144 
Kinley—The Direction of Social Reform. 
the spirit that has won us our liberties. It is true, indeed,, 
that our liberties are now so secure that probably no exten¬ 
sion of administration could affect them. And, moreover, the- 
social and industrial conditions of the more advanced nations 
are becoming more and more alike. But we are yet far from 
the stage of identity. 
Moreover, supposing it is in keeping with the character, edu¬ 
cation, and development of the people, a new institution 
requires for its successful operation time to adjust itself to its 
surroundings. Institutions, like nations, cannot be built in a 
day. Haste here makes not only waste but hardship and suffer¬ 
ing. One of the best illustrations of this need of time for ad¬ 
justment, is furnished by the history of internal taxation in our 
Civil War. The system was novel to our institutions, and the 
time required for it to get into complete touch with the life of 
the people was such that, being imposed some time after the 
beginning of the war, it yielded little help compared with 
what it might have afforded if established two or three years- 
earlier. “The system of internal duties then established, 
did not get well under way till late in 1863. The revenue from 
this source amounted for the four years after the close of the 
war, to over three times what it did for the four preceding 
years. ” * There is no doubt that the largest influence produc¬ 
ing this result was the one indicated. 
We cannot, then, successfully impose ready-made institutions 
on society. Any attempt to do so will result only in the ruin 
of the institutions and in great hardship to the people. 
Not only must new institutions have relation to those already 
in existence, but they must be made to evolve from our old. 
But we “cannot evolve what has not first been involved.” We 
must, then, to construct intelligently, study the nature of 
society. We must learn the manner of its growth. 
It is the testimony of history that social growth is not 
equable. Society, in a given period, as a generation, or a 
century, develops more rapidly along some lines than along 
others. Progress is unsymmetrical, disjointed. Not all de- 
artments of activity move forward at the same rate. Having 
* H. C. Adams: Public Debts, page 84. 
