102 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



tion of the manuscripts which are now completed or can be completed 

 in the near future? 



(3) Shall the Index be continued? 



These last two questions are related to, but not necessarily dependent 

 upon, the answer to the first. The establishment of a department 

 with a salaried staff would not of itself lead to the discontinuance 

 of the Contributions or of the Index. The present collaborators or 

 their successors might continue to supervise the preparation of mono- 

 graphs or work out their own divisional summaries in a relation not 

 unlike that of the research associates in other fields. Some such 

 arrangement as this seems desirable, if we are to utiUze the mass of 

 material already accumulated. We must recognize the fact that the 

 speed with which different divisions can be completed will inevitably 

 be very different, partly on account of the varying difficulty of the 

 subject-matter, partly on account of the personal equation of, and the 

 competing responsibilities resting upon, the heads of divisions. 



The writer's experience during the past dozen years has not weakened 

 in the least, but has rather strengthened, his conviction of the impor- 

 tance of the undertaking. Since we began our work, not a few books in 

 American economic history have been published by writers under the 

 influence of the Marxian doctrine of class conflict. According to this 

 familiar sociaHst maxim, all history is but a series of conflicts between 

 economic classes, each seeking its advantage at the expense of others. 

 Some of these writers have analyzed the economic interests of the 

 leading men in our public life, and of political parties, and have 

 endeavored to explain historical events by tracing them to material and 

 egotistic motives. That these studies are of interest can not be denied, 

 but any author who undertakes historical or scientific research under 

 the bias of a philosophical theory can hardly fail to make such a 

 presentation of facts that they will confirm his theory. It has been the 

 aim of this Department to be strictly objective, and while individuals 

 may err in their understanding and their interpretation of the facts, 

 if they are animated by the scientific spirit their work will have an 

 authority which can not be possessed by the work of those who write 

 with a theory to prove. 



Our studies in economic history also have an important bearing 

 upon practical questions. In these days of rapidly increasing govern- 

 mental regulation of business and labor, the one safe guide is the 

 experience of the past. In this field it is believed that our contribu- 

 tions will be of great practical importance, and that the past has many 

 more lessons for us than has been hitherto realized. 



The wTiter therefore hopes that means may be found to continue at 

 least the more promising divisions of the Contributions and of the 

 Index and at the same time to give the Department a more effective 

 organization. 



