REVERSIONS IN MODERN INDUSTRIAL LIFE. 41 



plumber, since he is by law compelled to comply with, modern 

 sanitary principles and mechanical arrangements. Never was a 

 greater error committed by the public," with " far-reaching re- 

 sults for evil/'* This, however, is only an expression of the 

 truth that the public must, in spite of all supervision, look after 

 itself. 



But, like a nobler sentiment, faith in the efficacy of legisla- 

 tion for the cure of all social ills, including those from incom- 

 petent barbers and horseshoers, " springs eternal in the human 

 breast." It is not enough that such a law as the plumbing law 

 can not be enforced ; that, even if it were enforced, it would not 

 yield the benefits that its framers anticipate; that, instead of 

 favoring the honest plumber, it favors the dishonest one, and 

 enables the unscrupulous politician to bribe or coerce constitu- 

 ents ; that, instead of promoting the interests of the public, it is 

 a detriment to them, producing a false sense of security perilous 

 to health it is still proposed to follow to the death the same ignis 

 fatuus. To be sure, the most advanced " philanthropists " and 

 " benefactors " do not propose to enact more rigorous municipal 

 regulations or more elaborate State laws. These have failed. But 

 they propose to resort to the great panacea of periodic inspection 

 and national legislation. Preparing the way for the exercise of 

 the last hope of the apostles of benevolent despotism, the Sani- 

 tary Committee of the Philadelphia convention declared that " no 

 matter how thorough and complete" a piece of plumbing may 

 have been done, " Nature, assisted by use, abuse, and neglect, will 

 render that which was perfect most imperfect." f It then pro- 

 ceeds to urge with fitting solemnity "the very great impor- 

 tance of legislative action looking to and providing for periodic 

 expert examination of sanitary appliances." That is to say, since 

 people can not be trusted to keep their plumbing in order, the 

 State must, like a policeman, compel them to do so. "A system 

 of laws emanating from Congress," says an authority quoted with 

 approval by the same committee on another occasion, after point- 

 ing out, among other things, that "the laws enacted by State and 

 local authorities are continually subject to change according to 

 the whim of any petty politician who sees his self-aggrandizement 



* Proceedings, Philadelphia, 1895, pp. 43, 44. "The committee did not believe, how- 

 ever, that national legislation on the subject was desirable. It said : ' In the nature of 

 things, it is impossible to form laws which would be equally appropriate to all sections of 

 the country ; that which would be best suited to the needs of Michigan would prove most 

 faulty for Louisiana. A system approaching perfection as applied to California would be 

 ridiculous if applied to Maine ' (p. 43). But, as shown in the text, this sensible view was 

 repudiated by the committee in the following year. It was crushed under what Mr. Spencer 

 has fitly characterized as the momentum of the socialistic movement." 



f Ibid., p. 44. 



