingredient in every branch of 
 the world's poUtics. 
 
 There are many generalisations in this work, apart 
 from its philosophical value, which have a distinct bear- 
 ing on statesmanship ; wherein its author traces the 
 parallel between the characters of nations and individuals 
 — the educated and the illiterate, the idle and the indus- 
 trious, the rich and the poor, the intelligent or reasoning, 
 and the superstitious. He shows, by historical illustra- 
 tion, how nations rise and fall, as they are successful or 
 unsuccessful, in discovering, and applying to their own 
 affairs, the secrets of good government. He shows how 
 much more easy has been the harmonious commingling 
 of races who have lived and developed east or west of 
 one another, as compared with those who have moved 
 in their migrations down the hues of longitude ; and the 
 general effect of the study of such a mass of historical 
 knowledge, condensed by a broad, tolerant, and impartial 
 authorship, into so panoramic a survey, is to soften the 
 political asperities that are so surely engendered by 
 allowing the mind to dwell exclusively on merely local 
 conditions, and the more microscopic aspirations of 
 small communities. Now, that distances are being en- 
 compassed ; and nationalities, that seemed far apart, are 
 being brought into closer and more neighbourly contact 
 in the world's mingling ; prejudices have to be over- 
 come ; and a study of the broad and sweeping spirit of
 
 60 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 this work should be cherished, as in itself humanising, 
 and as the basis of a fbier temperament for those who are 
 more and more drawn into international relationships. 
 The attempt at a new world -partnership which has so 
 recently led to the joint signatures of fifteen hundred 
 millions of people in all quarters of the world, in one 
 international league, is an event that demands a wider 
 recognition of this broader spirit in national dealings. 
 
 Adam Smith's Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the 
 Wealth of Nations, pubHshed nearly 150 years ago, is 
 another epoch-making work, which, in its time, 
 changed the whole face of political economy. He 
 had already been Professor of Logic, and of Moral 
 Philosophy, and had made a great stir in 
 the world by the pubUcation of his work on the 
 Theory of Moral Sentiments. In consequence of the 
 fame of this book, students came from all parts of 
 the country (Scotland) to the University of Glasgow. 
 He subsequently retreated to the country for some years, 
 having already devoted twenty years of work to the 
 study of subjects coimected with the science of political 
 economy. Professor Stewart spoke of The Wealth of 
 Nations as "the most comprehensive and perfect work 
 that had yet appeared on the general principles of any 
 branch of legislation." The same learned authority 
 said that "a great and leading object of Mr. Adam Smith's 
 speculations was to demonstrate that the most effectual 
 plan for advancing a people to greatness is to maintain 
 that order of things which nature has pointed out, by 
 allowing every man, so long as he observes the rules of 
 justice, to pursue his own interest in his own way, and to 
 bring both his industry and his capital into the freest
 
 Human Records. 61 
 
 competition with those of his fellow citizens." Several 
 authors had before written on commercial affairs, but 
 Adam Smith was the first who "reduced the information 
 obtainable on the subject, to regular form and order, 
 and deduced from it the poHcy which an enlightened 
 commercial nation ought to adopt." It has been said 
 that Adam Smith derived some of his materials from the 
 French economists, which is not denied ; and that he 
 obtained some advantage from his personal association 
 with the eminent French statesman Turgot; but Stewart, 
 who himself had published a work on poUtical economy, 
 expressed the opinion that "the general principles of the 
 Wealth of Nations were altogether original, and the result 
 of its author's own reflections." 
 
 The book begins by dwelling upon the wonderful 
 results of the "division of labour," as distinguished from 
 the more primitive method of each man's attempting 
 to do for himself personally all the things that are 
 required to be done for his own use and comfort ; and 
 he demonstrates the extraordinary advantages that 
 naturally follow, in the increase of quantity produced ; 
 the perfection of the work performed, because of the 
 acquired skill ; and the decreased cost of the commodity 
 produced ; in all three of which advantages the whole 
 community benefits. He deals in due course with prices, 
 wages and profits, rent, money, the rise and progress of 
 cities, and the commerce of towns. One of his most 
 instructive chapters is that upon "Restraints upon 
 importation from foreign countries," which strikes a 
 severe blow at all theories of "protection." He says 
 that "to give the monopoly of the home market to the 
 produce of domestic industry, in any particular art or
 
 62 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 manufacture, is in some measure to direct private people 
 in what manner they ought to employ their capital, and 
 must, in almost all cases, be either a useless or a hurtful 
 regulation" ; and he goes on to show that, by artificial 
 means — hot beds, hot walls, etc. — "good fruit could be 
 raised in Scotland," and "very good wine too," at about 
 thirty times the expense for which, at least, equall}^ good 
 can be brought from foreign comitries. This is of course 
 the chief argument which free-traders nowadays use 
 against the system of protection, as practised in many 
 parts of the world ; and it is usually disposed of in pro- 
 tectionist coimtries by the terms "old fashioned" and 
 similar epithets ; but it is worthy of note that the great 
 majority of those who employ these epithets are per- 
 sonally interested in the "domestic industries" referred 
 to by Adam Smith, or have never been in the independent 
 mental position to investigate the fiscal problem, im- 
 partially or thoroughly, so as to give any value to their 
 economic opinions. Adam Smith makes, at this stage 
 of his inquiry, the following pertinent remark, to which 
 it would be difficult to find a logical answer, viz., that 
 "what is prudence in the conduct of every private 
 family, can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom"; 
 and it is notable that no protectionist has yet been dis- 
 covered who appHes to his own domestic affairs the 
 doctrine that he advocates for his country. 
 
 Adam Smith proves his impartiahty by making some 
 careful exceptions in the cases of materials required for 
 defence and in shipping. This chapter on "Restraints" 
 would be profitable, if unpalatable reading, to all who 
 have been beguiled by the superficial attractions of 
 "protection." It is notable, too, that Adam Smith
 
 Human Records, 63 
 
 clearly anticipated the arguments of the more modem 
 "Fair Traders," and disposed of them somewhat 
 effectually. He deals at length with "Bounties," and, 
 in so doing, affords a veritable storehouse of practical 
 illustrations, as he does on "Restraints." This same 
 work contains a most enlightening chapter on Colonies, 
 of which there were few great examples at the time when 
 he wrote, such as are now embraced under the term 
 "Dominions." He comments upon the tendency, which 
 is now very patent, of Colonial legislatures losing 
 sight of larger questions concerning the Empire, by 
 reason of their narrower vision, which results from 
 their too great concentration on their own local afifairs. 
 Some of his observations on the effects of the narrower 
 outlook of the legislators of colonies are more severe 
 than just, as applied to modern British possessions ; for 
 they were written with reference to the American 
 Colonies, at a time when feeHng ran high in regard 
 to the relative taxing rights of the Mother Country 
 and her offshoots. 
 
 It has been well said that this remarkable work is 
 written with "an air of simplicity and truth"; and its 
 writer certainly fortifies his arguments with a great 
 treasure of practical illustration, drawn from the business 
 workaday world, that lay around him when he wrote, 
 and which is not altered in principle, though it may be in 
 volume, at this time, nearly 140 years later. To read it 
 is to undergo an economic education, not only in facts 
 of history, but also in the quiet, cool and normal spirit 
 in which it is written. The Times spoke of Adam Smith 
 on the occasion of his centenary in 1876 as "the first 
 systematic exponent of the science of poHtical economy.
 
 64 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 in which both Englishmen and Frenchmen had laboured"; 
 and it expressed the views, in its leading columns on that 
 occasion, that "his genius enabled him to grasp, out of 
 vast materials around, certain bold principles, which 
 lifted to the rank of a science pursuits which, up to 1776, 
 were regarded as more or less desultory inquiries." 
 
 The last regular treatise to which I shall refer, as 
 affording a body of historical generalisations, the perusal 
 and study of which cannot fail to be of great service to 
 the political student, is Herbert Spencer's Study of 
 Sociology. It is in the nature of an introduction to that 
 writer's system of philosophy, which, in greater detail, 
 fills many volumes of close and highly abstract reading, 
 that only a limited number of students attempt to 
 digest. This Study of Sociology is in itself a mass of 
 practical and scientific material, carefully arranged and 
 classified, so as to demonstrate, in regular sequence, the 
 different subjects which need to be considered by all who 
 approach the work of legislation in the true spirit, and 
 with a reasonable prospect of usefulness. The author 
 begins by defining sociology as the science of society ; 
 that is, the logical and accurate consideration of all the 
 elements or factors that require to be taken into account 
 in the political regulation of a community's affairs. 
 It is spoken of as a science ; because it presupposes 
 that the regulation of society, at which it aims, 
 will be approached in an accurate, unbiassed, and 
 scientific spirit. The book opens with an inquiry 
 as to whether there is such a science ? And the 
 author shows, by an abimdance of illustration, that 
 if only "society" be looked at in that spirit of accuracy ; 
 the regulation of its affairs can be made the subject of
 
 Human Records. 65 
 
 fixed and definite principles, so as to do justice to each 
 individual, and secure completeness and stability in its 
 composition and activities. He shows the "need" for 
 such a science by enumerating a long series of instances, 
 in which the want of scientific treatment of matters of 
 public interest leads to injustice, individual and class 
 injury, and considerable waste of human effort. He 
 then proceeds to demonstrate the "nature" of the social 
 science, by showing how commmiities of men are built 
 up ; and how much their successful regulation depends 
 upon the recognition of the true relationship of the 
 individual to the community of which he or she is a unit. 
 In the course of this discussion, the reader is constantly 
 reminded of the parallel that exists between the structure 
 of human institutions, and their successful conduct, and 
 that of living organisms in the animal world. Then 
 follows an account, again copiously illustrated by his- 
 torical generahsation, of the "difficulties" of the social 
 science, in which the shortcomings of men as observers, 
 and their Umited knowledge of certain subjects, are 
 emphasised, including among "difficulties" their pre- 
 judices, likings, superstitions and personal interests, as 
 disturbing factors in the process of working out the 
 problems that present themselves. Spencer then deals 
 with the difficulties in detail ; the "intellectual" and the 
 "emotional" in man himself, as prime factors in the study, 
 co-ordination and active agency, in the various mental 
 operations involved in dealing with sociological phe- 
 nomena. He then proceeds, in still greater detail to 
 consider the various forms of prejudice or "bias" that 
 prevent men from taking a normal and balanced view 
 of the facts and forces that are called into play in dealing
 
 66 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 with political problems. He treats separately of the 
 "educational bias," the "bias of patriotism," the "class 
 bias," the "poUtical bias," the "theological bias"; and 
 again he illustrates his contentions with generalised 
 historical data, in such a manner as to afford invaluable 
 assistance to his readers. 
 
 He next demonstrates the necessity for a course of 
 educational "discipline," in order to qualify those who 
 desire to deal with matters of public interest in a scien- 
 tific spirit ; and he enumerates two branches of science, 
 a knowledge of which he deems to be essential to effect 
 such a discipline. They are the study of biology and 
 psychology. He himself had, during his earlier career, 
 written exhaustive treatises on these two sciences, as 
 portion of his system of philosophy, and as contributions 
 to the science of sociology. Under these heads, he shows, 
 in the smaller work now rmder examination, ho w indispens- 
 able it is for political thinkers to understand at least the 
 general principles of the science of life (biology) as well as 
 the general principles of the science of mind (psycho- 
 logy) ; and he concludes by saying : "There can be no 
 understanding of social actions without some knowledge 
 of human nature ; there can be no deep knowledge of 
 human nature without some knowledge of the laws of 
 mind ; there can be no adequate knowledge of the laws 
 of mind without some knowledge of the laws of life. 
 And in order that knowledge of the laws of life, as 
 exhibited in man, may be properly grasped, attention 
 must be given to the laws of life in general." 
 
 These are only examples of a few of the works of 
 historical generahsation that our English literature 
 afifords to those who seriously desire to follow up the
 
 Human Records. 67 
 
 study of political science, which is so intimately bound 
 up with statecraft or statesmanship. 
 
 There is still open to the historical student a great 
 body of iiseful data which, though the fact is not generally 
 recognised, throws a highly valuable Hght on present- 
 day politics, and political principles generally. I refer 
 to the better-known fiction of the later half of the 
 eighteenth century and of the whole of the nineteenth 
 century. The writings of Richardson, Jane Austen, Maria 
 Edgeworth, Mrs. GaskeU, Trollope, Bulwer Lytton, 
 Thackeray, Disraeli, and Dickens. These instructive 
 works are replete with illustrations of the legislative 
 blmiders of the times in which they were written, as 
 well as of the direful results and abuses which flowed 
 from those blunders. Each of the writers named, con- 
 sciously or unconsciously exposed social conditions, in 
 which those abuses and errors were humorously and 
 entertainingly revealed ; and the chief value of those 
 exposures is the fact that they were vividly portrayed 
 by incident and dialogue, that in their probabiHty 
 and feasibility tested the somidness of the various 
 propositions they sought to enforce.
 
 68 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HISTORY 
 Its True Use in the Art of Statecraft 
 
 "jV /TAN'S happiness or misery in the world depends 
 upon his knowledge of, and his ability to utihse, 
 the laws of nature which are beneficial, and to avoid 
 those that are inimical, to his welfare ; and the same 
 principle, which applies to the individual, applies to 
 communities made up of individual men and women. 
 
 The art of human government — involving a knowledge 
 of the sciences of economics and political philosophy — 
 centres round human nature ; for, in the absence of 
 human nature — as already pointed out — there would be 
 no such subject as politics, and poUtical philosophy, and 
 no such institution as human government. 
 
 The study of man's nature is one of the most inscrut- 
 able of sciences, involving, as already submitted, a more 
 or less complete knowledge of his mind and his body, as 
 well as of their physiological relationship to one another. 
 
 A complete knowledge of human nature involves a 
 study of man s real, as distinguished from his supposed 
 needs ; and the conditions of his more abiding welfare, 
 as distinguished from what he believes to be for his 
 immediate good. 
 
 Wise government, or the art of regulating a community 
 of men and women, so as to secure the maximum aggre-
 
 Human Records. 69 
 
 gate of human happiness — immediate and ultimate — for 
 all its units, involves a wide knowledge of human history, 
 under all known conditions ; for, as Sir John Seeley 
 says : "Pohtics are vulgar when they are not liberahsed 
 by history ; and history fades into mere literature when 
 it loses sight of its relation to practical politics." 
 
 True statesmanship — the province of the statesman — 
 may be distinguished from mere politics — the province 
 of the mere politician — as a matter of proportion and 
 perspective ; for whilst the latter is local, or parochial, or 
 only narrowly national in his outlook, the former has the 
 longer vision, sees the international effects of a policy, 
 and has regard for dangers beyond the sight or the ken 
 of the narrower type of mind. 
 
 As an interesting illustration of this difference, Con- 
 greve, in his learned work on Aristotle, says : 'The 
 Roman Empire, as an incorporat'on of the civiHsed 
 world, was not within Cicero s ken ; and. naturally, still 
 less within that of Aristotle"; and he adds : 'Rame as a 
 city, governing the world for its o-wti narrow interests, 
 was to Cicero . . . the hmit of his vision ; and hence 
 his failure as a statesman." And this mental weakness 
 of a contracted vision and imagination is at the root of 
 many failures among public men ; who know, but fail 
 to reahse vividly, in their circumscribed pohtical 
 activities, the existence, and the claim, for equal con- 
 sideration, of the wider domain of their own nation, 
 outside the immediate area which absorbs their atten- 
 tion. 
 
 The study of human nature is twofold in another 
 sense — in one case relating to the individual; in the 
 other to the group or community, upon the successful
 
 70 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 government of which the happiness of the individual 
 largely depends. 
 
 A wide knowledge of man in the group, involving an 
 equally wide knowledge of the individual, as a social 
 unit, (together with a wide knowledge of his individual 
 and collective activities), has come to be known as the 
 science of sociology. 
 
 And such a wide knowledge of human nature, in- 
 dividually and collectively, involves a study of man in all 
 stages of his development, from primitive to civilised 
 times, under all climatic and racial conditions, and in 
 all the transitional circumstances of his social evolution. 
 
 * 
 
 Lord Bolingbroke, in his work on The True Use of 
 History, says that "history is philosophy teaching by 
 example." 
 
 Although the world contains, and has contained, 
 innumerable races that have lived apart through many 
 ages ; close study shows that, beneath the veneer ; 
 underneath all their varying stages, nationalities and 
 creeds, there are to be found the same fundamental 
 native characteristics. 
 
 The records of man, of the immediate and the remote 
 past, of all races and nationaUties, in all stages of human 
 evolution, constitute the most important and useful parts 
 of the world's history. 
 
 Human history, properly understood, is not confined 
 to the records of naval and military warfare, the rise and 
 fall of monarchs or of states and principaUties ; nor yet 
 to the scandals and personalities of courts or nobles — 
 although even these are useful, as illustrating certain 
 weaknesses of human nature — but includes every kind of 
 literature, of art, of traditions, of material remains that
 
 Human Records. 71 
 
 throw light on the origin, nature and evolution of ordinary 
 men and women, as they have lived and died at different 
 times, and in different parts of the world. 
 
 History, for political use in perfecting the art of govern- 
 ment, is a record of what man has attempted and done, 
 or failed to do, in the past : a record of his experiments 
 with the unchangeable laws of nature, and the slowly 
 changing characteristics o^ human nature ; affording, 
 where possible, a clue to his successes and failures in the 
 contact and the struggle. 
 
 As will be shown hereafter, caution is necessary in its 
 interpretation ; for as Macaulay says : "Facts are the 
 mere dross of history. It is from the abstract truth 
 which interpenetrates them, and lies latent among them, 
 like gold in the ore, that the mass derives its value." 
 
 History, if properly studied, apart from the various 
 forms of bias in the mind of the historian, the reader, the 
 interpreter or the observer, should be the most useful 
 of all guides for the future, in saving man from palpably 
 useless and wasteful repetitions of past errors, and 
 poUtical miscalculations ; and for enabHng him to avail 
 himself of the past successes of his predecessors in his- 
 tory, in experimental government. 
 
 The man or woman who gains no advantage from his 
 or her own, or his neighbour's, experiences in life, has 
 failed to grasp the lessons that nature has afforded him ; 
 and, in the same way, the nation that fails through its 
 political guides, to utilise the advantage of its own or 
 any other community's national experiences, as recorded 
 in. the histories of their past, has likewise failed to grasp 
 the same lessons which nature has afforded on a larger 
 scale.
 
 72 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 History, in this sense, is therefore an essential study 
 for all men and women who essay to take part in the 
 political guidance or guardianship of the nation or com- 
 mmiity in which they live. For, as Lord Acton says, in 
 his Study of History : "The science of politics is the one 
 science that is deposited by the stream of history, like 
 grains of gold in the sand of a river ; and the knowledge 
 of the past, the record of truths revealed by experience, is 
 eminently practical, as an instrument of action, and a 
 power that goes to the making of the future." 
 
 The politician, then, who is ignorant of history is an 
 ever-present danger to the State, in the management of 
 which he takes part ; because, as the result of that 
 ignorance, he invariably seeks to retry experiments upon 
 his feUows, without knowing whether they have been 
 previously attempted and failed ; and he thereby also 
 misses or ignores, in many instances, the lessons involved 
 in human activities, which history shows to have pre- 
 viously produced benefits for those who practised them. 
 
 It would be an abuse of the adage that "history repeats 
 itself" to look for exact parallels in the events of the 
 past and those of the present day, with a view to 
 applying the outcome in the former, to the circumstances 
 of the latter ; for probably no exact parallel has ever 
 existed between the circumstances of any historical event 
 and any juxtaposition of facts in another time. If such 
 parallels are looked for by the student, he will be dis- 
 appointed ; and history, as a guide to the higher politics, 
 will be unproductive. The true use of history is the 
 lesson it affords in trends or tendencies, rather than in 
 exact parallels ; and in this respect the past is full of 
 finger posts, pointing the way to success or failure, accord-
 
 Human Records. ?3 
 
 ing to the road that is chosen out of the many that com- 
 mend themselves to the minds of men of different degrees 
 of knowledge ; of different temperaments ; and of 
 different forms of prejudice or leaning. 
 
 As Buckle has said, in his History of Civilisation : 
 "The real history of the human race is the history of 
 tendencies, which are perceived by the mind, and not of 
 events, which are discerned by the senses . . . the 
 death of a prince, the loss of a battle, and the change of a 
 djniasty are matters which fall entirely within the pro- 
 vince of the senses ; and the movement in which they 
 happen can be recorded by the most ordinary observers. 
 But those great intellectual revolutions, upon which all 
 other revolutions are based, cannot be measured by so 
 simple a standard. To trace the movements of the 
 human mind, it is necessary to contemplate it under 
 several aspects, and then co-ordinate the results of what 
 we have separately studied. By this means we arrive 
 at certain general conclusions, which, like the ordinary 
 estimate of averages, increase in value, in proportion as 
 we increase the number of instances from which they are 
 collected." 
 
 And as John Stuart Mill says, in his well-known 
 Inaugural Address : "All true political science is, in one 
 sense of the phrase, deduced from the tendencies of 
 things : tendencies known, either through our general 
 experience of human nature, or as the result of an 
 analysis of the course of history, considered as a pro- 
 gressive evolution." 
 
 Unquestionably, man will never be in a position to 
 say that no further records are needed ; for, whatever 
 be the future heights attained in human culture, there
 
 74 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 will always be scope for further progress ; as each 
 progressive stage will lead to new and unsuspected 
 intellectual characteristics, as subjects for study, and so 
 reveal possibilities of society reaching still higher planes. 
 Although Aristotle took a very wide view of human 
 nature and human possibilities; strangely enough, he 
 nevertheless considered that the historical data at his own 
 disposal (nearly five centuries before the Christian era) 
 were enough on which to rear a permanent system of 
 social organisation, provided they were properly 
 marshalled and co-ordinated. 
 
 This also must be borne in mind — ^that in seeking to 
 use the observed "trends" or "tendencies" of history in 
 the past, as guides to an estimate of the probabilities of 
 the present or the future, the operation must entirely 
 fail, unless we take into careful consideration, also, a 
 number of incidental circumstances ; as, for instance, the 
 state of organisation and civilisation existing in the past, 
 as compared with those of the present time ; the national 
 characteristics of both communities ; the geographical 
 circumstances of the two societies, between which the 
 parallel is sought to be drawn ; as also the sociological 
 readiness of the peoples of to-day or to-morrow to submit 
 to any particular legislative change, which is sought to 
 be based on the supposed parallel. In short, it would be 
 an error to use history as a guide, or as a reason for any 
 hard and fast application of past conditions to the present, 
 without considering this great variety of circumstances, 
 that themselves can only have been registered in the 
 legislator's mind by an already acquired wide knowledge 
 of poUtical affairs.
 
 BOOK III. 
 HUMAN NEEDS 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Chap. I. Their Bearing on the Art of State- 
 craft. 
 
 II. Human Needs Defined. 
 
 III. Social Organisation. 
 
 IV. Individual Liberty. 
 V. Private Property. 
 
 VI. The State in Relation to Industry. 
 VII. National Defence. 
 VIII. Taxation.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HUMAN NEEDS 
 Their Bearing on the Art of Statecraft 
 
 npHE primary aims of all true statecraft, whether in 
 relation to a tribe or a nation^ are to preserve order ■ 
 and good will among the units or classes of the com- 
 munity ; to facilitate the growth and development of 
 its commercial and industrial activities ; to encourage 
 personal culture and elevating ideals ; and to secure its 
 permanent corporate existence as a community or body- 
 poUtic. 
 
 In order to produce these desirable and in some 
 respects indispensable results, there must be — in addition 
 to the recognition of a fixed and stable form of social 
 organisation — some common xmderstanding, actual or 
 implied, among all its units as to the necessity for 
 respecting one another's rights, recognising one another's 
 limitations, and, corporate ly, insisting on and enforcing 
 the fulfilment of one another's obhgations. 
 
 In ordinary animal life, brute force or cunning are the 
 ultimate tests of supremacy ; and the survival of the 
 "fittest" (in one or other, or both, of these respects) is the 
 dominating law ; but, in human affairs, one of man's 
 first "needs," as a member of a commimity, is the dis- 
 allowance of these primitive tests as standards, and the 
 substitution of a mutual recognition, between its units, 
 of a "give-and-take" and "live-and-let-live" spirit, by 
 the practice of which pohtical society is made possible. 
 
 77
 
 78 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 The struggle for existence, in a world in which nature 
 — though responsive and even generous where intel- 
 hgence and energy are expended upon it — is nevertheless 
 unrelenting, and in which bodily wants have to be pro- 
 vided for, presupposes the freedom of each unit to move 
 about, and therefore to enjoy what is known as Hberty 
 of locomotion. The continuous guarantee of that form 
 of freedom, thereafter, becomes in a civihsed community 
 one of man's first needs. 
 
 The need for self-preservation involves the acquisi- 
 tion of food, clothing, and shelter ; and, when these are 
 obtained, a further need arises, viz., that of each unit 
 being guaranteed the full and, if essential, the exclusive 
 enjoyment of the things so acquired, in accordance with 
 the rules or laws of the community. 
 
 The right of individual liberty, and the right to have 
 one's private property respected and vindicated by one's 
 fellows, are then the first and most vital needs of the 
 members of both civihsed and primitive communities. 
 
 The observance of these two rights — hberty and private 
 property — by aU the units of a community, satisfy the 
 needs of primitive and progressive human nature ; 
 since, by that observance, men are encouraged and 
 enabled to formulate their aims, and put all their 
 activities into motion, in any direction they may think 
 fit, subject only to hmitations at those points, and in 
 those directions, in which they would, if imchecked, 
 intrench upon the equal personal hberty, or the equal 
 enjoyment of private property, of another unit or other 
 units. 
 
 Intimidation, whether of a physical, moral or 
 spiritual nature, is one of the most dangerous and
 
 Human Needs. 79 
 
 destructive forms of infringement, and should be 
 imceasingly deprecated and condemned, as striking at 
 the root of liberty and free citizenship. 
 
 These two needs — Uberty and security — presuppose 
 the existence of some authority, empowered by the 
 community, and fortified by it, if need be, to enforce 
 their observance by each and all, and to require the other 
 units of the community, where necessary, to support 
 corporately the authority named, in insisting upon that 
 observance. 
 
 With the estabhshment of such an authority, and the 
 enforcement of the two principles named, internal 
 harmony can be sufficiently preserved ; but there may 
 still be danger of disintegration from the aggression of 
 other outside commimities ; so that a further need arises, 
 in order to secure a permanence of society : that is, the 
 provision for co-operation among the imits, for purposes 
 of defence against outside destructive or aggressive 
 forces. 
 
 The work of organising a community, so as to lead to 
 and enforce the recognition of these several needs, and 
 the securing of their continued observance and true 
 limitation in all the mjTiad forms which they take 
 in a modem community, constitute the work of the 
 statesman and the art of statecraft, and result in the 
 estabhshment and maintenance of what is known as 
 "civiHsation." 
 
 What are human "needs" in general, as distinguished 
 from human "wants," will be treated of in the following 
 chapter.
 
 80 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 HUMAN NEEDS DEFINED 
 
 ly /f AN'S "needs" must be carefully distinguished from 
 ^^ his "wants." 
 
 A child "wants" to eat a green apple, but what it 
 "needs" is wholesome food. 
 
 The reader can draw many parallels for himself from 
 this homely but simple and instructive illustration ; for 
 the air is full, nowadays, of the clamourings of thought- 
 less individuals and classes, for parliamentary activities, 
 which are freely advocated, without consideration as to 
 the social wholesomeness of what they are crying for, or 
 as to the justice of requiring their demands to be satisfied 
 at the expense of their tax-paying fellow citizens. 
 
 The child, having no knowledge of the constituents of 
 foods, or their effects on the body, is not as good a judge 
 of its real needs, in that respect, as an intelhgent parent 
 or a physician ; and, likewise, however much the average 
 man or woman may want to have certain laws passed ; 
 neither he nor she is always the most competent judge 
 of what is best for his own or the people's ultimate 
 political good ; since neither may have closely studied 
 the probable unseen and imexpected operations of 
 various forms of legislation, nor be aware of the effects — 
 immediate and remote — which any particular law or 
 regulation may have upon the varied interests of a mixed 
 community.
 
 Human Needs. 81 
 
 The first real "need" of a human being is the fullest 
 opportunity for securing direct and indirect self-preserva- 
 tion for himself, as well as for those dependent upon him. 
 
 The power of securing direct self-preservation pre- 
 supposes the possession of physical liberty to pursue his 
 vocation, and to defend himself and others dependent 
 upon him, in the event of their being menaced. 
 
 The power of securing indirect self-preservation pre- 
 supposes the enjoyment of an extended liberty, to procure 
 food for the maintenance of himself and his family, and, 
 if required, to enjoy the exclusive use of it. 
 
 The possession of this liberty, and of these powers of 
 securing food, and enjoying the use of that which has 
 been secured, presupposes a check being exercised over 
 others, who may be of superior physical strength or 
 cmming, enabling them to overcome him, and thus 
 able to appropriate that which he had legitimately 
 acquired for himself. 
 
 A system of checks and limitations upon one another, 
 among the units of a group of men and women, for their 
 mutual protection and welfare, presupposes the exis- 
 tence of some form of social organisation, which can only 
 be estabHshed, and made secure and permanent, by a 
 general agreement to submit to restrictions and Hmita- 
 tions in the general interests of the whole commimity. 
 
 Such a social organisation being established, with 
 power of limitation over the activities of all units, in the 
 interest of the whole group; it becomes necessary not 
 only to secure but to encourage the fullest measure of 
 individual Hberty to each, by restricting the remainder, 
 only at that point at which their Hberties are equally 
 secured in the general interests.
 
 82 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 By that process, each unit has guaranteed to him the 
 fullest enjojmient of the fruits of his individual enter- 
 prise (known as the rights of "private enterprise" and of 
 "private property"), and the fullest liberty to pursue his 
 own methods of work or other vocation, to Uve his own 
 Ufe in his own way, in all respects, so long as he does not, 
 in doing so, interfere with the equal rights of others. 
 
 In addition to enterprise and property, each individual 
 has his or her own ideas of happiness, and, by this means, 
 would be allowed to pursue it in any desired direction, 
 so long as, in its pursuit, he or she respected the equal 
 rights of others. 
 
 Subject to these limitations — which become universal 
 and indispensable stipulations or restrictions — the largest 
 amount of liberty, guaranteed to each, is the most effectual 
 means of inducing men to put forth their best efforts, 
 their highest skill, and their most mature judgment, in 
 the hope of reward ; to develop their individuahty, to 
 make discoveries which contribute to the general welfare, 
 and to draw out of life the largest amount of happiness 
 for themselves and those dependent upon them. 
 
 The careful distinction between legitimate "needs" 
 and thoughtless "wants," as also of the ever-present 
 necessity for observing and providing for the Umitation 
 referred to, are in the nature of axioms, in the study of 
 statecraft.
 
 Human Needs. 83 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 SOCIAL ORGANISATION 
 
 A MERE aggregation of human beings, coming together 
 '^ spontaneously, or driven together by some common 
 aim or trouble, and without mutual arrangement as to 
 how they were going to conduct themselves toward one 
 another, would be, or would rapidly become, a mere 
 "mob." As already explained, might would dominate 
 over right ; the strongest would prevail ; the weak would 
 be at the mercy of the more powerful ; the simple and 
 confiding would become the victim of the rogue ; and 
 the inevitable result would be a state of anarchy, chaos, 
 and ultimate disintegration. 
 
 The first essential, therefore, in the formation and 
 continuation of a social community is some binding 
 mutual understanding as to the relationship of the units 
 to one another, and of each unit towards the community 
 as a whole. 
 
 Mr. Leslie Stephen, in his Science of Ethics, says : 
 "A full perception of the truth that society is not a mere 
 aggregate, but an organic growth ; that it forms a 
 whole, the laws of whose growth can be studied apart 
 from those of the individual atom, suppUes the most 
 characteristic postulate of modem speculation." 
 
 Since the advent or recognised estabhshment of what 
 is called "Society" — ^that is, poUtical society — human 
 beings have consciously grown im.der co-operation, or
 
 84 The Truisms of Statecraft, 
 
 been drawn together in systematic groups or communities, 
 for mutual protection against the forces of nature, or 
 other aggressive groups or communities. 
 
 Such groups or communities have been more or less 
 successful in their organisation, and more or less per- 
 manent in their corporate existence, according to their 
 ability to preserve harmony amongst the units ; to 
 defend themselves against the forces of nature, or against 
 the aggression of other groups ; and to make sufficient 
 provision for their continued support. And, as Mr. 
 Thorold Rogers says, in his Political Economy : "A nation 
 is civilised in proportion to the fulness with which the 
 several persons who compose it render mutual benefits 
 and services, have reciprocal interests, and multiply 
 such benefits, services, and interests." 
 
 What is known as "Society," is therefore not a 
 ready-made institution, but a growth, which has been 
 gradually evolved by a process of slow and steady 
 development ; in other words, built up out of the units, 
 as would be so many bricks in a building. 
 
 Herbert Spencer says : "What is it that we call 
 the State ? Men politically associated, voluntarily, for 
 mutual protection." 
 
 Everyone who is bom in, or received into, a growing 
 community, impHedly agrees to abide by the code of 
 rules or laws by which its units are controlled or regulated, 
 and its general interests protected against outside 
 aggression. The machinery of organisation of a society 
 or commimity consists of a labyrinth of observances, 
 regulations, and restrictions, which have been from time 
 to time imposed upon, and impliedly agreed to by, those 
 who compose it, and by which each is boimd.
 
 Human Needs. 85 
 
 These regulations began in primitive society in the 
 form of simple customs, which in time became traditions ; 
 and, as society advances, new regulations are made from 
 time to time by those in authority, till they are grown 
 to be a sort of network of limitations or restrictions, 
 which would bewilder the average man and woman, if 
 they had to suddenly acquire a knowledge of, and observe 
 them all, instead of having become gradually accustomed 
 to them throughout life. 
 
 Again and again, in the unrecorded and recorded 
 history of man, groups or communities have been formed, 
 and become disintegrated, by reason of their incomplete 
 organisation ; by consequent internal dissension ; by 
 being overwhelmed by nature, in the form of famine 
 or disease ; or by the aggression of some more powerful 
 outside group. 
 
 Many human groups, which have been, for the time, 
 highly successful in providing against these several dis- 
 integrating forces, have survived, until they, in turn, 
 have met with external forces or internal weaknesses — 
 resulting from a lack of statesmanship — which have led 
 to their ultimate disintegration and destruction. 
 
 The history of communities, much of which is buried 
 from human knowledge, is therefore a long record of 
 successes and failures of groups of men and women, who 
 have tried again and again to solve the problem of human 
 government ; that is, the art of living simultaneously, as 
 individuals, and as groups of individuals, with a view to 
 the permanent maintenance of a homogeneous com- 
 mmiity. 
 
 An excellent scientific but homely parallel has been 
 drawn between an organised community and an ordinary
 
 86 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 sponge; which, when living, consists of a multitude of 
 separate organisms, each living its separate life in the 
 framework of the whole, yet all deriving nourishment and 
 vitaHty by virtue of the parent growth, in which they live. 
 
 The increase of the world's population has caused the 
 struggle for existence, in communities in which the units 
 are thrown on their own individual resources, to become 
 more and more comphcated and strenuous ; and in each 
 case, in which a conflict has taken place between the 
 community and some cataclysm of nature, or with other 
 groups, the so-called "fittest" for the struggle have 
 survived. 
 
 As already explained, the greatest communities of the 
 world, of to-day, are, themselves, only the "survivals," 
 in the racial struggle of the world's history ; and the 
 fact that such commimities have so survived that 
 struggle, justifies the conclusion that they have, from 
 time to time, discovered and travelled along a true or 
 sound way, and do now embody in their several schemes 
 of social organisation many of the more somid principles 
 of the art of government, which have been the means 
 of saving them from the vicissitudes which, from time to 
 time, sooner or later, menace all commmiities. 
 
 There is therefore, as we have already seen, a "science" 
 of government, which can be learned from a study of the 
 history of the national Hfe of other commmiities, in the 
 near or remote past ; and there is an "art" of government, 
 which consists of the true application of the lessons which 
 the science of government teaches. 
 
 The following may be taken as a general and sum- 
 marised history of the several stages of development, as 
 generally accepted by well-known authorities on "primi-
 
 Human Needs 87 
 
 tive man." In small primitive communities, the begin- 
 nings of the social organisation spring out of the decrees 
 of the paterfamilias or head of the family, who has, in 
 such commimities, unlimited power over the members 
 of his tribe or circle. Later, in the history of such a 
 community, there is a chief or group of chiefs, who, in 
 the course of adjudicating upon the disputes that arise 
 in the tribe or clan, lay do^\^l certain observances, which, 
 by repetition, become customs, and have to be obeyed 
 by the units or inner groups of the community. 
 
 As time goes on, fresh differences arise, and are settled 
 by some such recognised authority ; and the principles 
 observed from time to time, in such settlements, become 
 additions to the growing code of traditions, that serve to 
 regulate the activities, the rights, and the obligations, of 
 those who constitute the commimity. 
 
 Interferences with the individual liberty of the units 
 of the community are checked and probably punished by 
 the authoritative heads or the governing power ; and, 
 in due time, the right of individual liberty ceases to be 
 challenged by those who, by reason of their superior 
 strength, might otherwise have become a constant 
 menace to those of less physical power. 
 
 There comes a time in such a community's history, 
 when the danger to the group from famine, in conse- 
 quence of the insufficiency of the food-supply over 
 immediate needs, is recognised ; and, thereafter, if the 
 community is to succeed, efforts are made to obtain and 
 store a surplus of the necessities of life, as provision 
 against a repetition of the scourge of famine. 
 
 For a greater or less period in the history of new tribes, 
 the surplus has been regarded as the propertj^ of the
 
 88 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 community ; so that, in the event of scarcity of food, 
 all the miits are regarded as having an equal right to 
 participate. 
 
 But, a further occasion arises in which certain members 
 of the commmiity fail or refuse to exert themselves, as 
 much as the other miits, in the production or procuring 
 of those necessities ; and, in such case, some corporate 
 action of the community is exercised to compel increased 
 activity. 
 
 At a later stage, individual members of the group 
 conceive and put into practice the idea of individual 
 exertion for individual advantage. The planting of a 
 patch of com, the planting of a group of fruit-producing 
 trees, the pursuit of game*, followed by an individual 
 claim to the result of this special individual or family 
 effort, comes to be recognised as just ; and thereafter, 
 there arises a recognition of the rights of individual or 
 group property. 
 
 These primitive rights go on increasing and elaborat- 
 ing from time to time ; and, as they are established, they 
 come to be generally recognised as the traditional laws 
 and regulations of the tribe. 
 
 In this way the community becomes increasingly 
 organised ; and the labyrinth of laws and regulations, 
 which make it so, are accumulated in the minds and 
 memories of the people, mitil they discover and adopt the 
 practice of recording them in some permanent form. 
 
 It was by this gradual process that the "Common" or, as 
 it is called, "Customary" Law of England was built up ; 
 that Courts of law were estabhshed for the interpretation 
 and enforcement of those laws ; that Parliament 
 become an established institution for the purpose of
 
 Human Needs. 89 
 
 making fresh laws to meet the ever-changing conditions 
 of society. And to-day, in every civilised community, 
 the doctrines of individual freedom, and of private 
 property, are recognised as fundamental principles ; 
 though, nowada3^s, the principles themselves are again and 
 again ignored by poUticians, who are ignorant or reckless 
 as to the principles upon which society was so built up. 
 
 Parhament has become a permanent institution for 
 the making of new, and the modification or repeal of old, 
 laws ; Municipal Councils have become the permanent 
 institutions for the making of laws or by-laws in regard 
 to purely local requirements ; and Courts of law have 
 become the permanent institutions for the interpretation 
 of all laws, over which the units of the commimity, or 
 citizens of the State, may have differences : the executive 
 being the established authority for enforcing the judg- 
 ments or decrees of the Courts. 
 
 This labyrinth of laws regulates the relationship of 
 individual citizens, one to the other, and acts as a series 
 of checks upon possible abuse of power, such as would 
 operate if no such social organisation existed. 
 
 In order to maintain the whole of these judicial and 
 law-making institutions, in their higher or lower forms, 
 and to provide for the execution of the laws, through the 
 medium of the executive ; the citizens of a community are 
 called upon from time to time to contribute to public 
 funds for the purpose ; and this form of levy on citizens 
 is known by the term "taxation." 
 
 The same process has to be resorted to in order to 
 maintain special forces — naval and mihtary — for the 
 defence of the commmiity against possible aggression 
 from without.
 
 90 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 The taxation of the members of a community is, 
 admittedly, an encroachment on the long-established 
 right of every responsible unit to exercise his individual 
 judgment in the disposal of his own private or personal 
 property. It is, however, an unavoidable encroachment ; 
 because, without it, the community would be miable to 
 provide the necessary defence force to protect itself from 
 external aggression ; and it would be equally unable, 
 without some such impost, to maintain the several 
 institutions by which the peace, order, and good govern- 
 ment of the commmiity is maintained within itself. 
 
 How, and when, and to what extent, that unavoidable 
 breach of the estabHshed right should be resorted to, is a 
 matter of scientific nicety ; because of the ease with 
 which the line of justice may be overstepped ; for it wiU 
 be always regarded as a great historic fact, that the 
 United States became separated from her original mother- 
 country, as the result of alleged unjust taxation. Taxa- 
 tion, and its just principles, will form the subject of a 
 later chapter.
 
 Human Needs. 91 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY 
 
 T IBERTY is, in the abstract, freedom from restraint 
 "^ or restriction. 
 
 What is known as "LiberaHsm," in its true sense, is 
 that political doctrine which has for its ideal the maxi- 
 mum of individual Uberty, hmited only by the equal 
 Hberty of others. It represents the line of compromise 
 between unlimited freedom, which is "anarchy," and 
 unlimited restriction, which would amount to slavery. 
 
 A Liberal is one who advocates individual freedom in 
 pontics, and not — as is popularly supposed — one who is 
 "Hberar' in the sense of being generous, with the tax- 
 payers' money. All limitations of individual liberty are 
 hindrances to human activity ; but certain restrictions 
 become necessary, where two or more human beings are 
 associated together, so as to involve the danger of con- 
 flict, in the pursuit of their respective interests. 
 
 Without Hmitations on individual hberty, poHtical 
 society would be impossible ; for unchecked Uberty 
 would become hcense, and so produce conflict, antago- 
 nism, and, ultimately, social disintegration. 
 
 The earhest Hmitations on individual freedom con- 
 stitute the beginnings of the institution of government, 
 because they deter people, who would otherwise dis-
 
 92 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 regard the interests of others, from exceeding their just 
 rights. 
 
 A human being, Uving alone on an island, as in the 
 case of Robinson Crusoe, would have no need to observe 
 any such limitations ; because, in such circumstances, 
 there would be no possibility of a conflict of interests ; 
 but the addition of a second inhabitant would — pre- 
 suming harmony is to prevail — immediately necessitate 
 such a Umitation on both, and so create the germ of the 
 institution of government. 
 
 A third inhabitant would necessitate further Hmitations 
 on all three, in their own individual interest ; and the 
 number and extent of these necessary restrictions would 
 increase with the increasing number of the community. 
 
 In a closely-populated community, the necessary 
 limitations on individual hberty become more and more 
 complex and detailed ; and their observance becomes a 
 matter of habit, among what are called "law-abiding" 
 citizens. To enforce these Hmitations, it becomes 
 necessary to impose punishments and penalties for their 
 non-observance or breach. 
 
 In primitive commmiities, these hmitations are un- 
 written ; but, as already explained, they become tradi- 
 tions ; and their observance is ultimately enforced by 
 tribal customs. 
 
 In civilised commimities, the limitations take the form 
 of regulations or laws ; and their observance is enforced 
 by definite penalties and pimishments. 
 
 In some primitive communities, breaches of tribal 
 customs have been, and are, regarded as offences against 
 the person injured or prejudiced, and most frequently 
 left to be punished at the hands, and in the discretion,
 
 Human Needs. 93 
 
 of the individual who is affected by the breach ; but in 
 civilised commiuiities, breaches of the law are regarded 
 as offences against the governing power, and the com- 
 munity as a whole, and, theoretically, are punished by 
 the whole community, acting through judges, magis- 
 trates, and poHce; for it is now an established maxim 
 that "citizens are not allowed to take the law into their 
 own hands." 
 
 Laws which limit individual liberty are, in one sense, 
 "necessary evils," but it is upon those limits that the 
 order, progress, and stabihty of poHtical society depend. 
 It follows that individual liberty should be restricted in 
 as few directions as possible, so long as the equal liberties 
 of others are sufficiently safeguarded. 
 
 The first and most essential form of individual liberty 
 is that of unfettered bodily movement ; that is, liberty of 
 locomotion ; for, without that, life would be intolerable, 
 if not almost impossible. 
 
 It is an important tribute to the growth of organised 
 society that this elementary right, which we now regard 
 as fundamental, was denied to the slaves of ancient 
 Egypt, Greece, and Rome, which, in some other respects, 
 were in possession of advanced forms of government. 
 
 The Hberty to go unmolested is among the most 
 elementary and essential of human rights ; for, without 
 it, no individual, associated with others, could pursue 
 the necessary activities for maintaining the life of himself 
 and those who depend upon him. 
 
 The Hberty to enjoy the fruits or rewards of one's own 
 mental or bodily activities or skill is, likewise, among the 
 most primary and essential of human rights, in a 
 commimity which seeks to become progressive ; for, with-
 
 94 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 out its being secured, men would not exert themselves 
 beyond the minimum effort requisite to obtain a bare 
 existence. 
 
 No two men or women are bom into the world with 
 absolutely identical personaHties ; since heredity, en- 
 vironment, and individuaUty are factors in determining 
 the resultant personality. The progress of the world 
 has been mainly produced by a series of important and 
 far-reaching discoveries and movements, originating , in 
 individual minds, and resulting from this diversity of 
 characteristics. 
 
 It is in the interests of, if not essential to, human 
 welfare, that the freest possible play and development 
 should be afforded to individual thought, effort, and 
 inventive genius ; and a wise governing power will, 
 therefore, avoid all limitations on such individual thought, 
 effort, and inventiveness, where their free exercise does 
 not have the effect of curtailing the equal liberties of 
 others in the same or any other directions. 
 
 A wise governing power will also avoid all unnecessary 
 or unavoidable limitations on the originality and 
 versatility of thought in those whom they govern ; all 
 interference with the character and scope of their various 
 occupations ; all restrictions on the uses to which they 
 apply the fruits of their efforts or skill ; provided those 
 several forms of activity and originality do not lead to 
 interference with the enjoyment of similar liberties by 
 their fellow citizens. 
 
 The history of the British race, for the last thousand 
 years, will be found, if carefully analysed, to have been 
 a slow but gradual freeing of the people from a great 
 variety of wrongly-conceived restrictions, ignorantly and
 
 Human Needs. 95 
 
 unjustly imposed by early and despotic rulers, on their 
 civil and religious liberties. 
 
 The latter part of the nineteenth, and the beginning 
 of the twentieth, century, have witnessed a reaction 
 from this liberalising process ; and there is now a grow- 
 ing and injurious tendency to attempt to put into 
 practice the popular fallacy, that social conditions can be 
 equalised, so as to be beneficial to the least capable and 
 least intelligent, by curtaiUng the activities of the more 
 capable and successful in the struggle for existence, thus 
 to restrict them to the standards of skill, of speed, and of 
 abihty of the least competent. This tendency, if 
 allowed to develop bej'ond certain hmits, would mark 
 "the beginning of the end" of any community, however 
 well estabhshed it might have been originally.
 
 96 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 PRIVATE PROPERTY 
 
 PROPERTY, in its primitive form, is "saved- 
 labour," embodied in some useful or exchangeable 
 shape. 
 
 Probably, the first permanent form which saved- 
 labour took, was in the making of primitive weapons or 
 tools, with which to secure more successfully the means 
 of subsistence. Another of the earliest forms in which 
 saved-labour was embodied was a surplus of the means of 
 subsistence, beyond immediate needs. 
 
 In the earliest stages of primitive man, at a time when 
 he had scarcely emerged from the barbarous phase, 
 saved-labour, in the form of surplus means of subsistence, 
 was claimed by him or them who had acquired or pro- 
 duced it, and, sometimes, adversely — thus leading to 
 conflict — by those who were physically strong enough 
 to dispossess the original claimant. 
 
 At a later stage, when men had learned, by experience, 
 the advantage of family or tribal organisation ; saved- 
 labour, in the form of surplus over immediate needs, 
 came to be regarded, first, as the property of the family 
 or tribe, and, at a later stage, of him or them who had 
 personally saved it. And, thus, the right of private 
 property in the individual or group came to be recognised. 
 
 The regular and systematic provision of a super- 
 abundance of production over immediate needs, probably 
 originated in the varying conditions of nature having
 
 Human Needs. 97 
 
 frequently resulted in famine and its dire consequences, 
 and so permanently impressed the survivors. 
 
 Saved-labour or property, in the form of weapons or 
 tools, seems to have been almost always regarded, in 
 primitive life, as personal to the maker, or to the 
 possessor by exchange, and, in many cases, to have been 
 buried with him after death. 
 
 It would be out of place here, except by a passing 
 reference, to recount the numerous recorded instances 
 in which the right of property is recognised even by 
 various classes of animal hfe, and in which attempts to 
 question it are resented and pimished. 
 
 In some tribal societies of primitive man, the land was 
 regarded as common property, and subdivided from time 
 to time as members increased in number ; while in 
 others it became personal, and was passed on, among the 
 members of the separate families who composed the tribe. 
 
 At a later stage in social evolution, the inequalities of 
 men, in energy, skill, and enterprise, led to the recognition 
 of divided interests in production, and therefore to the 
 recognition of individual and personal rights in the fruits 
 of such energy, skill, and enterprise : thus originating the 
 institution of private, as distinguished from tribal or 
 communal, property. The causes which probably led 
 to this change, in regarding property or saved-labour, are 
 dealt with under "Human Nature." 
 
 The knowledge that the fruits of one's efforts will be 
 recognised as such, and safeguarded as one's own in- 
 dividual property, by the group or community, is one of 
 the chief incentives to the expenditure of human energy, 
 the cultivation of skill, and the development of the spirit 
 of enterprise in man. By affording men this incentive of
 
 98 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 self-interest — limited always, as has been pointed, out — 
 and by this social guarantee, accumulation is fostered, 
 and national wealth — that is, the aggregate wealth of a 
 community's or nation's citizens — is created and built up. 
 
 Accumulation by individual citizens leads to exchange 
 of commodities, ^hich is practised even among uncivilised 
 races, where one tribe enjoys local facilities for one class 
 of production, and another for a different kind. 
 
 The practice of exchanging products leads, by degrees, 
 to the adoption and recognition of a currency of some 
 kind of medium of exchange ; which, among some tribes, 
 takes the form of rare shells, or other objects, equally 
 difficult to .obtain, but, in more advanced communities, 
 of some rare metals, which involve much labour in the 
 getting, or, in still more advanced communities, of notes 
 of credit, backed by a binding promise, as equivalents 
 for saved-labour. • 
 
 Accumulation of products, or, at a later stage, of a 
 recognised medium of exchange, or its equivalent in 
 credit, coupled with the social or community's guarantee 
 of its quiet enjoyment, enables those who own it to 
 enjoy the leisure resulting from the cessation of the 
 struggle for existence. Leisure from the struggle for 
 existence enables men to apply their minds, or, by means 
 of patronage (in the forms of miiversities and scholar- 
 ships), to encourage other men to apply their minds, to 
 purposes which qualify and prepare them for important, 
 valuable, and exchangeable social services, such as the 
 giving of medical, legal or other scientific or professional 
 advice, devotion to inventive pursuits, such as research 
 for, and the discovery of, world-benefiting antidotes, or 
 to the production of works of art or literature.
 
 Human Needs. 99 
 
 Such artistic, scientific, inventive, or learned attain- 
 ments are ultimately exchangeable — with those who 
 desire the special luiowledge — for the circulating medium. 
 
 Accumulation, and protection by the community, of 
 private property, assures to men the leisure to pursue 
 many useful objects of study, which do not produce any 
 immediate means of subsistence, but frequently afford 
 to the community, and the world, scientific laiowledge. 
 This knowledge, when revealed, saves society from the 
 ravages of virulent diseases ; creates a practical medical 
 science and class of practitioners; leads to the wide 
 circulation of artistic, scientific, and literary productions ; 
 and so spreads culture of various kinds among the masses 
 of the people. 
 
 It is by the recognition and social safeguarding of 
 private property or individual wealth that there have 
 resulted the building of ships, the intercourse between 
 nations, the interchange of the varied commodities of 
 different parts of the world, the facihties of travel, and 
 the acquisition of a wider loiowledge of the world's 
 peoples and affairs ; thus leading to a gradual dissemina- 
 tion of knowledge, culture, and tolerance, contributing 
 to the uphfting of human needs and social conditions. 
 
 All these results to civiHsed mankind are in the nature 
 of an edifice of saved and safeguarded human effort and 
 enterprise, reared upon a foimdation of encouragement, 
 and protection from internal and external aggression by 
 the community at large. 
 
 The removal of this foundation, or a greater or smaller 
 interference with the guarantee of stabiUty to individual 
 human rights in property, would endanger the whole 
 superstructure of society, just as surely as would any
 
 100 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 tampering with the foundations of a building imperil 
 its structural soundness. 
 
 The vicissitudes of nations, looked at over great periods 
 of time, show that they rise into power and prominence, 
 and fall back into subordinate place, as do the waves of 
 the sea ; and that the law of "the survival of the fittest" 
 applies to the rise and fall of nations, as surely as it does 
 to the merest insect-life in nature. 
 
 In all the long-drawn-out history of nation-building 
 there have arisen, at different times, communities under 
 every conceivable form of constitution, some written, 
 some traditional, some based on more or less definite 
 custom ; but, among those that have survived the 
 struggle for existence, there is not in existence to-day, or 
 recorded in history, one single recognised, self-supporting 
 commimity in which the institutions of liberty and private 
 property have not formed the very basis or foundation : 
 the veritable "comer stone" of the social structure. 
 
 The long-estabHshed recognition of private property, in 
 all civiHsed and progressive nations, has led to the creation 
 of distinct branches of the law, apphcable and essential 
 to its maintenance and vindication ; as, for instance, the 
 laws of trespass, theft, ejectment, etc., by which en- 
 croachments, of every kind and degree, are resented and 
 punished by the whole community, acting through the 
 medium of the national courts of justice. 
 
 The right to the unmolested enjoyment of private 
 property, acquired in conformity with the laws or 
 customs of the community, is not confined to individuals ; 
 but may now be enjoyed by groups of citizens, co- 
 operating in various enterprises in the form of business 
 firms or public companies.
 
 Human Needs. 101 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE STATE IN RELATION TO 
 INDUSTRY 
 
 'X'HE twentieth century has witnessed the wide 
 circulation of many extraordinary theories or 
 doctrines — one might fairly call them "nostrums" — in 
 regard to the relationship of capital and labour, and 
 as to the relative rights of each of these economic 
 elements, as factors in the industrial and commercial 
 activities of our time. There is midoubtedly a general 
 and growing disposition, on the part of those who do not 
 possess a substantial share of the accumulation of the 
 wealth of the world — which disposition is being em- 
 phasised by systematic agitation — to question the right 
 and title of those who do possess more or less wealth. 
 They, who do not possess means of their own, question 
 the right of those who do, by claiming the wealth for 
 themselves, and by using a number of arguments, as 
 specious as they are illogical and dishonest, in support 
 of their claim. Many offensive epithets are being hurled 
 by these claimants, or their champions, at the more 
 fortunate of their fellow-citizens, because of their owning 
 something, the possession of which enables them to 
 dispense with manual labour, and to indulge in what 
 the world calls "pleasure." And all these advantages 
 are condemned, as if they were in the nature of offences 
 to society. Yet, in looking into the manifestos of these
 
 102 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 disturbing citizens and their fluent champions, one finds 
 that they are simultaneously claiming, for the benefit of 
 their own class, the identical things that they vehemently 
 condemn when enjoyed by others. For instance : one 
 finds, in communistic pubhcations, frequent repetition of 
 the demand for "more leisure, treasure, and pleasure" 
 for the so-called "Proletariat" ; and, as a rule, these 
 manifestos are framed and phrased by men who are not 
 themselves physical workers, but who receive payment, 
 from the members of various organisations, of an amount 
 that would be condemned as a "fat salary" or a "fat 
 income" in classes outside these organisations. These 
 claims, and the arguments used to support them, would 
 truly astonish the shades of some of the older recognised 
 economists, such as Adam Smith, Mill, Fawcett, McCul- 
 loch, Senior, and Bastiat, who, in their time, held the 
 scales of economic justice between the different sections 
 of society, and whose disinterested dicta were once 
 regarded as beyond criticism. 
 
 It has now become necessary, in poUtical discussion, to 
 go back to first principles ; in order to understand clearly 
 to what extent public men, in high and authoritative 
 places, are going to bend to these truly revolutionary 
 influences, and to aUow their minds and consciences to be 
 diverted from the straight fine of duty, where it seems to 
 be more profitable, in a political or personal sense, to do 
 so. 
 
 One is permitted to ask : What extent of knowledge of 
 history or economics, or even of human nature and human 
 affairs, is possessed by the authors of these new and 
 loosely -expressed doctrines ? They certainly present no 
 evidence of either, in the promulgation of their new
 
 Human Needs. 103 
 
 creed ; and, unfortunately, the majority of those to 
 whom they address their message are as disinclined to 
 question their knowledge and capacity, as they them- 
 selves are to put it to the test. 
 
 The great danger to modem States is that influential 
 pubhc men, of character and self-respect, such as have 
 hitherto acted in controlling positions, will soon not be 
 numerous enough to meet the incoming tide of another 
 class, who make of politics a lucrative profession, and thus 
 find it convenient and profitable to follow, instead of 
 trying to lead, public opinion. 
 
 In order to imderstand correctly the relationship of 
 the State to industr}^ it is essential to realise clearly 
 the true relative positions of capital and labour — as 
 evidenced by the success or failure of other commmiities 
 — and to learn from practical experience the real and 
 varying nature of both. 
 
 If there exist any good reasons against these time- 
 honoured, workaday principles, of "mine" and "thine": 
 of a man's right to the use and disposal of the things he 
 has produced for himself ; of the obhgation on the other 
 members of a community to guarantee these old- 
 fashioned rights to their fellow citizens ; then they have 
 never been stated by those champions, who advocate 
 their subversion. Until those new doctrines are forth- 
 coming, with logic to sustain them, we must keep 
 hold of the old sheet-anchors of civihsation. 
 
 "Labour," in an industrial sense, is the expenditure of 
 human energy ; and it may be embodied in a variety of 
 forms, useful or useless to man ; whereas capital is 
 saved-labour, stored up in the shape of money or some 
 other exchangeable form, useful to men.
 
 i04 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 "Saved-labour" may take the form of personal know- 
 ledge or skill, acquired and stored in the mind ; and that 
 is obviously the property of him who acquired and stored 
 it ; and it may, afterwards, be embodied in the form of 
 some artificial work, or appliance for future use. Saved- 
 labour (or capital), which has been embodied in a man's 
 mind, in the form of personal knowledge or skill, ready 
 to be applied, or that has been already incorporated in 
 the material form of property, such as furniture, goods, 
 ships, houses, etc., is, in the first place, the property of 
 him who has owned the material, and expended the 
 labour to turn it into a useful form. 
 
 If, in the production of anjrthing of economic value, 
 the labourer has used material which was previously 
 obtained by the labour of others ; then the result is the 
 property of both, in the proportions represented by the 
 labour required for each part of the total result. 
 
 The owner of any implement, by which, or building 
 in which, he has used material of his own, and the labour 
 of others, for which he has paid those others, is entitled 
 to use that implement or building for his own benefit, 
 or to dispose of it, by gift or exchange, for what he 
 believes to be its equivalent in some other form. 
 
 The owner of a skilled or inventive mind is equally 
 entitled to use that skill or inventive ability (as capital) 
 for his own benefit, or to dispose of it to others for an 
 equivalent in some other form. 
 
 Capital, then, may consist of personal skill, acquired 
 by previous labour or study, and stored up in the mind, 
 in the form of personal experience. It may consist of 
 inventive genius, sometimes intuitive, and sometimes the 
 result of a course of mental effort or of bodily labour,
 
 Human Needs. 105 
 
 expended in experiment, and ultimately embodied in the 
 form of special knowledge — possibly embodied in patent 
 rights — as a further form of capital. 
 
 Capital, again, may consist of a man's credit; that is, 
 the confidence and reputation that he has established, 
 in the estimation of others, in regard to himself, by a 
 course of approved conduct, which affords a guarantee 
 that he can be entrusted with the use of the capital of 
 others. 
 
 Capital may consist of the command of money, which 
 has been originally obtained by others' labour, saved and 
 embodied in the metal itself, or subsequently acquired 
 in exchange for some other form of saved-labour ; and 
 it may consist of any other form of saved-labour which 
 has an exchangeable value. 
 
 An unskilled labourer is one who can contribute nothing 
 but his present imskilled manual or physical energy 
 towards the production of any work upon which he is 
 occupied. But a skilled labourer is one who can con- 
 tribute both his present energy (labour), as well as his 
 saved energy, in the form of his special skill (capital), 
 upon any work on which he is occupied. 
 
 A capitalist is one who has, and continues to possess, 
 (acquired in accordance with the laws of his country), a 
 right or title to any form of property or saved-labour. 
 
 Labour, without capital of some kind, in the form of 
 skill, tools, instruments, or machinery, with which to 
 ^PPly it> is of comparatively small value, and then only 
 for the most primitive purposes. 
 
 Labour with capital (in the form of skill, tools, instru- 
 ments, or machinery) can produce additional capital in 
 varying quantities, according to the skill of the labourer,
 
 106 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 and the nature and extent of the capital or tools, with 
 which the labour is operated. 
 
 The results of labour alone naturally belong to the 
 labourer. 
 
 When something of value has been produced by the 
 labour of one person, and the material of another; then, 
 as already stated, the thing produced is the property 
 of both, in proportion to the value of the material used, 
 and of the labour expended ; but, for the convenience 
 of both, the two persons interested generally enter into 
 an arrangement, by which the owner of the material 
 pays the person who contributes the labour a sum of 
 money agreed upon, called "wages," to compensate him 
 for his share in the production ; and then the owner of 
 the material becomes the sole owner of the thing pro- 
 duced. The above truisms are necessarily stated here ; 
 because there are many extraordinary doctrines being 
 widely taught, according to which all forms of capital 
 are being claimed as justly belonging to the labourer, 
 inasmuch as they were originally all produced by labour ; 
 but the use, for the time being, of the capital, in the 
 shape of tools, materials, buildings, plus the use of the 
 capital, while the value of the capital and labour have 
 been co-operating, is apparently forgotten. 
 
 The subject of wages is one that is inextricably con- 
 nected with the subject of industry. In a primitive 
 condition, man expended his labour upon material of 
 his own, and then naturally claimed the total result as 
 belonging to himself. In modem times, under civiHsed 
 conditions, men are employed to use the material of 
 other people, to work with the tools or machinery of other 
 people, and to expend their labour in forms which are
 
 Human Needs. 107 
 
 sometimes not immediately completed, or, if completed, 
 not immediate^ realisable. The owner of the labour 
 is called the labourer ; and he may be either skilled or 
 unskilled. The owner of the raw material used, of the 
 tools, of the machinery, or of the buildings, in which the 
 work is done, is called the capitahst ; and the relation- 
 ship of the one to the other involves many questions, 
 upon which men hold various, and more or less correct, 
 opinions, for the most part biassed, in many cases by the 
 position occupied. 
 
 It is, as already stated, a growing practice, mider 
 modern pohtical conditions, for the labourer to be told, by 
 interested persons, that all capital belongs to him and his 
 class ; because the material, the machinery, the tools, or 
 the buildings in which he works, have, in past times, been 
 the result of the labour of other people, possibly long 
 since dead and imknown to him. In accordance with this 
 fallacy, the labourer of to-day — generally by his champion 
 — confidently claims, for pohtical purposes, that he and his 
 class are entitled to everji-hing upon which past workers 
 have expended labour ; although the proportion of value 
 of their labour to the material of others, upon which 
 it has been expended ; to the machinery which has been 
 used in the manufacture ; to the tools requisite for the 
 work, and to the building necessary to protect the work- 
 man and the industry from the weather — quite irre- 
 spective of the brain power of the organising capitahst, 
 without which, possibly, no result would have been 
 obtained — may be only infinitesimal. 
 
 If such an argument for the claims of the labourer were 
 carried to its extreme, some truly ridiculous results 
 might follow ; since it might be contended that the man,
 
 i08 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 who was putting the ready-prepared materials of a house 
 together, owned the house ! 
 
 The subject of wages, too, requires to be carefully 
 considered, in order to arrive at a just view as to their 
 relation to the material upon which they are expended, 
 and in order to clearly imderstand the extent of the share 
 which the labourer has in the value of the thing manu- 
 factured. It is sometimes claimed that the workmen 
 upon a building, constructed under contract, have a right 
 to participate in the profit which the contractor may 
 make, in addition to their wages ; although those who make 
 the claim would indignantly reject the theory that, if the 
 contract ends in a loss, the workmen should share it or 
 have nothing. The truth is, that the wage-earner, under 
 ordinary circumstances, has no partnership claim in the 
 result of his work ; for, if he had, he would have to take 
 the risk of the profit or the loss in the venture, as the case 
 might be. A wage-earner impliedly gives up all claim 
 to any profit which is made out of the work upon which 
 he has been engaged ; and the employer, correspond- 
 ingly, has no claim upon the wage-earner to forego any 
 part of his wages, if the same work results in a loss. 
 There is, in fact, no partnership of any kind ; and what 
 are called wages are a commutation or adjustment of 
 possible profit, based on the current wages or market 
 value of labour of the kind for which the wages are paid. 
 It is obvious, therefore, that the wage-earner cannot be 
 entitled to anything beyond the wages agreed upon, 
 unless he is also prepared and arranges to share any 
 loss, as well as any profit, which may result. Moreover, 
 wages are paid on the spot, or at a very short period, 
 whether the owner of the material worked upon makes a
 
 Human Needs. 109 
 
 profit or not ; and that same owner may have to wait 
 for weeks or months or years, or even for all time, before 
 he ever gets back the money he has expended in wages. 
 Sometimes, as in the case of a non-paying gold or silver 
 mine, he may never get any return whatever for his 
 expenditure. 
 
 The subject of strikes and lock-outs is, too, closely 
 related to the subject of industry. A "strike" is a 
 sudden and simultaneous refusal, by a larger or smaller 
 body of men, to continue the work they have been per- 
 forming ; and a "lock-out" is a sudden stoppage of the 
 work of an industry, by an employer, by dismissing all or 
 a large portion of the workmen engaged in the industry, 
 because of some differences between employer and 
 employees. Both the workmen and the employer have, 
 according to the common law, a perfect right to put an 
 end to the relationship of employer and workmen, pro- 
 vided the term already agreed upon has been brought 
 to an end ; but the two terms, "strike" and "lock-out," 
 are more usually applied to circumstances in which there 
 is, in existence, an actual or imphed undertaking to 
 continue. Many workmen seem to be under the impres- 
 sion that when they have suddenly ceased to work in any 
 industry, they have the right to prevent other workmen 
 from taking their places. This view is not founded on just 
 principles, and is, moreover, quite contrary to law, as well 
 as opposed to the principle of equal liberty for all. 
 
 Just as one body of labourers has the right to stop 
 work ; so the other body has an equal right to continue 
 to work ; and the law, where there is such an attempt on 
 the part of the one class to stop the other class, applies 
 to their action the term "intimidation."
 
 110 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 The State has not (in the opinions of the recognised 
 thinkers on political science) any inherent right to 
 interfere between the capitaHst and the workmen, unless 
 there has been a breach of some actual or implied con- 
 tract entered into between them, or some breach of the 
 criminal law. The common law regards them as at 
 liberty to make what arrangements they choose, one 
 with the other ; and the settlement of wages and hours, 
 and conditions of labour, in most of the civilised com- 
 munities of the world, is generally arranged according 
 to the market value and custom of the locaUty in which 
 the work is performed. 
 
 In certain younger countries, such as New Zealand and 
 Australia, an attempt has been made to avoid sudden and 
 extensive dislocations of commerce and industry, and to 
 avert the loss and suffering that follow in the train of 
 widespread stoppages of employment, by referring all 
 disputes, between employers and workmen, in regard to 
 wages, hours, and conditions of labour, to statutory 
 tribunals, under a system of "compulsory arbitration." 
 The original purpose of this system, involving, as it does, 
 so serious a departure from the principles of commercial 
 and industrial freedom, was to investigate the merits in 
 all such disputes, in the light of a judicial and impartial 
 mind, and to lead to the adoption of the Court's recom- 
 mendations, by both parties, as to what was fair and 
 reasonable. 
 
 It was, of course, assumed that whatever was decided 
 by such a tribunal, chosen, in effect, by the two parties 
 concerned in any dispute, would be readily adopted by 
 both, so as to save time, trouble, financial loss, and class 
 bitterness.
 
 Human Needs. Ill 
 
 In the absence of such a compact, and of a readiness to 
 abide by the results, when fairly arrived at, the whole 
 departure from the principles of commercial and indus- 
 trial freedom becomes inexpedient and wasteful. The 
 most prominent representatives of labour in the United 
 States, of which Mr. Gompers is a just example, have 
 always been opposed to this system ; and the results 
 seem to confirm their objection ; for in the two Dominions 
 named, more especially in the Australian Commonwealth, 
 the system seems to have broken down ; and it has now 
 been much discredited, since it has become a common 
 practice for the employees to ignore the Court's decisions, 
 where they do not approve of them. 
 
 There seems to be much misunderstanding among 
 the working classes, in the comitries mentioned, as 
 to the obHgations which are created by this modem 
 tribim.al. 
 
 If two citizens agree between themselves in regard to 
 any matter of mutual concern, the agreement is binding, 
 legally and morally ; and he who attempts to "go back" on, 
 or to ignore his bargain or compact, would become liable 
 legally, and, moreover, deserves the severest condemna- 
 tion by his fellow men ; for an extension, by frequent 
 repetition, of such a practice of repudiation, would make 
 civilisation impracticable, lead to anarchy, and, in 
 extreme cases, produce revolution. 
 
 Where two citizens fail to agree personally, and refer 
 any question in dispute to a third citizen ; agreeing to 
 abide by his decision, as in arbitration : that decision, as 
 pointed out, is as binding, legally and moraUj', as if the 
 parties had agreed between themselves ; and a repudia- 
 tion of such a decision is as deserving of condemnation
 
 112 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 as if the decision itself had been personally arrived at 
 and then ignored. 
 
 Where a tribunal, established in the public interest, for 
 the purpose of effecting compulsory arbitration, has had 
 the parties of a dispute before it, either individually or 
 by their duly-authorised representatives, and a decision 
 has been arrived at ; that decision is, and should be made, 
 as legally and morally enforceable as if it had been the 
 result of a personal arrangement between any two 
 individual members of the disputing bodies. 
 
 In each of the three cases mentioned, the refusal to 
 abide loyally and heartily by the decision arrived at, 
 calls for the most drastic condemnation and denunciation 
 by the whole community ; since such a refusal strikes at 
 the very tap root of social organisation and civilisation, 
 and, if universally emulated, would resolve what we call 
 "society' ' into its elements of primitive and barbaric units. 
 
 Laws are useless for the purpose of regulating and 
 disciplining the rougher and lawless types of men and 
 women, unless the strict observance of them is insisted 
 upon, and the whole commimity heartily supports that 
 insistence ; and no steps should be neglected, by those 
 who are in charge of the executive of a community, to 
 make this insistence their most urgent obhgation, as 
 guardians of the people's welfare. 
 
 Those public men who fail to do their duty, by uphold- 
 ing and vindicating the law — and many have so failed — 
 are thereby demonstrating their unfitness for any position 
 of authority in a modern commimity ; since they are 
 thus tampering with the very foundations of civilisation, 
 and helping to destroy the social organisation, which 
 they have been appointed to protect and maintain.
 
 Human Needs . 113 
 
 The logical effect of allowing workmen, who have been 
 parties to compulsory arbitration, to ignore the decisions 
 of the tribunal to which they have actually or impliedly 
 submitted their differences, whilst holding the employer 
 bound to accept the finding of the same tribunal, is as if 
 the State had handcuffed the employer, and allowed the 
 workman to be free to assault him in his commercial 
 and industrial interests. The effect upon the commerce 
 and industry of a community, in which this license were 
 widely permitted, would be either to destroy completely 
 both interests, or to cause the prices of the commodities 
 produced to rise to a point which would afford compensa- 
 tion to the employer, whilst penalising the quiet and 
 law-abiding citizens, who were the consumers of such 
 commodities, and innocent of the law-breaking offence. 
 And if such a system, or want of system, were extensively 
 observed by governments, it would endanger the harmony 
 of the commimity, and possibly lead to a breach of the 
 peace among citizens. Australian and New Zealand 
 communities, especially the former, have been frequently 
 concerned in these discreditable incidents.
 
 114 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 NATIONAL DEFENCE 
 
 nPHE twentieth century has been, so far, an age of 
 racial competition and national aggregation ; and 
 those communities which, either from want of racial- 
 stamina, or from unskilful statesmanship : such as false 
 economy, want of thought, or want of foresight, fail 
 to "keep abreast" in the contest for supremacy, must fall 
 into the background, or run the risk of being absorbed 
 by some larger and more powerful body-pohtic, which 
 may require additional territory for its own national 
 expansion, sea frontage for its growing commerce, or 
 more extensive area for its increasing population. 
 
 All the greater nations of the world are, or were, till 
 quite recently, aspiring to found empires, and, in order 
 to effect their purpose, are, or were, seeking to acquire 
 "possessions" in different parts of the world, either by 
 purchase, exchange, or appropriation ; the ultimate 
 object being to estabhsh colonies for their own people, 
 who would be expected to acknowledge and bear 
 allegiance to the parent nation. 
 
 The five years of war, which is now at an end, has 
 considerably sobered the more extreme forms of this 
 "earth -hunger" ; and the estabhshment of the League of 
 Nations promises to lead to the adoption of less aggres- 
 sive methods of national acquisition of territory than 
 have hitherto been observed.
 
 Human Needs. 115 
 
 The safety of the smaller communities of the world from 
 absorption will not, it is hoped, now depend so much upon 
 their individual power to successfully meet aggression ; 
 or upon their protection from invasion by a parent 
 nation to which they are attached ; nor even upon the 
 objection on the part of some stronger nation to their 
 being so absorbed, lest it may lead to the upsetting of 
 some international "balance." 
 
 The outlying possessions of a powerful nation may 
 remain for a long time wholly dependent upon the parent 
 body-pohtic, as has been the case in regard to German 
 and French Colonies ; and, if the parent body-politic be 
 far distant, such colonies may even become a substantial 
 drain on its defensive resources, by requiring to be 
 guarded at a distance, or supported by funds, for 
 sentimental reasons. 
 
 On the other hand, subordinate communities or 
 colonies may, as in the cases of certain of the British 
 Dominions, by means of rich resources, rapid growth, 
 the enjojnnent of freedom, and the good judgment of 
 local statesmanship, provide themselves with means of 
 warfare beyond their own immediate local needs, and so 
 develop into valuable adjuncts, and even become aids 
 to the means of defence of the parent nation. 
 
 The lowering of the stamina of the individual citizens 
 of a State has the effect of lowering the corporate 
 stamina of the State itself ; and, by parity of reasoning, 
 the neglect by subordinate States, Dominions, or 
 "possessions," to keep themselves effectively equipped 
 for warfare, in proportion to their means, has the effect 
 of lowering the aggregate defensive power of the Empire 
 or corporate group of commimities of which they are
 
 116 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 constituent parts, and so, of increasing their own chances 
 of being attacked, and possibly conquered, as part of 
 such an Empire or group of communities. 
 
 Similarly, the neglect of a subordinate community to 
 maintain, in an efficient state, a system of defence, which 
 it has already established, is not only a failure in its duty 
 to itself and its citizens, but a cause of weakness to the 
 Empire or group of commimities to which it belongs. 
 
 The progress of a commimity or nation presupposes 
 the continuance of its independence, and the main- 
 tenance of its powers of development, in all the channels 
 of activity, which make for the national progress and 
 security, and the consequent happiness of its people ; 
 and the neglect, by its statesmen, of its powers of defence, 
 is an obstacle to progress of the first importance, and a 
 proof that the statecraft of those who have conducted 
 its affairs has been found wanting. 
 
 Taxation is now the substituted form for the old 
 feudal obligation of personal service, which, therefore, 
 every citizen is considered liable to contribute to the 
 order and progress of the community. 
 
 In primitive society, every member of a tribe is expected 
 to co-operate, personally, in the defence of its existence, 
 rights, and possessions ; but as a commmiity grows, and 
 its members become more absorbed in industrial and 
 other pursuits, which are deemed to contribute to its 
 national welfare, as well as to the personal welfare of each 
 citizen ; they are permitted to substitute a money con- 
 tribution for the former personal service, and thereby to 
 assist in maintaining a body of specially -trained persons, 
 as well as in providing the community with specially- 
 designed means for ensuring its national safety.
 
 Human Needs. 117 
 
 An important problem of statesmanship in regard to 
 national defence, for which it is difficult to lay down any 
 general principle applicable in all cases, is the decision 
 as to how far a nation should go, in expenditure, and in 
 what direction, in providing means of defence against 
 outside aggression. 
 
 The progress of the art of warfare is so rapid that what 
 is considered "up to date" to-day, may be considered by the 
 same authorities entirely out of date within a few years, 
 or even a few months ; and this is convincingly demon- 
 strated in relation to such weapons as rifles, field guns, 
 gun-carriages, naval gmis, ships' hulls, in size, form, > 
 weight, or speed, mode of construction or motion, in 
 submarines, or aerial means of attack or defence. 
 
 Everything depends upon the progress of other pos- 
 sibly antagonistic communities ; and it therefore becomes 
 necessary for those, who are prominent in the governing 
 of a community, to make a wide and careful study 
 of the world's progress, as a guide to their own 
 deliberations. 
 
 It is quite impossible for any but the very ablest 
 experts to express an opinion, which is of value, on these 
 heads ; and frequent consultation with such experts, who 
 keep themselves familiar with the progress of other 
 nations in these respects, is essential, where it is desired 
 to avoid absolute waste of national funds. 
 
 As to how far a comitry is justified in going, in its 
 expenditure on defence of any kind, is a question that 
 depends upon its own means ; upon the geographical 
 position, and the attractive character of its own terri- 
 tory and possessions in the eyes of other nations ; and 
 upon its dependence upon itself.
 
 118 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 It is often said, that a certain percentage of a citizen's 
 income should be observed in the expenditure upon house 
 rent ; but there is no such guide in regard to a country's 
 expenditure on defence. 
 
 Experts do not, and cannot be expected to, consider 
 this aspect of statecraft ; for they are naturally and 
 necessarily bent upon providing the most modem and 
 perfect equipment for the commimity in which they are 
 called upon to exercise their knowledge and skill in 
 matters of defence ; and they are so prone to make 
 defeat impossible, that they almost invariably lean to a 
 fulness of expenditure that those who have to provide 
 the means may easily consider extravagant. 
 
 It seems more than probable that one of the beneficial 
 economical effects of the new order of international 
 affairs, produced by the League of Nations, will be the 
 ultimate all-roimd reduction of armaments ; for, although 
 the first impulse and tendency will be to establish and 
 maintain a more extensive and costly means of defence 
 than is absolutely necessary in the altered circumstances 
 of the world ; reflection will soon convince the larger 
 communities that to do so will involve needless waste 
 of the people's money ; and the general tendency will 
 then be towards a widespread economy in this particular 
 department of national expenditure.
 
 Human Needs. 119 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 TAXATION 
 
 nPAXATION is one of the necessary and unavoidable 
 consequences of social organisation in what are 
 called civilised countries. Every such community, as a 
 whole, has forced upon it a variety of forms of expendi- 
 ture, among which the following are the most important 
 and legitimate : — Naval and military defence against 
 possible aggression from without ; the policing of the 
 community from within, in order to prevent or check 
 internal disturbances among citizens ; providing and 
 remimerating judges, magistrates, and other judicial 
 officials, and defraying the cost of Court incidentals ; 
 providing and maintaining a Parliament House and 
 public departments, and remunerating Ministers of the 
 Crown, Members of Parliament, and Civil Servants 
 outside the judiciary, etc. 
 
 In many young communities, and in some old ones, 
 it has become the practice to use public moneys for a 
 great variety of purposes, outside the more legitimate 
 functions of government, as they are deemed to be and 
 so defined, by recognised economic writers. 
 
 And it must be remembered that politicians themselves 
 are not the best, or even good, authorities as to what is 
 wisest in this regard ; especially where they are, for 
 pohtical purposes, advocating some particular expendi- 
 ture, the economic propriety of which is doubtful. The
 
 120 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 economic authority, who writes independently of Parha- 
 ment, has no constituency to serve, and can look at and 
 judge such a question with a quiet unbiassed eye ; for 
 he is, as a rule, considering the public welfare only, in 
 forming and passing his judgment. 
 
 In some countries the building of railways and tram- 
 ways has been undertaken in the public interest, and out 
 of public funds ; and as this involves a departure from 
 the stricter principles of limiting the State to necessary 
 fvmctions, and leaving such enterprises to private effort ; 
 its wisdom or imwisdom is still a subject of controversy 
 among more thoughtful public men. 
 
 There are many well-known economic thinkers who con- 
 sider that the Government should leave all such work to 
 private enterprise, which can always be trusted to under- 
 take work of any kind from which a reasonable return 
 may be obtained on the capital sum invested ; and they 
 base their objections on the gromid that the appropriation 
 of the people's money for any purpose, except to protect 
 them from outside attack and internal disturbance, ia 
 a breach of the people's right or liberty to do as they 
 choose with their own money ; inasmuch as State 
 enterprises of any kind involve a sort of compulsory 
 share contribution by the people to every such venture, 
 by requiring the citizens to pay taxes for purposes they 
 may disapprove, and thus be involved in loss, where 
 the ventures do not prove self-supporting. 
 
 The grounds upon which, what is called State owner- 
 ship of railways and tramways, is justified by its advocates 
 is, in the case of yomig comitries : that the railways may 
 be rmi to districts, the traffic of which is not immediately 
 sufficient to pay for the investment, so as to induce
 
 Human Needs. 121 
 
 private enterprise to undertake it ; and, in the ease of old 
 countries, that railways become monopohes in the hands 
 of private persons or public companies, and so subject 
 to abuse, in the shape of exorbitant charges for their 
 services. 
 
 Whether railways and tramways should be left to 
 private enterprise or undertaken by the State in the 
 interests of the whole community is, and will remain, 
 a debatable problem : according ' to the age of the 
 country ; the financial means of the comm\m.ity that 
 desires it ; and the character of the country, and its 
 population. 
 
 However this may be, there is a great preponderance 
 of opinion among the best-known thinkers and writers, 
 that the general principle should be carefully observed ; 
 viz., that all enforced expenditure, beyond that essential 
 for the country's safety, from without and within, and 
 that necessary for the quiet maintenance of the institu- 
 tion of government, should be avoided by the State, on 
 the grounds that enforced contributions from the people 
 for such purposes constitute a breach of the fundamental 
 principle of government. 
 
 Experience shows that the majority of the people, who 
 have not devoted much attention to the study of the most 
 economical management of a State, do not recognise the 
 wisdom of fixing any limit whatever to the functions of 
 the State, as against the interests or rights of the in- 
 dividual citizen, but conclude, in an unscientific or 
 rough-and-ready way, that the State is justified in 
 accumulating and using pubUc moneys in any manner 
 which the majority may desire, and which wiU aflford 
 some temporary satisfaction to those who personally
 
 122 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 benefit by the expenditure. Such persons regard the 
 State as a sort of foster-parent, whose function it is to 
 "get" money out of the well-to-do, irrespective of the 
 just principle referred to, and to scatter it in a variety of 
 forms of expenditure, which will placate or please, or 
 mollify, certain classes — generally those who have con- 
 tributed least towards the consolidated revenue, out of 
 which the expenditure is taken. 
 
 This lax method of appropriating and distributing 
 the tax-paying citizens' money — not in accordance with 
 their contributions, but irrespective of principles, and in 
 such a way as to bring temporary popularity to a govern- 
 ment, or a political party, or to certain parliamentary 
 representatives — is one of the most serious blots on the 
 political institutions of our time. 
 
 The question of taxation, or, in other words, of the im- 
 position of contributions to the public funds, out of which 
 to pay the expenses of a government, is, in truth, a matter 
 of the greatest national importance : to the community 
 as a whole, and to the individual taxpayer, who has to 
 pay for the advantages. For, if there is no limit to the 
 right of the government, or of the majority of the people, 
 represented in a parliament, to levy taxes upon individual 
 citizens ; a government could make so many, and such 
 large demands, that it would take from them the whole, 
 or the greater part, of their capital or "saved-labour," 
 and, in fact, involve confiscation ; and, in such a case, 
 they would be defeating the whole purpose of social 
 organisation, which is to co-operate in securing to each 
 citizen his or her individual liberty and that "saved- 
 labour," or what is called private property, which 
 should be considered sacred, as a public trust.
 
 Human Needs. 123 
 
 This scientific or logical aspect of political society is 
 so little considered by the average citizen, that the abuse 
 of majority-rule goes on, without being checked or widely 
 exposed in its most injurious aspects. 
 
 As a fact, the most eminent economic authorities on 
 the science of government are practically unanimous in 
 regard to the principle which — in the broad interests of 
 every community — should be observed in imposing 
 taxation upon the members of any modem and civilised 
 community. 
 
 The distinction between what are considered legitimate, 
 and what are regarded by economists as unjustifiable, 
 subjects of public expenditure, is a scientific one. The 
 people themselves are not at all accurate or just judges, 
 in regard to this distinction; because, to correctly 
 determine it, involves a careful consideration of the true 
 purposes of the institution of government, and the 
 cumulative effect which would be produced if this dis- 
 tinction were wholly disregarded. In careless or un- 
 principled political hands, pubHc moneys could be 
 expended upon so many popular purposes, that citizens 
 usually do, and should be required to do, for themselves, 
 that their spirit of self-help and independence would be 
 seriously sapped, and their moral sense lowered ; and 
 the expense of these services would, if unchecked, become 
 so great, that the taxes levied to defray them would drain 
 the resources of the more enterprising citizens, who by 
 their care and providence, and, in many cases, by their 
 own self-denial, had saved enough to make them thus 
 liable as taxpayers. 
 
 This abuse, by enervating the class who do not pay 
 their just proportion of taxes, and by impoverishing the
 
 124 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 class who are forced to pay more than their just proportion, 
 would defeat the one purpose of government, as was done 
 in France, prior to the Revolution ; and, sooner or later, 
 if the abuse were carried to extremes, the people of large 
 means would either leave such a community, and place 
 their capital for investment elsewhere, where taxation 
 was more just and moderate, or the body-politic would 
 imdergo an upheaval or revolution. 
 
 Hence this authoritatively recognised line, at which 
 the State ceases — according to true statesmanship — to 
 be justified in the expenditure of moneys belonging to its 
 citizens. 
 
 Leading economists, although they have differed in 
 detail, as to the exact points upon which that line 
 should be drawn, are nevertheless agreed on a general 
 principle in regard to the true limits of taxation, out of 
 which State expenditure should be defrayed. 
 
 The father of the Science of Political Economy was 
 Adam Smith, who wrote his Wealth of Nations about 140 
 years ago. The "man in the street" may have heard of 
 his name, but he has not familiarised himself with his 
 writings. Adam Smith's book is not only what is termed 
 a classic ; but it constitutes a landmark in political 
 thought and literature ; and his writings, already 
 referred to at length, have been spoken of by Professor 
 Sidgwick, in his own Principles of Political Economy, as 
 "epoch making." Sidgwick devotes almost the whole 
 of his own introduction to a discussion on Adam Smith's 
 work, and the fire of criticism through which it has 
 passed during nearly a century and a half, which 
 has elapsed since its publication. He admits, too, 
 that "English economists have, speaking broadly,
 
 Human Needs. 125 
 
 adhered to Adam Smith's limitations of the sphere 
 of government." 
 
 Another great authority (Professor Stewart) has used 
 the following words in regard to Adam Smith : — "A 
 great and leading object of Adam Smith's speculations 
 is, to demonstrate that the most effectual plan for advanc- 
 ing a people to greatness is to maintain that order of 
 things which nature has pointed out, by allowing every 
 man, as long as he observed the rules.of justice, to pursue 
 his own interests in his own way, and to bring both his 
 industry and his capital into the freest competition 
 with those of his fellow citizens." 
 
 Adam Smith, himself, laid down three propositions in 
 regard to the State, and the forms of expenditure of the 
 citizens' money, in which it was justified in indulging. 
 He said : — "The first duty of the Sovereign (which in 
 modern times may be taken to mean the government) is 
 that of defending the society (by which he means the 
 community) from the violence and injustice of other 
 societies." 
 
 "The second duty is that of protecting, as far as pos- 
 sible, every member of the society, from the injustice or 
 oppression of every other member of it, or the duty of 
 estabhshing the exact administration of justice." 
 
 "The third duty is that of erecting and maintaming 
 those pubHc institutions and those pubhc works, which, 
 though they may be in the highest degree advantageous 
 to a great society, are, however, of such a nature that the 
 profit could never repay the expense to any individual 
 or small number of individuals." 
 
 Apart from these three broad principles in regard to 
 the duties of the State, Adam Smith laid down four
 
 126 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 distinct "maxims" in regard to taxes in general, and the 
 first three are as follow : — 
 
 1. "The subjects of every State ought to contribute 
 always towards the support of the government, as nearly 
 as possible in proportion to their respective abilities: that is, 
 in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy 
 under the protection of the State. 
 
 2. "The expense of government to the individuals of 
 a great nation is like the expense of management to the 
 tenants of a great estate, who are all obliged to contribute 
 in proportion to their respective interests in the estate. 
 
 3. "In the observation or neglect of this 'maxim' 
 consists what is called equality or inequality of taxation." 
 
 It is the fashion nowadays for "practical" pohticians 
 to brush aside these maxims, and the general teachings 
 of Adam Smith, by applying to them such gUb phrases 
 as "out of date," "old fashioned," "exploded," and thus 
 dismissing them from their own consideration ; but it will 
 almost invariably be found that these "practical" 
 authorities have never even looked inside the covers of 
 that great writer, but preferred their own empirical and 
 superficial dicta, as better suited to the ad captandum 
 purposes of popular pohtics. It is only fair to say, that 
 such criticism does not call for serious answer, any more 
 than would that class of critics who doubt the existence of 
 the equator, or dismiss the law of gravitation, if either 
 fact stands in the way of political expediency. 
 
 Ricardo, who wrote his well-known treatise on 
 Political Economy just a century ago, readily adopted 
 Adam Smith's views and principles, and made them the 
 basis of his own criticism, as to taxation being "equal" 
 or "unequal."
 
 Human Needs. 127 
 
 Malthus, also, who wrote his book on Political 
 Economy a year after that of Ricardo, adopted the 
 reasoning and classification of Adam Smith as .practi- 
 cally final. 
 
 John Stuart Mill, whose name is yet a household word, 
 on the subject of Political Economy; and who was, 
 besides, one of the greatest thinkers of the nineteenth 
 century in regard to "logic," "hberty," and "representa- 
 tive government," said : — "The quaUties desirable, 
 economically speaking, in a system of taxation, have been 
 embodied by Adam Smith in his four 'maxims' or prin- 
 ciples, which have been generally concurred in by 
 subsequent writers, and may be said to have become 
 classical." 
 
 He continues : "Setting out from the 'maxim,' that 
 equal sacrifices should be demanded from all," andthenre- 
 views the several arguments for a graduated property tax ; 
 finall}^ condemning it, as based on conditions "according 
 to which no government should shape its course." He 
 adds : "Government should set an example of rating all 
 things at their true value, and ought not to sanction the 
 vulgarity of prizing them for the pitiful vanity of being 
 known to possess them, or the paltry shame of being 
 supposed to be without them." He then proceeds to 
 say : — "To tax the larger incomes at a higher percentage 
 than the smaller, is to lay a tax on industry and economy: 
 to impose a penalty on people for having worked harder 
 and saved more than their neighbours." 
 
 Passing from. Mill to Professor Henry Fawcett, whose 
 work on Political Economy appeared in 1883, we find 
 him saying : — "The State must possess a revenue . . . 
 a government cannot possibly exist unless it possesses a
 
 128 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 revenue . . . This revenue may be obtained by 
 rapine or pillage ; but, if such means are resorted to, the 
 revenue is not raised by taxes, for taxation implies that 
 the right to levy a tax is given by law . . . The 
 question, therefore, is at once suggested : Are there any 
 principles which will enable us to decide whether any 
 particular tax is just or rmjust — defensible or in- 
 defensible ? " And he adds : "Adam Smith considered 
 that all the principles of taxation might be deduced 
 from the four rules or precepts, which have been termed 
 'Canons of Taxation.' " 
 
 This well-known statesman and economist discusses, 
 at some length, several difficulties as appUed to any 
 particular tax, but concludes with the opinion that 
 "The aggregate amoimt which each individual pays in 
 taxes ought to be in proportion to his ability to con- 
 tribute to the revenue of the State." 
 
 I have now referred at length, but as briefly as practic- 
 able, consistent with clearness, to this galaxy of economic 
 authority, in order to show to those readers who cannot 
 see their way to adopt this view, that at least the greatest 
 vmbiassed minds which have been devoted to the subject 
 of State taxation, extending over a century and a half, 
 accept the "maxims" of Adam Smith, as a sort of final 
 authority ; as, in fact, embodying the last word on the 
 subject. 
 
 In order to impress readers, I may quote the testimony 
 of a man whose reputation was two -fold : as a statesman 
 and an economist. I refer to Robert Lowe (afterwards 
 Lord Sherbrooke). He said, "I think that Adam Smith 
 is entitled to the merit, and the unique merit, among all 
 men who ever lived in the world, of having founded a
 
 Human Needs. 129 
 
 deductive and demonstrative science of human actions 
 and conduct." 
 
 Notwithstanding this overwhelming consensus of 
 scientific authority, there are, and will be, many who 
 contend that there should be no limit to taxation, or 
 to State activities. Such persons are Socialists ; and, 
 in order to reason with them, one would have to go back 
 to the first principle of sociology, and discuss the whole 
 purpose of State organisation in greater detail than I 
 have done or could find space for. 
 
 I have already commented upon the tendency of 
 modern legislatures, where they are inclined to go to 
 extremes in taxation, to lose sight, altogether, of the 
 dividing line between legitimate taxing methods and 
 veritable confiscation. That tendency had not become 
 so marked in the times in which the older economic 
 authorities laid down what they considered honest and 
 sound principles ; but such later writers as Mill, Fawcett, 
 and Spencer did not fail to put their mark against it, as 
 a protest. It is now becoming more accentuated, under 
 ultra-democratic rule, in the activities of which there are 
 observable less and lower moral standards. One of the 
 most courageous and sound politicians of our day, in 
 the practical politics of the British Empire — Lord 
 Robert Cecil — has recently expressed some valuable 
 economic opinions concerning the morality and ex- 
 pediency of the latest death duty proposals, in which the 
 true principles of taxation are involved ; and I consider 
 some of his observations worthy of being taken from the 
 columns of The Times, and given a more permanent 
 record, for the benefit of those who are interested in the 
 true principles of taxation. He first protests against the
 
 130 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 proposed increase, on the ground that "the amount 
 proposed to be levied — 40 per cent, on a total inheritance 
 of £2,000,000 ; not reckoning succession and legacy duty — 
 seems to be plainly confiscatory." He shows the diffi- 
 culty of realisation of so large a sum to provide funds for 
 payment, and then takes exception to the fact that the 
 element of consent is absent, where the impost falls on 
 so few citizens ; although it exists "where a numerous 
 class is taxed." He further contends that, where there 
 is no consent, "the great principle of no taxation with- 
 out representation is violated ; and the fundamentals of 
 liberty are imperilled"; and he argues, from this, that 
 "if it were wrong for a powerful king and a powerful 
 nobility to tax the Commons in the year 1295, without 
 their consent ; it is not right for a Parliament, elected 
 on a low franchise, to tax enormously a very small 
 number of very rich people." He adds : "Power, 
 rather than consent, seems to be the basis of all such 
 taxation, whether of commoners or millionaires." 
 Taking up another stand ; Lord Robert Cecil argues : 
 "One can indeed say, as I say, that we must not steal 
 from a man, however rich ; and if a tax of 40 per cent, 
 be not stealing from a fortune of £2,000,000, it is not 
 easy to see why it should be deemed objectionable from 
 a fortune of £200,000." There is, indeed, a great danger 
 in the inconsistency thus pointed out ; for, as the writer 
 says : "There is no greater folly than in supposing that 
 you can invade the principles of property, in respect to 
 very rich people, and keep them intact for the benefit of 
 moderately-rich people." And it would be well for those 
 who unhesitatingly assent to these stupendous levies 
 on very large fortunes, to consider whether, in thus
 
 Human Needs. 131 
 
 setting aside principle, they are not laying down a 
 precedent and a practice that, before long, may be 
 claimed to be applicable to much more moderate 
 fortunes ; for, as Lord Robert Cecil points out, "It is 
 difficult, from the point of view of the ordinary wage- 
 earner, to draw any intelligible distinction between the 
 treatment due to a fortune of two millions, and one of 
 two himdred thousands." He pronounces these taxes 
 to be "ethically unjustifiable, as well as inexpedient." 
 With that protest, economic wi-iters must be content ; 
 for the power to tax, being in the majority; it seems as 
 useless to talk to a Parliament about moral standards, 
 as it would be for the lamb of fable to appeal to the 
 lion, on the parallel groimd of "fair play." 
 
 It would, obviously, be out of place in this small work, 
 and especially in this chapter, to attempt to deal at 
 greater length with the question of State rights and 
 their proper hmits. It may, however, be said, generally, 
 that in the hands of most writers who have dealt with this 
 subject in a scientific spirit, there is comparative 
 unanimity ; for they all recognise that, primarily, there is 
 no clear right to tax at all, as it involves taking from a 
 citizen that which the State professes to guarantee to 
 him by virtue of his citizenship ; and that the breach of 
 that primary purpose is only j ustified on the ground that 
 the community camiot preserve the State, as a State, 
 and so protect each of its citizens, unless it first obtain 
 all-round contributions from those who compose it, by 
 which to provide protection for it from outside aggres- 
 sion and internal disturbance. 
 
 If this be taken as the starting point in the question, 
 the "burden of proof" is placed upon the shoulders of
 
 132 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 those who claim that this or that expenditure should be 
 incurred "by the State." For, again, it may be argued 
 that a modern community is not, and should not be, 
 sought to be converted into, a charitable institution, in 
 which "those who have" shall spend their substance to 
 benefit "those who have not." Such a grouping of 
 individuals as that, in which no limit to taxation or 
 confiscation is recognised, is a Commune ; for, under such 
 a regime, there would be no limits to the extent to which 
 the majority, who own or preserve little or nothing, could 
 prey upon the minority, who possess means beyond their 
 immediate needs. Mill, and other modern economists, 
 who saw the beginning of the later tendency of politicians 
 to exceed all reasonable limits in the scope of State 
 expenditure, recognised, and attempted to fix, a distinct 
 hmit to the scientific right. Unfortimately, politics have, 
 of late years, drifted from their higher moral standards; 
 and many unprincipled men in high places, and self-seek- 
 ing journals, bidding for "circulation," have introduced an 
 auctioneering element into the arena of political policy, 
 by seeking to outbid one another in suggestions to spend 
 the taxpayers' money, in directions which, emulating the 
 largess of ancient times, would reduce public expenditure 
 to a dishonest scramble of money belonging to other 
 people. With such men, the question becomes one of ex- 
 pediency, rather than of political principle or morality. 
 Every man, nowadays, who is called to fill a high post in 
 practical politics, has sooner or later to ask himself 
 whether he will be guided by principle, and so refuse to 
 associate himself with such administrative irregularities, 
 or drift into one or other of the numerous currents of 
 poUtical and popular expediency that present themselves
 
 Human Needs. 133 
 
 to him in his career. The theoretical "down stream" 
 conduct is easy, and beguiling, to a slack political con- 
 science ; and the "up stream" course, of honest duty, is 
 sometimes hard and strenuous ; but the man who 
 chooses the latter more regular course, and has good and 
 soimd reasons for his rectitude in principle, as he goes, will 
 be able, at a later stage, to look back upon his political 
 course, and see what boatmen call a "straight wake" 
 behind him, and feel that, as Nelson said, he has "done 
 his duty."
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 AIDS AND OBSTACLES TO HUMAN 
 PROGRESS 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Chap. I. Their Beajring on the Aut of Statecraft. 
 
 II. True Progress Defined. 
 
 III. Political Knowledge. 
 
 IV. Economic Knowledge. 
 
 V. MoRAX Standajids. 
 
 VI. The Press : An Aid and an Obstacle. 
 
 VII. Public and Party Influence. 
 
 VIII. Prejudice. 
 
 IX. Over-Legislation. 
 
 X. The Legislator.
 
 chapter;^!. 
 
 AIDS AND OBSTACLES TO HUMAN 
 PROGRESS 
 
 Their Bearing on the Art of Statecraft 
 
 T HAVE shown in previous chapters, what is man's 
 nature, from a civic standpoint, and what are his 
 characteristics and true "needs," as distinguished from his 
 "wants" ; and I have endeavoured to demonstrate that, 
 in order to enable groups of humanity to Hve together 
 in a community, in such a way as to avoid conflict and 
 disorder, it is indispensable to estabUsh a governing body ; 
 to make rules and to enforce them, with the co-operative 
 aid of all the citizens who comprise it. The art of 
 managing such a commimity, and of conducting its 
 affairs, so as to secure its legitimate objects, without 
 needlessly curtaihng the energies of its individual 
 members, or unnecessarily restricting their freedom, I 
 have called "statecraft," or "statesmanship"; and 1 
 now propose to consider certain features and circum- 
 stances, which aid the governing power, or obstruct it, in 
 its legitimate purpose of attaining to true and lasting 
 progress. 
 
 Opinions differ considerably as to the correct definition 
 of what is called "Progress," as apphed to human 
 affairs ; and it wiU be necessary, in a subsequent 
 chapter, to discuss the several aspects of that term, with 
 a view to determining what constitutes true and lasting 
 
 135
 
 136 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 progress. In the meantime, it is essential to consider, 
 in detail, the bearing of the various aids and hindrances 
 to the attainment of the highest standards of success 
 in a modem civiHsed community, and, the means to that 
 end in the government of such a community, as portions 
 of the proper study of statecraft. 
 
 Human progress necessarily presupposes the continued 
 existence of organised society ; in which all citizens are 
 co-operating for their mutual interest ; and that con- 
 tinuance cannot be assured, imless its people and its 
 institutions be first safeguarded from extei-nal aggression ; 
 and also be so regulated in regard to individual conduct 
 as to be proof against a variety of disintegrating forces, 
 such as may arise within its own borders, and among 
 its own individual citizens. 
 
 If those two needs be provided for ; then it becomes 
 necessary for those who imdertake the practice of the art 
 of statecraft, in connection with its affairs, to study and 
 understand the best means of keeping the community 
 ever prepared to resist all possible, as well as probable, 
 attacks from without, which may be inimical to its 
 continued existence ; and this will require the imits of 
 the community to co-operate, directly or indirectly, in 
 some scheme for maintaining a sufficient force for 
 effective defence purposes. It will thus involve the 
 maintenance of an expert class, whose special province 
 it will be to study the aggressive powers and methods 
 of outside communities, and adopt, from time to time, 
 the most effectual means of maintaining or modifying a 
 defence force equal or superior to any probable foe or 
 combination of foes, by which their ovvn community may 
 be attacked.
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 137 
 
 A further necessity will arise, to keep organised and 
 maintained, and to confer authority on, some competent 
 body, to lay down and enforce obedience to the approved 
 rules and regulations in regard to the personal conduct 
 of citizens ; so that they may be forced to observe the 
 true hmits of their own individual rights and liberties, 
 and respect the equal rights of their fellow citizens ; 
 thus to avoid friction, conflict, and social discord. 
 
 The establishment and separation, and the keeping 
 distinct, the several constituted authorities (ParUament, 
 municipal bodies, etc.) by which social regulations (laws, 
 by-laws, etc.) are made, from those by which they are 
 interpreted (courts of law), only arises, as a general rule, 
 at the inception of a community, or on its reaching some 
 higher stage of organisation, or at its complete or partial 
 reconstruction. But the occasional changes required to 
 be made in the powers of those several authorities ; and 
 the more frequent changes required to be made in the 
 social regulations (laws), by means of which the com- 
 munity is governed, demand, if wisely effected, a com- 
 prehensive knowledge of human nature, human history, 
 human needs, and the best traditions of human progress. 
 
 It will be obvious, therefore, that the various "aids and 
 obstacles to human progress," which may come from 
 without, or which may arise within, a community, are 
 not only fit, but essential, subjects of study, for all who 
 aspire to take a patriotic part in the practice of state- 
 craft, by means of which their community is governed. 
 
 The factors that work for or against sound statesman- 
 ship, or that constitute powerful aids or obstacles to 
 progress, are so numerous, that one could devote a bulky 
 volume to their detailed exposition. In a little work Hke
 
 138 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 the present, one can only deal with the more saHent 
 of them. 
 
 Every poHtician, whose aims are truly patriotic, 
 and not prompted by some form of seK-interest, such 
 as a desire for some ministerial office, or official position 
 for himself, or for the attainment of some political 
 advantages for his own particular constituency, which 
 he thinks will render his next election more certain, or 
 more easy — every such statesman, if he wishes to check 
 bad legislation, or help on that which is desirable, must 
 be prepared to meet with many disappointments, which 
 may discourage him in his patriotic aims. They will 
 afford a test of the depth of his patriotism. He wiU 
 have to "possess himself in patience," and do the best 
 he can ; avaihng himself of the good opportunities — 
 as a mariner does with fair winds — and doing his best to 
 counteract the many obstacles — as the mariner attempts 
 -to lessen the effect of adverse winds and currents — so 
 that, in the end, he may, even if he does not always 
 succeed, at least feel that he has "done his best"; and 
 that, as a still less distinguished result, possibly, by 
 retaining his representative position, kept a less 
 patriotic citizen out of ParHament. The obstacles are 
 numerous ; for they include aU the forms of ignorance, 
 prejudice, and selfishness to which flesh is heir : operating 
 inside and outside ParUament through various persons, 
 who are endeavouring to use that institution for the 
 purpose of gaining some profit, or some advantage that 
 can be turned into profit, for themselves individually, or 
 for some class who may help them in their political 
 career. The following chapters will, accordingly, 
 attempt to explain in detail what the most sahent
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 139 
 
 of those many aids and obstacles are, and examine 
 the various ways in which they run with or 
 comiter to the pubhc good, and in some cases effect 
 positive harm to the people. I shall also endeavour to 
 enumerate some good influences that play aroimd the 
 institution of Parliament, and which may, with care and 
 opportime action, be "taken at the flood" in the people's 
 interest. 
 
 The personal factors that work for or against sound 
 statesmanship are, as I have said, numerous and neces- 
 sarily involved ; and, therefore, one of the first requisites 
 of the quahfied politician, next to that of a loiowledge of 
 statecraft itself, as an art, is the study of his fellow 
 legislators, in all their varieties ; for every law which 
 has to pass through the fire of Parliament has to be 
 approved by a majority of his kind ; and, therefore, it is 
 indispensable that those who have the introduction or 
 the criticism of measures for the community's good or 
 ill, should be able to attach the appropriate weight and 
 influence to the comments and criticism of their fellows, 
 by possessing a just estimate of the personal, or party, or 
 class, interests, by which each of them is allowing himself 
 to be moved. For it is astonishing how easily and how 
 soon a partisan comes to believe that he is patriotic ; and 
 that the narrow interests by which he is allowing himself 
 to be moved or checked, are wide and far-reaching, as 
 well as directly contributing to the progress of the 
 community !
 
 140 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 TRUE PROGRESS DEFINED 
 
 TT would be an obvious mistake to suppose that the 
 progress of man depends, even largely, on Parlia- 
 ments. True progress must come from the moral 
 evolution of human nature ; but Parliaments will ever 
 play an important part in checking the conduct of 
 selfish and lawless men, who are indifferent to progress, 
 and would, if allowed to do so, even check progress, to 
 gain their own ends. 
 
 If the majority of citizens were to be guided, or be- 
 guiled, into enthusiasm, by the multifarious ideals of 
 social and political progress that are formulated by 
 many "practical" politicians, and some pohtical writers 
 — principally joumaUsts — who, from time to time, seek 
 to influence public opinion ; then any definite and 
 practicable scheme of organised society would become 
 impossible, even of conception ; for the theories would 
 counteract one another, render one another impossible 
 in practice, and produce, when jointly set in motion, 
 nothing short of civil disturbance and social chaos. 
 Those who are habitually idle, would desire to have a 
 commrmity in which all the needs, and even the luxuries, 
 of life were perpetually plentiful ; whilst they, and the 
 rest of the world, enjoyed a continuous career of leisure ; 
 those who are sufficiently energetic bodily, but for want 
 of knowledge or ability, unsuccessful in life, would have
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 141 
 
 all the world put back, periodically, to a fresh starting 
 point, and, at a later stage, kept back, till they and other 
 incompetents had caught up to the competent and pro- 
 vident ; those who have no foresight to make provision 
 for the future would, if they had their way, restrict 
 everybody else to a limited income, and allow no one to 
 accumulate, even for prudential reasons ; those who have 
 no personahty or individuality, and, metaphorically, 
 "lean against every post" they meet with, would have 
 leaning posts provided by the community, and make it 
 difficult for everybody else to stand erect upon his own 
 feet ; those who have become affluent by inheritance, 
 and never done any work for a livelihood, would have 
 everybody else kept poor and dependent, so as to be 
 ever subservient to them ; those who are obsessed with 
 the idea of some form of self-denial would arrange the 
 world so that everybody else should share their obsession ; 
 those who had no taste for anything but money-making 
 would, if they had their way, place an embargo on all 
 kinds of recreation, that were not "productive"; those, 
 whose minds had become distorted with a narrow sense 
 of rehgious duty, would abolish all forms of pleasure and 
 personal vanity, even though they might have a "tonic" 
 effect on those who would indulge in them ; those who 
 had been severely trained to regard all forms of intoxi- 
 cants as the root of all forms of evil, and believed they 
 were, would prohibit a whole community from a rational 
 use of them ; because some infinitesimal percentage of 
 its people could not taste them without losing their 
 balance. Then there are those, who are so convinced 
 that their particular creed is heaven-sent, that they 
 would, if they were able, force others to believe what
 
 142 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 they believed, or be prevented from believing anything 
 at all, and undergo some form of persecution as a 
 pmiishment. 
 
 One must, in fact, go back to first principles, in the 
 search for a true guide to rational happiness for all ; so as 
 to discover a form of government which, whilst being 
 generous and indulgent to no one in particular, wiU be 
 just and equitable to all. For the world is not ideal, 
 and does not yet contain even the materials for a 
 miUemiium. The question is not : what mankind 
 would Hke, but Avhat it can have, under all the 
 circumstances of the particular community in which we 
 are destined to live. 
 
 Reading the story of Robinson Crusoe in book form, 
 with "coloured illustrations," and as written "after the 
 event"; we are inclined to regard that boys' hero as 
 having enjoyed an uncommonly happy existence, until 
 he left the island ; but we are apt to forget the dangers, 
 the trials, the hardships, and the struggles of his early 
 days, before he had, by hard work, hard thinking, native 
 ingenuity, and tremendous courage and perseverance, 
 made his island a safe and habitable home. 
 
 There is one feature of such a community, which consists 
 of one person living alone on a sea-girt island ; that he 
 (the one person) cannot quarrel with his neighbours ! 
 A second occupant would completely alter the situation ; 
 unless, like "Friday," that second person at once surren- 
 dered unconditionally to the original occupant, and obeyed 
 him in all things, as was the case. A second occupant, 
 of the more egoistic t}^e, who might have subsequently 
 come to the island, would have raised the whole question 
 of social organisation ; for each of the occupants would
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 143 
 
 have to agree to a mutual arrangement of "give and take," 
 "live and let live," so as to make existence bearable. 
 With the advent of the second occupant, who claimed 
 equal rights, there would arise the necessity for some such 
 arrangement ; and if we can imagine each of the two 
 occupants enjoying such equal rights, as represented 
 in the concrete form of a circle ; that arrangement would 
 only work amicably, so long as the two circles did not over- 
 lap one another at any point. On a large island, the two 
 circles, representing in their outer rims, the limits of 
 their occupant's respective rights, could and would be 
 large, leaving each of these occupants ample scope for 
 the exercise of his freedom or rights ; but, as soon as a 
 third permanent occupant of the island arrived, the 
 circles would require to be reduced, if overlapping were 
 not to take place, with its consequent conflict or dispute. 
 
 Bearing this concrete figure or illustration in mind ; 
 it wiU be at once seen that the more the occupants 
 increased in number, the smaller would become the 
 allowable circles ; and the extreme form of this illustra- 
 tion would be found in a great city, where the circles 
 would be so exceedingly small, to admit of everybody 
 enjoying the same or equal rights, that each occupant or 
 citizen would become like a person with his arms 
 metaphorically tied by his side. Yet, such is the true 
 condition of each citizen, in a very closely-peopled 
 community, having regard to the body of laws, by-laws, 
 regulations, traditions, conventions, customs, and social 
 observances by which every weU-conducted citizen is 
 guided. 
 
 It wiU be noted, also, that in this method of picturing 
 the scope of each man's or woman's rights, no question
 
 144 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 of conflict or discord could arise, until some one citizen 
 allowed the circle of his rights and liberties, or in other 
 words, his activities, mental or bodily, to overlap those 
 of one or more of his neighbours ; for, in such a system, 
 each would do as he wished, think as he wished, and 
 believe as he wished, so long as he did not trespass beyond 
 the circle of his own rights, and so impinge on the circle 
 of his neighbour. 
 
 This parallel or analogy appears to me to throw some 
 light on, and to be some aid to, the working out of a 
 scheme or principle in connection with social organisa- 
 tion. It allows what such "individualistic" thinkers, 
 as Herbert Spencer, demand : "the fullest freedom for 
 each, compatible with the equal freedom of all." 
 
 In such a simple set of circumstances as those of the 
 life of Defoe's hero, questions concerning liberty and its 
 curtailment never arose ; and the rights of property 
 never called for adjudication in such a state of existence. 
 But the outlook of the big, outer world is very different, 
 under its now much altered conditions ; especially since 
 population is gradually filling up all its once empty 
 places, and since the gregariousness and desire for safety 
 from attacks by other groups have prompted men and 
 women to live together in towns and cities and nations, 
 for mutual advantage and safety. Man has grown, too, 
 in his knowledge of the natural forces that ever played 
 around him in the world, and that once he feared, and 
 invested with mysterious personalities and individuaU- 
 ties. His increased knowledge of, and familiarity with, 
 nature's laws, has given him courage to treat them with 
 confidence, and to use them, one against another, for his 
 own purpose ; to employ one or other of those laws of
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 145 
 
 nature to do for him work that previously seemed, 
 humanly impossible ; so that to-day he seems to be, to 
 some extent, in control of a world in which he at one time 
 figured as a timid and helpless atom. 
 
 Man has, in fact, by reason of this knowledge, changed 
 the face of the world in many respects ; he has "moved 
 mountains," and pierced them through and through in 
 order to obtain "short cuts." He has run one ocean into 
 another, and diverted seas and rivers from their natural 
 beds and courses, for his own economic convenience. He 
 has learned to travel in the air from one country to 
 another, and not only traversed oceans, but accomplished 
 long journeys beneath their ever-changing surfaces ; 
 he has subdued the animal kingdom and the vegetable 
 kingdom, denuded forests, and planted fresh ones for his 
 own purposes. All this has been done by a careful 
 study of nature's laws, and in accordance with certain 
 recognised and aclaiowledged man-made regulations, 
 conceived with the object of avoiding human conflict 
 in the carrying out of these great conquests of mind 
 over matter. 
 
 It has all been the work, not merely of many hfe- 
 times, but of many centuries, and even ages ; for the 
 knowledge of nature's laws, and the courage to utiKse 
 that knowledge, have only been acquired by a slow and 
 steady process of painful experience, extending back 
 to a time when man was little more intelligent than, if as 
 intelligent as, many of the animals aroimd us in this 
 twentieth century ; and the history of the earhest stages 
 in this progress goes beyond existing written records ; so 
 that, to a great extent, we can only conjecture as to its 
 earhest stages from the use of analogy and a variety of
 
 146 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 other more direct data, which themselves require much 
 experience to decipher and understand. That progress 
 spans a period from the early presence of man in the world, 
 in a primitive and barbaric state, to the century in which 
 we are now hving ; when many of the most advanced 
 communities have reached a high state of civilisation, 
 and built up parHamentary institutions, in which the 
 rights of men, and the wisest methods of dealing with 
 them, are intended or professed to be carefully discussed 
 and settled by mutual agreement, so as to give the fullest 
 scope to each unit, whilst guarding against conflict and 
 confusion, such as would jeopardise the comfort, con- 
 venience, and good will of the whole. 
 
 The conduct of those institutions, and the making 
 of laws for the regulation of the activities of the millions 
 of units who claim to have a voice in that conduct, has 
 become a scientific study, as already pointed out ; and 
 as its study calls for a wide knowledge of its subject- 
 matter : man, his origin, nature, characteristics and 
 needs; the accurate knowledge of all its branches has, 
 not only a direct, but an indispensable, bearing on the 
 subject with which this Uttle work is concerned. 
 
 The question is, what is "true progress" in a com- 
 munity ; what is the ideal towards which the thinking 
 politician or statesman should look, in all his efforts to 
 fulfil his true province ? We hear and read a great deal 
 about the necessity for "progressive" legislation, for 
 laws of an "advanced" character ; but the users of these 
 terms are by no means clear as to their real meaning, 
 and, as a rule, do not follow up their demands or 
 "yearnings," by what one may justly term scientific 
 definitions.
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 147 
 
 A great many superficial thinkers on political subjects 
 speak carelessly, and unscientifically, and loosely, of 
 these terms : "advanced" and "progressive," in their 
 application to the public affairs of their country ; as if 
 mere "movement" or "change" were synonymous with 
 "improvement." As a fact, frequent material altera- 
 tions in the constitution, the laws, the administration, 
 or the social conditions of a community, are undesirable, 
 unless urgently required ; and in some cases, where they 
 may be carelessly, ignorantly, or abruptly, effected ; the 
 commiinity, as a whole, may be distinctly thrown back 
 in its development, and its people deteriorated or de- 
 moralised, in their standards of civil conduct, as compared 
 with those of other communities. 
 
 A great EngHsh judge once went so far as to say that 
 it was "more important that the law should be certain, 
 than it should be right," in view of the primary advan- 
 tage of the people knowing definitely how the law stood, 
 and where they stood. 
 
 In regard to mere change for change's sake, it has 
 been well said — in a metaphorical sense — that a com- 
 munity may "progress" — down hill, or "advance" — 
 over a precipice. 
 
 The "decline and fall" of the Roman Empire was, for 
 instance, the long-drawn-out result of a series of political 
 activities on the part of the governing class of the Roman 
 people, which, no doubt, at the time, seemed to those 
 who promoted them, both "progressive," and of an 
 "advanced" character ; but we now know that many of 
 those movements or changes, in later Roman history, 
 were, in their direct or indirect effect, of a retrograde 
 character, in leading to the gradual demorahsation and
 
 148 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 "decline" of the Empire, to a condition of less efficient 
 standards in the character and composite calibre of its 
 citizens. 
 
 One of the greatest authorities on the art of political 
 government has said that the national character of a 
 community is most accurately gauged by the law-abiding 
 character, the vigour, and self -helping independence of 
 the units who compose it. 
 
 The national characteristics of strength, self-reliance, 
 independence, self-help, and moral fibre — the old-time 
 "Viking" attributes, through which nearly all great and 
 dominating European nations have originally reached 
 their ideals, and by virtue of which they have attained 
 to an established footing in the world's history — these 
 can only be acquired through the medium of the units 
 of a community possessing and practising those attri- 
 butes as individual citizens. 
 
 These personal quahfications in individual citizens 
 give power and permanence to the nation to which they 
 belong, and help to attune the units, in their corporate 
 spirit, to a higher pitch of national aims and achieve- 
 ment ; to ensure and prolong their existence as a body- 
 poHtic, and exalt a nation's destiny in the racial struggle 
 for existence, to which all the world's peoples must be 
 sooner or later subjected. 
 
 The relative histories of nations, viewed in a suf- 
 ficiently extensive perspective, are as changeable as the 
 ever-undulating surface of the ocean. In one age, 
 certain of them may be lifted on to the very crest of the 
 waves ; exhibiting such buoyant qualities as strength, 
 vigour, and prowess, combined with such civil virtues as 
 the love of freedom, self-reliance, and morale, in their
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 149 
 
 organisation and development, enabling them to become 
 the worthy objects of a world's admiration ; yet, in a 
 subsequent age, the same nations may, by the demoral- 
 isation and decadence of their units, fall back to the 
 level of the trough of the sea, and come to be regarded 
 as among the commimities of a bygone age. 
 
 The attributes, then, which are comioted by the words 
 "progress" and "advance," when used in their accurate 
 sense, in relation to a race, nation, or smaller community, 
 are not the desire for movement, followed by mere clmnge, 
 irrespective of ultimate effects, but the effort to reach 
 higher standards of citizenship, leading to increased 
 stability, to an improved morale, and to a finer spirit of 
 industry in its people ; to a greater corporate power to 
 resist aggression from without, as weU as to prevent 
 discord within ; and, in addition, to more estabUshed and 
 secure rights, under its laws, for all its imits to exercise 
 their energies and tastes in any direction they may think 
 fit, so long as, in such exercise, they do not imduly 
 interfere with the like freedom being enjoyed by each 
 and all of their fellow citizens. Whilst these national 
 and individual qualities or characteristics are main- 
 tained ; the community, being well and tridy foimded, 
 must, of necessity, develop by natural enterprise and 
 growth ; and, by increasing enlightenment in regard to 
 the productive industries, the art of government, and 
 the numerous other problems incidental to an evolving 
 civiHsation, the units must become prosperous and con- 
 tented, and the community as a whole be progressive. 
 
 The period of time over which we are able to review 
 the histories of peoples of the past, through ^\Titten 
 records, is, in comparison with the whole process of
 
 150 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 human evolution, no more than the bUnk of a camera 
 would be in contrast with a man's lifetime ; yet that 
 brief period of history is prolific in sociological examples 
 and illustrations, if thinking men and women wiU but 
 read history, and apply its lessons to the events of to-day. 
 The test of a nation's true progress is, in truth, as the 
 test of a man's real success in Ufe. In the case of the 
 individual, wealth alone, though almost miiversally 
 regarded as the loadstone of human happiness, may 
 prove to be absolute Dead Sea fruit in the smn total of a 
 great or a happy career. Similarly, national wealth, 
 though correctly regarded as the true objective of a 
 community, on its purely economic side, may be attained 
 at the expense of moral decadence. With the individual, 
 a healthy body and a contented mind, combined with a 
 clean record and a consciousness of having done justice 
 to others, as well as to oneseK, go far to make up the 
 sum of true happiness. Similarly, with a community, 
 national stabiHty in power of defence, and in a sufficiency 
 of means to meet its engagements, are all-important 
 factors in true national progress, even without super- 
 abundant national wealth ; and that nation may be 
 adjudged happy and successful that possesses these 
 quahties, provided it have a clean record or history as a 
 body-politic : having dealt fairly and equitably with all 
 its citizens ; and provided also its population be 
 healthy, enlightened, hberal, and tolerant, in regard 
 to other peoples, and sufficiently free from national 
 vanity to be able and willing to engage from time to 
 time in national introspection, so as to discover and 
 correct the shortcomings that naturally arise with the 
 growth and development of every organism.
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 151 
 
 The world, in emerging from its five-years' war, has 
 come to see that nations themselves, however far they 
 may be geographically separated, must have ever before 
 them the question of their respective rights and their 
 national freedom.
 
 152 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE 
 
 npHERE is no more fruitful source of political errors of 
 judgment, not only in the framing of laws, but 
 generally, in the art of administering the governmental 
 affairs of a country to the best advantage, than want of 
 knowledge of human history. And this applies to both 
 ancient and modern history, including the records of 
 one's own generation, and the history of one's own life ; 
 the facts of which are stored up or recorded in one's own 
 memory, in the form of "personal experience"; for that 
 is as much "history" as that which is recorded in books ; 
 and, in the mind that is unbiassed and "balanced," it is 
 even more trustworthy, though it is possibly spread over 
 too short a period to justify over-confident generalisa- 
 tions. For the earliest efforts to regulate man in his 
 activities, based on the then available history, were quite 
 as productive of blmiders, and as disappointing, as are 
 those of our own day, based on a wider range of 
 experience. 
 
 As already noted, history involves a record of socio- 
 logical experience or experiments in matters affecting 
 the public welfare ; and, if properly read and wisely 
 interpreted, in the hght of more modem events of a 
 similar or analogous character ; it serves, as does the 
 chart of the navigator, to show the way by the deeper 
 and safer waters, and to reveal the shoals and shallows 
 about and aroimd his course.
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 153 
 
 As the experience of the past, when intelligently 
 recorded, and carefully diagnosed and interpreted, 
 reveals, also, the relation of events, as cause and effect, 
 where tendencies, rather than single results, are studied 
 in the search for parallels ; the lessons involved, when 
 applied to present legislative proposals, will frequently 
 save a repetition of past blrmders, or facilitate the 
 reproduction of similar beneficial Consequences, as the 
 case may be, for the guidance of those who properly 
 apply the historical lessons. 
 
 To be entirely ignorant of history, involves the loss 
 of the lessons of such experience as it records ; and even 
 to be indifferent to history's obvious lessons, after we 
 have read them, produces similar results. 
 
 It must be readily admitted that no two experiences, 
 such as history may record, are exactly parallel in every 
 particular and circumstance ; but, to the careful student 
 of such events as it relates, some general principle or 
 tendency will always be revealed ; which, if not affording 
 an exact precedent in cause and effect, will at least supply 
 a note of warning or a suggestion, that may be of sub- 
 stantial service, in enabUng the student-politician to 
 foresee the probable effect of some administrative 
 activity or legislative proposal. 
 
 Lord Bohngbroke, in his Httle-known work on The 
 Study and Use of History, observed that "history is 
 philosophy teaching by example": and the plain and 
 obvious meaning of such an aphorism is, that the events 
 of history are a series of examples of cause and effect in 
 pubUc affairs, from which experiments, a body of practical 
 philosophy or political science can be built up.
 
 154 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 It is, for instance, impossible that history should afford 
 a complete parallel to the whole series of events in early 
 North American colonial history, which culminated in 
 England's losing her young colonies, by insisting, among 
 other things, on the payment of duties and other taxes 
 towards the maintenance of the mother country, in the 
 imposition of which the widely-separated colonists had 
 no voice ; yet that lesson in statesmanship, involving 
 a recognition of the spirit of independence and of 
 resentment, at those mi just imposts, by a body of 
 Anglo-Saxon colonists, estabhshed in a new and distant 
 country, has now been crystallised in the phrase, "No 
 taxation without representation" ; and the effect of that 
 lesson, or maxim, is frequently observable, nowadays, in 
 the ahnost excessive care with which British statesmen 
 avoid the temptation to impose the mother-wiU upon any 
 body of colonists, in the forms of taxes or restraints, 
 which are calculated to arouse that same spirit of protest. 
 
 Again, it is generally acknowledged, by students of 
 history, that the French Revolution was the collapse of 
 a sociological organisation, which had been allowed to 
 drift into conditions of gross class -preference and 
 privilege, that even the then "cowed" human nature of its 
 people, in a last resort, would not tolerate ; and in 
 which the governing classes forgot, or clearly ignored, the 
 principle of equal rights for all, and abused the patience 
 and submission of the masses of the people, at one time 
 accustomed to freedom and juster political treatment. 
 
 The "example" in political philosophy that has been 
 drawn from that volcanic page in history, is that there 
 is a breaking point in the process of abusing the control 
 of a community, made up of men and women, who have
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 155 
 
 once known what it is to be free, and to be justly 
 governed. 
 
 These are only two of the well-kno"WTi instances of the 
 lessons, or "examples," which are to be learned from 
 human history, as properly recorded in modern cen- 
 turies ; but its "pages," which extend bej-ond written 
 records, into the earlier periods of hieroglyphic and 
 tradition, contain numberless equally patent teachings 
 for those who do not read it all as a mere duty, or by 
 "rule of thumb," but are able to contemplate human 
 nature in its more panoramic aspects, and to extract 
 broad principles, and trace distinct tendencies, in the 
 stories of the rising and the faUing of nations ; in the 
 ebbing and flowing of empires, and in the one-time fuU 
 glow and subsequent eclipse of whole races of men. 
 
 No one, who neglects, or fails, from other causes, to 
 study and understand these and other aspects of human 
 nature and human affairs, can claim to be fuUy equipped 
 to play the important role of law -maker, or social 
 organiser, as involved in the art of statesmanship. 
 
 There are many so-called "practical" poUticians, who 
 consider the knowledge of general principles, drawn 
 from their own personal experience of Ufe, sufficient to 
 equip them as legislators for their own and future 
 generations ; but a moment's serious reflection should 
 con\ance them that, in ignoring the experience of 
 hundreds of thousands of at least equally clever men, 
 whose experience is incorporated, and, as it were, stored 
 for their benefit, in what may be regarded as national 
 diaries, in the form of history, they are ignoring a whole 
 magazine of valuable material. There are, moreover, 
 notable writings of men, who have devoted themselves
 
 156 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 to the study of what may be termed imiversal history, 
 which it would be impossible to induce "the man in the 
 street" to peruse and understand, but which literally 
 teem with valuable teachings, in their various general 
 branches of human knowledge, and which form a sort of 
 royal road to historical generahsations. 
 
 There is an equally fertile source of political error, that 
 results from the one-sided reading of history, or historical 
 Uterature, as presented from a purely social-class stand- 
 point. There is, too, a large body of pohtical literature 
 and joumaHsm being pubUshed in our own time, in 
 which the various aspects of the people's rights and 
 Uabihties are presented in a distinctly prejudiced and 
 distorted pohtical form ; and the reading of these is, if 
 possible, even more calculated to disqualify men for 
 taking the statesmanlike view of human affairs, than 
 absolute ignorance of the events of the world, as they 
 actually happened, and of the lessons which could be 
 drawn from them. This prejudiced class of Uterature, or 
 journalism, is often the means of not only producing a 
 one-sided view, but also of leading to an luifair and 
 unjust outlook in regard to legislative activities, 
 generaUy, in dealing with affairs as they affect the various 
 classes and interests of a modem community. 
 
 A statesmanlike attitude in relation to public affairs, 
 generally, presupposes and demands a just, impartial, 
 and "balanced" view of the problems which, from time 
 to time, present themselves for solution in a modern 
 state ; and, therefore, in order to effect the cultivation 
 of a statesmanlike outlook, and the setting up of states- 
 manlike ideals, a public man would need to have sub- 
 jected his personality to a variety of processes of study
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 157 
 
 and discipline, so that he may be able to take a judicial 
 view of human affairs, to free himself, as much as political 
 conditions will admit, from all class leanings, and, 
 whilst making the welfare of his own commmiity his 
 first national care, to remember that no nation can afford 
 to systematically ignore the rights of other nations, whose 
 interests may be intimately connected with, and possibly 
 at some future time may even clash with, those of his 
 own country. 
 
 The statesman is ever surroimded by a sea of self- 
 interested effort, based on the essential law of self- 
 preservation, but too often pushed to the extremes of 
 abuse, which would disregard the rights and interests of 
 others ; and it is in the checking and neutrahsing of 
 these attempted abuses that a great part of his most 
 trying and valuable work is found to lie. The philosopher 
 will tell us that the possession of wealth, beyond a certain 
 point, is not only of Uttle real use, but entails untold 
 responsibihty upon its possessor, which becomes a life- 
 work in itself ; nevertheless, men, in their endeavour to 
 obtain "enough" to satisfy the real wants of life, lose 
 their sense of proportion, allow their pursuit of a 
 "means" to become the pursuit of an "end," and, in 
 time, become obsessed with the fever of accumulation : 
 losing sight of, or forgetting, the higher and more 
 abiding pleasures, which their sufficiency would enable 
 them to enjoy, if they could but throw off the less 
 elevating ambition of merely "making more." 
 
 This "will o' the wisp" enterprise, to become "richer 
 than one's neighbour," causes men to forget the interests 
 of their fellow beings, and to pursue the selfish search, up 
 to a point at which the legislature has to be frequently
 
 158 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 invoked to compel those who engage in it to have due 
 regard for others with equal rights. And it is in the 
 watching and "checkmating" of this everlasting struggle 
 and scramble ; and in the devising of rational legislative 
 means to prevent or neutraHse the abuses produced by 
 it, that the statesman is required to bring his wider 
 knowledge to bear. He is called upon to exercise his 
 knowledge of men ; of their rights and limitations ; of 
 their weaknesses ; of their cunning, and their greediness ; 
 as weU as to keep prominent in his mind the attempts in 
 the past, to prevent it all ; many of which history shows 
 to have been futile, and even, in some cases, to have 
 produced effects diametrically opposite to those intended. 
 
 On the other hand, there are, for ever obtruding them- 
 selves on pubHc attention, the journalist ; the writer of 
 pamphlets and books, as well as the "practical" politician, 
 who attempts to win converts, and to make political 
 capital for himself, by professing to sympathise with tho 
 less successful and less fortimate in life, and to persuade 
 them that their worldly disadvantages are the result of 
 injustice and inequality in the distribution of the world's 
 wealth. These writers and speakers, whilst decrying 
 "wealth" and "affluence" in the more fortunate of their 
 fellow citizens, are, in most cases, endeavouring — even 
 strenuously endeavouring — to acquire a competency for 
 themselves ; so that their teachings are for the most 
 part to be taken at their true value, as hypocritical and 
 self-seeking, and dealt with accordingly. 
 
 It is in the watching of all these influences that the 
 statesman has to differentiate himself from the time- 
 servers of his day ; from the army of empirics, who offer 
 covert bribes, in the shape of fair promises, in return for
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 159 
 
 their own selection as representatives ; and who advise 
 a course, not according to what the}^ know to be just and 
 right, but of the kind that wiU meet with the approval 
 of their constituents. 
 
 Among the political obstacles with which would-be 
 statesmen are confronted, and bv which their course of 
 duty is rendered more and more complex and exacting, 
 is the resort to various extreme and rigid forms of party 
 combination, which have the effect of shackUng men in 
 both their speech and their judgment, and making less 
 and less possible the reahsation of a ParHament in which 
 the people's representatives shall be free to give expres- 
 sion to their honest judgment, irrespective of sectional 
 interests. Such disturbing factors make it almost 
 impossible to secure the consideration of national ques- 
 tions on their merits ; and, not infrequently, in certain 
 classes of poUtical combination, the ultimate decision 
 arrived at, by means of those methods, is diametrically 
 opposite to that which would have eventuated, if the 
 whole matter had been discussed and decided by an 
 entirely free assembly. 
 
 As illustrating this anomalous state of things, many 
 cases could be quoted in connection with democratic 
 Parhaments, in which the minority in a poUtical party 
 whose block vote has ultimately carried a measure, 
 would, if added to the actual and open opposition to the 
 measure, constitute the majority of the ParHament ; so 
 that the actual passing of the measure had resulted from 
 a caucus minority vote. 
 
 The ideal of true statesmanship is, of course, wise 
 legislation ; that is, legislation which is most conducive 
 to the welfare of the whole community, who are all equally
 
 160 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 entitled to be considered ; and the possibility of securing 
 such an end, presupposes a body of legislators who are 
 sufficiently well informed in history and practical 
 statesmanship, to be capable of reaching a really wise 
 result. The practical outcome of adult suffrage, or, 
 in other words, popular government, where representa- 
 tives do what they consider will please their constituents, 
 may be said, even under the freest circumstances, to be 
 equivalent to the judgment of the average man ; or, where 
 female suffrage obtains, the average voter ; and no one 
 wiU seriously contend that such an average tjrpe possesses 
 either the historical knowledge, or the practical abihty, 
 to reach truly wise conclusions on complex questions. 
 
 Wise statesmanship, therefore, becomes, in the face 
 of all these political obstacles — even of those only which 
 result from errors of judgment, bias of party, and the 
 disturbance resulting from sectional combination — 
 almost an impossibiUty ; and he, who would keep before 
 him so impossible an ideal, must learn to be satisfied with 
 small results, in the form of an approximation towards 
 his objective. The true statesman recognises this fact 
 as one of the axioms of his vocation. He learns to be 
 satisfied with the modification of what might otherwise 
 lead to even grosser injustice, and with the saving of a 
 situation that would, without such efforts, end in stiU 
 more serious consequences to the people ; but the facts 
 and circumstances referred to, so numerous and varied 
 as they are, nevertheless constitute obstacles to be 
 counted with ; and their inevitable continuance, under 
 twentieth century conditions, only serves to render the 
 province of the statesman, who seeks to pursue a just 
 course, more and more difficult, if not heroic.
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 161 
 
 We have considered history, hitherto, as a more 
 particular record of the public activities of a country, 
 duly recorded in relation to one or other of the nations 
 which have had regular historical writers. But it would 
 be a mistake to limit study to such particular records ; 
 for the most instructive forms of history are those which 
 partake of a miiversal character ; inasmuch as they 
 afford a comparative picture of different peoples, acting, 
 in public matters, far apart, with similar or nearly 
 similar ideals, swayed bj^ similar class and religious 
 prejudices, and falling into similar or analogous blunders 
 in regard to the most successful method of governing 
 peoples, with a view to their present and future welfare. 
 
 Such universal histories encourage a broader outlook 
 in their readers ; deal with human affairs in a more 
 tolerant and comparative spirit ; and present more 
 vividly the false steps that have, in the past, been taken 
 by monarchs or other rulers, in their efforts to govern 
 their particular peoples. 
 
 It is worth while noticing that this form of universal 
 and comparative history — so useful to the student- 
 politician — is, with a few notable exceptions, peculiar 
 to later times — one might almost say to the nineteenth 
 century — for, prior to that period, national bias, as the 
 outcome of insular interests, made no intellectual demand 
 for such writings ; and, as a consequence, that class of 
 literature was not often obtainable. Herodotus stands 
 out among universal historians of classical times ; and 
 Adam Smith broke some fresh ground in the same 
 direction, in the eighteenth century. The nineteenth 
 century saw a wider spread of comparative knowledge of 
 other countries and other peoples, such as now serves for
 
 162 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 this form of generalised commentary ; and to-day 
 libraries contain many treatises of the character in ques- 
 tion. 
 
 Take, for instance, a work — already referred to at 
 length — like Buckle's History of Civilisation, in which 
 there are recorded the blunders of statesmen, monarchs, 
 and whole nations, spread over many generations, and 
 even centuries ; wherein each, in his or their turn, con- 
 sidered themselves wise and enlightened ; yet whose 
 activities, looked at in the light of to-day, reveal the 
 grossest miscalculations, possibly with the best inten- 
 tions, as well as, in some cases, deliberate and glaring 
 injustices, in regard to the lives and interests of the 
 peoples affected. 
 
 Referring to graver instances of misgovernment, 
 Buckle says that "among the active authors of these 
 cruelties (speaking of instances of religious persecution), 
 we find the names of the best men who ever sat on a 
 throne"; and he adds elsewhere, that "it is to the dif- 
 fusion of knowledge, and to that alone, that we owe the 
 comparative cessation of what is unquestionably the 
 greatest evil men have ever inflicted on their own 
 species." 
 
 Or take such a work as Lecky's History of Rationalism 
 — also referred to previously — in which that writer has 
 collected innumerable instances, spread over a wide 
 expanse of European history, in which worthily-motived 
 men, in positions of authority, but with minds distorted 
 out of all balance and perspective by religious fervour, 
 have exercised that authority, to the detriment, ruin, 
 cruelty, and even bloodshed, of thousands of their fellow 
 men and women, who had been born into the world
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 163 
 
 entitled to equal rights with those of their persecutors, 
 but without the power or influence to insist on their 
 recognition. The stake, the gallows, and the execu- 
 tioner's block, used to condemn the causes of science, 
 freedom of thought, superstition, magic, and witchcraft, 
 have each played, in their turn, their bloody and bar- 
 barous part in the destruction of good and useful 
 citizens ; in many cases merely because some zealot of 
 fermented brain was invested with religious authority 
 to decimate hundreds and thousands of his fellows, in the 
 equally fallacious cause of an idea, or a religious dis- 
 tinction, possibly of microscopic bearing on the sober 
 logic of life, not infrequently with a view to the preserva- 
 tion of some equally distorted conception of the Almighty, 
 and in the hope of propitiating that Divine Embodiment 
 for that same zealot's own hereafter. 
 
 It will be seen that whole generations suffered before 
 amelioration came in the shape of the secularisation 
 of politics. Here are the concluding and comprehensive 
 words of Lecky, in closing his History of Rationalism : — 
 "The destruction of the belief in witchcraft and of 
 religious persecution ; the decay of those ghastly 
 notions concerning future punishments, which for 
 centuries diseased the imagination and embittered the 
 characters of men ; the emancipation of suffering 
 nationalities ; the abolition of the belief in the guilt of 
 error, which paralysed the intellectual, and of the 
 asceticism which paralysed the material, progress of 
 mankind, may be justly regarded as among the greatest 
 principles of civilisation." 
 
 Take, in another direction, the instances of the 
 Egyptian priests and monarchs, whose domgs are
 
 164 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 recorded in Read's Martyrdom of Man ; who imagined 
 they were benefiting the human race, in sacrificing 
 millions of lives to the folly of erecting buildings as 
 monuments, and pyramids as mementoes, for the glory 
 of men ; whose names and characters, notwithstanding, 
 are to-day so uncertain as to be practically forgotten. 
 A crude and barbarous ideal, born of a distorted mind or 
 disposition, in some cases a childish vanity, was, in 
 various instances, made the pivot on which the lives of 
 millions of worthy and harmless men and women were 
 sacrificed. One has only to look through the pages of 
 Herodotus, to realise that veritable "lists" of emperors, 
 who had, at one time, millions of money at their disposal, 
 and the domination of millions of their fellows in the 
 matter of life or death, have now faded into oblivion, 
 except as "items" in a catalogue. Such is the vanity of 
 human ambition, and such the futility of human attempts 
 to build up an abiding fame, on mere "show," as a fovmda- 
 tion. And, be it noted, that, whilst the identity of these 
 monuments to untold wealth and imperial power, has 
 now faded out of sight ; the names of poor men, such as 
 Socrates and iEsop, who treated wealth as dross, still 
 live, as if they were of only yesterday. 
 
 Although the moral and logical miscalculations of men 
 in, "high places" have not always directly produced the 
 actual destruction of their fellows ; they have, by their 
 blundering laws and regulations, wasted the industry 
 and efforts of millions, which might, if not so misdirected, 
 have produced more rational results, and spread plenty 
 and contentment, over broad areas of human welfare. 
 
 Superstition, bigotry, and arrogated authority, have 
 served as misdirecting finger-posts for whole nations :
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 165 
 
 all victims of the failure to apply the test of equal rights, 
 operating by means of a quiet rational intelligence, 
 applied to human affairs. Draper's Conflict of Religion 
 and Science (another work in the category of universal 
 history) epitomises the long struggle which spread itself 
 over centuries of human evolution, in which truth, quietly 
 and repeatedly asserting and re-asserting herself, at every 
 interval of history, from the dawn of man's early struggle 
 with nature, till the advent of scientific light, in regard 
 to the true proportion and true relation of the world to 
 the universe, finds herself repeatedly and persistently 
 thwarted by self-interested men. Everywhere were 
 engendered and cultivated superstition and mystery, 
 concerning the unseen, and so built up a false antagonism 
 between the true Controller of the universe, who speaka 
 miiformly through his laws of nature, and a counterfeit 
 deity, who denounces those same laws as of evil omen ; 
 and there were set up in their place man-made 
 admonitions that will not stand the light of day, or 
 the touchstone of reason. 
 
 And, although the fallacies recorded and exposed 
 in such works of universal history may seem to us to-day 
 inconceivable, and not to be of really much practical value 
 to the modem political student in. the legislative and 
 administrative affairs of our own time ; they are exceed- 
 ingly useful ; as showing how men, in past times, with 
 all the advantages of education and advanced training, 
 such as their age afforded, completely misconceived 
 the true aims of human government. And thus they 
 serve to emphasise the fact that human government is 
 an art depending upon a science — the science of sociology, 
 involving in its turn a knowledge of man, his nature,
 
 166 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 his vices, as well as his virtues. It will, thus, be 
 recognised that Edmmid Burke did not overstate the 
 case, when he said : "The nature of man is intricate ; 
 the objects of society are of the greatest possible com- 
 plexity ; and, therefore, no simple disposition or direc- 
 tion of power can be suitable either to man's nature or to 
 the quahty of his affairs."
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 16'? 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 ECONOMIC KNOWLEDGE 
 
 T T is difficult to know where to begin, and where to stop, 
 in attempting to deal with the subject of the general 
 public's indifference, or want of knowledge, concerning 
 Political Economy, as among the "obstacles to human 
 progress," so far as they depend upon, or may be over- 
 come by, statesmanship. Interpreting "economy," in 
 relation to a State, as meaning "the frugal and prudent 
 management" of its affairs ; one's mind is bewildered 
 with the thought of the uncountable varieties of waste 
 and extravagance ; the absolutely wasteful methods of 
 collecting its revenue and distributing its expenditure ; 
 that are presented by a review of its different aspects of 
 management. 
 
 Thorold Rogers, in his work on Political Economy, 
 speaking of Adam Smith, who has been justly called 
 "the father" of that science, says : "Much of the merit 
 of Adam Smith's great work {The Wealth of Nations) is 
 derived from the steady use which that philosopher made 
 of history and statistics." 
 
 As these two subjects are generally regarded as among 
 the driest and least "entertaining" in the catalogue of 
 branches of human knowledge ; it is hardly to be 
 expected, in an age of hysterical fiction ; of spectacular 
 dramatic art ; and of many other forms of sensational 
 personal enjoyment ; that any study, that depends upon 
 those two abstract subjects, should be clearly under-
 
 168 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 stood by, or afford interest to, either the average 
 voter, or the average representative, whom they 
 entrust with the conduct of public affairs. 
 
 If, then, the statesman, or widelj^-informed politician, 
 be familiar with the science of economics ; and the 
 politicians around him, as well as the general public, who 
 have elected them, are not even superficially versed or 
 seriously interested in that science, even iri its practical 
 aspects ; there is at once brought into play "an obstacle" 
 to progress ; for, whenever the statesman attempts to 
 make, or direct, necessary laws or administrative 
 regulations, or to oppose injurious ones, with a view to 
 the public welfare ; he will not only be opposed, and his 
 efforts frustrated, by the objections of the majority, 
 based on superficial opinions, or on no opinions at all ; 
 but ridicule will be freely employed to lessen his influence 
 in politics generally. 
 
 There are considerable differences of opinion current 
 among the people in all countries, even as to what 
 "economics" are ; though the origin of the word, and 
 its present everyday meaning, are very simple and 
 straightforward, if only investigated with an interested 
 purpose. "Domestic Economy," as we all understand 
 it, is, to the household, what "Political Economy" is 
 to the commmiity or nation. If this simple parallel were 
 only clearly recognised and acted upon ; there are many 
 public acts, now tacitly approved, if not applauded, 
 because of their superficial but misleading attractiveness, 
 that would not be tolerated by the people ; and there are 
 many arguments, equally fallacious, used with approval 
 among the people of to-day, that would not be patiently 
 listened to with the wider and better knowledge that a
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 169 
 
 study of political economy would afford. The attractive- 
 ness of many forms of spurious legislation lies in the 
 superficial or first-sight advantages that present them- 
 selves in comiection with it ; but these would be scouted, 
 and treated with contempt, if only those, who are allured 
 by them, could see equally clearly, and miderstand, the 
 remote effects that would be produced in other and 
 unseen directions. It is like the case of a child, who is 
 attracted by the rosy cooking apple, and who longs to 
 eat it ; because, for want of experience, it fails to realise 
 the after-effects on its little inside, and the ultimate 
 necessity that will arise for a dose of oil, or some other 
 antidote, to correct the unseen consequences of its 
 indulgence. 
 
 Just as a good housekeeper will not, as a rule, think of 
 making for herself anything that she can buy m a better 
 quality, and at a cheaper price, in the next street ; so, 
 in national politics, men and women of sound knowledge 
 would not think of making for themselves commodities 
 that they could purchase in better quality, and at a 
 cheaper price, in an adjoining and accessible commmiity. 
 
 If the mother of a family justified herself, in attempting 
 to sole her own or her childi'en's boots, out of her own 
 time, at twice the cost that she could get them done for 
 in the next street, and vindicated herself on the ground 
 that it "afforded her employment," although, in order to 
 do it, she had to neglect some other form of necessary 
 work in her own house ; we should say of her that she 
 had completely failed to economise her efforts : had, in 
 fact, failed in her domestic economy. In the same way, 
 the public men in any community fail to economise its 
 national energies and resources, when they artificially
 
 170 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 encourage the local production of commodities at a 
 higher price than the same or better commodities could 
 be purchased for in an adjoining country. 
 
 There certainly is a wide diiference of opinion among 
 the people of different communities over this question, 
 though it is not based on unbiassed economic reasoning. 
 One side advocates allowing the people their in- 
 herent liberty to spend their own money, and to pur- 
 chase their own requirements, where and when they 
 choose ; the other side argues that a restriction should 
 be imposed on the purchasing of goods from other 
 communities, and that the people should be required — 
 whether they wish it or not — to use the commodities that 
 are locally manufactured, even though they cost much 
 more than they could be purchased for from other peoples, 
 and though, also, they may be inferior in quality. 
 
 Those who contend that citizens should, in the pur- 
 chase of commodities, be free to use their own money in 
 whatever way they please, and to obtain the greatest 
 value for their expenditure, are glibly labelled as "free- 
 traders"; and those who deny them that right, and 
 advocate laws of restriction to shut out such purchases as 
 citizens wish to buy for themselves, outside their own 
 commmiity, are equally glibly branded as "protec- 
 tionists." 
 
 In our own personal domestic affairs, those who favoured 
 the "protectionist" doctrine would not be tolerated, and 
 would be characterised as wasteful and improvident ; 
 though the identical principle applies in the domestic, 
 as in the national domain. 
 
 Let us approach the problem in another way. If a 
 visitor from an imknown country were, for the first
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 171 
 
 time, to visit the civilised world, possessing a knowledge 
 of the characteristics of our human nature, and of our 
 tj^e of social and political conditions ; he would be able 
 to accurately gauge the economic opinions of ninety-five 
 per cent, of the people, and of the Press, of each com- 
 munity, as being in strict accordance with the particular 
 economic policy in practical operation in the community 
 in which they dwelt. And this would be correct as a 
 judgment, and would not provoke surprise ; although 
 the economic policies of many countries are known to 
 be diametrically opposed to those of others. This is a 
 more remarkable fact, in human affairs, than it seems at 
 first sight. For instance ; it would have been difficult 
 to find five per cent, of the people and press of Great 
 Britain and Ireland assuming even a tolerant attitude 
 towards the doctrine of protection thirty years ago ; 
 that is, before The Times newspaper completely changed 
 its attitude from free trade to protection : before the 
 late Joseph Chamberlain sounded the tocsin of "Pre- 
 ferential Trade," and before manufacturers and others, 
 commercially interested, raised the cry of "Fair Trade." 
 All well-informed persons knew, at that time, that both 
 of these latter "shibboleths" were the work of manu- 
 facturers of Great Britain, who were conscious of a falling 
 off in trade, and feared that it was being "stolen" by the 
 manufacturers of other comitries. They (or their 
 champions) argued that the suggested remedy — the 
 adoption of protection, and a complete reversal of the 
 whole economic policy of their country — promised a cm'e, 
 and the ' 'only cure , " f or their trouble ; but their arguments 
 and statistics on behalf of "Fair Trade" were met and 
 refuted at every turn, and never more conclusively, than
 
 172 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 by Professor Fawcett in his little work on Free Trade and 
 Protection. 
 
 Again, by way of contrast, in regard to the United 
 States, it would be difficult to-day to find in that country 
 five per cent, of the people and Press, who would consider 
 free trade even a rational doctrine. A more striking 
 instance is to be foiind in the fiscal history of adjoining 
 colonies in Australia ; where, prior to Federation, and 
 the consequent blotting out of the State boundaries in 
 regard to fiscal differences, at least ninety-five per cent, 
 of the people and Press of the State of Victoria con- 
 sidered the one-time free-trade policy of New South 
 Wales as evidencing a benighted public opinion ; whereas 
 the people of New South Wales, at the same time, 
 considered the people and Press of Victoria "out of their 
 minds" on the subject of protection. In the case of the 
 United States and Great Britain, there was a five or six 
 days' sea journey separating them, as an excuse for their 
 radical difference of opinion ; whereas, in the case of the 
 two Australian colonies, referred to, there was merely a 
 river between them. So much and so keenly was this 
 difference felt in regard to the Australian States, that, in 
 the opening policy-speech of the first Prime Minister of 
 the Commonwealth, the people of the new body-politic 
 were assured that the future policy of the Dominion, as a 
 whole, could be neither free trade nor high protection, but 
 would have to be a compromise between the two extremes 
 that had hitherto been in operation. The result of the 
 mingling of the economic opinions of the six States, 
 further confused by the political party huckstering 
 of those who had the ordering of the affairs of the 
 Commonwealth's initial policy, led to the all-round
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 173 
 
 imposition of the highest-known tariff in the history 
 of the group! 
 
 The cry of "Fair Trade" was raised in England in the 
 early 'eighties ; and it was plausibly contended that, 
 though the doctrine of "Free Trade" was sound, if 
 reciprocal ; it ought not to be extended to the United 
 States, if they continued to tax English manufacturers. 
 
 In 1885, Professor Fawcett published his small work 
 (already referred to) to combat the new cry ; and in it 
 he said : "Although it may be hoped that there is no 
 danger of England departing from a policy of free trade, 
 yet even here (in England) where a few years since, 
 scarcely a single person could be found to say a word 
 against free trade, a movement in opposition to what is 
 called 'one-sided free trade' is now finding many sup- 
 porters"; and the same writer speaks of a time when 
 "Protectionists were spoken of as if they were either 
 solely prompted by a desire to sacrifice the welfare of the 
 community, in order to promote their own selfish ends, 
 or when they were derided as the victims of economic 
 fallacies, so transparent that they ought not to mislead 
 a child." 
 
 To show, too, how many changes Great Britain herself 
 has gone through, in the fiscal opinions of her people ; 
 there is a passage in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, 
 in which he said that "to expect the complete restora- 
 tion of free trade in Great Britain was as absurd as to 
 expect the establishment of an Oceana or Utopia in it"; 
 yet, almost complete freedom was reached a hundred 
 years after he wrote. 
 
 Again, seventy years ago, Lord Melbourne, then Prime 
 Minister, declared in the House of Commons, that,
 
 174 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 "during his long life, it had been his lot to hear many 
 mad things proposed, but the maddest of all the mad 
 things to which he had ever had to listen was a proposal 
 to abolish the Corn Laws," which were protective in their 
 nature. Yet, those laws were then abolished ; and 
 Great Britain thereupon entered upon a steady career of 
 commercial freedom. 
 
 One could multiply quotations and facts beyond 
 available space, in order to show how marked has been 
 the vacillation of public opinion on this question, not 
 merely in different countries, but in the same com- 
 munity, at even short intervals ; and one could thus 
 demonstrate that the bulk of the people in each country 
 do not reason on this far-reaching economic issue, but 
 quietly and unthinkingly accept, as gospel, the alleged 
 soundness of the particular fiscal creed which happens 
 to be in operation in the country in which they are born, 
 or which they adopt as their home. Why do they not 
 reason ? And why do they quietly adopt whatever 
 economic beliefs they are bom into, as if they were the 
 doctrines of a creed, based on a blind faith, or the tenets 
 of an unchallengeable denomination ? The answer is 
 simple ; Economics are an abstract study, which, to 
 understand, involves more than common mental applica- 
 tion ; and the great majority of men and women avoid 
 abstract thought of all kinds, where their personal 
 interests are not directly concerned. But there are other 
 personal and interested reasons. 
 
 When once a commmiity embarks upon a system of 
 protection ; the artificial aid to the local industry, which 
 the embargo on imported goods affords, does two things, 
 which, at a later stage, make a return to free trade diffi-
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 175 
 
 cult, if not almost impossible. The encouragement, 
 resulting from a duty, brings into existence industries 
 that, otherwise, by reason of their unsuitability, and 
 unequal conditions for competition, would not be even 
 started ; and it also affords employment to people who 
 would, otherwise, have to find occupation in industries 
 that do not depend upon the artificial aid of an embargo 
 or protective duty on the imported goods. 
 
 In these two ways, citizens are gradually induced to 
 invest their capital in exotic industries, which are, in 
 truth, economic "hot-house plants," depending on the 
 artificial aid which the duty affords. The moment a 
 voice is raised to withdraw this aid, the industrial 
 investor is, naturally, up in arms ; and he is able to enlist 
 the support, and the agitation, if need be, of men and 
 women who have foimd employment in the industry, thus 
 kept on its feet by the State assistance, though at the cost 
 of the rest of the citizens, who are engaged in other and 
 normal industries, or in other and different walks of life ; 
 who thus have to pay artificial prices to keep such 
 industries on their feet, or on crutches, as going concerns. 
 The higher the duties imposed, the more effectual and 
 permanent the embargo becomes ; and, as a further 
 consequence, the more effectual the embargo becomes, the 
 larger becomes the number of persons employed by this 
 economic hot -house method ; and the larger also becomes 
 the number of persons at the disposal of the manu- 
 facturer, as conscious or unconscious agitators, to pro- 
 test against the duties ever being removed. 
 
 The subject may be approached in yet another way. 
 Every country is capable of producing some class of goods 
 more economically than others ; but individuals, or groups
 
 176 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 of citizens wish to place their capital in some industries 
 which, without artificial assistance, cannot stand on their 
 merits, against the competing prices of outside countries. 
 They, therefore, in effect, ask the Government of their 
 country to supply "a crutch" at the expense of other 
 citizens. By means of this crutch, they can stand more 
 firmly ; but, as competition from outside increases, and 
 the machinery of the home industries becomes out of 
 date — possibly obsolete — the "crutch" becomes insuffi- 
 cient ; and they appeal to the Government to strengthen 
 that "crutch" by further increasing the duties on the 
 imported competing article, and, later, to provide them 
 with one of a still stronger character. And so tariffs 
 creep up, until the duties of a country reach the pro- 
 hibitory range of a veritable Chinese wall. At such a 
 stage, a tariff becomes a stupendous burden of taxation, 
 diverting the people from their natural pursuits, and 
 making manufacturers wealthy, without adding to the 
 revenue in anything like a commensurate degree. 
 
 An intelligent manufacturer can, if he will, see and 
 appreciate this eleemosynary aspect of his position as a 
 dependent. But he has two views. He sees it all from 
 his point of view as a manufacturer, by which the more 
 help or protection he enjoys — even though it be at the 
 expense of his fellow citizens — the more easy or profitable 
 becomes his venture. He sees it, also, as an individual 
 citizen, by which, where other industries are being pro- 
 tected, he, himself, has to pay higher prices to support 
 them also. The writer has more than once heard a 
 manufacturer say — and his view is typical : "I am a 
 free trader — and I admit the soundness of free trade — 
 from a national standpoint ; but I am a protectionist
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 177 
 
 from the point of view of my own business ! " One 
 frequently finds in a protectionist country, manufacturers 
 protesting against the imposition of duties on com- 
 modities, which happen to form the raw material required 
 for their own. industry, whilst quite forgetting that that 
 very duty, against which they protest, is as essential for 
 the artificial support of the manufacturer of that raw 
 material, as their o\m duty is for the support of their own 
 manufacture of the finished article. 
 
 The fact is, the truth in regard to this world-wide 
 question, and the world-wide issues which it involves, 
 will never be clearly seen and appreciated, until it comes 
 to be studied from the international standpoint. And 
 Cobden saw this clearly when he wrote : "Free trade, 
 in the widest definition of the term, means only the 
 division of labour, by which the productive powers of the 
 whole earth are brought into mutual co-operation." 
 
 If one examines the economic conditions of a village, 
 one finds the work of the grocer, the butcher, the baker, 
 the ironmonger, the wheelwright, the farrier, the publican 
 and a dozen others, being carried on by means of the 
 division of labour ; if one studies the economic workings 
 of a city or a nation, one sees the same economic prin- 
 ciple at work. But when we look round the world as a 
 whole, we find, to-day, that, instead of the same principle 
 being allowed to operate, and each country being allowed 
 to produce the commodities to which its climate, its 
 geographical position, its supplj^ and cost of labour, and 
 its seasons, adapt it, so that they may exchange their 
 special products, economical^ and profitably, with one 
 another ; each — at least in regard to some countries — is 
 endeavouring to do for itself those things that the most
 
 178 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 intelligent and disinterested of its people know full 
 well other countries can do for them more satisfactorily, 
 in regard to both quality and cost. 
 
 One may lay down these general principles, as far as 
 statesmanship is concerned : that, when once a country 
 has embarked upon a policy of protection, however 
 much it may involve its citizens in extra cost to main- 
 tain the artificial state of things involved ; the chances 
 of its changing that policy are remote ; and statesman- 
 ship in that respect becomes almost hopeless ; for, if the 
 policy be long in existence, so large a proportion of the 
 population will have become dependent upon the fiscal 
 "crutches," that the industries of the community have 
 learned to lean upon, that it will be almost impossible 
 to remove them, without some result, approaching 
 national disaster. 
 
 But there are other features of the economic problem 
 that have played, and will still further play, a 
 prominent part in the political world. 
 
 I refer to the hope, rather than the belief, of practical 
 men and women, that the widespread interest throughout 
 the world, in regard to capital and labour, will be settled 
 by a sort of partnership between the employer and the 
 employee, which will produce satisfaction to both 
 classes, and create universal content. Compulsory 
 arbitration has been tried, and has failed, in both Aus- 
 tralia and New Zealand ; but the employees, who 
 clamoured for the establishment of such a tribimal, to 
 prevent what they then called "barbarous movements," 
 such as strikes and lockouts, have systematically failed 
 to respect the decisions of those tribunals, and, where-
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 179 
 
 ever the Courts have "found," contrary to their demands, 
 have ignored those "findings." 
 
 The compulsory arbitration system has, after twenty 
 years' trial, had the effect of tying the hands of the 
 employers ; because, in every instance, they possess 
 established and fixed property upon which the Court 
 can operate, by fines and penalties, where they disobey 
 its judgment. But it leaves the employee free to accept 
 or reject it ; for he can, individual^ and jesuitically, 
 prefer to seek a more satisfactory position, and leave 
 his emplojTuent, without fear of any consequences ; 
 since no executive government has ever yet shown the 
 courage to insist on the fines and penalties which the 
 Arbitration Courts have imposed as punishments. 
 
 Employers are now satisfied that the whole institution 
 is one-sided ; for the trades imions have systematically 
 used the Courts as a means of claiming more than 
 unionists are receiving for the time being, and taking 
 their chance of securing "something more" than formerly. 
 
 It is not too much to predict that, unless some method 
 can be discovered, and put into practice, of compelling 
 the unions, as corporate bodies, to require their members 
 to respect the decisions of the Courts, on pain of heavy 
 penalties accumulated under some enforced provisions ; 
 the whole scheme of arbitration, which involves taking 
 the original resort to the economic law of "supply and 
 demand" — as a means of regulating wages — out of the 
 hands of the employers and employees, will completely 
 break down. ■ 
 
 For it is generally admitted that the number and 
 seriovis consequences of industrial disputes are much 
 greater, under the system of arbitration, than formerly,
 
 180 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 and that, consequently, the dislocations of trade and 
 commerce, which include shipping, have grown more 
 and more costly and far-reaching, as time goes on. 
 
 Another direction in which the economic hopes of 
 "philanthropic" persons are extended, is that of industrial 
 partnership, under which it is hoped, and by some 
 believed, that the industrial "lion and lamb" of fable 
 will lie down together ! One can personally name 
 instances of this experiment, going back nearly half a 
 century ; and the results of those experiments proved 
 that they were not successful ; for, in every case, the 
 employees, who had acquired the interest in the business 
 in which they were employed ; so that they drew both 
 wages and dividends, always carefully calculated, when 
 any industrial difference arose, whether the gain by 
 striking, would more than counterbalance the loss, in 
 wages and dividends combined. 
 
 Under these conditions, the system, in regard to which 
 80 much is now being said and hoped, as if it were being 
 suggested for the first time, proved no better than that 
 which followed. At the base of all these attempted 
 schemes to establish identity of interest between em- 
 ployer and employee, there is a difficulty or obstacle that 
 cannot be surmounted ; for the employer, if the truth 
 be ascertained, is always endeavouring, and, in the press 
 of competition, is forced to endeavour, to obtain the 
 largest amount of work possible for the smallest amount 
 of pay ; whilst the employee, if the truth be ascertained, 
 is, on his part, always making an equally strenuous 
 endeavour to obtain as much money as possible for the 
 smallest amount of work. The two interests are in the 
 nature of two forces approaching one another, from
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 181 
 
 dififerent directions ; and there is no way of preventing 
 impact — resulting in industrial conflict— but that of 
 mutual moderation in demand, as the result of either 
 "supply and demand," or by amicable arrangement. 
 
 The commerce of the world, of Great Britain, of 
 America and Europe, has been built up on this principle 
 of reasoned competition ; and it is difiicult for a level- 
 headed man of the world, who knows human nature, and 
 the world's work as it is, to see how it is going to be 
 improved upon, whilst human nature remains as it is. 
 
 The adoption of compulsory arbitration has failed ; 
 and the most powerful labour representative in the 
 United States (Mr. Gompers) has not only advised, but 
 authoritatively asserted, that the working man of that 
 great country will never give up his "freedom to strike," 
 when it suits him, as a citizen of a country that prides 
 itself on its liberty. 
 
 The adoption of piece work in the United States, which 
 enables the competent and energetic worker to differen- 
 tiate himself and his career from that of the incom- 
 petent and idle worker, has to some extent solved the 
 problem which obtrudes itself wherever it is attempted 
 to conduct the world's affairs, on the assumption that all 
 men are equal in their capabilities. 
 
 The institution of piece work is "a business within a 
 business"; and it enables the industrious workman to 
 benefit to the full, as the result of his superior ability, 
 without risking loss by the incompetent management of 
 the employer. 
 
 The millennium is not yet at hand, and it is Utopian 
 to suppose that any economic scheme can be devised, 
 or ought to be devised, that will prevent the workman
 
 182 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 from obtaining the highest market price for his com- 
 modity — ^labour. It is equally Utopian to expect, or 
 seek to prevent, the employer from obtaining the best 
 value for his expenditure of capital. This exchange of 
 capital for labour is a perfectly legitimate form of 
 economic dealing, and one that will continue indefinitely, 
 as long as the workman desires certain and frompt 
 payment for his labour, without having to risk the loss 
 that the capitalist undertakes to set off against his 
 possible profit. The conflict of interests in this class of 
 economic transaction is no keener or more objectionable 
 than that involved in the exchange or sale of a hundred 
 other commodities in the competition of the world ; and 
 the plain duty of the statesman is to allow both the 
 employer and the employee to enjoy the fullest freedom, 
 as in the United States, so long as neither the one nor 
 the other attempts to deny the same advantage to his 
 competitor. The philanthropic purpose that can be 
 seen underlying all these schemes for softening the 
 competition of capital and labour, by providing the work- 
 man with an interest in the business in which he takes 
 a part, can always be served by his purchasing a greater or 
 smaller interest in that business ; and this is now an 
 easy process, in the present almost universal application 
 of the joint stock or "limited company" to commerce ; 
 under which a workman can purchase a smaller or larger 
 number of shares in any business in which he earns his 
 regular wages. He will thereby participate in the profits 
 that result, and so satisfy his philanthropic champions ; 
 but he may have to share the loss, if there be one in any 
 year ; and that possibility may act as an equally potent 
 incentive.
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 183 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MORAL STANDARDS 
 
 (The Elector) 
 
 T F one were to tell the average citizen to his face that 
 he had a lax moral sense in relation to political 
 questions, he would be justly offended by the abruptness 
 of the charge ; but it is, nevertheless, true as a charge 
 against citizens in the mass, however unfrequently he 
 may be reminded of the fact. 
 
 I propose to limit my comments in this chapter to the 
 political moral standards of the average elector, as 
 distinguished from those which more directly bear on the 
 legislative representative, which are reserved for sub- 
 sequent treatment. But it must, of course, be remem- 
 bered that the average representative takes his cue or 
 his standard from those whose interests he undertakes 
 to advocate, and to please whom he, as a rule, thinks it 
 allowable to adopt any standard that they may prescribe. 
 
 The famous Edmund Burke had the courage to draw 
 a clear and just distinction in this regard, between that 
 which he owed to his constituents, and that which he 
 owed to himself as a representative ; and it would be 
 well if the former would take the distinction to heart, 
 in considering the attitude of a member of Parliament 
 towards his constituency on any particular public ques- 
 tion. Addressing the electors of Bristol, 150 years ago, 
 when parliamentary institutions were held in higher 
 respect by the people than they are to-day, he said :
 
 184 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 "It is the duty of a representative to sacrifice his repose, 
 his pleasures, his satisfactions, to theirs, and, above all, 
 ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interests to his own. 
 But his unbiassed opinion, his mature judgment, his 
 enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you — 
 to any man, or to any living set of men. These he does 
 not derive from your pleasure — no, nor from the law 
 and constitution. They are a trust from Providence, for 
 the abuse of which he is deeply answerable. Your 
 representative owes you, not his industry only, but his 
 judgment ; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he 
 sacrifice it to your opinion." 
 
 This relationship between the elector and the repre- 
 sentative is more important, if we assume, as we ought 
 to do, and as ought to be the case, that the latter spends 
 more time in considering public questions that are 
 likely to be presented to Parliament, than does the former ; 
 and, especially, if we consider the advantages he will 
 enjoy — ^before committing himself to a final opinion — in 
 hearing in Parliament, all the arguments for and against 
 any measure or motion that may be submitted for its 
 consideration. 
 
 Unfortunately, the elector, nowadays — or, at least, 
 many of them — regard the member of Parliament as a 
 sort of delegate, who should ascertain what his con- 
 stituents want, and at once do it ; and, equally unfor- 
 tunately, a large number of representatives are content 
 to adopt that role, and become a mere echo of their 
 constituents. 
 
 Those who take the purely theoretical view of states- 
 manship will, probably, retaliate, by asserting that if 
 only modern public affairs were less complex ; so that
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 185 
 
 everyone, even the least intelligent of citizens, could 
 understand them, and have presented to them a simple 
 and just code of conduct, for the regulation of men's 
 activities, based on equitable standards, all misiuider- 
 standings as to government would be at an end, and all 
 such insinuations needless. This would be a palpable 
 error, for experience shows that there are, unf ortimately , 
 hundreds and thousands of citizens, in every large com- 
 miuiity, who do not attach much importance to the 
 consciousness of having done what is termed "the right 
 thing"; and who do not attach any importance at all 
 to abstract justice, if its observance involves some 
 inconvenience to themselves. It is because of considera- 
 tions of this kind that we are forced to see and recognise 
 the importance of understanding human nature as it is, 
 as distinguished from human nature as it is often 
 assumed to be by enthusiastic reformers, who lean to 
 the more optimistic estimate. 
 
 As already explained, true statesmanship, which aims 
 at complete justice to all, in public matters, seeks to 
 secure to every citizen, whether he be rich or poor, the 
 equal right to his individual liberty, and to au equal 
 freedom in the enjoyment of the legitimate fruits of his own 
 energy, skill, or inventive genius ; but there are hundreds 
 and thousands of citizens, in large population centres, 
 who wholly fail to recognise the fact that, to ensure such 
 rights, there must be corresponding limitations at the 
 point at which men's liberties overlap, when carried to 
 extremes on either side. 
 
 The strongest argument that can be offered to the 
 truly selfish citizen in regard to this systematic check on 
 his desired activities, is that everyone must be con-
 
 186 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 sidered; and that if he himself has to submit to being 
 checked to-day, some fellow-citizen will have to be 
 checked to-morrow on his behalf. 
 
 Here is a simple illustration : The man who "stops 
 work," exercises his undoubted right ; but so soon as he 
 claims the additional right to prevent another man from 
 doing what he himself has refused to do, he is attempting 
 to deny to that other the identical form of liberty \vhich 
 he has claimed to exercise for himself. He is, in such a 
 case, claiming for himself greater rights than he is 
 prepared to concede to that other, or others, generally ; 
 and, in doing so, he is practically showing his disregard 
 for an unmistakably and palpably just principle of govern- 
 ment. Such an attitude is obviously indicative of a lax 
 moral sense in regard to the regulation of our social 
 organisation, and can only be accounted for by remember- 
 ing primitive man, and his one-time low moral standards, 
 where "self" was concerned, and allowed to be dominant. 
 
 In many modern commmiities — more particular^ in 
 the several dominions of the British Empire — there have 
 been frequent extensions of the franchise, by which 
 thousands of additional citizens have had conferred upon 
 them all the rights of citizenship, including a voice in 
 the selection of a parliamentary representative ; and in a 
 large proportion of such cases — apart from those who, by 
 reaching the required age, have acquired voting power for 
 the first time — the newly-enfranchised have suddenly 
 realised that they now have a voice in determining what 
 Parliament shall, or shall not, do for the people as a 
 whole. There is no simultaneous event to remind the 
 new voter of the moral limit of his newly -acquired power ; 
 and it is but natural, however regrettable, that he or she
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 187 
 
 should come into the new inheritance with the bald con- 
 viction that, if only he or she can move Parliament, 
 Parliament itself can do anything, "by law"; and that, 
 whatever it does do will be a justification in itself. 
 
 There are hundreds and thousands of citizens in every 
 great community, who would resent the suggestion that 
 the modest house and furniture and other belongings, 
 which they have from time to time purchased out of the 
 savings from their earnings — in some cases by much 
 self-denial — were not in reality theirs, and might justly 
 be used 'by, or appropriated and distributed among, 
 those who had none of their ovvn. They would, in the 
 event of such a claim being set up, plead that it was a 
 fmidamental law of the commimity, that what they had 
 "saved" was theirs ; yet himdi-eds of this same class of 
 citizens impliedly deny a similar right to those who have 
 been diligent enough, or provident enough, to have 
 accumulated a larger share of the world's belongings, by 
 the same process of "saving," or of enjoying the gifts of 
 others who have so "saved." They will readily assist 
 to advocate and pass legislation which has the effect of 
 forcibly taking from others, by law, a considerably larger 
 proportion of taxation than they themselves pay ; thus 
 clearly appropriating or confiscating that unjust pro- 
 portion of the other person's savings, for purposes of 
 public benefit, in which they, as members of the com- 
 munity, are going to participate. 
 
 Taxation, for instance, was, in more primitive times, a 
 personal service, as under the feudal system ; where the 
 king demanded service of his nobles, and they, in their 
 turn, demanded it of their tenants ; but, even mider such 
 a system, it would have been obviously imjust to require
 
 188 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 one man to devote three months of the year to the 
 service of the monarch, if another was called upon to 
 devote only a week to the same purpose. The obviously 
 just course, in the event of demanding personal service, 
 would be to treat all equally. In modern and more 
 civilised times, a direct money contribution has been 
 substituted for personal service, and, instead of requiring 
 the man of means to pay only the same per capita amount, 
 as those of less means ; it has been recognised that, 
 since taxation is primarily for purposes of defence, and 
 the maintenance of order in the community, the taxpayer 
 should contribute according to his means, or according 
 to the value of his possessions, thus protected. This is an 
 obvious departure from the old feudal principle of "equal 
 service": but it is a just departure, provided it be logically 
 applied in the changed circumstances. Yet, it is now 
 thought, or professed to be thought, just, in some 
 commimities, to throw the bulk of the burden of taxation 
 on those who have larger means, and allow thousands of 
 those who have small means to escape even a small 
 proportional payment, by a process of "exemption"; 
 and in such cases we see groups of citizens, who admit- 
 tedly possess in the aggregate thousands of pounds' 
 worth of property, being wholly exempted from contri- 
 bution, thus making them the recipients of a substantial 
 bribe, to induce them to approve of a system of taxation 
 which falls on others richer than themselves in an imjust 
 and clearly dishonest ratio. In such cases, there is, 
 obviously, a complete disregard of what is fair and 
 honourable. 
 
 The lack of the moral sense is observable in another 
 direction, where citizens, enjoying the utmost liberty of
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 189 
 
 conscience in the matter of their own religion and personal 
 habits and practices, are yet so forgetful or indifferent 
 to the enjoyment of equal liberty by others, that they 
 would go out of their way to deny the same freedom to 
 those others who happen to cherish a different religion, 
 and to prefer different personal habits and practices. 
 These attitudes are simple instances of intolerance, 
 which is another word for injustice ; and the persis- 
 tence with which such one-sided claims are maintained by 
 citizens, who can only see one aspect of one particular 
 phase of liberty, constitutes one of the most irritating 
 obstacles to human progress along the lines of equal 
 freedom and equal consideration for all. And it has 
 another detrimental effect upon the peace and good will 
 of any commimity ; for the members of certain churches 
 are incited by their pastors to conceive a distinct animus 
 against all who decline to embrace their particular creed. 
 What is termed "law and order" represents an ideal 
 of citizenship, which, if universally recognised, wordd add 
 materially to the peace and good will of a community ; 
 yet we see innumerable instances in the present day, 
 in which groups or organisations of men, who are never 
 tired of emphasising the justice and beneficence of the 
 principle of democracy, arrogate to themselves the right 
 of privileges under it, which they deny, by word and deed, 
 to others ; and those same professed democrats go so far 
 as to claim that, by merely combining for their own end, 
 they are entitled to constitute themselves a sort of 
 privileged class or guild, and to exercise a dominion over 
 other men, which neither their personal nor corporate 
 characters, nor their ostensible purposes, give them a 
 particle of title to. While such unjust claims are being
 
 190 The Truisms of Statecraft, 
 
 set uj) and persisted in, it becomes impossible for any 
 commimity to progress towards a higher plane of civilisa- 
 tion and citizenship, as it might do mider a more equitable 
 recognition of the principle of equal rights. 
 
 Again, it is in some respects widely supposed that, 
 wherever the legislature is concerned, there is no question 
 of morals involved. It is assumed by certain types of 
 men, that so long as a political project is endorsed by the 
 legislature, that project immediately becomes a just one. 
 The proposition is, on the face of it, devoid of both justice 
 and logic ; for, if it were true, it Avould be allowable for a 
 majority in Parliament to authorise certain privileged 
 persons to do a variety of things that the world now 
 universally condemns as dishonest or criminal. 
 
 The history of the growth of liberty and democracy is 
 also the history of privileges wrested from the classes who 
 enjoyed them at the expense of their fellows ; and there 
 is a clear and observable tendency for those classes who 
 benefited by the gradual wresting of old class privileges 
 from others, to seek to build up a new body of privileges 
 in their own particular interest. There is no difference 
 between such a contention, and the antiquated and now 
 exploded doctrine of a "divine right" in monarchs. 
 Nothing that Parliament authorises can be made just, 
 unless it is morally right and fair on principle ; otherwise 
 the majority of the population of a small community 
 could, by passing a resolution, rob and pillage the 
 minority, and offer as a justification the fact that it had 
 been approved by a majority. As a fact, the truly 
 moral test of right and wrong, of what is just and mijust, 
 of what is honest and dishonest, applies as clearly to the 
 doings by and through Parliament, as it does to any
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 191 
 
 individual or chance group of citizens ; and to contend 
 otherwise is to go back on the whole principle and 
 foundation of civilisation, and attempt to resolve society 
 into its elements, in which brute force becomes the test 
 of civic rights. 
 
 The widespread belief in the alleged sanctifying 
 powers of a Parliamentary majority is one of the most 
 potent obstacles to the true progress of a community 
 in the present day. 
 
 There is, indeed, a distinctly noticeable decline in the 
 
 moral tone of modern political discussion ; and the ideals 
 
 of citizenship are also distinctly lowered, as compared with 
 
 those of half a century ago. Men, as individuals, 
 
 recognise the moral value of periodically "looking 
 
 within" on their own individual nature, in order to 
 
 disciphne their character to a higher sense of personal 
 
 duty ; but such a process as national introspection, 
 
 except in what is disparagingly referred to as "academic 
 
 literature," is becoming a thing of the past, among a 
 
 large class of citizens, who speak of public life and public 
 
 affairs, as if they were a mere scramble for a majority ; 
 
 and as if, when once that were obtained, whatever can 
 
 be done can be justified. The attitude of such a class 
 
 seems to be one of blind confidence, and of forgetfulness 
 
 that what may be done by a bare majority to-day, may 
 
 be reversed, and even more than reversed, to-morrow. 
 
 The reflex action of such movements does not seem to be 
 
 considered ; and the "live-and-let-live" spirit bids fair 
 
 to pass away and to give place to the more doubtful and 
 
 dangerous doctrine of "spoils to the victors." 
 
 Unfortunately, this spirit is being fomented in many 
 of the larger communities of the world by the increasing
 
 192 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 body of merely fluent agitators, whose livelihood con- 
 sists in cultivating a discontented and rebellious spirit, 
 and inducing or compelling — ^by organised effort — the 
 rank and file of the working classes to contribute a large 
 proportion of their earnings, out of which such "officials" 
 are handsomely paid for their easy but morally ques- 
 tionable services. 
 
 "Responsible government," as it was known half a 
 century ago, in adjusting itself by automatic movement 
 to reflect the political feelings of the people outside 
 Parliament, has become a misnomer ; for the people in 
 many cases claim the right to treat their representative 
 as a delegate, whose duty is claimed to be, and in many 
 cases recognised by him to be, to merely echo the opinions 
 of the most assertive section of his constituency. 
 
 Another fruitful source of a lowered and lowering 
 morale is that which springs out of the misuse of State 
 activities. In countries where the State has taken upon 
 itself the construction and conduct of a railway, and — 
 in some cases — a tramway service ; the loosest moral 
 sense exists in regard to the principles that should be 
 observed in the location of these benefactions ; by which 
 the districts traversed are enormously benefited, and 
 the private lands, thus brought into closer touch with the 
 population centres, similarly increased in value. The 
 inequality in treatment is sometimes recognised — and to 
 some extent corrected — by the application of the "better- 
 ment" principle ; but, in the majority of cases, the 
 advocacy of, and the ultimate location of, such public 
 works becomes a political scramble, in many instances 
 associated with party intrigue ; and the general public 
 have ceased to look upon such indiscriminate methods of
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 193 
 
 distributing public moneys as pregnant with danger to 
 the public morale. 
 
 I have spoken, elsewhere, of the suspicion that is 
 engendered in the public mind, in a community in which 
 the tariff is the subject of constant tinkering, bj^ which 
 all sorts of opportunites are afforded to corrupt ministers, 
 and heads of departments, to play into the hands of 
 importers or manufacturers, as the case may be, by 
 raising or lowering duties, or altering the classification of 
 goods, so as to play into the hands of those who hold stocks 
 of certain commodities that are subject to varying imposts. 
 In some countries, legislative power is taken to bring about 
 these changes, "without submitting the matter directly 
 to Parliament ; and the result is that endless opportunity 
 is afforded for every kind of corruption in mercantile 
 dealings. If protection be desired by a majority of the 
 people, through their representatives in Parliament ; the 
 steps necessary to afford that protection to industries 
 should be decided "in the open day" in Parhament ; 
 and, when once the step is taken, the public as con- 
 sumers, and the mercantile classes as dealers, should 
 know for a definite period what the imposts are ; but 
 the facilities for making constant changes in rates of 
 duty, and in the classification of imported goods, subject 
 to duties, should be severely reprobated as one of the 
 most easy and fruitful sources of "backstair" dis- 
 honesty. That the general public of a community allow 
 these practices to continue, without definite protest, is, 
 itself, evidence of a blunted sense of political morality. 
 
 In certain of the British dominions, where socialistic 
 and commiuiistic doctrines have enjoyed a period of 
 intermittent favour, and, under certain governments,
 
 194 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 taken a bold form in the shape of State industries ; 
 much national wealth has been squandered, and much 
 injury has been inflicted on legitimate industrial ventures 
 under private enterprise, by this system of foolish 
 experiments. It would be difficult to discover a single 
 instance in which such ventures have not been associated 
 with "jobbery," by the appointment of friends of 
 ministers as managers, who, in some cases, have had no 
 qualifications for their positions, save as political 
 agitators or "engineers." 
 
 One remarkable feature about these ventures has been 
 that it has been found impossible, either in or out of 
 Parliament, to obtain straightforward balance sheets 
 of profit and loss, prepared in accordance with the 
 practice adopted in connection with public companies, 
 so as to afford an opportunity to the tax-paying public to 
 ascertain how the cost of the product of the State industry 
 compares with that of the industry conducted by private 
 enterprise. In almost all cases in which the manage- 
 ment of such industries have put forward what purport 
 to be balance sheets, they invariably omit numerous 
 entries on the debit side, that, if provided for, would 
 alter the whole outlook of the so-called "balance sheet." 
 
 This wasteful and morally dangerous system has, in 
 some commimities, been carried on so long that the 
 taxpayer has ceased to be surprised or to protest ; and 
 there has been a sensible decline in moral sensitiveness. 
 
 Another result of these experiments has been the lax 
 control of the employees of the State industries ; for, 
 where incompetent workmen have been disrated or 
 dismissed, political pressure has been exerted by 
 ministers to replace the employee so disrated or dismissed ;
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 195 
 
 and the managers have thus lost control, lost interest in 
 the venture, and a still lower standard of discipline and 
 business stability has resulted. In some cases, close 
 investigation would reveal startling and shocking waste 
 and economic dissipation. 
 
 A further result of these many changes in the political 
 conditions of our time is the growing animosity of the 
 80-called "working" classes, that is, the manual working 
 classes, towards the employers, whom they speak of 
 contemptuously, and evidently consider as having 
 ultimate aims inimical to their own, and as having, 
 and pursuing, interests which are incompatible with 
 the welfare of their employees. 
 
 This spirit of envy on the part of those who "spend 
 as they go" against those \Aho "save as thej^ make," 
 and so provide against the "rainy day," is a growing 
 spirit, and one which, if fostered, will alwaj^s engender 
 class animosity, and so render more and more difficult 
 the province of the honourable and informed politician 
 or statesman. 
 
 All these instances of a more lax moral sense, in regard 
 to political matters, bid fair to throw back the progress 
 of the communities in which they are so frequently 
 occurring ; and it cannot be doubted that they are 
 among the most serious obstacles to the steady progTess 
 of every country in which they prevail.
 
 196 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE PRESS-AN AID AND AN 
 OBSTACLE 
 
 /^NE of the most potent factors in the progress or the 
 ^-^ retrogression of a self-governing community, and, 
 therefore, one to be taken into account in the art of 
 statecraft, is that which is known as the public Press. 
 
 The almost universal desire of men and women in 
 ci vilised communities to be informed as to the public and 
 private sayings and doings of their fellow beings, as well 
 as in regard to other passing events that may arouse 
 their curiosity, or affect their more substantial interests, 
 has led to the widespread establishment of the institution 
 known as "journalism." 
 
 Journalism takes a variety of forms, the most universal 
 of which is "the newspaper," wherein the public are 
 informed as to the smallest details of the routine of even 
 the private life of the community in which they live, or 
 with which they are nationally associated ; in which 
 every event deemed to be of interest to the general 
 public, even of the most personal, and sometimes 
 scandalous, character, is chronicled ; and in which 
 individuals and institutions are criticised with an amount 
 of candour that has never been surpassed in the world's 
 history. 
 
 The demand for what is termed "news" is so compre- 
 hensive and exacting, that it would be impossible for
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 197 
 
 any single newspaper to satisfy the requirements of 
 the people in regard to all the forms of information 
 demanded. 
 
 As a consequence of this wide and varied demand, 
 journalism covers almost every conceivable subject, even 
 in its newspaper form, including politics, law, finance, 
 commerce, industry, science, art, literature, society, 
 fashion, social scandal, and a variety of other special 
 branches of human activity, too numerous, and in some 
 cases too trivial, to mention. 
 
 Almost every newspaper assumes, in what are known 
 as its "leading" columns, the attitude of a guide and 
 coimsellor to its readers in regard to subjects of public 
 concern ; and by means of impersonal articles, comes, 
 in some cases — where good judgment is uniformly 
 exhibited — to exercise considerable influence on public 
 opinion, in proportion to the soundness, freedom from 
 bias, and general consistency of thought that are 
 revealed in those "leading" columns. 
 
 The bulk of the subscribers to daily newspapers are 
 men and women who have not the time, the disposition, 
 or, in some cases, the mental equipment to collect the 
 needful data, or to devote deep thought to great public 
 questions ; and one of the natural results of the business 
 aims of those who conduct newspaper ventures, is an 
 ever-present tendency to produce a class of news, a style 
 of writing, and a plane of thought, that seems to those 
 conductors most attractive and satisfactory to the bulk 
 of the class who are likely to purchase its issues ; since 
 the success of the advertising portion of a newspaper 
 largely depends upon the nature and scope of its circula- 
 tion and popularity.
 
 198 Tlie Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 There is a further tendency in the management of a 
 newspaper, resulting, naturally, from the commercial 
 character of journalistic aims, to study the tastes of those 
 who support it ; and in any community, or at any 
 particular juncture in which the newspaper-reading 
 public display a preference for sensational news, there is a 
 natural tendency to respond to such a taste, in the 
 selection and arrangement of the contents of the journal 
 in question. 
 
 The directing head of a newspaper, sometimes an 
 editor, sometimes a board of directors, almost invariably 
 persuades itself, or, in some other way, comes to believe, 
 that its journal is charged with and animated in the 
 conduct of its leading columns by a philanthropic purpose 
 or trust, supplementary to its commercial object ; but, 
 as a rule, it will be found, on close study, where that is 
 possible by those outside the venture, that the supposed 
 philanthropic purpose is never allowed to dominate the 
 commercial aims of the journalistic venture, which, as I 
 shall show later, are its ultimate goal. 
 
 In this universal catering for the public favour by 
 newspaper conductors, there is a constant temptation to 
 adopt the advocacy or championship of this or that 
 local political party, which is in most favour with its 
 own regular supporters ; and this same purpose acts as 
 an inducement to disapprove or condemn the opposite 
 side of the political institutions of the community. 
 
 From this course of criticism there arises, in the minds 
 of the editors or supervisors of well-established news- 
 papers, an assumption of the role of censorship of those 
 public men who do not happen to see or act eye to eye with 
 the poUcy of the journal in question ; and this censorship
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 199 
 
 becomes, in some cases, so strong an influence, that 
 certain newspapers grow into great and powerful 
 political agents, in forcing the hands of the weaker class 
 of public men, who lack the courage and the individ- 
 uality to act independently of the journalistic criticism, 
 and to persist, notwithstanding, in the line of conduct 
 that their political conscience dictates. 
 
 So widespread, and so influential, is the journalism of 
 to-day, throughout great and cosmopolitan commimities, 
 that their combined voices become an important factor 
 at international jimctures ; and there is good reason for 
 stating that their combined influence has sometimes 
 turned the scale in precipitating war or leading to peace 
 in the larger communities in which they have circulated 
 among the people. 
 
 It can safely be said, as a tribute to the almost 
 imiversal preference of the people of civilised 
 communities for honourable standards in abstract 
 public affairs — the recognition of which, by news- 
 paper conductors, in a large measure dictates their 
 own tone — that the great preponderance of the news- 
 papers of the present day are distinctly educational 
 and beneficial in their influence ; that they bring 
 to public knowledge information which the people 
 could not, or would not, otherwise obtain; that they 
 disseminate, for the most part, sound views as to the 
 significance of that knowledge, and establish in the 
 minds of the people higher standards of public and 
 private conduct, than the average man or woman would 
 otherwise be led to entertain. In this way the Press 
 becomes an important aid to progress, and a help to the 
 patriotic statesman in his efforts to benefit the commimity.
 
 200 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 On the other hand, there is a growing class of 
 journalism, in almost every large commmiity, that not 
 only has ordinary commercial purposes in view, but that 
 seeks to serve that end, through an extensive and extend- 
 ing circulation, by cultivating a lawless spirit ; by 
 creating class dissatisfaction ; bj^ raising false and 
 disturbing theories of life and society, which are based 
 on falsehood and anarchical spirit, in their readers, and, 
 generally, by pandering to the most degrading passions 
 in human nature ; and this class of journalism is so 
 influential among those whose nature it appeals to, that, 
 if their teachings were widely realised, the civilisation of 
 the twentieth century would be thrown back almost to 
 its primal elements. In this respect journalism is a 
 distinct obstacle to progress, and the influence of this 
 type of journalism is one of the forms of discouragement 
 which a patriotic statesman has to cope with. 
 
 The advantages of the beneficial class of journalism 
 are so overwhelming, as compared with the injurious 
 influence of the latter class, that society has in most 
 countries approved generally, again and again, of the 
 freedom of the Press ; so that the law has virtually 
 settled down to the doctrine that the responsibility of a 
 newspaper is placed on a level with the responsibility 
 of an individual citizen, in its being allowed the freest 
 criticism, provided the element of malice is not allowed 
 to enter into its comments on individuals or groups of 
 individuals. These remarks apply to normal conditions 
 only ; for in time of war, when indiscretions on the part 
 of reckless editors might be beneficial to an enemy, and 
 highly injurious to their own coiuitry, a very proper 
 censorship is imposed on all newspapers ; as their
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 201 
 
 business interests are frequently stronger than their 
 patriotism. 
 
 Whatever views men and women may take as to the 
 advantages or disadvantages of mirestricted Press 
 criticism generally; there is ample reason for believing 
 that the aggregate educational and moral influence of the 
 great majority of the established newspapers of civilised 
 communities, in the exercise of their freedom of criticism 
 of persons and institutions, is an infinitely greater factor 
 in the furtherance of national progress, than is the 
 opposite influence of the more limited section of 
 journalism which trades on disloyalty, lawlessness, and 
 the anarchical spirit. 
 
 Nevertheless, it is desirable to recognise that this 
 demoralising side of journalism exercises a material 
 influence in retarding the raising of the moral standards 
 of the commimity, as well as in hindering the national 
 progress in many other respects. 
 
 The Press of a country, then, taken as a whole, may at 
 once prove an aid or an obstacle to true statesmanship, 
 according to the purpose for which, and the ability with 
 which, it is conducted by its proprietors. It is, however, 
 essential to a proper understanding of the Press, as an 
 influence in public affairs, to remember that, whatever 
 may be the profession of the proprietors, or the con- 
 viction of those who conduct them editorially ; in almost 
 every instance a journalistic venture is a commercial 
 enterprise ; and the object of the proprietors, whether 
 as individuals, firms, or companies, is to make a financial 
 profit for themselves or their shareholders. Superficial 
 observers are frequently led to the conclusion, as a resiflt 
 of reading what are caUed "leading" columns in a news-
 
 202 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 paper, that the Press is a sort of philanthropic institution, 
 established and maintained for the public welfare; and 
 that the aspect of financial profit is far removed from the 
 contemplation of those who direct its policy and general 
 conduct. In order to completely understand the Press 
 and its many gyrations in policy, in attitude, and in 
 treatment of individuals and classes, this fundamental 
 conviction, as to financial profit, should be borne in mind ; 
 as it will solve many otherwise perplexing problems. 
 
 There are two sources of profit to a newspaper or 
 magazine, the one being income from public advertise- 
 ments, the other being scope of circulation ; and these 
 two aspects operate upon one another : for a large and 
 increasing circulation brings increased and increasing 
 advertisement revenue ; and, conversely, increased and 
 increasing advertising columns bring in their wake in- 
 creased and increasing circulation, on account of the 
 wider information as to markets and business facilities 
 afforded to commercial circles, as well as to private 
 citizens. Newspapers and magazines are adventured for 
 many purposes besides that of profit ; but the latter is 
 always kept, or sought to be kept, in view ; for, even 
 where the primary purpose of a journal is the furtherance 
 of some doctrine, or theory, or policy, in regard to some 
 special and limited class or circle of citizens, it is always 
 desired that it should "pay its way," so as to continue 
 and, if possible, widen the promulgation of its doctrine, 
 theory, or policy, and so avoid its advocates putting 
 their hands into their own pockets. 
 
 The establishment or launching of a large daily news- 
 paper is a venture involving considerable sums of money, 
 much of which would be practically wasted if the venture
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 203 
 
 should prove a failure ; so that capitalists are extremely- 
 careful in launching such an enterprise, without laying 
 all their j)lans for a successful appeal to the reading and 
 advertising public ; and, having launched their venture, 
 the directing head or heads are equally careful to espouse 
 a policy, and adopt a tone of treatment and criticism, on 
 matters of interest to the general public, which may 
 commend their journal to both advertisers and sub- 
 scribers or readers. 
 
 Where paper is cheap, and the size of a journal is such 
 as to show a substantial profit on the actual sale of the 
 issue, the matter of circulation becomes more important ; 
 and where a journal is large, and paper is dear, so as to 
 leave no profit on the actual sale, the proprietors are 
 disposed to look more to advertising income for their 
 profit : remembering always that advertisers are 
 influenced, in their choice of a journal for reaching the 
 public, by the scope of their circulation. As bearing on 
 this aspect of journalism, it is the practice of many 
 journals to make public annoimcements of the extent 
 of their circulation, as an inducement to advertisers to 
 use their columns for their purposes, and to inspire con- 
 fidence as to the truth of those announcements, by having 
 them confirmed by public accountants. 
 
 Most of the foregoing comments are axiomatic, and 
 are noted by all experienced public men who aim at 
 statesmanship, and seek to enlist the aid of journalism, 
 or to avoid its opposition in regard to their future policy ; 
 for the newspaper, especially the daily paper, is a factor, 
 which is to be counted with by politicians, according to 
 their (the newspaper's) reputation as a sound and 
 unbiassed guide to public opinion.
 
 204 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 Some journals are not only in every way excellent as 
 advertising media, and as news sheets, but are also so 
 influential, on account of the uniform sagacity of their 
 views on different public questions, that the people look 
 to them for guidance, where the data for their articles 
 are not at every one's disposal ; and many people thus 
 take their opinions from powerful journals. 
 
 Some other journals, though in every way excellent for 
 advertising purposes, and as news sheets, are so wanting 
 in influence, by reason of the lack of ability and courage 
 in their leading columns, that the public, although sub- 
 scribing to them for their news, and using them as 
 advertising media, attach no importance to their com- 
 ments on public affairs. 
 
 The circulation of a newspaper depends, as I have said, 
 largely upon its merits as a news sheet, and the bulk and 
 variety of its advertisements ; unless it be a minor 
 journal, conducted in the interests of some particular 
 doctrines ; some particular trade, or some particular 
 organisation ; and in such cases the circulation depends 
 upon the number of followers of the doctrines, the number 
 of persons engaged in the trade, or the number of 
 members of the organisation. 
 
 There is another aspect of daily newspapers which 
 requires attention by leading politicians. An attempt 
 is often made by an astute editor to cultivate the 
 circulation of his journal, by writmg down to the 
 many, in his leading colunms, in order to win sympathy 
 with, or acquire power of guidance over, the people ; 
 but the politician, who can gauge their value in 
 that respect, will not attach too much value to the aid 
 of such journals in supporting him and his policy, or be
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 205 
 
 too much influenced by their adverse criticism, as an 
 obstacle. 
 
 It may be laid down, with a fair degree of certainty, 
 that where a newspaper is seeking advertising income, 
 which is derived largely from business citizens, it 
 espouses a sound political policy ; as that is both desired 
 and appreciated by business men, on account of its 
 steadjdng influence on the community ; but instances 
 are frequently seen in which newspapers, whose adver- 
 tising interests should lead them to soundness of views in 
 their articles, occasionally break out in \msoimd, and 
 even reckless, views in their leading columns, with the 
 object of attracting the attention and admiration of 
 some popular and numerous class, and so giving an 
 impetus to their circulation among that class. Such a 
 policy gives a newspaper the appearance of blowing 
 hot and cold on some great public question, so as to 
 help the circulation barometer, without risking the 
 advertising income. 
 
 A leading politician or statesman, who is a skilful 
 observer of the political meteorology which siarrounds 
 him, will always watch such influences, when bringing 
 forward some large and important legislative project ; 
 and he will have measured and gauged the value of this 
 journalistic support, or the opposing force of that 
 opposition, by the character and calibre of the men who, 
 always with a view to their own journal's interests, wield 
 the power of their leading columns. Among the 
 obstacles to sound statesmanship is the fact that, in 
 small or less central communities of the world, where 
 unprincipled men reach prominence, there is much 
 practice of joumaHstic bribery through the medium of
 
 206 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 distributing large sums in Government advertisements, 
 ostensibly for legitimate purposes, but frequently with 
 sinister aims ; and, in such circumstances, a high- 
 principled politician, who comes after such men, and 
 after such unjustifiable expenditure, meets with much 
 opposition from newspapers that have enjoyed it, in his 
 endeavour to limit the public outlay of that kind within 
 legitimate and justifiable bounds. 
 
 Sound statesmanship sufi'ers in the smaller com- 
 mimities of the world by the narrowness of the editorial 
 outlook, which is shown in the limitation of the columns 
 of their newspapers to views which are in keeping with 
 those of the editorial guide ; and in the curtailment of 
 views which are not so palatable, but which would be 
 useful as indications of more informed public opinion. 
 Whereas, in great population centres like London, New 
 York, and Paris ; the leading politician has the benefit of 
 seeing any and every outlook expressed in the regular 
 correspondence columns, which serve as a mirror of 
 pubHc opinion ; in smaller centres, the editorial mind 
 camiot resist the consideration of what this or that 
 view expressed by his correspondents may have on his 
 class circulation or advertising income. The Times is a 
 shining example, though not the only one, of the open 
 column ; for, in that great journal, the editor's personal 
 view is unlcnown and disregarded, except in the leading 
 columns and in the general propriety of his paper's 
 subject-matter. 
 
 No leading politician can recklessly afford to ignore the 
 Press in regard to important public measures ; but the 
 leading columns of joiu-nals in provincial or less central 
 communities are so often disfigured by obvious partisan-
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 207 
 
 ship, want of knowledge, flippancy, personalities, careless 
 writing, and inconsistency, that the leading columns 
 have ceased to be trustworthy guides for the people, and 
 are in a large measure regarded as ephemeral and 
 inconsequential . 
 
 Looked at, then, from the point of view of the states- 
 man, the Press need not be generally regarded as either 
 an abiding menace, or a far-reaching help ; except in 
 regard to some extended line of policy, which continues, 
 for a long time, and in a variety of ways, to be detri- 
 mental to the people, and thus produces a sustained 
 criticism and condemnation ; for, except in rare instances 
 of great editorial ability, newspapers are too spasmodic in 
 their praise or blame, too changeable in their views, too 
 inconsistent in their conduct, to have great permanent 
 weight attached to their utterances by the more intelli- - 
 gent public, who read leading articles because of the 
 better command of data by their leader-writers, but not 
 often to be convinced. The reputation of a journal 
 is like that of an individual among his fellow citizens, 
 in this respect : that neither of them carries great weight, 
 unless its or his conduct, considered over a long period, 
 and under a great variety of circumstances, has been 
 found to be steadily patriotic or altruistic, and uniformly 
 free from the temptations of expediency. If they are 
 only intermittently steady, and indulge in spasmodic 
 efiforts to be influential ; they almost invariably fall 
 into the error, illustrated by ^sop's fable of "The Wolf 
 and the Lamb," of crying out so often as to have ceased 
 to command serious and wide attention from the general 
 public.
 
 208 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 PUBLIC AND PARTY INFLUENCE 
 
 TN enumerating the several influences which operate, 
 from time to time, on the opinions and poHtical 
 activities of public men, which, therefore, become 
 factors in their statesmanship; one cannot omit the 
 forces of, firstly, what is called "party allegiance," and, 
 secondly, what is known as the "pressure of public 
 opinion." The consideration of these influences at once 
 raises the broad question as to whether a representative 
 of the people, when once elected, becomes a mere delegate 
 for the purpose of voicing the opinions of his party, or of 
 those electors he represents, in regard to subjects which 
 arise in Parliament ; or whether he can conclude that 
 he has been elected because of his general knowledge of 
 public affairs, and of his being considered better equipped 
 and more competent than his opponents, to act in the 
 interests of his constituents. 
 
 In the consideration of this question one is imme- 
 diately reminded of the now celebrated utterance of 
 Edmund Burke — already referred to — who was called 
 upon by his Bristol constituents to take a certain 
 political course in regard to a measure that was about 
 to come before Parliament. Burke "stood his ground," 
 in one of the most eloquent speeches on record, and 
 repudiated the doctrine that he was a delegate — a mere 
 mouthpiece of his constituents. He said, in effect, th^it
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 209 
 
 he owed them his time, his abilities, his unremitting 
 attention to their interests ; but, he added, with fervour, 
 that he also owed them "his judgment," which he 
 regarded as the one thing that gave dignity and honour 
 to the position of a parliamentary representative. 
 Apart from the heroism of such an attitude, with which 
 we have no concern here, he had logic on his side ; for 
 it cannot be supposed that he — the greatest philosophic 
 statesman of his time, and, possibly, since his time — 
 could have deliberately suppressed his own mature 
 opinions, and merely echoed those — so far as he could 
 ascertain them — of such of his constituents as could 
 make themselves heard. 
 
 The arguments against the delegate theory, on other 
 grounds, not set up by Burke, would now prove con- 
 vincing to any thinking body of men, and can be laid 
 down as axiomatic in regard to the province and duty of 
 a parliamentary representative. In the first place, we all 
 recognise that a member of Parliament does not represent 
 a portion, but the whole, of his constituents ; and that, in 
 accepting the trust which membership reposes in him, he 
 undertakes to act in the interests of all. In any case, the 
 relationship of a member to his constituents is general and 
 vague : for he directly reflects the opinions of a majority 
 only, and is usually elected for a period of years, during 
 which a large number of questions, not at the time of 
 election in actual contemplation, may, and will arise, 
 concerning which he will not be able to ascertain the exact 
 views of his constituents. It may be asked, too, how he 
 can know, where he is elected with authority to speak and 
 act on a great variety of questions, how many are in 
 agreement with him, or in antagonism, on this question
 
 210 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 or that. Again, is he to represent those only who come 
 forward at a crucial moment, and loudly voice their 
 opinion ; when, probably, at the same time, an equally 
 large, and possibly larger, number are remaining silent 
 on the same question, feeling confidence in their repre- 
 sentative's good judgment ? 
 
 It is morally impossible to lay down, with any degree 
 of accuracy, what the views of a body of people are, when 
 all are not represented at any meeting ; for no question 
 ever comes forward which is not affirmed without some 
 modifying words, either in the resolution embodying it, 
 or in the shape of a series of conditions expressed in the 
 accompanying clauses in a Bill, as dealt with in a com- 
 mittee of Parliament. 
 
 The touchstone of the whole question lies in the fact 
 of a man's election. In Anglo-Saxon times, citizens, or 
 villagers, met in the fields, and discussed at first hand 
 all proposals of public interest ; and it was only in con- 
 sequence of the rough-and-ready way in which things 
 were dealt with, and because it was inconvenient for 
 everybody to be present when the discussions took 
 place, that the principle of choosing a fellow citizen to 
 represent the people in those discussions was resorted to. 
 If, in those primitive times, it was difficult to ascertain, 
 with accuracy, all the opinions, of all the people, on all 
 the aspects of a question requiring to be dealt with ; it 
 must be infinitely more difficult to-day, when human 
 affairs have ceased to be simple and primitive, but have 
 become intricate, involved, and overlapping in their 
 nature and effects on commercial and industrial interests. 
 People will say, to-day, in an off-hand way, that they are 
 in favour of a land tax, or of an old-age pension, and
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 211 
 
 consider that they have made a definite pronouncement ; 
 but, when the question reaches the stage at which either 
 of these policies is embodied in an Act of Parliament, 
 and placed upon the Statute Book, the one may contain 
 fifty or a hundred sections, and the other an equal 
 number, besides an immense number of regulations, in 
 explanation, modification, or qualification of each part 
 of the Act. Each Act may have as many facets as a 
 precious stone, each of which presents a different 
 appearance, according to the age and position in life 
 from which it is viewed ; and the definiteness of the whole 
 thing may be further "blurred" by additional con- 
 siderations as to when, for how long, where, and to what 
 extent the vital principle of each Act shall operate. 
 
 Apart from other considerations, therefore, it is 
 absolutely impossible so to arrange political life or 
 political affairs that a member should become a mere 
 delegate ; unless — and here lies the danger, even the 
 fatality to public life, of such a theory — members are 
 willing to act as mere automata, and take their orders from 
 some political body outside Parliament, as to what course 
 they shall adopt on each political question, concerning 
 which they are called on to act. That is attempted in 
 some political organisations, with dire results to the individ- 
 uality'^ and self-respect of the members ; for, in such a 
 case, there can be no nearer parallel to such member- 
 ship than that well-known children's toy, in which a 
 figure is perched on the end of a stick, and moves up and 
 down and over the other side in obedience to the pulling 
 of a string attached to every limb of the automaton. 
 
 Turning now to a broader consideration of this ques- 
 tion ; one may ask what sort of minds would consent to
 
 212 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 enter Parliament in such a capacity ? As long as there 
 is a substantial remuneration provided for those who 
 accept the position of representative, there will always be 
 found candidates for election ; for, in most cases, the 
 remuneration is made sufficient to induce men of small 
 earning power and small means to adopt the position 
 as a means of livelihood, and to live the life, under the 
 glamour of membership, without being conscious of 
 its humiliation. As a rule, such men can, and do, only 
 find fellowship and companionship among others in a 
 similar position. But, assuming that a man has a real 
 ambition to enter Parliament, as an arena in which great 
 public questions are raised for settlement, and discussed 
 on their merits ; he will, if he have spirit, individuality, 
 and self-respect, only accept such a trust on condition 
 that he do so as a free man, with the liberty to think for 
 himself, and to use his best judgment in the true interests 
 of the people who elected him as their representative. 
 He will, as Edmimd Burke said, devote his time, know- 
 ledge, care, and abilities to their interests, but he will 
 stop short at sacrificing his personal judgment, where he 
 considers that there is a call for its honest and inde- 
 pendent exercise. 
 
 Many years ago, the author of this little work had 
 occasion to take exception to a phrase that stood at the 
 head of part of a chapter in The Map of Life, by the well- 
 known historian, Lecky. 
 
 That great writer used the phrase "justifiable time- 
 serving"; and, under it, he offered a justification for a 
 politician's varying his opinions on certain public matters 
 at different times, and in different localities, according to 
 circumstances. The present writer took exception to the
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 213 
 
 phrase, and to the attitude of mind that it seemed to 
 justify. Mr. Lecky was good enough to answer the objec- 
 tion in writing, and said : "It is, I think, correct that a 
 man who is sent into Parliament to represent the opinions 
 of a constituency must — whilst maintaining his own 
 judgment on matters of serious importance — defer, in 
 some degree, to the opinions of those he represents, some- 
 times upon matters he deems of no great importance ; 
 following their judgment rather than his own, more 
 frequently not pushing forward opinions with which he 
 knows they generally disagree. The line between 
 justifiable and unjustifiable compromise is often not 
 susceptible of perfectly precise definition, and my object 
 was to help those who are trying conscientiously to find 
 their way on these matters ; remembering their duty to 
 their own convictions, but remembering, also, that they 
 are not, indeed, mere delegates, but trustees, sent in to 
 protect particular interests, and to represent particular 
 opinions. It is, also, obvious that the same measure 
 may be useful at one time, useless or mischievous at 
 another ; because in the former case opinion is ripe for it 
 and sustains it ; because in the latter case it runs counter 
 to the stream and excites irritation or opposition." 
 
 I have set out the whole of Mr. Lecky's letter, in 
 order that the complete context might be seen by my 
 readers. 
 
 It will be seen that that writer distinguished between 
 "measures of serious importance" and those of "no great 
 importance"; and that sentence is in keeping with my 
 present contention in which he speaks depreciatingly 
 of the mere delegate. Lecky stands out as one of the 
 highest authorities on the morality of political life.
 
 214 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 There are several well-known authors who have dealt 
 with this question of a politician's functions and his 
 obligation to maintain his individuality and self-respect. 
 
 The whole question is one of importance, especially 
 nowadays, when certain organisations are choosing men 
 to represent them ; who enter the legislative arena 
 metaphorically handcuffed and muzzled, in regard to 
 their own personal opinions, on not merely matters of 
 minor importance, but on great and vital issues, which 
 directly or indirectly go to the very root of a coimtry's 
 existence as a competitor among nations. 
 
 The public man who stands up for preserving the higher 
 code of a statesman's duty to himself, and refuses to act 
 the part of what Lecky calls the "mere delegate," may 
 possibly go down in the fight ; but experience shows 
 that a constituency of liberal-minded citizens, who love 
 freedom, and understand the blessings it has radiated in 
 our history, will in the end respect and stand by a 
 representative who has the courage to speak his mind, 
 and take broad and enlightened views on the bigger 
 problems of political life.
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Hunmn Progress. 215 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PREJUDICE, AS AN OBSTACLE TO 
 STATESMANSHIP 
 
 T^HERE is nothing more surprising to the experienced 
 politician, in his frequent communion with the 
 people, outside Parliament, than the widespread sup- 
 position that that institution is, in actual practice, a body 
 of men who come together in the legislative arena, with 
 no other purpose than the discussion and settlement of 
 public questions, from the single standpoint of the 
 people's welfare. If Parliament were, as many citizens 
 thus suppose, an arena in which disinterested and free 
 men meet to discuss public questions, without reference to 
 constituencies or parties, or other outside influences, 
 consciously or unconsciously operating on the legislative 
 mind, and with no covert hope or prospect of ministerial 
 or other personal rewards, that attitude on the part of the 
 public might be justified ; but, mifortimately, the in- 
 fluences I have named, and a hmidred others, make the 
 supposed primary purpose of Parliament almost a 
 subordinate one. 
 
 It is a severe judgment to pass on so exalted an 
 institution ; but it is, nevertheless, true, if the mixture 
 of motives in operation be gauged by their ultimate 
 effect. All Parliaments may not be equally repre- 
 hensible ; but the effects of the extended franchise, 
 almost everywhere, and the now almost universal adop-
 
 216 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 tion of the principle of payment of members, as well as 
 the growing tendency to rigid party discipline, make this 
 verdict applicable to almost all Anglo-Saxon Parliaments. 
 Even experienced politicians are frequently surprised 
 at this misophisticated expectation on the part of the 
 public ; and repetition of disillusioning assurances does not 
 seem to prevent that surprise, when men of the world, 
 men of business, even men of affairs, outside, constantly 
 ask of politicians, "Why do they not do this, or do that, in 
 Parliament ? " And, in many cases, the "this" or "that" 
 is something that, if "done," would distinctly cut down 
 the privileges or emoluments of members themselves, 
 and in all cases would involve an "eye to eye" attitude 
 on the part of groups of men who do not, as a fact, and 
 for the most part cannot, agree on anything but routine 
 matters. 
 
 It is certainly a fit subject for inquiry why this 
 institution, which should exercise more influence on a 
 community than any other, should have so largely failed to 
 effect the purpose for which it was originally intended, 
 and for a long time served ; and which the general public 
 still innocently think it does still effect, notwithstanding 
 their daily experience of its disappointing results. It is 
 not an exaggeration to say that if half a dozen worldly- 
 wise and travelled men, with a wide knowledge of history, 
 in its broader sense, and a varied knowledge of human 
 nature and human affairs, were to sit down for one whole 
 day a week, they could accomplish all the work that is 
 done by Parliament in a month, and produce legislative 
 results much more equitable and beneficial to a com- 
 munity, than those that are now placed on the Statute 
 Book.
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 217 
 
 Why is this so ? And could a better result be attained 
 by a feasible alteration of the machinery of Parliament ? 
 Bluntly put, Parliaments are to-day a sort of public 
 scramble ; and out of the scores of theories, and aspira- 
 tions, and personal aims of parties, and groups, and 
 individuals, which are advocated, either straight- 
 forwardly, or by side tracks ; the outcome, in the shape of 
 legislation and administration, is a sort of resultant, or 
 compromise, of all the conflicting interests and activities 
 suggested : too varied and too numerous to catalogue. 
 
 Many men of worldly experience, who have entered 
 Parliament with lofty ideals of what they would 
 individually do, and of what they would induce the 
 government of the day to do, have borne their dis- 
 appointment for some time, and, at last, given up the 
 career of politics as a hopeless one. But others, with 
 more patience, have gone on, and done their best as mere 
 "flies on the wheel," satisfied that they have at least kept 
 less desirable men than themselves out of the political 
 arena. The fact that a man attains to ministerial office, 
 and even leadership, does not alter the disappointment 
 that follows ; for such a man, if he possess ideals, must 
 have anticipated that, while in office, he would be able to 
 do much more than a private member. 
 
 If all the world, or even the legislators only, who now 
 regulate, or irregulate, the people's affairs, were mentally 
 "balanced," or what is colloquially called "level headed," 
 there would be much less retarding interference with 
 social and individual evolution, and much fewer occasions 
 for dissatisfaction with the institution in which those 
 legislators now exercise their multifarious activities. 
 The late W. R. Gregg, in his very practical work on
 
 218 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 Political Problems, said : "There are so few mentally 
 capable of seeing both sides of a question ; so few with 
 consciences sensitively alive to the obligation of seeing 
 both sides ; so few, placed under conditions either of 
 circumstances or temper, which admit of their seeing 
 both sides." 
 
 Of all the "obstacles" to the wise administration of the 
 affairs of a community, so far as they are affected by 
 Parliament and statesmanship, the most potent and all- 
 pervading is that of religion, and its ever actively operat- 
 ing prejudices. Those influences are by no means all on 
 the surface, for they can be traced by experienced 
 observers in a variety of subterranean activities, in the 
 determination of the personnel of ministries ; in the courses 
 pursued by members of governments, in response to 
 ecclesiastical promptings from without, with far subtler 
 purposes than the general public even suspect. And, 
 although many of those purposes are false to democratic 
 principles, and of a character which their more active 
 agents would roundly condemn in others, and in other 
 causes ; their moral reprehensibility is condoned by 
 those who set them in motion, on the groimd that, being 
 conceived in what they regard as a "good cause," or for 
 "a good end," the means by which they are promoted is 
 fully justified. This retrograde influence is the natural 
 result of an attempt to "serve two masters," by 
 endeavouring to act honestly by their fellow man and 
 woman, in worldly affairs, and, at the same time, seeking 
 to placate an onmiscient Divinity, by attributing to Him 
 narrow prejudices for a particular form of religion, 
 which, if He entertained them, would place Him on a lower 
 level than that of some of the noblest and most mag-
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 219 
 
 nanimous of His own creatures. Many such moral 
 anomalies, if carefully and impartially analysed, will 
 prove to be due to a degraded conception of a Supreme 
 Being, and to the equally degrading practice of investing 
 Him with some of the most ignoble of human attributes ; 
 for, as Bacon says, "An unworthy opinion of the Creator 
 is contumely." 
 
 Lecky's History of Rationalism, Draper's Conflict of 
 Religion and Science, and Winwood Reade's Martyrdom 
 of Man afford eloquent testimony to this species of seK- 
 deception and theological degradation. 
 
 Herbert Spencer, in his comprehensive "Study" or 
 Introduction to the science of Sociology, has most 
 elaborately analysed all the influences which operate to 
 retard the progress of that branch of knowledge ; and 
 he has grouped those influences imder different heads, as 
 forms of "bias." For a purely scientific treatise, I think 
 that word preferable to mine ; but for a work like the 
 present, which professes to be of a simpler and more 
 educational nature, I prefer to class these hindrances, or 
 obstacles, as "prejudices," against which the statesman 
 or politician has to contend. There is an element of 
 condemnation suggested in the word "prejudice"; and 
 it coimotes a more aggressive spirit, which is in keeping 
 with the aim of this chapter. 
 
 Sheer political ignorance is, perhaps, one of the most 
 formidable of the many obstacles to just and impartial, 
 and sagacious administration of a commimity's affairs ; 
 for there is no department of human activities in which 
 a "little knowledge" is more "dangerous" and far- 
 reaching than in the making of laws, by which a whole 
 community is to be disciplined, constrained, or forced
 
 220 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 into unwonted activity. Pope's advice to "Drink 
 deeply, or not at all," would, indeed, serve as a most 
 apt admonition to all who enter Parliament as law makers. 
 For the inevitable effect of a "little knowledge" in 
 politics, as in any other subject, is to beget confidence ; 
 whereas much knowledge begets modesty of intellectual 
 demeanour, because of the fact that every step for- 
 ward, that we take in attaining it, opens up a new vista 
 of unexplored intellectual territory ; and the opening 
 to view of this widening domain causes men to hesitate 
 more and more, when they know what far-reaching 
 injury to others may result from even an apparently 
 innocent false step. There is, in truth, no branch of 
 knowledge, except perhaps the dispensing of drugs, to 
 which the adage of "Fools rushing in" may be more 
 aptly applied than in practical politics, where one clause 
 of an Act of Parliament may start into harmful activity, 
 or call a halt, to a whole nation. The little knowledge, 
 or want of knowledge, may be in the nature of a failure 
 to realise the hidden or remote effects of a legislative 
 activity ; for laws operate on human affairs, as does a 
 destructive fire ; spreading from one interest to another, 
 in directions never suspected by the ignorant or childish 
 hand that lighted the match. There is, moreover, too 
 strong a tendency, in persons of limited knowledge, to 
 neglect to realise the future and its probable needs ; and 
 the result of such short-sighted conduct may be almost 
 inconceivable. 
 
 We all remember that Lord Roberts, one of the most 
 sagacious soldiers in modem times, warned English 
 statesmen that their country was miprepared for war, 
 at a time when, if his advice had been followed, it is
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 221 
 
 possible that Germany Avould never have risked a war, 
 that has, during the last five years, acted like an earth- 
 quake, without precedent, on the world's vital social 
 and economic stability. Probably the cry for "economy" 
 that was then being reiterated in and out of Parliament, 
 by short-sighted agitators, operatedon the Government of 
 the hour, in causing such mature advice to be ignored, 
 to the subsequently-proved grave danger of the Empire. 
 
 There is another infirmity of mind from which men 
 suffer, in such a way as to unfit them for useful legislative 
 work. That is, in want of mental breadth. We speak 
 of men and women as "insular," or "narrow," when we 
 refer to their inability to see the outlying considerations 
 or probable effects of any particular activity. We speak 
 of certain individuals as being mentally "blinkered," as a 
 horse that cannot be safely trusted to see around him, 
 as well as in front of him. Many people, and certainly 
 many politicians, suffer from this infirmity. In some 
 cases the inability to see any other interest but the one 
 immediately ahead of them is a mental defect, resulting 
 from a narrow training, or from having lived too long 
 in a small and self-sufficient community, where the 
 outside world, or even the next-door commimity, is not 
 taken into accoimt. In other cases, the "narrowness" 
 is the result of a sort of mental paralysis, forced upon 
 the individual by a "party" — or "caucus" — ^tie or pledge, 
 entered into as the price of obtaining a seat in the 
 legislature. 
 
 We all know the widespread prejudice that normally 
 exists, or is forced upon legislators by fear, in regard to 
 other nationalities than their owti ; how they regard a 
 person who is a native of another latitude, and who
 
 222 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 happens to have a different -coloured skin, as having 
 been intended by the Creator for a lower social level than 
 their own, and as being necessarily of a lower scale of 
 humanity. One may point out to such people in vain, 
 that many Asiatic races were civilised and cultured 
 centuries before their British ancestors were found by 
 Julius Csesar, clothed in skins, and living as many so- 
 called barbarians do to-day ; yet they will continue to 
 plume themselves on their own personal and national 
 superiority. Again, we have all witnessed a similar, and 
 even bitter, prejudice against certain other Eastern 
 nationalities, such as the Japanese ; and it will be found 
 futile, as an argument, to point out to such persons that, 
 in regard to many fine human characteristics, the 
 Japanese have proved themselves superior to the Anglo- 
 Saxons. It is, perhaps, not generally known that one 
 of the most cultured Prime Ministers of the Australian 
 Commonwealth publicly confessed, during a debate on 
 the Alien Restriction Bill, that the people of that 
 nationality were being excluded from Australia because 
 of "their virtues," rather than "their vices" — perhaps 
 one of the most humiliating and cowardly admissions ever 
 made by an Anglo-Saxon statesman. Such a prejudice 
 is on a parallel with that of the New Guinea truly bar- 
 baric natives, who have been seen to jointly ridicule the 
 personal appearance of Europeans, because of their 
 "bleached" colour, and the "turned-down" nose, to 
 which they were not accustomed. 
 
 Then there is another form of prejudice, which results, 
 in some cases, from interested motives, and, in others, 
 from sheer intolerance and narrowness of outlook. 
 Bodies of men and women, formed into organisations for
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 223 
 
 the furtherance of some foolish obsession, do not hesitate 
 to bring all their influence to bear to return to Parliament 
 one of their particular cult, or one who will agree to 
 prostitute himself for the furtherance of their cult, and 
 the winning of their votes, in the blind belief that the 
 legalising of that particular idiosyncrasy is going to 
 benefit the whole commimity. 
 
 We see, too, particular religious denominations con- 
 centrating all their attention and influence in the effort 
 to put into Parliament a man who favours, or pretends to 
 favour, their particular brand of religion, and, by doing 
 so, neglecting to assure themselves that he is capable of 
 taking and espousing sound views on the more general 
 and more important political and social problems of his 
 time. 
 
 Then, there is another form of class-prejudice, by 
 which people, who have not, themselves, been blessed 
 with a good and useful education, conceive a dislike, 
 frequently grounded on unreasoned jealousy, for those 
 who, by their manner and speech, reveal the fact that 
 they have had the benefit of a more cultured early 
 training. There are, indeed, many forms of narrow 
 prejudice exhibited at election time, and, so, calculated to 
 influence the voting ; although in many, or most of, such 
 cases there is little chance of the narrow cause being 
 benefited ; and there is always a chance of an election 
 being turned in a direction which those who so misuse the 
 vote would not, if they could see far enough before them, 
 really desire. 
 
 There is, too, a class, in some cases very numerous, 
 who would entirely lose sight of the real purpose and 
 significance of the election of a member for a term of
 
 224 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 several years, so long as they felt the satisfaction of 
 supporting a man who espouses their particular kind of 
 narrow cause ; and it may be that that candidate, when 
 he enters Parliament, will never have a chance of helping 
 their particular cause, and may possibly be entirely out 
 of sympathy with those who have supported him, on 
 every other political question but the narrow one which 
 has influenced them in the election. 
 
 We now come to an entirely different sort of obstacles 
 to good government. There are men in all Parliaments, 
 who, far from being actuated by patriotic or philan- 
 thropic motives, are entering their precincts for the 
 primary purpose of personal gain, sometimes directly, 
 by being prepared to barter their vote, and sometimes 
 indirectly, by obtaining some temporary or permanent 
 post which they would not otherwise be able to secure, 
 and for which, possibly, they are in no way honestly 
 qualified. Such men soon reveal themselves to Ministers 
 of the Crown, by their demeanour, when critical divisions 
 are being approached ; and they are easily discovered by 
 other than Ministers, by their uncertain and hypo- 
 thetical speeches and professions in regard to approach- 
 ing questions, and the divisions upon them. And, 
 closely related to this class of man, is the member who is 
 for ever speculating as to the probable views of a majority 
 of his constituents, on the different questions he is about 
 to be called upon to help in deciding. One sees, too, 
 frequently, in Ministers themselves, a tendency to 
 vacillation, in regard to important questions, which are 
 coming to the front in public opinion. One sees a good 
 deal of the "balancing of chances," in the calculations of 
 the party whips, who "count noses" from time to time,
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 225 
 
 to discover the prospects of a measure ; and in many- 
 cases governments will be guided, as to their attitude 
 towards a question that is raised in the Press, or in 
 pubUc meetings, by a careful consideration of the effects 
 which the espousal, or the neglect, of that particular 
 question may have upon their party at the next election. 
 The obstacle arising in connection with political 
 organisations, and their resultant groupings in Parlia- 
 ment, is one of the most difficult and disturbing in its 
 effect on statesmanship. Some of the "biggest" men, 
 in the "biggest" Parliaments of the world, have suc- 
 cumbed to this influence, as modern historical writings 
 show ; and the close political student will at once call 
 to mind instances during the last half -century, in Great 
 Britain, and in one or two of her dominions. The 
 earliest home of the "caucus" would be difficult to name ; 
 for its rise, as a decadent influence in Parliaments, has 
 been very gradual ; it has, in fact, been an evolution. 
 To-day it has reached a stage of development which 
 constitutes it a positive political disease ; for it is wielded 
 by men, professing to pride themselves in their love of 
 democratic rule, who yet use it so as to produce govern- 
 ment by minority ! 
 
 Given, for mere illustration, a parliament of one 
 hundred members, made up of one party of sixty, and 
 another of forty, with the party of sixty in power ; the 
 following result may, and, in the writer's experience has, 
 more than once, come to pass in a Dominion Parliament. 
 Forty, of the party in power, approve of the introduction 
 of a measure ; and twenty of the same party are, in fact, 
 opposed to it. The forty in opposition are also opposed 
 to it. By the adoption of the "caucus" principle, the
 
 226 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 twenty of the party in power have bound themselves to 
 vote with the majority of their party ; so that the 
 measure has the parliamentary support of the whole 
 sixty, so far as the voting is recorded, as against the forty 
 in opposition. If the twenty who thus voted against 
 their convictions, for caucus purposes, had honestly 
 joined with the opposition party, the measure would 
 have been negatived by sixty to forty ; but, by reason of 
 the caucus principle, the measure has been carried by 
 sixty to forty ; so that it was actually passed by a 
 minority, and thus realised minority rule ! And this 
 has been done, again and again, by a body of men who 
 were for ever professing and preaching "democratic" and 
 "majority" rule, although, in the proceedings of their 
 own organisations, they invariably insisted on an honest 
 majority being required to carry a motion. 
 
 There is another disturbing factor to soimd statesman- 
 ship, less reprehensible than the last mentioned, but, 
 nevertheless, more effectual in its distm-bing influence, in 
 proportion to the extent of the domain over which the 
 parliament has control. I refer to the insular percep- 
 tions of the small scattered communities embraced in a 
 nation of large area. This shortcoming results from the 
 almost universal lack of a sense of proportion ; the 
 inability to consider the interests of people far removed 
 from their own local centre. It is, in fact, the same 
 narrow spirit, though on a larger scale, that was ridiculed 
 by Dickens, half a century ago, and stigmatised as the 
 "parish pump" view of things. 
 
 In young countries like Canada, South Africa, and 
 Australia of to-day, and the United States of less than 
 half a century ago, where small communities are, or
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 227 
 
 were, far removed from one another, and not always 
 within rapid reach by modem means of transit, it is, and 
 was, difficult to bring their inhabitants to understand 
 that, in criticising the action or inaction of a government, 
 they must consider the effect of what they criticise upon 
 hmidi-eds of other commimities under the same govern- 
 ment, but possibly himdreds, or even thousands of miles 
 away. Such commimities almost invariably ask : 
 W'liat effect is this or that activity or inactivity going to 
 have upon us ? And, according to the answer, so should 
 be the policy of the government ! 
 
 For the first half of the nineteenth century there was 
 no sympathy between the early settlers in California and 
 those of the Eastern States ; and it was sometimes very 
 difficult to reconcile the primitive and pioneering spirit 
 of the Western population to the federal legislation that 
 was considered desirable by the more advanced people 
 of the Eastern States. In Canada, where the distances 
 are equally great, and the communities were scattered 
 and isolated half a century ago, the same failure to 
 identif}^ their several interests was realised ; and, in 
 some cases, emphasised by the two nationalities — French 
 and British. In the Australian Commonwealth, the 
 people of Northern Queensland, with their tropical 
 climate, vegetation, and social surroimdings and con- 
 ditions, have sometimes found it difficult to recognise 
 the identity of interests of citizens of the same Federal 
 Government, living so far apart, in climates and environ- 
 ments of totally different characters. 
 
 And even at closer quarters, the same insularity is 
 observable ; for much jealousy exists between one State 
 and another, only 500 miles apart ; and it is clearly
 
 228 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 illustrated in the fact that in the newspapers of one 
 State, which may be reached from the capital of another 
 State in a few hours, there is, probably, very little refer- 
 ence to the events of the sister State, unless the incidents 
 are either "spicy" or apparently menacing to the State 
 that inserts the news. 
 
 Though the distances are so much smaller in Great 
 Britain, and there has been much more time to establish 
 identity of interests in the populations at the extreme 
 north and south, there is still something of the same 
 difficulty in regard to legislation which is to affect all 
 the people of Great Britain alike. To avoid this dis- 
 turbing influence requires a cultivation of the people's 
 imagination, by which they can extend their mental 
 vision, and see with their "mind's eye" far beyond their 
 own local surroundings. If the subject were fully con- 
 sidered as a branch of philosophy, it would be discovered 
 that half the misunderstandings of the world — family, 
 local, national and international — are traceable to a want 
 of imagination, a want of the sense of proportion and 
 perspective, a want of the ability to "see ourselves as 
 others see us." 
 
 In addition to all these, there are a score of other dis- 
 turbing factors, which have to be recognised and counted 
 with, in the statesmanlike conceptions of a political 
 representative of the broader type ; and history, as seen 
 in the older and younger countries of the world, shows 
 that it is all a matter of time and national growth. 
 
 The community of interests of the Eastern and Western 
 States of America is now more clearly recognised and 
 understood than formerly ; and the French and English 
 populations of Canada are nearer to a realisation of their
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 229 
 
 common interests than they were half a century ago. 
 Likewise, the people of the most distant portions of the 
 Australian Commonwealth are begirming to realise the 
 advantages of a Federal Parliament, which is intended 
 to deal comprehensively with the broader interests of the 
 Australian people as a whole ; and they are now more 
 reconciled to the distinction, thus drawn, between those 
 broader interests, and the more local and detailed con- 
 cerns which have been left in the hands of the several 
 State Parliaments. 
 
 Even to-day, however, there are many public men, and 
 some editors of leading journals, who completely miscon- 
 ceive the history and advantages of the Federal principle, 
 as applied to extensive territories ; whose political vision 
 has not sufficiently developed to enable them to realise 
 what a chaotic and hopeless state of things would result, 
 if their thoughtless desire for the abolition of State 
 Parliaments were accomplished, and an attempt made 
 to govern a country, as large as Europe, in all its activities, 
 and administrative ramifications, from one political 
 centre ! 
 
 The ideal of the cosmopolitan is, indeed, as yet but a 
 dream ; for the condition of mind which that word 
 connotes, in which men and women can, where 
 necessary, forget their "parish pump"; their suburb ; 
 their province or state ; their particular nation and 
 nationality — that will only come as a later phase of human 
 evolution. But, although this be a vision ; there is no 
 good reason why thoughtful men and women, and 
 journalism that professes to be philanthropic as well 
 as commercial, should not, even now, strive to see for 
 themselves, and teach others to see, human affairs from 
 a broader and more panoramic outlook.
 
 230 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 "OVER-LEGISLATION" 
 
 T F it be once admitted, from a sociological point of view, 
 that the more extensive the freedom which a citizen 
 enjoys, the better and fuller opportunities he will have to 
 minister to his own welfare and that of the community ; 
 then, the limit within which the legislature should 
 restrain the activities of citizens could be easily and 
 clearly defined. In such an event we should limit the 
 application of the term "over-legislation" to those laws 
 only, that interfere with a citizen, within the circle of his 
 own acknowledged rights, as explained in the previous 
 chapter on "Liberty," 
 
 Few people realise what a revolution such a limitation 
 on legislative interference would bring about in the social 
 system, as compared with the existing handcuffed con- 
 dition of individuals in many Anglo-Saxon communities 
 of to-day. Citizens of the twentieth century would 
 hardly know themselves, if they were suddenly informed, 
 and realised, that they were free to do as they liked, and 
 when they liked, so long as they did not interfere with the 
 equal right of their neighbour to do the same ; yet, that 
 is the scientific definition of "Liberalism." 
 
 One of a citizen's fmidamental rights, mider such a 
 state of thmgs, would be the liberty to exchange a portion 
 of his own legitimately-acquired money or other posses- 
 sions — which are already, professedly, considered sacred 
 as private property — with other citizens, abroad, for
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 231 
 
 something those others were willing and at liberty to 
 dispose of ; in other words, he would be free to import 
 for himself, or to buy from importers, the goods of other 
 countries, without having to pay a penalty or suffer a 
 pimishment (m the shape of a duty), for having enjoyed 
 that simple exercise of freedom to exchange one's own 
 property, without being penalised for so doing. We 
 should, in short, find ourselves, for the first time, living 
 in a free-trade commimity. And if the converse were 
 the case, and the people of other countries were at 
 liberty to buy from the coimtry in which we happened to 
 be ; the world would soon, and for the fu'st time, reach the 
 ideal to which Cobden looked forward, under which each 
 country would be able to concentrate itself and its 
 activities on those industries to which its climate and 
 environment best fitted it. The result to the world 
 would mean an economy, which, if computed, would 
 startle even the most phlegmatic citizen. 
 
 There is nothing subtle or involved in such an universal 
 policy ; for it is no more than the application to the 
 whole world's affairs, of that principle of specialisation 
 that we apply in the economic adjustment of the work 
 within our own homes ; within our o-un mmiicipalities ; 
 and within our own separate states or provinces ; but 
 which we systematically ignore, and even do our best to 
 subvert, in the adjustment of commercial activities 
 between our own and other nations. Here is Cobden's 
 simple but profoimd doctrine : of a statesman who lived 
 before his time, and cast the light of his brain on a 
 fiscally-benighted world : 
 
 "Free-trade, in the widest definition of the term, means 
 only the division of labour, by which the produ/^tive powers
 
 232 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 of the whole earth are brought into mutual co-operation.^^ 
 (Letter on Blockades, 1862.) 
 
 Again, as the result of this general principle of scien- 
 tific liberalism, we should find ourselves freed from the 
 unequal and unjust incidence of taxation, which is 
 imposed upon citizens in almost every country, contrary 
 to the true principle laid down by all the recognised 
 authorities on taxation ; and we should have the satis- 
 faction of knowing that we were only being compelled 
 to contribute to the necessary revenue of our country in 
 true proportion to our income, that is, in true proportion 
 to our just share of the national protection and guardian- 
 ship which the government of the country afforded. 
 
 I have shown elsewhere that, in consequence of the 
 general — one might almost say universal — tendency of 
 politicians everywhere to placate the voters of their 
 various constituencies — irrespective of soimd principles — 
 many citizens are, by the adoption of an ascending scale, 
 taxed twenty, or thirty, or even fifty, times their just 
 proportion of the necessary taxation of the country; 
 that is to say, if all the most eminent economic authori- 
 ties on the subject be aclmowledged, as sound and fair 
 judges of what is just in principle. 
 
 Another aspect of the new and enlarged liberty which 
 we should enjoy, imder such a state of political society 
 as we have assumed, would be the relief of the poorer 
 classes from the unequal and unjust penalty or duty on 
 such commodities of their everyday needs, as are now 
 subject to inequitable imposts, levied in order to "raise 
 revenue," without reference to their inequality and 
 injustice as taxes. This impost on articles of daily use — 
 by reason of their being materials of individual con-
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 233 
 
 sumption — involves a greater per capita proportion of 
 penalty or duty on a poor than on a well-do-to family, 
 which, considered apart from other taxes, is contrary to 
 the just principle referred to. 
 
 Again, a heavy penalty is now imposed, in most 
 countries, on land, in addition to that on the owners' 
 income, which, besides being a tax on industry, is in the 
 nature of a duplication, and therefore an unjust multi- 
 plication of the imposts of a community. Having regard 
 to the same fimdamental principles of human freedom, as 
 laid down by recognised and non-partisan thinkers and 
 writers on such subjects; one of the most questionable 
 forms of impost introduced in later generations, as a 
 concession by politicians to the masses, and their ever- 
 active champions, who do not attach much importance 
 to the equity or morality of such breaches of principle as 
 are involved, is the imposition of what are termed death 
 duties, or taxes on inheritance. To justify such imposts, 
 it is necessary to contend, as probably the advocates of 
 such taxes would readily do, that the individual citizen 
 of a country should not be entitled to his own earnings or 
 savings, to the extent of being able to dispose of them as 
 he thinks fit; which would certainly involve a serious 
 inroad into the time-honoured principle that the first 
 duty of the State is to protect the liberty and private 
 property of its citizens. 
 
 It would be futile in the present age to attempt to 
 stay politically this confiscating tendency of the majority, 
 as represented in Parliament ; and it will, no doubt, go on, 
 and enroach more and more ; but a time will come, when 
 a higher moral sense will be evolved and applied to 
 such State encroachments ; and then it will be seen that,
 
 234 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 like all abuses, it produced its remote and indirect effects, 
 which were found to be detrimental to societj^ as a whole, 
 in directions not now suspected. 
 
 Still another important form of liberty, enjoyed in 
 some communities, and denied in others, is the right to 
 make what arrangements people may wish, on one side, 
 and the other, in exchanging labour or skilled service 
 for money. Where the laws of a country seek to dragoon 
 citizens, and limit them in this respect to an uniform rate 
 of wages and miif orm hours of labour, in return ; there is 
 a distinct denial of the right of two citizens to do as they 
 wish with their own money, and their own mental or 
 bodily labours. 
 
 It would be out of place here to enter into lengthy 
 comments on the results of compulsory arbitration, 
 where attempted as a professed means of settling such 
 problems, by reference to an impartial tribunal ; but this 
 may be said — that that method has proved a signal failure, 
 by either leading to the selection of men as arbiters, 
 who have demonstrated their judicial unfitness, and so 
 failed to "hold the scales" in accordance with the time- 
 honoured tradition, or by the workmen having ignored 
 the tribunal's finding where they disapproved, and so 
 made the method a failure ; because, in many cases, the 
 penalties, imposed on the employees for non-observance 
 of the findings, have been winked at by timid or 
 subservient political executives, who could have, and 
 were in duty boimd to have, enforced them. The whole 
 system has so obviously failed, where most widely 
 established, that there are frequent proposals for its 
 abolition, and for a resort to the revival of the old 
 right of the employer to dismiss, and of the workman's
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 235 
 
 right to strike, as upheld by Mr. Gompers — perhaps 
 the most eminent of all labour authorities — in the 
 United States. 
 
 Again, under the extended sphere of personal liberty 
 which we are assuming, in a coimtry which is perfectly 
 free; there would be an opportunity for individual or 
 grouped private citizens to enter into competition with the 
 Government, in a variety of enterprises now monopolised 
 by the State, as, for instance, the caniage of letters and 
 parcels. In many coiuitries to-day, those departments 
 of State are not only badly and extra vagantl}^ managed ; 
 but the work, being the subject of a monopoly, is done 
 imperfectly, and with so little opportunity for redress by 
 the citizens, who are subjected to injury and annoyance 
 by departmental blunders, that those enforced services 
 are highly unpopular. In some coimtries, such neces- 
 sary services as the telephones are monopolised by the 
 State ; whilst in others they are left to private enterprise, 
 and competition ; with the result, that, in the latter 
 there is every encouragement to the modernisation of 
 appliances, and easy redress in the instances of imperfect 
 service ; whilst in the former the service is frequently 
 performed by means of antiquated appliances, and the 
 delay and blimders are beyond criticism. 
 
 One might go on and enumerate a hundred other more 
 detailed directions, in which the "equal freedom" of 
 citizens is interfered with, as a result of the desire — one 
 might almost call it the craving — of certain classes of 
 people, and, consequently, of certain t5rpes of politicians, 
 who are automatically adaptable, to regulate and dis- 
 cipline their fellow citizens in the details of their daily 
 life. Society has, fortunately, escaped from the be-
 
 236 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 nighted conditions of early England, when, at the sound 
 of the Curfew bell, every citizen had to put out all his 
 lights at eight o'clock, and go to bed, as boarding school 
 and many other children have to do to-day ; and citizens 
 have escaped from the meddling legislation of Queen 
 Elizabeth's reign, and that of Henry VIII., when, in 
 normal times of peace, prices of commodities, and the 
 movements of workmen, were needlessly and ridiculously 
 controlled, as well as industries alternatively subsidised 
 and discouraged, to suit the ignorant mood of the 
 legislators of the hour. 
 
 In those reigns, Parliament went the length of deter- 
 mining the shape and character of the people's clothes, 
 the number of coat buttons to be worn ; the length of the 
 people's boots ; the number of their meals, and even the 
 number of courses in each meal, as well as the character 
 of the food consumed. From all these truly benighted 
 attempts to regulate human nature, and treat citizens 
 as if they were babies, society has partly escaped ; but 
 there are many people of our own day, who would compel 
 us to drink what they prescribe, and abstain from that 
 which they disapproved ; who would tell us when, and 
 how often, we should attend public worship, and what 
 creed it should be under. 
 
 Buckle tells us in his History of Civilisation, in dealing 
 with Scotland in the sixteenth century, how great a 
 tyranny was exercised over unoffending citizens, if they 
 did not conform to the stilted moral standards laid doAvn 
 by the kirk, which constituted itself a sort of superadded 
 dictatorship. From all these forms of thraldom we 
 have, as I have said, partially escaped, but the fires of 
 superstition and insularity are only "banked," and are
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. . 237 
 
 ready to break out into flame at any moment, if only 
 famied by a sufficient number of zealots. 
 
 No one, who has read history with any degree of 
 method and intelligence, can have failed to trace the 
 thread of growing freedom from the Norman Conquest 
 to the middle of the nineteenth century. I fix that last 
 point in history, because the onward wave of liberalism, 
 or freedom, seems to have then realised its high-water 
 mark, and to have been followed by a sort of back-wash 
 of socialism — contemporaneous with an extended fran- 
 chise — in the shape of short-sighted and meddlesome 
 interferences with the freedom of citizens, on matters 
 which are no one's concern but their own. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone (a sufficiently confirmed Liberal for the 
 most captious), in 1887, recognised this remarkable 
 change, and said of the legislative work of the preceding 
 fifty years, "It has been a process of setting free the 
 individual man, that he may work out his own vocation, 
 without wanton hindrance"; and he added : "If, instead 
 of this, Govermnent is to work out his vocation for him, 
 I, for one, am not sanguine as to the result." 
 
 It would be difficult even to classify, much more to 
 enumerate, the accumulating instances in some countries, 
 in which the State is even to-day trespassing more and 
 more on the domain of human liberty, which was at one 
 time considered sacred to each individual citizen. 
 Every little body of persons, obsessed with some "fad" 
 or "ism" of its own, seems to be dissatisfied, unless it 
 can find some pliable legislator, who will give prominence 
 to its narrow aspiration, which would run every man 
 and woman into the same mould, by seeking to impose it 
 on the whole community.
 
 238 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 Again, various groups, who conclude that some piece 
 of legislation would benefit them as a class, seek to have 
 it passed into law, without knowing, or, apparently, 
 caring, what its effect would be on other classes ; and, 
 accordingly, some pliable legislator, who sees the 
 possibility of seciiring additional votes at a future 
 election, undertakes to set the parliamentary machinery 
 in motion with a view to that end. In that way, Parlia- 
 ment becomes a veritable scrambling ground, in which 
 class advantages are sought to be "slipped through" or 
 "snatched" for the benefit of certain classes. And 
 many of these attempts are both subtle, and indirectly 
 aimed at some commercial profit, or some industrial 
 gain, or some moral or religious advantage to themselves. 
 Such exploiters would do well to take to heart what Lord 
 Hartington once said, in regard to such attempts : 
 "I believe," he said, "that legislation in favour of any 
 particular class is likely to prevent the general pros- 
 perity"; but, unfortunately, many of those political 
 attempts at class advantages, by indirect means, are 
 attempted by men who know full well that what they 
 are seeking is injurious and unjust ; nevertheless, they 
 make the attempt, in the hope that they may succeed ; and 
 the only way in which they could be effectually checked 
 would be by the adoption of that practice of a Greek State 
 — the colony of Lokris — in which, according to Grote's 
 History of Greece, everyone, who proposed a new law, 
 had to do so in public, with "a halter round his neck" ; 
 and it was laid down as a permanent custom of the same 
 country that, if the proposed law were not adopted by 
 the people, the halter should be tightened ! Such a law 
 would effectively prevent this constant tampering — this
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 239 
 
 meddlesome and irritating interference — with the 
 people's rights and liberties, by making an example of 
 one or two of the delinquents. 
 
 No one can doubt that the continued state of injustice 
 and inequality in taxation-assessment, as pointed out in 
 the earlier part of this chapter, and the need for con- 
 stant watchfuhiess and vigorous protest in the legis- 
 lature, by every honestly-motived politician — resulting in 
 every instance in party assaults on himself — constitute 
 substantial "obstacles" to honest statesmanship. And 
 there is this further regrettable feature in connection with 
 taxation — that whenever an honest attempt is made to 
 correct old abuses, or to frustrate those that are new, 
 unprincipled exploiters in the legislature, who maintain 
 the old abuses, and endeavour to create fresh ones, make 
 every effort to discredit the champions of the people's 
 liberties, and to injure them, by endeavouring to hold 
 them up, and to stigmatise them as "Conservatives" and 
 "Tories," in the hope of destroying their influence. 
 
 By these means, many new recruits in the political 
 arena, who would uphold just principles, and resist 
 unjust crusades on the equal liberties of citizens, are 
 frequently intimidated and discouraged in their efforts 
 to champion the people's broader interests. 
 
 There is yet another form of unjust misappropriation 
 of the citizens' money, which may be properly classified 
 under the term "over-legislation"; although it stands in 
 a more reprehensible category, and on a par with the 
 practice of taking money from the National till, for 
 purposes altogether foreign to the true and legitimate 
 functions of government. I refer to the vicious tendency 
 of Ministers of the Crown, and sometimes of Ministries as
 
 240 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 a whole, to "buy" the people's good will and support in 
 the distribution of benej&ts to certain classes, at the 
 expense of other classes, whose interest in the con- 
 solidated funds is at least equal to that of the people 
 benefited. I refer to the building of dwellings for the 
 people, to be let at less than their market value in rent ; 
 and the creation of luinecessary public works in normal 
 times, in order to give employment to men at a daily 
 wage, irrespective of their capability to return fair value 
 for the wages paid. 
 
 The effect of the first practice is twofold ; for, not 
 only does it involve an injustice to those citizens who 
 have ultimately to pay extra taxation to confer an 
 unearned benefit upon those who rent the houses at less 
 than their true rental value ; but it makes a pauper of 
 the man who accepts the advantage at less than its 
 market value, to the extent of that difference. It does 
 more ; for it inevitably blunts the sense of justice of the 
 politician who lends himself to the misappropriation 
 of the public funds, and so makes a repetition of the vice 
 seem less patent. 
 
 The second form of political "largess," also, has a two- 
 fold effect ; for it pauperises the workmen who perform 
 the work, to the extent of the difference between the 
 true value of the labour done, and the daily wage 
 actually paid ; and it further demoralises the men 
 employed, who are disposed to perform an adequate 
 day's work for their daily wage, by inducing them to 
 "slow down" to the pace of the men who do as little as 
 they can for their pay. There have been notorious 
 cases in the Australian Commonwealth, in which 
 Ministers of the Crown have openly accepted the higher
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 241 
 
 tender for public services ; because the tenderer was of 
 the same party as the Minister, and undertook to con- 
 form to certain trades union rules, which the Minister 
 considered it politic to espouse. The eSect of this 
 action was to involve the taxpayers in an imjustifiably 
 higher expenditure for purely party purposes. Such 
 an act nvolved a distinct misappropriation of public 
 funds, for party ends. 
 
 There is still another class of abuses which could be 
 mentioned in detail, had I space for the purpose ; where 
 governments, as a whole, and individual ministers of the 
 vote-catching tj^e, deliberately misuse public moneys 
 to embark upon industries to placate their socialistic 
 supporters, and, if the truth were known, so involve the 
 taxpayers in twice, and sometimes in three times, the 
 cost, for the articles produced, which they could be 
 manufactured for by private enterprise. 
 
 In the Australian Commonwealth, where these 
 socialistic enterprises have become common, every effort 
 has been made to obtain truthful and straightforward 
 balance sheets of such industries, in order to demonstrate 
 the gross waste of public moneys; but care has always 
 been taken by those in authority to hide the real facts, by 
 omitting to take into account certain factors which would 
 be required in the balance sheets of public companies. 
 Some reports of select committees and commissions have 
 revealed trulj scandalous waste and mismanagement in 
 some of these industries. The Minister, in such cases, 
 is satisfied wi . the political popularity gained by his 
 venture ; an' the employees have been satisfied ; 
 because, in suc-^ State enterprises, they are subjected to 
 less strenuous liscipline; and, when a conscientious
 
 242 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 manager or foreman insists on better results, and seeks 
 to punish the delinquents, he can be checked and 
 frustrated in his discipline, by an appeal from the 
 manager or foreman to the Minister. 
 
 I do not hesitate to say that in many such cases the 
 neglect and waste, and laxity, have been well-nigh 
 criminal in their character. 
 
 The problem is : how can a conscientious Minister, 
 who has the courage to try to do his duty, begin upon 
 such an Augean stable as many of these State or National 
 enterprises have become ? The "leaks" in the Treasury 
 of many countries, in these truly lax days, are numerous 
 enough to constitute so many scandals, if fully revealed ; 
 and mitil the taxpayers rise, as they some day will do, 
 after some financial cataclysm has forced the facts on 
 public attention, the abuses referred to will continue. 
 
 I ought to add, to avoid the charge of being merely 
 theoretical, in what I have said about freedom of com- 
 merce, that I clearly recognise the almost insuperable 
 obstacle to a complete return to that form of freedom, in a 
 country where a great variety of industries, to which other 
 countries are infinitely better suited, have been estab- 
 lished as "home indiistries"; for, as I have already 
 pointed out, thousands of citizens have been attracted 
 to employment in comiection with them ; and the sudden 
 removal of the "economic crutch," which the protective 
 duties on the imported article or commodity are equiva- 
 lent to, would probably undermine the industry ; and 
 employees who were thus thrown out of work would be 
 converted into an army of discontents ; and their hard- 
 ships would lead to serious political disturbance. If 
 such a change were suddenly brought about, there would
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 243 
 
 follow similar disturbances, such as occurred with the 
 introduction of the spinning- jenny in substitution for 
 the hand loom, in English history. These consequences 
 bear upon the expediency of such a change ; but they do 
 not affect the soundness of the theories of statecraft 
 which I have enimciated. My humble criticism of the 
 theory of protection is mild, in comparison with its 
 denunciation by the venerable John Bright ; who said, 
 in his first speech in the British Parliament : "Crime has 
 often veiled itself under the name of virtue ; but of all 
 the crimes against the laws of God, and the true interests 
 of man, none has ever existed more odious and more 
 destructive than that which has assumed the amiable 
 term of 'Protection.' "
 
 244 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 THE LEGISLATOR 
 
 TT should need no elaborate demonstration here to 
 convince an intelligent reader that the man who 
 enters Parliament, as one of those entrusted with the 
 making of laws, for the compulsion, restriction, and 
 regulation of the members of a civilised community, 
 should be required to possess many personal attributes, 
 and a very wide knowledge of many things. If I am 
 right in my enumeration of the qualifications of the man 
 himself, and of the varieties of knowledge which he should 
 be required to possess, to properly fit him to discharge his 
 duties with ability, with fairness to all classes, and in 
 such a way as to encourage enterprise and individuality, 
 without conferring positive benefits on one class at the 
 expense of another class ; then a fully-equipped legis- 
 lator should be a citizen who stajids out from his fellow- 
 citizens, in regard to knowledge, personal attainments, 
 and individuality of character ; and, as a result, he should 
 command the political confidence and respect of those 
 whom he represents in the councils of the nation, as well 
 as of those with whom he will be called upon to co- 
 operate in the making of laws. 
 
 I am not claiming that he should be a great church- 
 man, or of any particular creed, or that he should be a 
 prominent ornament in society ; for many of England's 
 and America's greatest statesmen were cosmopolitans in 
 their types of mind, and could not be identified, even by
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 245 
 
 their best friends, with any particular creed or denom- 
 ination ; and as to social qualifications — they need none, 
 beyond good manners, and what all nature's gentlemen 
 possess innately : a consideration for the feelings of 
 others. For, as a rule, the men who have acquired the 
 requisite historical and sociological knowledge, and made 
 suflficiently wide observation in regard to the composition 
 of society, and the characteristics and needs of the 
 different classes who compose it — those men have not 
 had, and cannot spare, the time to indulge in purely 
 social or fashionable functions, that have no real bearing 
 on their legislative work. It is possible that this may 
 frequently deprive them of the approval and endorse- 
 ment of fashionable people, who consider that, as their 
 representative, he should always be at their disposal for 
 what are termed ceremonial occasions ; but a little 
 reflection will always satisfy those who entertain such 
 standards, that this is not the true or the legitimate 
 purpose of the man of affairs ; who is, like themselves, 
 limited to twenty-four hours in each day, with many 
 more duties to himself in his representative capacity 
 than they contemplate. Moreover, a thoughtful public 
 would not make so many social demands, as they fre- 
 quently do, upon their representatives, if they took time 
 to consider how much they are called upon to do, 
 directly and indirectly, on behalf of a modern constituency, 
 especially in these times, when the correspondence and 
 the requests made upon a member of Parliament in a 
 democratic community are truly multifarious. 
 
 So much as to the more personal qualifications, and 
 the personal movements of a legislator. In small 
 communities, where train travelling is rapid and fre-
 
 246 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 quent, and the distances of members' constituencies 
 from the legislative centre are not great, the time 
 occupied in, and the disturbing effects of a man's personal 
 affairs by, constant journeying to and fro, are not of 
 great importance ; but in widespread countries or 
 communities, like the United States, Canada, Australia, 
 South Africa, and New Zealand, where a representative, 
 living at a great distance from the legislative centre, has 
 either to establish a separate home for a large part of the 
 year, or to make extensive train journeys covering many 
 months ; the inroads upon his time, and opportunities for 
 necessary work, are more than are commonly understood 
 by those who merely "look on." 
 
 Then, as to the mental equipment and scope of know- 
 ledge, which I have named, as essential in a qualified 
 legislator. 
 
 Lecky, the author of The Eighteenth Century, says 
 a wise thing in regard to the younger Pitt, whose career 
 was one of the most remarkable ever known for states- 
 manship. He says ; "He saw what was right, but he did 
 not always ensue it. He had to deal, not with angels, 
 but with men, their passions, prejudices, and interests, 
 often sordid and misguided. He, therefore, compromised 
 the ideal, and did, not the best, but the nearest practicable 
 to the best." 
 
 I have said before that the statesman must understand 
 human nature. To do that, it is not sufficient that he 
 should have lived all his life in a village or a big town, or 
 even in a large community, far removed from the main 
 stream of life, that flows through the great world. 
 Many comparatively substantial communities, that are 
 not of the great world, or that are far removed from its
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 247 
 
 cosmopolitan activities and occasional convulsions, are, 
 comparatively speaking, in the nature of "backwaters," 
 that are, as it were, out of the sound of the noisy and 
 turbulent rumblings of humanity. They have their 
 local newspapers, that take their cue from the great 
 journals of the bigger world beyond, and endeavour to 
 imitate their editorial "thunder." Many citizens of 
 those untroubled centres ; many local legislators ; and 
 many editors, imagine they are "moving mountains," 
 and shaking the foimdations of nature, while they are 
 only performing to small local audiences, and wasting 
 their editorial breath in a vain attempt to be heard 
 beyond the limits of their smaller world. All this 
 misconception, and all this disappointment, where 
 disillusionment takes place, is the result of a want of 
 sense of proportion ; because they fail to realise the 
 insignificance of their own circumscribed affairs, as 
 compared with the greater and more important problems 
 beyond, in which, nevertheless, their own fate or future 
 is involved : frequently without their realising it. There 
 are parts of the British Dominions, for instance, whose 
 whole future and destiny hung by a thread in the late 
 great war and its outcome, in which, nevertheless, many 
 newspapers, legislators, and party-leaders, remained so 
 self-satisfied, and so locally hypnotised with their 
 immediate surroundings and microscopic outlook, that 
 they were, and continued throughout the struggle to be, 
 unconscious of their own local dependence upon the 
 outcome of the greatest material as well as moral issue 
 the world has ever known. 
 
 Such men do not understand human nature or human 
 affairs, in the broadest sense ; for to do so involves a
 
 248 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 vision wide enough, and far-sighted enough, to see and 
 realise the bearings of local interests on the greater 
 interests of the outer world ; for all national interests are 
 now relative, and that fact must be recognised and 
 acknowledged by all public men worthy of the title. 
 A legislator needs to know human nature in more than a 
 cosmopolitan sense ; he needs to know man in all his 
 varieties — in nationality, in regard to his various walks 
 in life, and as to his individual leanings ; in his religious 
 prejudices, his political bias, and his irrational belief in his 
 own, and dislike of other, classes ; and in a hundred other 
 ways — that he may be prepared to shape the legislation 
 in which he takes part, so as to allow scope and freedom 
 for all these extremes, up to the line of freedom at which 
 the equal rights of others impinge. And he needs, 
 further, to have grasped the scientific side of man, so as 
 to be acquainted with the theories, at least, of man's 
 origin and evolution from lower types, in order to be 
 prepared to make allowances for some ugly character- 
 istics, that give undue emphasis to the egoistic side of 
 those lower types of society ; for these have not undergone, 
 as much as others, the self-denying influences that 
 operate in social waves in a mixed commimity. 
 
 Travel is an undoubted advantage to a legislator ; for 
 one sees everywhere the effect of ocular demonstration 
 upon certain minds, that lack the imagination to acquire 
 such knowledge theoretically. A few generations ago, 
 no man was considered completely educated, though he 
 might have taken the highest university degrees, unless he 
 had made "the grand tour," and travelled rornid the 
 different comitries of Europe, in order to get rid of the 
 narrower conception that his particular locality, his par-
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 249 
 
 ticular nationality, and his particular class, afforded him 
 in regard to men and women. If a man has not travelled, 
 and personally cleared his mind of such narrow prejudices, 
 he would need to read much, and widely, and realistically, 
 of other peoples and other lands, and other standards of 
 life, and public affairs, to constitute himself a "man of 
 the world" or "a man of affairs." 
 
 Every man who puts himself forward as fitted to join 
 intelligently in making laws for a modern democratic 
 community, should be generally well-informed in the 
 history of different peoples now co-operating in the 
 world's progress. He should, if he be of Anglo-Saxon 
 origin, before all things, know the history of his own race, 
 back, at least, to the beginning of the Christian era, 
 when they were not much more advanced in civilisation 
 than the Australian aboriginal. The knowledge that 
 Caesar so found them at that stage of history — when the 
 people of Rome and Athens had already reached a state 
 of comparative perfection in art, architecture, sculpture, 
 oratory, and philosophy, in no sense inferior, and, 
 in some respects, superior, to that of Great Britain of 
 to-day — would have the wholesome effect of neutralising 
 any spirit of self-sufficiency which frequently results 
 from an insular upbringing. 
 
 It is equally essential that a would-be legislator 
 should be made aware, that there is rot a theory of 
 legislation, or a scheme for producing a millennium, as 
 formulated in the twentieth century, that had not been 
 attempted and failed to effect the purpose of those who 
 conceived it, at least twenty or twenty-five centuries ago. 
 
 This knowledge, when thoroughly drilled into a 
 truly provincial legislator's mind, would free him from
 
 250 The, Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 the blandishments of an army of half -informed or wholly- 
 unread theorists, who are for ever promulgating doc- 
 trines as to the possibility of obtaining wealth without 
 working for it ; of making the present wealth of the 
 world "go romid," so as to allow everyone to retire and 
 live a life of leisure ; of enabling "the poor" to become 
 rich, and hereafter enjoy a permanent holiday ; or of 
 generally distributing the surplus wealth o. the world, 
 80 as to secure for everybody a good measure of 
 "treasure, leisure, and pleasure" ! Such doctrines are 
 being preached everywhere to-day, almost invariably by 
 men and women who have nothing of their own ; who 
 dislike physical exertion of any kind ; and object to 
 anyone else being in possession of means, such as they, 
 themselves, have tried, but failed, to acquire. 
 
 The certain knowledge that all these recipes for 
 universal happiness have, again and again, over many 
 centuries, and in many countries, failed to produce any- 
 thing but misery, would render such political nostrums 
 unpopular and worthless, even for party purposes. 
 
 Another advantage of a course of universal history, for 
 candidates for the legislature, is that it would afford an 
 opportimity of comparing the civilising results of old- 
 fashioned methods of human government with those of 
 comitries in which more showy methods have been tried 
 and found wanting, in such aspects as peace, equality, 
 freedom, and the quiet encouragement of the institution 
 of private property. 
 
 If all the members of a legislature had gone through 
 this curriculum, statesmanship in such an arena would 
 be a less difficult task ; and history would be more 
 properly understood and appreciated as a simple record
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 251 
 
 of tendencies, sufficiently definite to serve as guides, or 
 of distinct causes and effects, some successful, and 
 some im^uccessful ; where social and political experi- 
 ments had been tried by those who had gone before us, 
 and, without any expense or inconvenience to us, 
 afforded us useful object lessons. 
 
 A careful study of human "needs," as distinguished 
 from human "wants," which, as already stated, are quite 
 different things, liable to be mistaken for one another, 
 would show what a prominent place "freedom" occupies 
 in the list of guarantees that the legislatm-e can offer ; 
 and would illustrate and emphasise the beneficial results 
 to all, which flow from the whole scheme of social 
 organisation, by which a well-regulated community can 
 be built out of once irresponsible and lawless units, 
 just as a magnificent and stately edifice can be erected, 
 and made stable for a century, out of disorderly heaps of 
 bricks and stones, and bags of sand and lime, that, 
 without organising abiHty and appUcation, would lie 
 inert and fall to dust. 
 
 A judicious course of modem history would do much 
 more, in placing before legislators the splendid examples 
 of personal bravery, not in warfare, nor in physical 
 prowess, but in moral courage, to do the thing that 
 is right, and confront a whole phalanx of trucklers and 
 cowards who had not the strength of mind, and the self- 
 respect, to look error and organised dictatorship in the 
 face ; they would learn to abhor the miserable exhibi- 
 tions of cowardice in which men bend the knee and stifle 
 the spirit of manhood that their mothers had bred in 
 them ; and all, because they had, for personal gain, 
 bound themselves body and soul to some political
 
 252 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 organisation, and pledged, themselves to do what they 
 were told, irrespective of the justice or propriety of the 
 act demanded of them. 
 
 The statesman will, as a rule, Ioioav what is to be faced 
 in regard to this system of political slavery ; and he will 
 have seen, by experience, what inroads it makes upon 
 the integrity of free institutions and the principle of 
 true democracy ; but, nevertheless, he will need to 
 count with it ; and it will become his duty, from time to 
 time, to make manifest to the people the parallel between 
 such an undermining of human freedom, and, for 
 example, the inroads of the worst pests upon the fair 
 fruits of an otherwise clean and prosperous orchard. 
 
 The honest legislator, who seeks to be equitable to the 
 people as a whole, and to hold the scales of justice fairly 
 and honourably between all classes who make up the com- 
 munity, rich and poor alike, old and young, arrogant and 
 modest, those who attempt to force their claims, and 
 those who hold back in genuine modesty : it is his duty, 
 and without it he carniot be true to himself or his office, 
 to watch for, and do his best to check the different forms 
 of political vice and prejudice that he sees operating in 
 the legislative arena ; to meet the abuses of party 
 government, to frustrate the aims, where he can, of 
 religious and class bias, to steadfastly refuse to be 
 dictated to by an irresponsible and party Press, that 
 seeks to gain its end for its own ultimately commercial 
 purposes, even at the cost of the individuality of those 
 to whom its dictates are addressed. 
 
 A legislator, too, owes it to his constituents and to his 
 country, to become acquainted with the economic prin- 
 ciples that prevail among the great and recognised non-
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 253 
 
 political and non-party authorities on that subject, and 
 to endeavour to put those principles into practice where 
 the circumstances of a country seem to him to make it 
 desirable. 
 
 The legislator in a twentieth-century Parliament needs 
 all his courage to be able to do his duty, so that he may, 
 as Polonius advised his son, "be true to himself"; for, 
 like a ship in a chartless sea, or a sea of which there are 
 many and conflicting charts, he is surrounded with 
 shoals and shallows, with alluring islands which are only 
 mirages, with hurrying tides that will carry him in a 
 dozen different directions ; and it is only by a cool head, 
 a full store of knowledge, an honest self-respect, and a 
 firm determination to steer a course that an informed 
 judgment dictates, and a tender conscience approves, 
 that he can do justice to the important trust that 
 himdreds and thousands of his constituents have reposed 
 in him. If he should happen to have adopted that 
 "royal road" to Parliament, which consists of handing 
 over his own judgment to the mercy of some political 
 organisation, on the understanding that he is to take his 
 orders from its ofl&cers willy nilly ; then he is not entitled 
 to be counted among responsible legislators, for he is 
 no longer a brain-centre, but a veritable cog-wheel in 
 a machine, the whole mechanism of which is moved 
 by another or others, but not by the minds to 
 whose judgment the people have handed over their 
 destinies. 
 
 As a rule, such men are paid, as the members of almost 
 all Parliaments are, nowadays ; but there is this dif- 
 ference — that the moment the member of such an organ- 
 isation ceases to revolve, in obedience to the gearsman
 
 254 The Truisms of Statecraft. 
 
 of the machine, he is compelled to step down from the 
 pedestal of membership and find a livelihood. Such 
 men come within the category of legislators who make 
 politics their career ; in regard to whom the late Presi- 
 dent Roosevelt said : "It is a dreadful misfortune for a 
 man to grow to feel that his whole livelihood and his 
 whole happiness depend upon his staying in office ; 
 such a feeling prevents him from being of real service to 
 the people while in office, and always puts him under the 
 heaviest strain of pressure to barter his convictions for 
 the sake of holding office." 
 
 However automatically the working classes may fall in 
 line, in concentrating their votes and their interests on a 
 man who consents to espouse ' 'labour' ' and labour only, and 
 to take his orders as to voting from one of their organisa- 
 tions ; many of them dislike the "bargain and sale" element 
 which enters into the system ; but they, nevertheless, 
 are individually helpless, and dependent upon the 
 "military square" movement, by which their cause is 
 controlled. We all remember that incident in the life of 
 John Stuart Mill, in which he was asked, at one of his 
 election meetings, whether he had not once said, or 
 written, that the working classes were "mostly liars." 
 Everyone present, who knew that he had done so, 
 thought that he would "fence" the question, and try to 
 escape the consequences of such an admission ; but they 
 did not know him ! He stood his groimd like an honest 
 and brave man, and boldly admitted that he had said so ! 
 History tells us that, instead of the whole Westminster 
 audience, made up of working men, turning on him and 
 metaphorically rending him, they cheered vociferously ; 
 for, whilst the statement was unpalatable, there was an
 
 Aids and Obstacles to Human Progress. 255 
 
 honest and courageous ring in the admission ; and the 
 admiration dominated the disfavour. 
 
 The high moral standards to be hoped for in the 
 people's representatives, however difficult they may be to 
 find in a mixed community, should be kept constantly in 
 mind, as an ideal at which to aim ; for it has been well 
 said that, if we aim at the moon, we may fall far short of 
 it, and yet hit a star ! 
 
 Viscount Morley affords us a standard in describing 
 Gladstone in his Life. "Never," he says "did he utter 
 anything that was not inspired by a high moral principle ; 
 never did he act on any low or selfish groimds ; never did 
 he allow himself to think about himself, and not about 
 those for whom he was labouring. He raised political 
 life altogether to a higher level. . , . He changed 
 his views in many waj^s, as he went on ; yet through 
 every change, whatever it might be, there was still 
 manifest that steady upholding of high principle in 
 walks of life where high principle was sometimes derided 
 as unpractical and foolish." 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 D.W. Patebson Co. Pty. Ltd., Print, 495 Collins Street, Melbourne.