EXPERIMENTAL LEGISLATION. 757 



some are more bold and successful. Now, every man who establishes 

 a shop or factory or social institution of a novel kind is trying an 

 experiment. If he hits an unsupplied need of his fellow men, the ex- 

 periment succeeds^ that is, it has something succeeding or following 

 it, namely, repetition by himself and others. The word " success " is 

 a most happy one etymologically. To have success is to have a future 

 — a future of imitators. 



It is quite apparent that all the great novelties of recent times have 

 been worked out in this tentative way. How, for instance, has our 

 vast and marvelous railway system been developed ? Did it spring 

 forth perfect from the wise forethought of Parliament, as Minerva, 

 fully armed and equipped, leaped from the head of Jupiter ? On the 

 contrary, did not our wise land-owners and practical men oppose rail- 

 ways to the very utmost — until they discovered what a mistake they 

 were making ? There is no great blame to them. Who, indeed, could 

 see in the rude tram-line of Benjamin Outram the germ which was to 

 grow into the maze of lines, and points, and signals which we now 

 pass through without surprise at Clapham Junction or at London 

 Bridge ? That most complex organization, a great railway station, is 

 entirely a product of frequent experiment. Gradatim — step by step 

 — would be no unapt motto for any great industrial successes. In 

 such matters experiments are both intentional and unintentional. Of 

 the former the public hears little, except when they result in some 

 profitable patent. The preliminary trials are usually performed in 

 secret, for obvious reasons, and the unsuccessful ones are left unde- 

 scribed and are quickly forgotten. As to unintentional experiments, 

 they are too numerous. Every railway accident which happens is an 

 experiment revealing some fault of design, some insufficiency in the 

 materials, some contingency unprovided for. The accident is inquired 

 into, and then the engineers set to work to plan improvements which 

 shall prevent the like accident from happening in the future. If we 

 had time to trace the history of the steam-engine, of gas-lighting, of 

 electric telegraphs, of submarine cables, of electi-ic lighting, or of any 

 other great improvement, we should see, in like manner, that the wis- 

 dom of Parliament has had nothing to do with planning it. From 

 the first to the last the rule of progress has been that of the ancient 

 nursery rhyme — " Try, try, try : And if at first you don't succeed, 

 Try, try, again." 



To put the matter in the strongest light, let the reader consider 

 what he would say about a proposal that Parliament should decide 

 arbitrarily, by its own wisdom, concerning any great impending im- 

 provement ; take, for instance, that of tramways and steam tram-cars. 

 It is quite conceivable that steam tram-cars will eventually succeed so 

 well as to replace horse conveyance to a great extent. All main high- 

 ways will then, of course, be laid with tram-rails. But what should 

 we think of the wisdom of Parliament if it undertook to settle the 



