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that great exertions might be put forth to uproot them, 1 

 would reply in the following words of Mr. Marshall from 

 whose invaluable work I have so often quoted : 



" There is a strong temptation to overstate the economic 

 evils of our own age, and to ignore the existence of similar 

 and worse evils in earlier ages ; for by so doing we may for 

 the time stimulate others, as well as ourselves, to a more 

 intense resolve that the present evils shall no longer be 

 allowed to exist. But it is not less wrong and generally it is 

 much more foolish to palter with truth for a good than for 

 a selfish cause. And the pessimist descriptions of our own 

 age, combined with romantic exaggerations of the happiness 

 of past ages, must tend to the setting aside of methods of 

 progress, the work of which, if slow, is yet solid ; and to the 

 hasty adoption of others of greater promise, but which re- 

 semble the potent medicines of a charlatan, and while quickly 

 effecting a little good, sow the seeds of wide-spread and last- 

 ing decay. This impatient insincerity is an evil only less 

 great than that moral torpor which can endure that we, with 

 our modern resources and knowledge, should submit patiently 

 to the continued destruction of all that is worth having in 

 multitudes of human lives, and solace ourselves with the 

 reflection that anyhow the evils of our own age are less than 

 those of the past." 



To the considerations pointed out by Mr. Marshall may 

 be added as regards this country the mental distance owing 

 to differences of race, of social usages and civilization be- 

 tween the Government and the people and the necessity for 

 the Government understanding rightly the difficulties of the 

 people, and for the people appreciating the good work done 

 by Government so as to secure their cordial co-operation 

 in measures tending to the advancement and welfare of the 

 country. Full knowledge of either of the difficulties of the 

 other can only arise from sympathy, while sympathy must in 

 its turn result from knowledge. The object I have proposed 

 to myself in writing this humble work of mine is to contri- 

 bute in some measure to the bringing about of such a mutual 

 understanding. 



