REVIEW.

Evening Star, Issue 3690, 19 December 1874, Page 1 (Supplement)

REVIEW.

Some Leading Principles of Political Econo mi/, newly Expounded, by J. E. Cairnes, M.A. Macmillan and Co., Lon4on : Reith and Wilkie, Princes street, Dunedin.

Although centuries of practice elapse before ®en_ succeed in generalising facts, so as to obtain a clear conception of the laws by which they are regulated, when discovered their intelligent application invariably benefits the wh ole human race. Under empirical systems evils grow up which, like weds, flourish side by side with healthy plants, and cannot at once be extirpated because of the firm root they have taken, lest in the process the good and evil should perish together. Physical phenomena invariably claim first attention ; and law discovered in them induces thinkers to investigate the more complex and difficult problems of sociology. Necessarily the hidden springs < f human action are difficult to trace, although in each, unit of the race similar desires and susceptibilities subsist, modified by habit, circumstances, education, and opportunity. These known and rightly estimated, a pretty correct clue is obtained to the course that will be taken by an average population But it is the object of political economy to ascertain the laws by which they should be guided, and the consequences of (lepavtuve from or observance of them. Accepted thus, the knowledge of those laws is of the utmost importance to individuals and to nations. Traced to their first principles, they are ref rablc to the duty man owes to man. Examined in their tendencies, they point to a time, more or less remote in proportion to the progress of sound knowledge, when all nations shall be free to interchange products without artificial restraint, and with profit and advantage to all mankind. Examined in the light of the history of commerce, it will be evident that from the earliest period of time to the present, one section of a community, and' almost every separate nation, has violated them and endeavored to grow rich at the expense of the rest of mankind ; that superior knowledge or position has been made the instrument of taking undue advantage of others; and that the practices which have grown up in commerce have been evolved through pretty much the same grasping spirit as that displayed by the Bedouins, whoso hands are against every man and every man’s hands against them. Many of the fetters forged for the benefit of classes remain unbroken; fresh ones have been formed in the vain struggle to nature’s laws. Whereas in times past capital rode roughshod over labor, and even yet tbeir relations are undefined and arbitrary, in these last days labor is divided against itself. It separates the m iss of laborers into classes, and tries to regulate the erm loyments that men follow. It says “There are plenty employed in the tra.de that I am engaged in ; no more shall be trained to it: your child shall be apprenticed to something else.” It tries to fix remuneration, and to say to the employer “You shad pay this man, who cannot earn so much as I, the same rate of wages as you pay me.” Th se who act in this spirit fancy they will grow rich by such processes, just as Imlac in Rasselas thought he could control the weather for tlie beueht of mankind. But they strivejin vain ; in their case, as in his, nature is st«ongcr than they, and nature’s laws more just than theirs. Their efforts are not guided by knowledge, and, until they are, they may by accident do right, but they will never be free from the doubt and uncertainty attendant on experiment; they will never be certain they have taken the best and nearest course to secure a desirable end, nor will they be able to correct an error or resolve a difficulty. A mistake on these matters is the more dangerous, as the welfare of not merely one, but tens of thousands is involved.

Ihe importance of a sound system of political economy, in view of the vast interests in volved, must be evident from the 'slight sketch we have given of the nature and purpose of the science. That it has not been generally cultivated is not more surprising than that, ’important as they are, the laws on which the health of mankind depend are not thought a necessary part of education. In both cases the quack who offers a universal panacea, like the medicine man among the savages, is believed ; while tie man of sound knowledge is despised. It is not so much that people are not able to comprehend science, as that they do not perceive the necessity for studying it. A man who eats well and sleep well, thinks little of the tendency of neglect in some particulars to induce obstinate disease and premature death from which knowledge might hare saved him. A man who earns good wages for the present, and is satisfied with his lot, \ery often never sees the tiny cloud that portends the whirlwind and the storm. Both look upon the investigation of laws in which they are personally interested so deeply, as time sacrificed; whereas, did they know the value of that which they reject, they might find it time gained and life saved. The chief difficulty to the enjoyment of works of a scientific character lies in the beginning. II n'y a que le j premier pas qui coute; master the preliminaries and the rest is easy. This is true of every science, the terms of .viiich are clearly defined. Until that is done, ambiguity interferes with clear conception of premises and inevitably vitiates conclusions. Were it possible to define such teims as “value,” “price” “ wages,” and others used in political economy, as precisely as “circle,” “angle,” “ triangle,” and other material forms in Euclid, and to set forth postulates that would be universally admitted, political economy would approximate to exactness us a science. The imperfections in Adam Smith's most admirable and readable work, in Mill’s Political Economy, in the works of Ricardo, Malthus, and others of greater or less note, arise mainly from adopting fonns of expression, more or less undefined, or used in senses differing from their common acceptation. I rofessor Cairnes endeavors to remedy this inaccuracy ; or rather, we, should say, this difference of idea concerning the limits of certain forme of expression. He describes the work he has

produced as intended to supply the “ axiomafa media, of the science t’rose intermediate principles by means of which the detailed results a;e connected with the higher causes that produce them.” As is natural, there are in his wm k social developments discussed that Adam Smith never dreamt of: such as Trades’ Unions, and their chimeras. Read wit hj the works of the able writers we have mentioned, much will be found in Professor Cairnes’s work calculate 1 to reconcile the apparent differences of those able writers. We would recommend as a powerful adjunct, Dr Hearn's “ Pluto!ogy ” apparently unknown or overlooked by Professor Cairnes, Lut a scientific production which, in addition to being a most readable work, is one of the clearest exponents .of political econony that has ever been written. As a valuable commentary on the present state of the science, we recommend Professor Cairnes’s work. It is a great help to clearness of thought, and may save many a weary investigation. We look upon it as a step gained towards accuracy in economic science; and when carefully mastered, it will save a world of trouble to the student.