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.The remaining essays deal mostly withtopics of a theoretical kind. Cairnes Essays in Political Economytheoretical and applied, Preface.Under the name applied politicaleconomy, both kinds of applications noted above are here had in view.30 A distinction may be drawn between the public and the private eth-ics of political economy.As an illustration of doctrines belonging tothe latter category, attention may be galled to a volume of sermons byMr W.Richmond entitled Christian Economics.Compare also DrCunningham on the Ethics of Money Investment in the EconomicReview for January 1891.31 Volume 2, pp.569, ff.Compare, also, Carlyle s various attacksupon political economy.32 Let us remember, says Cairnes. that laisser faire is a practicalrule.and not a doctrine of science; a rule in the main sound, but like The Scope and Method of Political Economy/181most other sound practical rules, liable to numerous exceptions aboveall a rule which must never for a moment be allowed to stand in theway of the candid consideration of any promising proposal of socialof in industrial reform. (Essays in Political Economy, p.251).33 On Adam Smith s attitude towards laisser faire, compare Sidgwick.Scope and Method of Economic Science, pp.5 7. To attribute toAdam Smith, says Dr Sidgwick, a dogmatic theory of the naturalright of the individual to absolute industrial independence as somerecent German writers are disposed to do is to construct the historyof economic doctrines from one s inner consciousness. Compare also,Professor Nicholson s edition of the Wealth of Nations, IntroductoryEssay, pp.14 18, and Rae, Contemporary, Socialism, 1891, pp.353359.34 For an enumeration of instances in which McCulloch regarded StateIntervention favourably.see Rae, op cit., pp.360 372.35 A minor question may here be raised, namely, whether in so far asthe aim of the economic art is social, it is concerned wholly withlegislation.M.de Laveleye defines political economy as determining what laws men ought to adopt in order that they may, with the leastpossible exertion, procure the greatest abundance of things useful forthe satisfaction of their wants; may distribute then justly, and con-sume them rationally (Elements of Political Economy, § 2).Thedepartments of economic practice here had in view are clearly of theutmost importance; and there may he good grounds for giving a sepa-rate recognition to what may be called the art of State finance, andthe art of industrial legislation.The former of these would include adiscussion of the general principles of taxation and of national debtsfrom the practical standpoint.The latter would enquire how far andin what manner any State regulation of trade and industry is to berecommended.The art of political economy is, however, more usu-ally regarded as having a wider scope than either of these.It may, forinstance, in the matter of private almsgiving claim in the interests ofsociety to formulate maxims for individual guidance; or, with a viewto the more equitable distribution of wealth, it may advocate the vol-untary adoption of the co-operative principle or of profits sharing;or, accepting as its function a high moral task, it may seek in variousways to influence the economic activities of individuals so as to bringthem into harmony with sound economic morality and secure the su-premacy of right habits and customs in industrial life. 182/John Neville Keynes36 The National System of Political Economy (Sampson Lloyd s trans-lation), p.119.It is recognized by other economists besides List in-cluding some distinctly flee trade economists that the general prob-lem of free trade and protection needs to be handled somewhat differ-ently according as the national or the cosmopolitan standpoint isadopted.37 Unsettled Questions of Political Economy, p.25238 Op.cit., p.31.39 The first of the three enquiries indicated in this paragraph is some-times spoken of as economic politics, and the third as social politics.Compare Pierson, Principles of Economics, Introduction, §1.DrPierson himself holds that a clear boundary line can be drawn be-tween economics and social politics, but not between economics andeconomic politics, Indeed he defines economics as the science whichteaches us what rules mankind should observe in order to advance inmaterial prosperity. His main grounds for refusing to recognise anydistinction between economic politics and economies itself are thatthe object of the study of economics is to throw light on questions ofa practical nature, and that the precepts of economic politics are noth-ing more thank recapitulation of the conclusions arrived at by eco-nomics conceived as a positive science.At the same time, Dr Piersonadmits that the precepts of economics are always of a conditionalnature.The argument in the preceding chapter has been partly di-rected against identifying economics with social politics, and so farwe are in agreement with Dr Pierson.But we have also argued againsthis view of the scope of economics whereby economies and economicpolitics are identified
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