131 



isiness transactions of the people at all, it must 

 be for evil. 



The fundamental principles of the one school are, 

 that the persons intrusted with the Government of 

 a country, by their superior knowledge and ability, 

 must he more competent judges of what is good 

 for the people than they are themselves ; and that 

 by their power and command of resources they are 

 better able to carry out all undertakings with effi- 

 ciency. It is thought, too, that highly cultivated 

 and wholly disinterested persons, such as are 

 usually placed in charge of state affairs, are more 

 likely to study the interests of the people collec- 

 tively than persons whose sole principle of action is 

 individual self-interest. 



The fundamental principles of the laisser-faire 

 school, on the contrary, are that every thing connected 

 with what may be called the 'business of life', is best 

 managed when intrusted to those who are imme- 

 iiately concerned in it, without the meddling inter- 

 'erence of Government officials; that individuals 

 ire the proper guardians of their own interests ; 

 ind that the stronger the self-interest, the more 

 :ert:iin is the guarantee that undertakings will be 

 erell and efficiently carried out. 



Both admit that there are certain functions which, 

 >f necessity, appertain to Government; and these are 

 iivided into the necessary, and the optional, or, as I 

 irefer to term them, the obligatory and the expedient 



