234 THE PATH OF SCIENCE 



principles of science; they relate to spiritual rather than 

 natural laws. Nevertheless, the study of the phenomena of 

 society and the reactions of human beings to their social and 

 economic environment, if pursued in accordance with the 

 fundamental principles of science, will lead to a more gen- 

 eralized knowledge of the subject and eventually to methods 

 that can be applied in practice. 



If the present system of government cannot change to meet 

 the requirements of the changing world, it must inevitably 

 give way to other systems. That this is so is the claim of 

 many leaders of political thought. But only a few years ago 

 it seemed impossible that industry should ever be organized 

 to use scientific methods. The industries of the last century 

 were, with few exceptions, utterly remote from the methods 

 of thought current in the laboratories of the universities and 

 were controlled largely by * 'self-made" autocrats. Within our 

 lifetimes all that has changed, and the leaders of our modern 

 industries are often technically trained experts, completely 

 removed from their predecessors as to their outlook and 

 habits of thought. In order to attain a similar result in the 

 field of politics, we need no revolution; we require only an 

 orderly evolution. As Janssen says, "There are very few 

 difficulties that cannot be surmounted by a will strong enough 

 or by study sufficiently profound." * 



To effect this orderly change, we must improve the meth- 

 ods of thinking of the public so that they will select suitable 

 governors and then will require from them real leadership 

 and accurate thought. It is both our right and our duty to 

 select for ourselves those who govern us, and the necessary 

 changes can be effected by the proper exercise of that right 

 and duty. The art of government is exceedingly difficult, and 

 it is of the utmost importance, especially in times of transition 



* In reference to his establishment of an observatory on the summit 

 of Mont Blanc in spite of his lameness. R. A. Gregory, Discovery or 

 The Spirit and Service of Science, p. 67, London, Macmillan and Co., 

 Ltd., 1916. 



