F,— ECONOMIC SCIENCE AND STATISTICS. 185 



mass of such production, has, so far as I am aware, not been really analysed. 

 The economic asjieot of the subject sufEers from the fact that it has nearly 

 always been developed in an environment of political thought rather than 

 scientific analysis— of a programme of social change to be formulated or 

 supported. As a consequence, therefore, assumptions have been made 

 and adopted, without critical examination, as the basis of the case which 

 the economist ought to admit only as the conclusion of abstract argument 

 or definite research. However much a politician may desire to ' get on ' 

 with the argument and develop his theme, and therefore treat as axiomatic 

 a common belief, the economist who treats his science seriously is hardly 

 justified in imitating him. 



The normal approach to this subject is by way of innate or instinctive 

 ideas as to social justice, based upon a study of distribution of product. 

 It is pointed out that largo individual fortunes exist side by side with 

 extremes of poverty, or that a large proportion of the natiorial income is 

 enjoyed by a relatively small fraction of the people. It is suggested that 

 the inequality arises from inheritance as an exercising cause, which there- 

 fore serves no socially useful purpose, or even a socially harmful purpose. 

 It is stated to be an offence against the general sense of the fitness of things. 

 The tendency by way of reaction is to assume thai; if the right of inlieritunce 

 did not exist the economic condition of affairs would not be similar, and 

 that current economic problems would tend to be simpler and on their 

 way to solution. This may indeed be the case, but it is not demonstrated. 

 It may be one of those lucky instincts for political truth which the popular 

 mind sometimes possesses. On the other hand, having regard to the 

 unlucky instinct for error which popular economic ideas have been shown 

 by experience to entertain, it is rather much to expect that in this particular 

 matter instinctive judgment can be wholly trusted to dispense with 

 analysis, reasoning, or research. To put the matter quite bluntly, any 

 assumption that an apparent social injustice is also an economic ill is a 

 non sequitur. I am using the word ' economic ' in a strict sense, viz. 

 in relation to the aggregate production of goods and satisfactions which 

 are exchangeable, and which are produced in response to human demand 

 and for human satisfaction, together with their distribution to individuals. 

 I use it in no ethical sense, and am not concerned with whether the things 

 produced in response to demand, or first produced and then provoking 

 demand, are the things most worthy of human effort, or most likely to 

 lead to the highest types of life, or even in the long run to give the highest 

 forms of happiness. To bring in these conceptions would be to overweight 

 the argument and analysis and make it intractable. It is quite sufficient 

 to deal with those aspects which are uppermost in the ordinary mind, 

 that is, purely material welfare, the greatest quantity of objects of desire 

 produced for the least human effort, the question of worthy use and aim 

 being entirely begged until the economic conclusion is introduced into a 

 set of considerations for ' the whole duty of man.' 



Dr. Dalton, in his valuable work on ' Some Aspects of the Inequality 

 of Incomes in Modern Communities,' summarises much previous observa- 

 tion on the subject of the effect of inheritance on the proportions of 

 distribution. The different national practices in regard to inheritance 

 may also be conveniently studied in his book, from which will be realised 



