Science and Industry 



the insistence of each person in expressing his 

 personality through a demand for the satisfaction 

 of those particular needs which mark him out as 

 distinct from other persons. As men grow more 

 cultured, they come to value this individual satis- 

 faction more ; a society of such men becomes 

 more varied and more changing in the kinds and 

 quantities of the goods and services they buy; 

 they want not only pictures, music, and books 

 adapted to their special tastes, but clothes cut to 

 their particular fit, and other goods accommodated 

 to their personal needs or fancies. Now, just in 

 proportion as the consumer thus expresses his 

 need for individual consumption, does he defeat 

 the economy of mechanical production, and re- 

 strict the invasion of science into arts and handi- 

 crafts. If I consent to sink my own individuality 

 in regard to the food I eat, the clothes I wear, the 

 house I occupy, the furniture I use, falling in with 

 the average taste of the persons of my class or 

 income, all these material wants can be, and, in 

 the present condition of industry, will be supplied 

 by machine production. If, on the contrary, I 

 insist on the satisfaction of those little differences 

 of fit, taste, and fancy which distinguish me from 

 other members of my class, I make a demand for 

 hand-made goods, and some skilled worker must 

 execute some special order to meet my demand. 

 Most consumers, of whatever class, do not, in point 

 of fact, seek to express their individuality through 

 eccentric demands for the prime material neces- 

 saries and conveniences of life. Even wealthy 



177 M 



