August 30, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



257 



views of the laissez-faire school, or to those 

 of what we may call in contradistinction the 

 Jaire-marcher school, the discussion will 

 take a different turn. 



Between the socialist and the individu- 

 alist stands the true democrat, in whose 

 creed society, the demos, stands recognized 

 as the supreme ruler with ideals of progres- 

 sive civilization as the goal of associated 

 effort, giving all liberty possible to individ- 

 ual activity that does not interfere with the 

 good of society. That good he believes to 

 be the moral and intellectual development 

 and material comfort of all its members, 

 present and future, and he believes that it 

 is attained not by negative, or merely re- 

 strictive methods, but by positive, active 

 methods; ameliorative, or Coercive,whenever 

 the interests of society, present or future, 

 would suffer by non-interference with in- 

 dividual activity or neglect. The functions, 

 of his government lie wherever cooperation 

 of the whole will accomplish the end aimed 

 at by society better than individual effort, 

 avoiding interference where individual effort 

 suf&ces to obtain the end of society ; above 

 all, he does not consider government as an 

 evil and outside of himself, but as a good 

 created by himself for the attainment of his 

 highest human ideals, and furthermore, he 

 always contends for the welfare of the future 

 as well as of the present. This is the creed 

 to which I subscribe, and until sociologic 

 science furnishes us with the knowledge of 

 fundamental, incontrovertible laws which 

 with unfailing necessity produce invariable 

 effects, we will have to state our creeds be- 

 fore preaching ; this may not be a very 

 scientific proceeding, but where, as I have 

 stated, emotions play such a prominent part 

 science and exact reasoning must suffer. 



" The end of government is the good of 

 mankind!" This briefest and broadest 

 statement of the purpose of government, 

 which breathes the true philosophical spirit 

 of Locke, is much less a formula, as Huxley 



calls it, or a working theory, than a histor- 

 ical fact, expressive of the visible trend 

 which the evolutionary development of so- 

 ciety has taken and which the careful 

 student of the history of mankind can now 

 deduce much more readily than even Locke; 

 the broadly humanitarian tendencies of the 

 governments of to-day, as compared with 

 those of old, stand out unmistakeably in 

 spite of the many narrow, clannish policies 

 that still prevail. 



Yet the active politician or statesman 

 would hardly find it practicable to formulate 

 and direct the measures and methods for 

 such an end on such a broad basis. He re- 

 quires limitations. If he succeeds in ac- 

 complishing or promoting the good of that 

 portion of mankind which is segregated as 

 a nation, he may feel satisfied that he has 

 also done his part in promoting the good of 

 mankind. 



There may then, to be sure, still remain 

 antagonisms among the various govern- 

 ments which have to be smoothed away in 

 that dim future which is the dream of the 

 individualist, when the true ' Civitas dei,' 

 the ideal nation comprising all mankind, is 

 to materialize; "in which every man's 

 moral faculty shall be such as leads him to 

 control all those desires which run counter 

 to the good of mankind and to cherish only 

 those which conduce to the welfare of so- 

 ciety." (Huxley, Mhilism.) 



For the present this cosmopolitan activity 

 appears premature even to discuss. We 

 will do well, therefore, to hold fast to the 

 wisdom of minding our own affairs, to reg- 

 ulate our own government in such a man- 

 ner as to attain the good of our own nation. 



However poorly at times this end of gov- 

 ernment has been attained or attempted in 

 practice, however its functions have been 

 perverted, however diverse the methods em- 

 ployed, the conception that government ex- 

 ists for the purpose of the good of the ag- 

 gregation of mankind to which it extends, 



