LAW AS A DISTURBER OF SOCIAL ORDER. 631 

 LAW AS A DISTURBER OF SOCIAL ORDER. 



By benjamin EEECE. 



"VTOTHING is more perplexing to the inquiring mind than a 

 -'-^ contemplation of the great contrasts between the harmony 

 and adaptation existing in the material world and the incongrui- 

 ties, antagonisms, and disorder which characterize the social and 

 moral worlds. When one realizes how successfully the inventor 

 and the artisan have followed the teachings of the scientist, he can 

 not but suspect that much of our social unrest has arisen because 

 our law-makers and philanthropists have not followed the teach- 

 ings of social philosophy. 



The fact is patent that, in the material world, where man's 

 hand is powerless to interfere, there are perfect order and harmo- 

 nious development ; but in the moral and social worlds, which are 

 always subject to man's petty and ill-considered meddling, we 

 have great disorder and confusion. So marked are the incon- 

 gruities of social condition that the philosophic thought which 

 has failed to grasp the vital elements of development seems to be 

 divided by the extravagant superlatives of pessimistic and opti- 

 mistic expression. In his criticism of Mr. Herbert Spencer's essay, 

 " Man vs. the State," Emile de Laveleye recognizes this uncer- 

 tainty and want of harmony in human affairs, but fails to see 

 that the disparities are caused by man's interference with the 

 laws of his own being and development. He says : " Nature is 

 subject to certain laws which are invariable, as, for instance, the 

 law of gravitation. We may call these laws of nature, but in hu- 

 man institutions, which are ever varying, nothing of the sort can 

 exist." He fails to realize that the law of gravitation is invari- 

 able because man's hand is powerless to change it, but directs its 

 cunning to the construction of screws, levers, and inclined planes, 

 in order to obtain mastery over nature. 



Suppose the power had rested with man to substitute human 

 contrivances for this unvarying law of nature, what inextricable 

 confusion had resulted! Suppose the citizens of the vast terri- 

 tory whose commerce is tributary to the Northern chain of lakes 

 should call upon their senators and representatives to devise ways 

 and means by which to conduct their foreign trade direct from 

 the lake ports, without first transshipping to, and thereby paying 

 tribute to, the cities of the Atlantic coast. A physical difficulty 

 at once presents itself, insomuch that the shallow-draught vessels 

 of the lakes are unfit for ocean service, whereas the deep-draught 

 vessels of the Atlantic are unable to enter the shallow waters of 

 the canals and harbors of the lakes. After various consultations 



