vitr NATURAL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS 377 



It is one of the special characteristics of the a 

 priori school to assume the exact truth of any 

 currently received proposition which is convenient 

 for the business of deductive brain-spinning. But 

 every one who is conversant with things, and not 

 merely with what is more or less properly s:iid 

 about things, is aware that most widely received 

 propositions, even in many branches of physical 

 science, may be only approximately true; and 

 that if a chain of deductions of unusual weight is 

 to be suspended from any of them, it is highly 

 needful to examine it afresh, in order to see 

 whether it will bear the strain whether, in fact, 

 it is accurate enough for the new purpose to which 

 it is to be put. For ordinary purposes, a foot rule 

 is an accurate measure, but it does not follow that 

 it will suffice for ascertaining the exact length of 

 the base line of a trigonometrical survey. 



In this very case of the ownership of land, Mr. 

 George essentially agrees with the Physiocrats 

 who declared agriculture to be the only really 

 productive industry, because land alone produces 

 the food-stuffs by which men maintain their 

 existence. In a rough and ready sense this is 

 true, and it would be pedantic to object to it. 

 But when such a statement is taken as the peg on 

 which to hang deductions which end in grave 

 practical consequences, it is needful to re-examine 

 it thoroughly. And an elementary knowledge of 

 the realities of the case enables one to see that, in 



