PROPERTY IN THE ALASKAN SEAL HERD. 53 



sities of human condition, the peace of society, and its progress and 

 advancement in wealth and numbers, both founded upon the strongest 

 desires of man's nature, the institution of property has its foundation. 



There are several features of this institution which in this discussion 

 should be well understood and carried in mind; and, first, the extent 

 of its operation. Manifestly this must be coextensive with the human 

 desires and necessities out of which it springs. Wherever there is an 

 object of desire, not existing in sufficient quantity to fully satisfy the 

 greed of all, conflict for possession will arise and consequent danger to 

 peace. Society finds its best security for order in extending the privi- 

 lege of ownership to everything which can be owned. The owner may 

 be the state or community, as under early and rude social conditions; 

 or private individuals, as civilization advances; but, in either case, 

 nothing is left as a subject for strife. The grounds and reasons which 

 society, after the introduction of individual property, may allow as suffi- 

 cient for awarding ownership to one rather than to another are various; 

 but they all depend upon some consideration of superior merit and 

 desert. That one man has by his labor and skill formed a weapon or 

 a tool is instantly recognized as a sufficient ground to support his title 

 to it. And if he simply takes possession of some things before unap- 

 propriated by any one, or finds property to which no other owner asserts 

 a claim, his right, though less impressive, is still superior to that of 

 any other. We therefore easily reach the conclusion that the necessi- 

 ties which demand the institution of property equally demand its ex- 

 tension over every object of desire as to which conflict for possession 

 may arise. 



But it is not only the necessity of peace and order which requires 

 that all-embracing extent of the institution of property. It is alike 

 demanded by that high moral purpose already alluded to as constitut- 

 ing part of the foundation of the institution, namely, the improvement 

 of society and of the individual man. This, as has already been seen, 

 can be brought about only by the cultivation of the arts of industry by 

 which nature is made to yield a more abundant provision for human 

 wants. These arts will not be practiced unless the fruits of each man's 

 labor, whether it be the product of the field, of the workshop, or the 

 increase of animals which are the subject of his care, are assured to 

 him. We find, therefore, that the institution of property is so imbed- 

 ded in the nature of man, that its existence is a necessary consequence 

 of forces in operation wherever man is found, or wheresoever his power 



