472 REPORT—1905. 
was impossible, and there were insuperable obstacles to the planting of well- 
ordered and prosperous communities; but very different results were achieved in 
Mexico. These workings occurred on a plateau where cultivation and settlement 
were possible, and the wealth which was obtained by mining reacted on the 
prosperity both of agriculture and manufactures. Extractive industry served to give 
a stimulus to that varied life, partly urban and partly rural, which is necessary for a 
community that hopes to take a real and independent place in the civilised 
activities of the world. It is foolish to jump to the conclusion either that mining 
gives a feverish and unhealthy stimulus, or that the Spanish system of regulation 
was incurably bad; we ought to distinguish carefully, and to try to learn from 
Spanish experience, both in South and in Central America, what are the conditions 
under which mining for the precious metals can be pursued so as to be not merely 
of temporary, but of permanent advantage to the welfare of the community, 
In fact, we must remember that the experience on which we rely in regard to 
economic growth has been obtained, not by experiment in a laboratory, but by 
observation in the world itself. The investigator in a laboratory can note all the 
conditions under which an experiment is conducted ; he can be certain that under 
the same conditions the same result can be secured over and over again. But in 
the world of political and economic activities we never find the same conditions 
repeating themselves ; the fundamental inquiry must always be, How far were the 
conditions of some growing community in the past similar to those of some growing 
community to-day? How far are they on all fours, so that we can argue from 
one to another directly? Sometimes we may get a very close analogy, and 
instructive comparisons may be possible; but even when the conditions are very 
different, when there is hardly any close parallel, we may still get a suggestion as 
to a mode of development that might prove fruitful or as to a danger which it may 
be well to bear in mind. 
There is pleasure in completing, so far as the limits of time and energy allow, 
an empirical economic investigation ; but to those who have any vigour of mind 
at all there is a keener delight in seeing new fields of possible inquiry opened up. 
It is very enjoyable to renew acquaintance with an old difficulty in a fresh form, or 
to find that some question which seemed to be settled is forcing itself clamo- 
rously on our attention for reconsideration ; and hence we haye, as economists, set 
out for our too hurried visit here with eager anticipation. The conditions of South 
Africa seem to be very different from those of any other part of the world, and 
therefore every particular economic problem presents itself in an unfamiliar aspect. 
There has not been such a clear field for the working out of new ideas as was 
presented in the great West, or even in Australasia; and all questions as to 
the opening up of the country and the economic aims and aspirations of the settler 
are necessarily more complex. There may not be the sharply defined conflict between 
the old and the new which renders British India such a fascinating field for study, 
but the African problems are not simplified on that account. Itis, rather, true to 
say that there is additional complication with regard to all industrial activity in a 
land where the natives have not been schooled to regular habits of work by the 
discipline of a high traditional civilisation, As passing tourists we can obyiously 
make little progress in understanding how these practical difficulties are to be 
solved, but at least we hops to learn to know better how the questions ought to 
be stated. We shall have our reward if we carry back with us as a cherished 
possession a not wholly unintelligent interest in the great economic problems 
which must be worked out in South Africa, 
The following Paper and Report were read :— 
1. The Terms and Conditions of Domestic Service in England and in 
South Africa. By Lady Knicutiry or Fawsiry. 
The great importance of domestic service in facilitating the work of the world 
is not sufficiently recognised. There are mutual obligations, as, on the one hand, we 
owe much to our servants, and, on the other, gaod mistresses make good servants, 
