4 W. G. Lanqworihy Taylor 



reason generally as to international exchange, or, in the do- 

 main of sociology, as to social choices. 



The classification of political economy springs from popular 

 concepts. Prosperity and adversity, land, labor, and capital, 

 need a science of economics, not in order to create them, but 

 in order to classify them. The confusion that plays back and 

 forth between production and distribution, attaching value 

 now to the one and then to the other, can only be cleared up 

 by a laborious process of elimination. But these basic facts 

 lie in popular consciousness. They are as real as rocks in 

 geology. What the people feel is an economic fact, and it can 

 not be reasoned away. It can only be reasoned about. 



Now the people feel intensely on the subject of social pros- 

 perity, which generally takes, in their minds, the narrower 

 form of national prosperity. Every campaign orator tells of 

 the state of the country, regarded as an entity. The people 

 regard themselves as a whole. It must be admitted that a 

 host of popular misconceptions are fastened to this point of 

 view. Our orators and even our presidents are wont to attrib- 

 ute to the will of the sovereign people that which was brought 

 about by a majority or by a mere clique. However, if we 

 consider that the frame of government itself which permits 

 such abuses, whether "absolute" or "limited," is but the ex- 

 pression of the national mind, we may be inclined to cling to 

 the unity of the people, even in the extreme case of apparent 

 miscarriage of popular will. The question is one of the re- 

 moteness of the influences, i.e., the length of time embraced 

 in the concept. If a long period is contemplated, then every 

 act of a clique must be regarded as the effective act of the 

 people. 



A form of thought must always have its appropriate utility. 

 The ready use of personification has helped man to broader 

 concepts. The forces of nature, the nation. Deity, have been 

 or are personified, with the effect of nearing the truth; and 



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