LITERARY NOTICES. 



415 



peared in the graver reviews questioning 

 the soundness of its theories, the validity 

 of its principles, and the trustworthiness of 

 its guidance. A reaction has set in against 

 the old forms of economical doctrine, which 

 long passed current, and there are many 

 who will be glad to understand the meaning 

 of it. Is there no such thing as a science 

 of political economy in the established sense 

 of the term science ? Are there no ascer- 

 tainable laxvs in the economical division of 

 social phenomena ? Is political economy a 

 legitimate but still an imperfect science ; 

 and are the controversies that have arisen 

 over many of its doctrines but the necessary 

 stages of its further and higher develop- 

 ment ? 



In this perplexity of inquiry, Dr. Ely 

 comes to give us an account of the situa- 

 tion, to trace the history of the subject, to 

 show the changes that it has undergone, 

 and report upon its present attitude in the 

 world of thought. "We do not understand 

 him as denying the possibility or even the 

 present existence of such a science, but he 

 assumes that diversion from the old views 

 has proceeded so far, and become so dis- 

 tinctive, as to give rise to a new school, 

 which aims to rival and replace the older 

 expositions of the subject. He is an ad- 

 herent of the new school, and of course, so 

 far as that implies, a disbeliever in the old 

 school, and, at the same time that he informs 

 us, with undoubted fairness, of the features 

 of contrast between them, he is also a 

 strenuous advocate of the one and an ad- 

 versary of the other. 



The nomenclature of these parties who 

 represent different views of political econo- 

 my has become quite copious, and a refer- 

 ence to it will throw some light on the- 

 distinctive doctrines of the opposing par- 

 tisans. The political economy which may 

 be said to have originated with Adam 

 Smith, and which was subsequently further 

 developed by Malthus, Ricardo, Senior, and 

 James and John Mill, is known as " the old 

 school," and, as it originated in England, 

 "the English school." With reference to 

 the authority and wide acceptance of its 

 teachings, it is referred to also as " the or- 

 thodox school " and " the classical school " ; 

 and, as some of the most vigorous of its 

 propagandists had their headquarters at 



Manchester, it has been called "the Man- 

 chester school," while, with reference to its 

 predominant method of inquiry, it has also 

 been termed " the deductive school." 



The rival system of political economy, 

 which now claims attention as a "new 

 school," is declared by Dr. Ely to have 

 originated in Germany about 1850, being 

 represented by three young German pro- 

 fessors, Hildebrand, Knies, and Roscher; 

 it is therefore known as " the German 

 school." Protesting against the deductive 

 character of the English political economy, 

 and asserting induction to be the proper 

 basis of economical method, it is known 

 as " the inductive school " ; while to bring 

 the subject into rank with politics, jurispru- 

 dence, and theology, which are pursued by 

 the historical method, the Germans desig- 

 nate it by perhaps its most characteristic 

 title, " the historical school." It is claimed 

 also that the new method is " statistical," 

 " experimental," and even " physiological " 

 — " to call attention to the fact that it does 

 for the social body what physiology does for 

 our animal bodies." 



Dr. Ely devotes the first forty pages of 

 his monograph to the older political econo- 

 my, dividing his statement into several sec- 

 tions. Section I, " Introductory," offers 

 some general remarks on the growing evi- 

 dence of the unsatisfactoriness of the po- 

 litical economy of Adam Smith, and his 

 English followers. Section II, "The Old 

 School," pursues the same line of thought, 

 with some critical examination of the lead- 

 ing doctrines that have characterized the 

 English poUtical economy. In Section HI, 

 " The Attractions of Economic Orthodoxy," 

 Dr. Ely points out how, from the simplicity 

 of the system, it was fitted to take hold of 

 men's minds while they knew nothing of the 

 real complexities and formidable difficulties 

 of the subject. Because of its narrowness 

 and deductive character, there came also to 

 be great faith in the fundamental proposi- 

 tions of the science which were regarded as 

 permanent truths ; while the system was 

 commended to the governing powers in 

 state and society because things were to be 

 left to themselves, and "no exertion, no 

 sacrifice, was required on their part to alle- 

 viate the sufferings of the lower classes." 

 In Section IV Dr. Ely discusses the " Merits 



