262 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. No. 35. 



To properly appreciate the position in 

 any given case, we will have to weigh the 

 present and future significance of the re- 

 source, the likelihood of its permanence, 

 and the likelihood of its fate under private 

 treatment, whence the necessity of bring- 

 ing it under sovereign control of the state 

 and the quality of the control will appear. 



That each individual case will require its 

 own consideration and adjudication holds 

 there as well as with legislation in reference 

 to industrial action, and the general classi- 

 fication here attempted offers simply a 

 suggestion as to the general points of 

 view from which each case must be con- 

 sidered. 



AVith the conception of the government 

 before us as outlined, namely, as the instru- 

 ment to secure the possibility not onlj' of 

 social life, but of social progress, the repre- 

 sentative of communal interests as against 

 private interests, of the future as against 

 the present, we can get an idea as to how 

 far the providential functions of the state 

 are to be called into action. 



The policy of governmental control over 

 waterwaj's, roads and lands, falling under 

 the operation of eminent domain, is well 

 established in most governments. The 

 ownership and management of railways has 

 proved itself as in the interests of society 

 in several countries. It should be extended 

 with even more reason to all exhaustible, 

 non-restorable resources. That in the in- 

 terest of society and of production as well, 

 the mines should belong to the state in or- 

 der to prevent waste, we may learn from 

 the actual experience of France, where they 

 are state property and only the right to 

 work them under supervision is leased to 

 private individuals. 



Of the restorable resources it is apparent 

 that with regard to those which yield in- 

 creased returns to increased labor, the inter- 

 ests of societj' and of the individual run on 

 parallel lines. "Where interference of the 



state in their behalf exists, it is not from 

 providential reasons; the amelioration func- 

 tions only are called into requisition. What- 

 ever tends to stimulate private activity is 

 to be promoted, whatever retards develop- 

 ment of intensive methods to be removed 

 by government. Industrial education, cul- 

 tural survejs, bureaus of information, ex- 

 periment stations, and other aids to private 

 enterprise, constitute the chief methods of 

 expressing state interest with regard to 

 these resources. 



The three gi-eat resources upon which 

 mankind is most dependent, and which, 

 therefore, demand first and foremost the 

 attention of the state are the soil as food- 

 producer, the water and the climatic con- 

 ditions. The utilization of these three prime 

 resources by agriculture forms the founda- 

 tion of all other industries, or as Sully puts 

 it : " Tillage and pasturage are the two 

 breasts of the state." It is true the manu- 

 facturer increases the utility of things, but 

 the farmer multiplies commodities ; he is 

 creative, and he therefore above all others 

 can claim a right to first consideration on 

 the part of the state. 



"Whatever may be thought of the practi- 

 cability of Mr. George's plans and of his 

 conclusions, the fundamental principle upon 

 which he bases his land theories will have 

 to be admitted as correct. Society, the 

 state, is the original owner of the soil. 

 "Whether the ownership should continue is 

 another question. 



The soil is a valuable resource as far as 

 it is fertile and capable of agricultural pro- 

 duction; the fertility, while liable to deteri- 

 oration, can, with few exceptions, be said 

 to be restorable, and it certainly yields 

 increased returns to intelligent increased 

 labor. It ranks, therefore, with those re- 

 sources which can be left to private enter- 

 prise, calling only for the ameliorative func- 

 tions of the government. But while this 

 condition prevails, when the soil is put to 



