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§23. Of the Utilitarian Doctrine. 



The Utilitarian doctrine is formulated in the proposition that the func- 

 tions of government extend to the promotion of the happiness or welfare 

 of the community generally. The proposition is a very specious one, and 

 calculated to mislead. In elfect, it consists of two propositions : (1) the 

 Utilitarian principle generally, as the fundamental principle of Morality ; 

 and (2) the inference from it that the welfare of the community may be 

 subserved by governmental interference, whenever deemed expedient. 



The general principle will be considered hereafter, and it will be shown 

 that it is not only false, but also so indefinite as to be of no practical use 

 as a standard of conduct. But for the present — for the sake of the argu- 

 ment — we may accept it as true, and consider only the inference from it. 



It is to be admitted that the ultimate end of the State is to promote the 

 welfare of the community ; by which is to be understood, the welfare of 

 the individuals of the community, and of all of them. But — as we have 

 seen — this end is accomplished, not merely by the instrumentality of 

 government, but also and chiefly by the free action of men, controlled 

 and modified by the natural influences of society upon them ; and hence, 

 the action of government is but one of the means by which the ultimate 

 end of the State is to be accomplished. And it is equally clear, with 

 regard to the governmental functions of the State, that the fundamental 

 rule, by which their exercise should be determined, is that justice is to be 

 observed ; for this, of all conditions, is most imperatively demanded by 

 a just regard to the welfare of the State, and of all its members. Hence, 

 the real questions involved are, not as to the ultimate end of the State, 

 or of the government — as the theory would seem to imply — but (1) 

 whether there should be governmental interference with natural pro- 

 cesses operating efficiently, or, in other words, with the automatic func- 

 tions of the State, and (2) whether the welfare of the community can 

 ever be subserved by violating justice. 



To both of these questions, the answer is clear : 



The most obvious dictates of the principle of Utility, as of all other 

 theories of justice, demand : (1) that there should be no unnecessary 

 governmental interference with the liberty or free action of men, either 

 individually or in the aggregate; and, consequently, the development 

 and conduct of the State, as well as of the individual, should be left, as 

 far as practicable, to the operation of natural causes ; and (2) that the 

 observance of justice is the fundamental condition of social well-being, 

 and its violation always pernicious. 



Accepting these qualifications, the theory becomes identical with the 

 juristic theory, next to be considered. But, in fact, these qualifications 

 are ignored by the Utilitarians ; the vice of whose system is in ignoring, 

 and, in effect, even in denying the existence of justice. 



§ 24. Of the Juristic Doctrine. 

 We come next to what we have called the juristic theory of the func- 

 tions of the government ; which is, that the maintenance of right or jus- 



