THE STUDY OF SOCIOLOGY. 189 



that the goodness or badness of a bargain is the affair of those who 

 make it, not your affair ; but that it is your duty to enforce the bar- 

 gain when made. Only in proportion as this is done can men's lives 

 in society be maintained. The condition to all life, human or other, is 

 that effort put forth shall bring the means of repairing the parts Avasted 

 by effort shall bring, too, more or less of surplus. A creature that 

 continuously expends energy without return in nutriment dies ; and a 

 creature is indirectly killed by any thing which, after energies have 

 been expended, habitually intercepts the return. This holds of asso- 

 ciated human beings as of all other beings. In a society, most citizens 

 do not obtain sustenance directly by the powers they exert, but do it 

 indirectly : each gives the produce of his powers exerted in his special 

 way in exchange for the produce of other men's powers exerted in 

 other ways. The condition under which only this obtaining of sus- 

 tenance, to replace the matter wasted by effort, can be carried on in so- 

 ciety, is fulfilment of contracts. Non-fulfilment of contract is letting 

 energy be expended in expectation of a return, and then withholding 

 the return. The maintenance of contract, therefore, is the maintenance 

 of the fundamental principle of all life under the form given to it by 

 social arrangements. I blame you because you do not maintain this 

 fundamental princijile ; and, as a consequence, allow life to be impeded 

 and sacrificed in countless indirect ways. You are, I admit, solicitous 

 about my life as endangered by my own acts. Though you very in- 

 adequately guard me against injuries from others, you seem particu- 

 larly anxious that I shall not injure myself. Emulating Sir Peter Lau- 

 rie, who made himself so famous by threatening to " put down suicide," 

 you do what you can to prevent me from risking my limbs. Your 

 great care of me is shown, for instance, by enforcing a by-law which 

 forbids me to leave a railway-train in motion ; and, if I jump out, I 

 find that, whether I hurt myself or not, you decide to hurt me by a 

 fine. 1 Not only do you thus punish me when I run the risk of punish- 

 ing myself, but your amiable anxiety for my welfare shows itself in 

 taking money out of my pocket to provide me with various conven- 

 iences baths and wash-houses, for example, and free access to books. 

 Out of my pocket, did I say ? Not always. Sometimes out of the 

 pockets of those least able to afford it ; as when, from poor authors 

 who lose by their books, you demand gratis copies for your public li- 

 braries, that I and others may read them for nothing Dives robbing 

 Lazarus that he may give alms to the well-clad ! But these many 

 things you offer are things I do not ask ; and you will not effectually 

 insure me the one thing I do ask. I do not want you to ascertain for 

 me the nature of the sun's corona, or to find a northwest passage, or 

 to explore the bottom of the sea; but I do want you to insure me 

 against aggression, by making the punishment of aggressors, civil as 

 well as criminal, swift, certain, and costless to those injured. Instead 



1 See case in Times, December 11, 1872. 



