INTRODUCTORY. 7 



which will overshadow some of the other branches, 

 now appearing all-important. When the questions 

 of the extension of suffrage to women, of tariff, 

 of taxation, of coinage and currency, which are 

 all merely incidents, will have sunk into the back- 

 ground, the question of the economy of the re- 

 sources which constitute and sustain the political, 

 commercial, and social power of the nation long 

 neglected will still claim attention ; for only those 

 nations who develop their natural resources eco- 

 nomically, and avoid the waste of that which they 

 produce, can maintain their power or even secure 

 the continuance of their separate existence. A 

 nation may cease to exist as well by the decay of 

 its resources as by the extinction of its patriotic 

 spirit. While we are debating over the best meth- 

 ods of disposing of our wealth, we gradually lose 

 our very capital without even realizing the fact. 

 As Marsh 1 points out in his classical work, man 

 is constantly modifying the earth and making it 

 more and more uninhabitable; he goes over its 

 rich portions and leaves behind a desert. 



Whether we have a high tariff or no tariff, an 

 income tax or a head tax, direct or indirect taxation, 

 bimetallism or a single standard, national banks or 

 state banks, are matters which concern, to be sure, 

 the temporary convenience of the members of so- 

 ciety, but their prejudicial adjustment is easily 



1 George P. Marsh, " The Earth as modified by Human Action," 

 1874. 



