532 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. VII., No 175 



we see those who are injured by a superfluity of 

 economic goods ; and, on the other, those who have 

 not the material basis on which to build the best 

 possible superstructure. In both cases this is 

 waste of human power, or, we might say, waste 

 of man. 



It is desired in future so to guide and direct the 

 forces which control the production and distribu- 

 tion of economic goods, that they may in the 

 highest degree subserve the ends of humanity. 

 It is not claimed that the power of man is un- 

 limited, but it is maintained that it can and will 

 accomplish great things. 



Here we have at once a standard by which to 

 test economic methods. Take the case of low 

 wages. It is argued that low wages increase pos- 

 sible production. Even if this be so, such wages 

 diminish the power of the recipients to partici- 

 pate in the advantages of existing civilization, 

 and consequently defeat the end and purpose of 

 all production. Child labor, female labor, and 

 excessive hours of labor, fall under the same con- 

 demnation. In the language of Roscher, "the 

 starting-point as well as the object-point of our 

 science is man." 



It has been said truthfully that the essential 

 characteristic of the new political economy is the 

 relation it endeavors to establish between ethics 

 and economic life. A new conception of social 

 ethics is introduced into economics, and the 

 stand-point is taken that there should be no diver- 

 gence between the two. While representatives of 

 an older view endeavor carefully to separate the 

 two, the adherents of the ethical school attempt 

 to bring them into the closest relation, — indeed, I 

 may say, an inseparable relation. They apply 

 ethical principles to economic facts and economic 

 institutions, and test their value by that standard. 

 Political economy is thus brought into harmony 

 with the great religious, political, and social 

 movements which characterize this age ; for the 

 essence of them all is the belief that there ought 

 to be no contradiction between our actual eco- 

 nomic life and the postulates of ethics and a 

 determination that there shall be an abolition of 

 such tilings as will not stand the tests of this rule. 

 It industrial society as it exists at present does 

 not answer this requirement, then industrial so- 

 ciety stands condemned ; or, in so far as it fails to 

 meet this requirement, in so far is it condemned. 

 It is not that it is hoped to reach a perfect ideal 

 at one bound, but that the ideal is a goal for 

 which men must Strive. The new conception of 

 the state is thus secondary, in the opinion of the 

 adherents of the ethical school, to the new con- 

 ception of social ethics. Doubtless there is a new 

 conception of the state ; for in this co-operative 



institution is discovered one of the means to be 

 used to accomplish the end of human society, the 

 ethical ideal. Perhaps still more important is the 

 departure of economists from the individualistic 

 philosophy which characterized the era of the 

 French revolution, and which has gained such a 

 stronghold in America, because our republic 

 happened to be founded at a time when this view 

 of individual sovereignty was in the ascendant. 

 The philosophy of individualism came to us from 

 England, which had been influenced by France, as 

 well as directly from France, at a time when our 

 thought was in a formative period, and w T as es- 

 pecially open to new ideas. But the ethical school, 

 I think it safe to say, places society above the in- 

 dividual, because the whole is more than any of 

 its parts. In time of war, society demands even 

 the sacrifice of life : in time of peace, it is held 

 right that individual sacrifices should be de- 

 manded for the good of others. The end and 

 purpose of economic life are held to be the great- 

 est good of the greatest number, or of society as 

 a whole. This view is found distinctly expressed 

 in Adam Smith's ' Wealth of nations,' particular- 

 ly in one place, where he says, " Those exertions 

 of the natural liberty of a few individuals, which 

 may endanger the liberty of the whole society, 

 are, and ought to be, restrained by the laws of 

 all governments." This view, however, does not 

 imply a conflict between the development of the 

 individual and the development of society. Self- 

 development for the sake of others is the aim of 

 social ethics. Self and others, the individual and 

 society, are thus united in one purpose. 



It is not possible to develop all these thoughts 

 in a single article, for that would indeed require 

 a large book ; nor can any attempt be made to 

 offer any thing like complete proof of the various 

 propositions enunciated. It has been my purpose 

 to describe briefly a line of thought which it 

 seems to me characterizes what is called the new 

 political economy ; and it should be distinctly 

 understood that this paper claims only to be 

 descriptive and suggestive. 



It may be well, in conclusion, to point out 

 the fact that the ethical conception of political 

 economy harmonizes with recent tendencies in 

 ethics. The older ethical systems may, I think, 

 be called individual. The perfection of the in- 

 dividual, or the worthiness of the individual, to 

 use another expression, was the end proposed. 

 Moral excellence of a single person was considered 

 as something which might exist by itself, and need 

 not bear any relation to one's fellows. Men were 

 treated as units, and not as members of a body. 

 The new tendency of which I speak, however, 

 proceeds from the assumption that society is an 



