312 GOVERNMENT OF SUBJECT PEOPLES 



compartments and is liable to fall into serious error 

 when he attempts to assign different elements of 

 social life to those categories which we recognise 

 so clearly among ourselves. This is shown with 

 especial clearness in the imperfect development of 

 the division of social function. It is not possible 

 to distinguish the chief from the priest or the priest 

 from the leech 1 . Those social functions which we 

 have classed under the headings of government, 

 religion, and medicine are performed by one set of 

 persons and are often but different aspects of one 

 set of social processes. 



It is a commonplace of history that reforms 

 designed to effect some special purpose often have 

 secondary and unforeseen consequences far more 

 potent in changing the face of society than had 

 been expected by the promoters of the reform. 

 This result is, of course, due to the fact that among 

 ourselves the interdependence of different elements 

 of culture is greater than appears on the surface, 

 greater than the politician or the social reformer 

 suppose. But if interference with the relatively 

 highly differentiated societies of modern civilisation 

 has these secondary consequences, how much greater 

 must they be in societies whose different elements 

 are so closely interwoven as they are among savage 

 peoples. 



We know that the disintegrating influence of 

 European settlements becomes greater the lower we 



1 For an example cf. Lancet , Jan. 15, 1916. 



