40 QUARTERLY JOURNAL. 



same holds true of all the other states in the Union, with the ex- 

 ception of Massachusetts, Rhode-Island and Pennsylvania. 



The fact just stated, that the pursuit of agriculture is the one in 

 which the great mass of our population are engaged, is sufficient to 

 show that no other interest can have a greater claim uj)on the at- 

 tention of government ; and looking to the past action of the 

 legislature, in the encouragement given to the formation of agri- 

 cultural societies, we think there is evidence to believe that this 

 conviction is a general one. Certainly we are not aware that any 

 complaint has been made in any quarter against this use of the 

 funds of the state. No formal argument, therefore, seems neces- 

 sary to prove that government should do something for agricul- 

 ture ; the obligation has been already acknowledged, and to a cer- 

 tain extent acted upon by our own and other states. It may, in 

 fact, be looked upon as an established axiom in political science, 

 that all the leading interests of the nation — agricultural, commer- 

 cial, manufacturing, have claims upon the legislature, — claims 

 which cannot be in any case neglected without producing ultimate 

 injury to all. In all these departments of human labor there are 

 some things which can be done only through the collective energy 

 and influence of the state ; the resources of no single person, of 

 no individual corporation, are adequate to their accomplishment. 

 And as government exists not for its own sake, but for the benefit 

 of the governed, the i'nference seems an obvious one, that where 

 there are benefits which the governed cannot individually secure, 

 and which can be attained for these by government, they are enti- 

 tled to count upon its aid. 



The equitable adjustment of these particular claims is undoubt- 

 edly attended with no small difficulty ; how, in other words, shall 

 <'-overnment lend its aid to any one of the three great interests 

 before mentioned, without exciting the just jealousy of the oth- 

 ers 1 We are disposed to look upon this as one of the most im- 

 portant problems in political science ; it is one which has long 

 been discussed, both in Britain and in our own country, but it has 

 not yet been satisfactorily resolved.. Some, indeed, very confi- 

 dently affirm, that the true answer to it will be found in these two 

 words — free trade ; but while this theory is " very fair to look 

 upon," it is still nothing but a theory, for not one of the great 

 family of nations has ventured to adopt it. 



