Lihhy — Study of Lead liegion: Introduction. 189 



reports and other public documents in order to obtain correct 

 and adequate statistical information as to the development of 

 the given area under study. These figures should show not only 

 the numbers but the wealth, occupation and nativity of the pop- 

 ulation. Besides this, there should be some accurate showing 

 of the direction and intensity of the whole industrial develop- 

 ment of the section. This should also be accompanied by a 

 careful geological and topographical study of the given area, as 

 well as an account of its natural resources. Thirdly, it is de- 

 sired by this study to so relate the political with the social and 

 economic life that they shall mutually explain and account for 

 each other. The statement of the problems of these two phases 

 of life will thus reciprocally assist in their joint solution, where 

 it is not possible to otherwise reach a satisfactory solution. Such 

 is the aim of the investigation, the first fruits of which appear 

 in the following pages. The plan can hardly be said to lack 

 comprehensiveness, and it certainly entails an amount of careful 

 and laborious collection and arrangement of material that can 

 be appreciated only by those who have attempted similar pieces 

 of work. Moreover, so extensive a study necessitates the co- 

 operative labor of a large number of students for a considerable 

 length of time. But this is a positive advantage, since it more 

 widely diffuses the true historical spirit and makes its methods 

 better understood among those who are capable of doing good 

 work under the stimulus of the example and direction of those 

 who have done most in these lines. There is also an added ad- 

 vantage in the organic nature of the work proposed ; it is evolu- 

 tionarv in the best sense. There are no theories of state sov- 

 ereignty or constitutional rights of man or nations to exploit or 

 defend. 'No favoritism for section, or belief in national destinv 

 or the over-mastering importance of a few great men is here al- 

 lowed to warp the judgment or anticipate the conclusion. 

 There is first the laying of a simple statistical foundation for 

 later work. This is followed by carefully drawn conclusions, 

 based wholly on the mass of accumulated evidence, conclusions 

 drawn from many different sources and mutually checking each 

 other so that all merely local elements are eliminated and the 

 general truths emerge. To thus follow the development of a 

 section into all the ramifications of its many local phases, never 



