64 Urdahl—Historical Survey of Fee Systems. 
the entire city when the public welfare is considered; since 
rents are reduced, better sanitary conditions are obtained by the 
opening of suburbs, and so on. Finally, perhaps the most im¬ 
portant of all, the public schools are of value, not only to the 
pupils who gain instruction, but the welfare of the whole nation 
depends upon their activity. It is therefore justifiable to charge 
no fee for their use. In the same wav the low postal charge on 
printed matter may perhaps be justified in the interest of edu¬ 
cation. 
The tendency in modern times is to increase the importance 
•of public purpose and therefore to decrease the fees; in many 
cases to such an extent that charges entirely disappear. The 
sphere of public goods, or free goods, as they have been termed, 
is gradually widening. Free public schools, free public libra¬ 
ries, public parks, free concerts are, all of them, public institu¬ 
tions which but a short time ago were not free, but were gov¬ 
erned on the principle of service and counter-service; in other 
words, were fee-collecting institutions. Many others are chang¬ 
ing in the same direction. Already, strong pleas have been 
made for free public water-works, and lower fees in the admin¬ 
istration of justice, and even for free transportation. 
It is therefore plain that the principles and rules which must 
govern a system of fees are not absolute, but may and must change 
from time to time or place to place. In other words, they are 
historically relative to circumstances. They must be modified 
in each country so as to keep pace and be in harmony with the 
general development, with the legal and economic progress of 
the nation. A system of fees applicable to one nation may not 
be so to another. 
The foregoing throws some light on one phase of the theory 
of fees on which great emphasis has been laid by many of the 
German economists, namely: that the term fees ” should be 
restricted to such payments as are made for the services of in¬ 
stitutions which are absolutely necessary to the realization of 
essential state purposes. It is contended that only those insti¬ 
tutions are essential which tend to preserve or further the ex¬ 
istence of purely state functions. In this way payments made 
lor such services as are furnished by the Post Office, the gov- 
