the vested interests and the common man-第6部分

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！


needy；　a　dubious　expedient。　Profits　（including　interest）　are　
justified　as　a　reasonable　remuneration　for　productive　work　done；　
and　for　the　labor…saving　use　of　property　derived　from　the　owner's　
past　labor。　The　efforts　of　masters　and　workmen　alike　are　
conceived　to　be　bent　on　turning　out　the　largest　and　most　
serviceable　output　of　goods；　and　prices　are　competitively　
determined　by　the　labor…cost　of　the　goods。　
　　　　Like　other　men　Adam　Smith　did　not　see　into　the　future　beyond　
what　was　calculable　on　the　data　given　by　his　own　historical　
present；　and　in　his　time　that　later　and　greater　era　of　investment　
and　financial　enterprise　which　has　made　industry　subsidiary　to　
business　was　only　beginning　to　get　under　way　and　only　obscurely　
so。　So　that　he　was　still　able　to　think　of　commercial　enterprise　
as　a　middle…man's　traffic　in　merchandise；　subsidiary　to　a　
small…scale　industry　on　the　order　of　handicraft；　and　due　to　an　
assumed　propensity　in　men　〃to　truck；　barter；　and　exchange　one　
thing　for　another。〃　And　so　much　as　he　could　not　help　seeing　of　
the　new　order　of　business　enterprise　which　was　coming　in　was　not　
rated　by　him　as　a　sane　outgrowth　of　that　system　of　Natural　
Liberty　for　which　he　spoke　and　about　which　his　best　affections　
gathered。　In　all　this　he　was　at　one　with　his　thoughtful　
contemporaries。　
　　　　That　generation　of　public…spirited　men　went；　perforce；　on　the　
scant　data　afforded　by　their　own　historical　present；　the　economic　
situation　as　they　saw　it　in　the　perspective　and　with　the　
preconceptions　of　their　own　time；　and　to　them　it　was　accordingly　
plain　that　when　all　unreasonable　restrictions　are　taken　away；　
〃the　obvious　and　simple　system　of　natural　liberty　establishes　
itself　of　its　own　accord。〃　To　this　〃natural〃　plan　of　free　
workmanship　and　free　trade　all　restraint　or　retardation　by　
collusion　among　business　men　was　wholly　obnoxious；　and　all　
collusive　control　of　industry　or　of　the　market　was　accordingly　
execrated　as　unnatural　and　subversive。　It　is　true；　there　were　
even　then　some　appreciable　beginnings　of　coercion　and　retardation　
　lowering　of　wages　and　limitation　of　output　　by　collusion　
between　owners　and　employers　who　should　by　nature　have　been　
competitive　producers　of　an　unrestrained　output　of　goods　and　
services　according　to　the　principles　of　that　modern　point　of　view　
which　animated　Adam　Smith　and　his　generation；　but　coercion　and　
unearned　gain　by　a　combination　of　ownership；　of　the　now　familiar　
corporate　type；　was　virtually　unknown　in　his　time。　So　Adam　Smith　
saw　and　denounced　the　dangers　of　unfair　combination　between　
〃masters〃　for　the　exploitation　of　their　workmen；　but　the　modern　
use　of　credit　and　corporation　finance　for　the　collective　control　
of　the　labor　market　and　the　goods　market　of　course　does　not　come　
within　his　horizon　and　does　not　engage　his　attention。　
　　　　So　also　Adam　Smith　knows　and　denounces　the　use　of　protective　
tariffs　for　private　gain。　That　means　of　pilfering　was　familiar　
enough　in　his　time。　But　he　spends　little　indignation　on　the　
equally　nefarious　use　of　the　national　establishment　for　
safe…guarding　and　augmenting　the　profits　of　traders；　
concessionaires；　investors　and　creditors　in　foreign　parts　at　the　
cost　of　the　home　community。　That　method　of　taxing　the　common　man　
for　the　benefit　of　the　vested　interests　has　also　grown　to　more　
formidable　proportions　since　his　time。　The　constituent　principles　
of　the　modern　point　of　view；　as　accepted　advisedly　or　by　
oversight　by　Adam　Smith　and　his　generation；　supply　all　the　
legitimation　required　for　this　larcenous　use　of　the　national　
establishment；　but　the　means　of　communication　were　still　too　
scant；　and　the　larger　use　of　credit　was　too　nearly　untried；　as　
contrasted　with　what　has　at　a　later　date　gone　to　make　the　
commercial　ground　and　incentive　of　imperialist　politics。　
Therefore　the　imperialist　policies　of　public　enterprise　for　
private　gain　also　do　not　come　greatly　within　the　range　of　Adam　
Smith's　vision　of　the　future；　nor　does　the　〃obvious　and　simple　
system〃　on　which　he　and　his　generation　of　thoughtful　men　take　
their　stand　comprise　anything　like　explicit　declarations　for　or　
against　this　later…matured　chicane　of　the　gentlemen…investors　who　
have　been　managing　the　affairs　of　the　civilised　nations。　
　
　　　　Adam　Smith's　work　and　life…time　falls　in　with　the　high　tide　
of　eighteenth…century　insight　and　understanding；　and　it　marks　an　
epoch　of　spiritual　achievement　and　stabilisation　in　civil　
institutions；　as　well　as　in　those　principles　of　conduct　that　have　
governed　economic　rights　and　relations　since　that　date。　But　it　
marks　also　the　beginning　of　a　new　order　in　the　state　of　the　
industrial　arts　as　well　as　in　those　material　sciences　which　come　
directly　in　touch　with　the　industrial　arts　and　which　take　their　
logical　bent　from　the　same　range　of　tangible　experience。　So　it　
happens　that　this　modern　point　of　view　reached　a　stable　and　
symmetrical　finality　about　the　same　date　when　the　New　Order　of　
experience　and　insight　was　beginning　to　bend　men's　habits　of　
thought　into　lines　that　run　at　cross　purposes　with　this　same　
stabilised　point　of　view。　It　is　in　the　ways　and　means　of　industry　
and　in　the　material　sciences　that　the　new　order　of　knowledge　and　
belief　first　comes　into　evidence；　because　it　is　in　this　domain　of　
workday　facts　that　men's　experience　began　about　that　time　to　take　
a　decisive　turn　at　variance　with　the　received　canons。　A　
mechanistic　conception　of　things　began　to　displace　those　
essentially　romantic　notions　of　untrammeled　initiative　and　
rationality　that　governed　the　intellectual　life　of　the　era　of　
enlightenment　which　was　then　drawing　to　a　close。　
　　　　It　is　logically　due　to　follow　that　the　same　general　
principles　of　knowledge　and　validity　will　presently　undergo　a　
revision　of　the　same　character　where　they　have　to　do　with　those　
imponderable　facts　of　human　conduct　and　those　conventions　of　law　
and　custom　that　govern　the　duties　and　obligations　of　men　in　
society。　Here　and　now　as　elsewhere　and　in　other　times　the　
stubborn　teaching　that　comes　of　men's　experience　with　the　
tangible　facts　of　industry　should　confidently　be　counted　on　to　
make　the　outcome；　so　as　to　bring　on　a　corresponding　revision　of　
what　is　right　and　good　in　that　world　of　make…believe　that　always　
underlies　any　established　system　of　law　and　custom。　The　material　
exigencies　of　the　state　of　industry　are　unavoidable；　and　in　great　
part　unbending；　and　the　economic　conditions　which　follow　
immediately　from　these　exigencies　imposed　by　the　ways　and　means　
of　industry　are　only　less　uncompromising　than　the　mechanical　
facts　of　industry　itself。　And　the　men　who　live　under　the　rule　of　
these　economic　exigencies　are　constrained　to　make　their　peace　
with　them；　to　enter　into　such　working　arrangements　with　one　
another　as　these　unbending　conditions　of　the　state　of　the　
industrial　arts　will　tolerate；　and　to　cast　their　system　of　
imponderables　on　lines　which　can　be　understood　by　the　same　men　
who　understand　the　industrial　arts　and　the　system　of　material　
science　which　underlies　the　industrial　arts。　So　that；　in　due　
course；　the　accredited　schedule　of　legal　and　moral　rights；　
perquisites　and　obligations　will　also　presently　be　brought　into　
passable　consistency　with　the　ways　and　means　whereby　the　
community　gets　its　living。　
　　　　But　it　is　also　logically　to　be　expected　that　any　revision　of　
the　established　rights；　obligations；　perquisites　and　vested　
interests　will　trail　along　behind　the　change　which　has　taken　
effect　in　the　material　circumstances　of　the　community　and　in　the　
community's　knowledge　and　belief　with　regard　to　these　material　
circumstances；　since　any　such　revision　of　ancient　rights　and　
perquisites　will　necessarily　be　consequent　upon　and　conditioned　
by　that　change；　and　since　the　axioms　of　law　and　custom　that　
underlie　any　established　schedule　of　rights　and　perquisites　are　
always　of　the　nature　of　make…believe；　and　the　make…believe　is　
necessarily　built　up　out　of　conceptions　derived　from　the　
accustomed　range　of　knowledge　and　belief。　
　　　　Out…worn　axioms　of　this　make…believe　order　become　
superstitions　when　the　scope　and　method　of　workday　knowledge　has　
outgrown　that　particular　range　of　preconceptions　out　of　which　
these　make…believe　axioms　are　constructed；　which　comes　to　saying　
that　the　underlying　principles　of　the　system　of　law　and　morals　
are　therewith　caught　in　a　process　of　obsolescence；　　
〃depreciation　by　supersession　and　disuse。〃　By　a　figure　of　speech　
it　might　be　said　that　the　community's　intangible　assets　embodied　
in　this　particular　range　of　imponderables　have　shrunk　by　that　
much；　through　the　decay　of　these　imponderables　that　are　no　longer　
seasonable；　and　through　their　displacement　by　other　figments　of　
the　human　brain；　　a　consensus　of　brains　trained　into　closer　
consonance　with　the　latter…day　material　conditions　of　life。　
Something　of　this　kind；　something　in　the　way　of　depreciation　by　
displacement；　appears　now　to　be　overtaking　that　system　of　
imponderables　that　has　been　handed　down　into　current　law　and　
custom　out　of　that　range　of　ideas　and　ideals　that　had　the　vogue　
before　the　coming　of　the　machine　industry　and　the　material　
sciences