Autnor Title Imprint. ^^B- ECONOMIC TRACTS NO. V. No. I, OF SERIES OF 1882 POLITICAL ECONOMY ONE LESSON A LECTURE By ALPHONSE COURTOIS BEFORE THE PHILOTECHNIC ASSOCIATION OF PARIS Translated from the Journal des Economistes BY WORTHINGTON C. FORD NEW YORK THE SOCIETY FOR POLITICAL EDUCATION 4 MORTON STREET 1882 $ \ ¥ The Society for Political Education. {ORGANIZED 1880.) OBJECTS. — The Society was organized by citizens who believe that the success of our government depends on the active political influence of educated intelligence, and that parties are means, not ends. It is entirely non-partisan in its organization, and is not to be used for any other purpose than the awakening of an intelligent interest in government methods and purposes tending to restrain the abuse of parties and to promote party morality; Among its organizers are numbered Democrats, Republicans, and Inde- pendents, who differ among themselves as to which party is best fitted to conduct the government, but who are in the main agreed as to the follow- mg propositions : The right of each citizen to his free and all paper money must be convertible voice and vote must be upheld. on demand. Office-holders must not control the Labor has a right to the highest wages suffrage. it can earn, unhindered by public or pri- The office should seek the man, and not vate tvranny. the man the office. Trade has the right to the freest scope, Public service, in business positions, unfettered bv ta.xes, e.x:cept for govern- should depend solely on fitness and good ment expenses, behavior. Corporations must be restricted from The crimes of bribery and corruption abuse of privilege, must be relentlessly punished. Neither the public mohey nor the Local issues should be independent of people's land must be used to subsidize national parties. private enterprise. Coins made unlimited legal tender must A public opinion, wholesome and ac- possess their face value as metal in the tive, unhampered by machine control, markets of the world. is the true safeguard of popular institu- Sound currency must have a metal basis, tions. Persons who become members of the Society are not, however, required to endorse the above. METHODS. — The Society proposes to carry out its objects by submit- ting from time to time to its members lists of books which it regards as de- sirable reading on current political and economic questions ; by selecting annual courses of reading for its members ; by supplying the books so se- lected at the smallest possible advance beyond actual cost ; by furnishing and circulating, at a low price and in cheap form, sound economic and po- litical literature in maintenance and illustration of the principles abo_ye an- nounced as constituting the basis of its organization ; and by assisting in the formation of reading and corresponding circles and clubs for discussing social, political, and economic questions. ORGANIZATION. — The Society is to be managed by an Executive Committee of twenty-five persons, selected from different sections of the United States. At the end of the first year the Executive Committee is to resolve itself into three sections, holding office respectively one, two, and three years from that date, and at the expiration of ilie term of office of ECONOMIC TRACTS No. V. No. I, OF Series of 18S2 POLITICAL ECONOMY ONE LESSON A LECTURR/'^ By ALPHONSE COURTOIS BEFORE THE PHILOTECHNIC ASSOCIATION OF PARIS Translated from the Journal des Economistes , BY • ' -> WORTHINGTON C. FORD , ')■'■' ' '• I call a complete and generous education that which fits a man to perform justly, skillfully and magnanimously all the offices, both public and private, of peace and war. The ne.\t removal must be the study of politics : to know the beginning, end and reasons of political societies ; that they may not, in a dangerous fit of the commonwealth, be such poor, shaken, uncertain reeds, of such tottering conscience, as many of our great counsellors have lately shown themselves, but steadfast pillars of the State.'' — Joh.n Milton. ' R W 1832 ] NEW YORK THE SOCIETY FOR POLITICAL EDTTCA'IT*^ COPTEIGHT 1883 By G. p. PUTNAM'S SONS PREFACE. With a view of giving to the members of the Society for Pohtical Education, in as compact a form as possible, a gen- eral idea of the relations subsisting between the various di- visions of Political Economy, and the general principles un- derlying the science, the executive committee have voted to reprint and include in the number of the economic tracts issued by the Society, the accompanying lecture, " Political Economy in One Lesson," recently delivered by Prof. Alphonse Courtois before the Polytechnic Society of Paris. The lecture in question was originally reported and printed in the (French) Journal des Economist es, and has been translated into English for the Society from that periodical. Prof. Courtois is one of the best known writers on economic ques- tions in France, and especially on matters relating to Bank- ing and the Bourse. He belongs to the older and more con- servative school of French Economists, which is so well represented by the Jo^irnal des Ecoriomistes, and is thus dis- tinguished from the younger and more liberal sect who con- duct U Economist e Franqais. In recognition of his services in popularizing the study of Political Economy among the masses. Prof. Courtois has recently been chosen the perma- nent secretary of the Political Economy Society of Paris. ^ In order readily to comprehend the following lecture, the reader should bear in mind that it is the last of a series of lectures on the subject of Political Economy, and that all the ^ PREFACE. principles here enunciated, and all the assertions and state- ments here contained, have been fully developed in the lec- tures which preceded. For this reason the present lecture contains no definitions, no explanations, and no arguments in support of his line of reasoning ; only what is absolutely necessary to sketch in the broadest manner possible the gen- erally received conclusions of economic science and to indi- cate their general scope and sphere of action. On this ac- count this tract will serve admirably as a general guide to the study of the subject of which it treats, when taken in connection with some larger work, and is well adapted to the use of teachers. Again, the manner of treatment adopted by the author may appear somewhat peculiar, for it is based upon a method very different from that pursued in ordinary text books on the subject. But this also results from its connection with what has gone before. Thus in treating of the various agencies of production, land, labor and capital, the ordinary manual of Political Economy first describes the general at- tributes of each, explains their relations to one another, and after discussing their properties and relations, deduces the general principle that the highest productive power will re- sult under a regime of freedom, in which the action of these agencies is unhampered by natural or artificial restrictions. But Prof. Courtois begins, as it were, at the other end, and taking it for granted that his reader is familiar with the sub- ject of which he treats, he reviews, as briefly as is consistent with clearness, the ground passed over. He begins with the general principle that freedom or liberty is essential to every economic act, and then works down to the agencies of pro- duction and their relations to one another. The different methods of treatment may be thus illustrated : A man may slowly and painfully make his way to the top of a high mount- PREFACE. 5 ain, his range of vision increasing in extent with every step in advance. This illustrates the usual method of teaching or writing on Political Economy. The student is taken through the many and minute details of the subject which he must understand before he can comprehend the general laws or principles which are deduced from these details. Or when our supposed traveler has reached the top of the moun- tain he may pause and retrace in mind the path just passed over, beginning from where he stands and working down- wards. This illustrates the method adopted by Prof. Courtois in the following lecture. We take our stand first upon the broad and general principles of the subject, and then review in broad outlines what has been passed over before. But so far from this peculiarity in treatment being any defect, the executive committee believe it to be one of the strongest recommendations for translating and printing the lecture. But the reader should be warned .against regarding this tract as embodying a system of economic science. The broad outlines of the science only are given, and should any doubt arise in the reader's miad as to any statements con- tained in the following pages, they may be verified and the doubt dispelled by merely turning to the proper chapter in Mill, Fawcett, or any other economist of repute, as given in Tract No. II of the publications of this Society. The reader would also do well to review in connection the chapter en- titled " That which is seen and that which is not seen " in the Essays on Political Economy, by Bastiat. POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. I. It is doubtless noticed by every student of Political Econ- omy that there are certain general and absolute principles which continually present themselves in a discussion of that science. A constant recurrence to these principles is neces- sary to show clearly their general application. In passing over the whole field of the economic action of man — produc- tion, circulation, distribution, and consumption of wealth — it may be seen that these principles are true at all times and in all places, without regard to race, nationality, religion, or even climate. But it must first be remembered that production and con- sumption are so related that whatever influences the one, must necessarily influence the other to the same degree. Increase or diminish production, and consumption is increased or dimished in proportion to the means which pro- duction places at its disposal. As the circulation of wealth may be regarded as a part of production, and as the distribution of wealth falls under consumption, the whole field of political economy may, with a near approach to truth, be divided into two great divisions, production and consumption ; and as they depend upon one another, every principle viewed in its relation to the one, must also be viewed in its relations to the other. 7 8 POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. II. Thus freedom, which cannot be conceived of as separated from responsibility, may be regarded as an absolute principle in Political Economy. So long as freedom does not exist man is a slave and ceases to be either a producer or a con- sumer ; he is only a chattel, or a capital, and when in this condition he consumes, it is not as a man ; he merely con- sumes to support the capital which he represents, just as the coal which is thrown into the furnace of a boiler, or the fodder that is given by the farmer to cattle. So man, as a slave, cannot consume unproductively ; all his consumption, like that of an animal, is necessarily reproductive. Man, more or less free, is alone the center of every economic act. He produces for himself and consumes for his own benefit, and in proportion to his means he has the power of consuming unproductively, that is to say, with no idea of reproducing what he consumes ; and for the sole reason that he produces only to satisfy his own wants and gratify his own desires. Man's well-being is increased as this freedom Is developed ; let it be absolute, and the opposite or negation of freedom, license, is not reached. On the contrary the most desirable condition of humanity will be attained ; a condition in which there is fullest and most complete expansion of all the human faculties ; the most perfect utilization of all the forces of nature, and the most normal increase of social wealth ; an ideal condition, toward which man is continually advancing, but which he can never completely attain. III. The principle of property has the same general and abso- POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. g lute characteristics as that of freedom. It is essential to every economic act, whatever may be the nature of the act. The proprietor renders a great service to society, by making nature productive, — it mJght almost be said more productive. Where the idea of property does not exist, or is not neces- sary, there can be a creation of utility, but not of value ; and political economy can regard as within its province only free profits; by which are meant gains that are at the same time free to all the world, and to each individual. It is impossible to imagine a total absence of the idea of property, unless the condition of animals is considered, to which the principles of political economy do not apply. On the other hand, where property is respected to an absolute de- gree, under all its forms, and in all its movements, with no exceptions, there is found the highest prosperity of man. Without freedom, as without property, man cannot exist. These two principles carried as far as they can be, are synon- ymous with increasing Avelfare and moral progress. These are the general and universal principles, which are, as was .said in the beginning, continually coming into notice in political economy. IV. There are no other principles which will, like those of free- dom and property, when fully applied, obtain for man the maximum of comfort ; and when wholly lost, cause the death and destruction of humanity. Association has been regarded by some as such a principle, and the ideas of free- dom and property have even been subordinated to that of association. The voluntary act of associr.tion has been confounded with the universal and necessary law of social union. What dis- tinguishes man from the brute is the power of being social. lO POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. He Is unable to exist alone, and must combine his efforts with those of his fellow men to succeed in subduing and con- quering nature. The isolated animal lives, defends itself, satisfies its wants, and is furnished by nature with protection from cold. Instinct, an absolute law, in place of knowl- edge and experience, governs its actions. But man in such a condition is far inferior to the animal, and rapidly deterior- ates and is destroyed. The social tie is necessary to man, and through it he take-s his true position in the universe. From this point of view association, by its necessity to man, should be classed with the two universal principles already developed, were man free to submit to its conditions or not, according to his choice. What man is free to practice or not, is that association with his fellow men, which within certain limits, increases his powers and enables him to perform prodigies. But carry this association to extremes ; let no limit be assigned to its action, let it be developed and applied without measure and without consideration, and where does it end — in law or in communism ? Communism is in effect association in its highest form, in which the man is entirely absorbed and made a machine, a mere unit. The individual counts for nothing; while the society on which the association is based, is everything. The force of individual action is broken, and the nerve of per- sonal interest is cut. Mankind degenerates, and step by step is destroyed. The principles of liberty and of property know no limits. Let them be pushed to extremes, and the maximum of gen- eral welfare is attained. Association, on the contrary, must needs be limited, for it tends to destroy the force of individual or private interests. The law of association is limited in its action, as is that of its opposite, individualism. POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. u V. And it is the same with the division of labor or employ- ments. When applied with reason and within certain limits, it favors progress by establishing special occupations and developing special skill ; but when carried to extremes and without any limitations, it tends to make man an automatic machine, from which intelligence, now almost useless, could be taken with little inconvenience. Happily in this case the mechanical portion of the labor is soon replaced by a machine, and man is thus restored to his proper task, that of ruling nature by his intelligence. To rule nature through intelligence is to set in movement economic action. VI. Intelligence alone is productive. The intellectual and physical faculties, which for the moment may be called the inner man, as well as all nature, which also for the time may be called the outer man, are only tools or instruments which God has given to man to aid him in gaining prosperity through labor; not merely material prosperity, but also those enjoyments which do not detract from his dignity, even if they do not add to his greatness, or cause him to approach that ideal type which Providence assigned to him when she created his soul after her own image. VII. By the side of these tools and instruments which are due to nature, and are called natural agents, is created capital, ^ due to labor and nature, and resulting from the accumulation of products set aside for further production. 12 POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. Capital is that precious instrument which cannot exist without man, and which in return greatly assists him in his contest with nature by forcing her to give up her secrets, and compelling her, in spite of herself, to ceaselessly aid hu- man labor in production. Capital is not represented only by material objects ; tools, clothing, food for the support of labor, or currency for ex- change. It also includes some immaterial objects or quali- ties, such as acquired health, developed skill, technical knowl- edge, moral qualities, etc. In short capital is that vast fund of human knowledge which, increasing from age to age, makes the lot of man each day less painful, and permits him to be occupied more and more with his family, to cultivate his mind, and to rise in thought to his Creator. But it must be remembered that the increase of capital, whatever form it may take, depends upon man himself. Whatever raises him above his animal propensities and em- ploys him in production, is capital. To rule himself, — which is a virtue in morality, is a useful principle in political econ- omy. And in this is shown the wonderful harmony that proves that all moral and political sciences pursue one aim, and treat of but one subject, man viewed in his various aspects : in law, from the side of justice ; in politics, from the side of security ; in historj^, from the view of experience ; in morals, from the side of duty ; and in political economy, from the side of utility. VIII. As has been said, intelligence alone is productive. Need it then be a matter for astonishment that production, con- sidered exclusively from an economic standpoint, may be other than material ? How can value, or its accident, the OLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. 13 price in money, that which results from comparison by way of exchange between two products, two immaterial utilities more or less rare, be material ? By way of exchange ! Man does not then produce for himself alone. No, far from that. Almost all his produc- tion is destined for his fellow men, and not for himself ; but, on the other hand, by exchanging the products of his own labor for such articles as are necessary to his existence, he lives only by the labor of others. While there is an equiva- lence of values at the time of the exchange, yet each of the parties engaged has a greater utility at his disposal after than before the transaction. And this is the real motive for the exchange. Thus is union and harmony produced without the intervention or interference of any human law. Can it be doubted, after this, by those who claim that Provi- dence has established physical laws to rule the universe, that she has also provided for a moral order? But are only such products as are fit for immediate con- sumption, or such as are in a condition to satisfy man's wants without further preparation, exchanged ? Were this the case, in what narrow limits would production be confined. Capital in process of production, and appropriated natural objects, transferable or not to others, are more frequently exchanged, and credit is found. They are exchanged for a promise of a return, a promise which, by its passage from hand to hand, permits capital, land, and obligations to cir- culate without interrupting man's labor ; and, thanks to the divisions of the currency, they are brought within the reach of the most modest portions, as well as of the largest for- tunes. Credit increases the forces of production by a more normal and regular distribution of capital, and effects this distribution without infringing upon the rights of any one. It does not multiply, but it is a cause of progress ; it places 14 POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. the different implements of labor, capital and natural objects, in the best hand§ ; that is to say, in the hands of those who can with equal risk employ them with the greatest profit ; it increases the employment of these implements — nothing more. But that is sufficient to give a great impetus to the development of public wealth, and results so wonderful are produced by its influence, that for a long time the marvelous simplicity of this agent could not be realized. Freedom with respect to the production of wealth, is known as freedom of labor ; but this freedom, with respect to the circulation of wealth, is called competition, when each separate industry is considered, and free-trade, when the whole field of economic action is treated of. IX. The product is made and is exchanged ; and its value is fixed by the law of supply and demand, with the cost of production as the minimum. Competition does more. It tends to lower this value to the lowest cost of production. Nor is this all. That which the ungrateful laborer recently regarded as contrary to all law invites each producer for his own interest to embrace in the industrial movement the occupation for which he- is best fitted ; to apply himself to that industry which is best suited to the soil and climate of the country he inhabits. Thus a cheap market is naturally obtained by an observance of the principles of liberty. And if a nation does not afford a large enough outlet for its products, foreign markets are opened by free trade ; and all mankind is by its agency united into one economic nation, from which war is banished, as hurtful to the public safety, and in which each country by its natural advan- POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. 15 tages, and each individual by his special skill, offer to con- sumers the best and cheapest commodities. The commodity is produced and is exchanged ; and what- ever portion of its value remains after the expense of the capital engaged in its production is deducted, is divided among the various agents taking part in the production. Is this division governed by chance, or does it depend upon force ? X. The more thoroughly are the moral laws which govern the universe studied, the better is it recognized that they are not less wonderful, or lees general in their action, than physical laws. Principles of order and harmony, they leave nothing to chance, and through them man is enabled to submit all things to law, and nothing to force. The wonder- ful agreement of all parts of the immaterial universe, so tardily studied by man, is apparent when the division of the value of products among the producers is examined. The responsible producer is the undertaker,* a laborer of a peculiar order, but none the less a laborer. He may or may not possess capital or natural agents ; but to be an under- taker he must above all be a laborer. He undertakes to produce at his own risk, after a careful study of the com- modity to be produced, of the markets that may be ex- pected, and of the net cost of production, not forgetting to include in this cost any tax imposed on the commodity, and which serves to remunerate that special industry, govern- ment. As the undertaker produces at his own risk, his remuneration or profit has not that fixity which is a char- * This word is much used by Adam Smith in the sense of an organizer of production. 1 6 POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. acteristic of the portion going to his co-workers, who, sharing none of the risks, are not entitled to a share in the final gains XL But how is the reward of these co-workers determined ? By a bargain separately made by each with the undertaker, a bargain that is governed by the law of supply and demand. The elements of this bargain are : with respect to produc- tion, (i) the more or less rapid increase of population when the interest of the laborer is considered ; (2) the more or less rapid increase in capital, when the interest of the capi- talist is in question ; and, with respect to consumption, the limitation of the supply and the activity of the demand, when the proprietors of natural agents are considered. Each of these agents of production, laborers, capitalists and proprietors of natural agents, makes a separate bargain with the undertaker, and there is an antagonism of interests only between the undertaker and the three agents, and not among themselves. Their interests are identical ; and it might be said that they have the same opponent, when the undertaker, standing between the three agents of produc- tion and the consumer, disputing with the one or with the other his legitimate reward, his profit when it is not a loss, is not forced to take into account the condition of the market to which he resorts for laborers, capitalists and pro- prietors of natural objects, a market in which he finds himself compelled to compete with other undertakers of industry. By an admirable law of solidarity, it is for his interest to give to each of the three agents a remuneration that is fixed by this competition. But have these agents an equal power of protecting them- selves ? POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. 17 If the laborer is governed by the advice of Malthus, and does not permit the the animal to predominate over the spiritual part of his nature ; if, remembering that he is a free being, accountable for his actions and not an animal ruled by blind instincts, he can govern himself and act only according to the means and resources he possesses, then is the laborer strong as against the undertaker. The proprietor of capital is less protected ; for by saving alone is his power increased, and saving always involves more or less privation, notwithstanding it is an intelligent and voluntary privation. By subduing his appetites man has the power to become strong. The lot of the owner of natural agents is even more pre- carious ; and as it is based upon a limitation in the supply, and, at the same time, upon the inequalities of nature, he gains by the mistakes of others and by favoring turns of chance. His position is, however, a legitimate one. What would the condition of the world be without property in land, and what a great service does he, who is made a pro- prietor, perform to society? What, then, can be more just than to remunerate this service? Rent is this remuneration. It is paid for the service ren- dered by the proprietor, without any regard to labor and capital ; it invites man to become the owner of natural objects, and without it there would be no object in his so doing. But progress is hostile to him, and each step forward in this direction diminishes his share ; and if rent should never entirely disappear, as many have wished, it may at least be said that as progress is a constant law, rent will tend each day to become less in proportion as the fixed remuneration or wages of labor increase. Each factor of production, capital, labor, (including that of 1 8 POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. the undertaker,) and the co-operation of natural agents, has received back the advances it made, in a proportion that is freely fixed by the law of supply and demand. What will be done with what remains over and above the capital employed ? Will it be used for the gratification of desires ? It may be so used. Or will it be wholly set aside as capital to be used in further production ? For the interests of society this is the bettet employm.ent. XII. It should never be forgotten that production is made for man, and not man for production. The end of all produc- tion is that highest form of consumption, unproductive con- sumption. Not only has man the power, he is required to consume. Let it be supposed that all men reduced the amount of their consumption to that of the savage tribes, and what would happen to production ? What industries would fail, and how much capital would be destroyed ! It is true that the laborer, with limited wants, need not pro- duce much in order to obtain the means of satisfying them. But is this Spartan existence in accordance with the plans of Providence ? Is not the lot of man lightened by riches worthily acquired? Is he not improved by the fine arts, by literature, and by the study of sciences ? An increase in man's wants, commensurate with any improvement in his economic condition, is then not only legitimate, but necessary, in that it is an individual and not a collective tendency. But, none the less, is saving neces- sary to increase the power of one of the essential agents of production — capital. Thus is man forced to guard himself against two opposite tendencies, either of which, when yielded to, -will prove POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. 19 fatal to his existence ; but both fruitful with good if yielded to in an equal degree. No one can hope to find any theory of inaction or repose in political economy ; but this science recognizes that man is created to contend, not against his fellow man, but against nature ; against what has just been termed the internal and the external man. This contest is personified in political economy by labor ; which is the most important, and at the same time, if the meafling of the word is limited to the effort required by production, the most complete expression of it. XIII. The industry of protection (government) was only men- tioned because, owing to the characteristic differences between it and other industries, it was not thought desirable to break the thread of thought by any extended notice of it. In general all industries require freedom ; but that of pro- tection can be exercised only as a monopoly. Ordinarily, when the consumer measures the products required by his appetites or obtainable by his means, there are no common- place limits to his wants; but he cannot have a satiety of security, and, as a consumer, is little occupied with the cost which bears no fixed proportion to the amount of his con- sumption. In fact he pays for this security doubtless at the net price, for the state does not work for profits, but he pays for it out of his resources and not through his con- sumption. And he pays the price, whatever it may be, willingly or unwillingly, at a rate fixed by human laws and not by the law of supply and demand. In a word, this price is a tax. But may he avoid these charges or escape from the ben- efits to be derived from this powerful combination, by 20 POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. securing his own safety ? He cannot do this. Security is necessary to all- industry, and each individual knows that he cannot have justice unless he has the right of free defense in emergencies. The state is then a necessity ; but it must be well organized, for the advantages it offers can be given by it alone, and its charges are inevitable. But as government is by right a monopoly, force is its means of action* and a forced contribution its remuneration. Hence the state should never exercise any industry that is accessible to the individual or to an association of individ- uals, even if the profits to be expected from such an industry must be looked for in the future. XIV. From this short review of a science that is inexhaustible in its application, it may be concluded that no citizen of a free state can com.prehend his duties, or perform them intelligently, if he be ignorant of the elements of political economy. SOCIETY FOR POLITICAL EDUCATION. each section, the remaining two thirds of the Committee shall elect, by ballot, members to fill vacancies. The correspondence of the Society is to be divided among five secretaries, one each for the East, the Northwest, the Southeast, the Southwest, and the Pacific Slope. MEMBERSHIP. — Active Members are such persons as will pledge themselves to read the Constitution of the United States, and that of the State in which they reside ; who will agree to read at least one of the annual courses as included in the Library of Political Education, and who will pay an annual fee of 50 cents (which may be forwarded in postage- stamps), entitling the member to receive the tracts and lists published by the Society during the year. Parents, guardians, or teachers will be considered as having fulfilled the above obligations if they make their children, wards, or pupils follow the prescribed course of reading. 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FIRST YEAR'S WORK, 1880-81. — During the past year the Society has received fees from one thousand five hundred members, of whom one hundred and seventy-five are Cooperating Members, and one hundred and five Lady Members. There have also been seven Auxiliary Societies established, of which two are in connection with colleges or schools. For the first series of the Library of Political Education, the following elementary works were selected for the year's course of reading : 1. Politics for Young Americans, by 3. Introduction to Political Econo- Chas. Nordhoff. (Including the Consti- my, by Prof. A. L.Perry. Chas. Scrib- tution of the United States, etc.) Harper ner's Sons. [Copyr. 1877.] 348 pp., & Bros. [Copyr. 1875.] 200 pp., 75 cents. $1.50. 2. History of American Politics, by 4. Alphabet in Finance, by Graham Alex. Johnston. Henry Holt & Co. McAdam. G. P. Putnam's Sons. [Copyr. 1879.] 12x274 PPm 75 cents. [Copyr. 1876.] 22x210 pp., $1.25. SOCIETY FOR POLITICAL ED if CATION. The price of the set of four books of the first series, delivered at nny ])ost-(iffice in the United States, will be $3.25. (If bought separately, in the publishers' editions, these volumes would cost $4.25,) The priee of the Society's edition of the second series (the three volumes of which are issued by the publishers at $7.00) will be $5 00. If any member cannot procure these books from the local booksellers, he should address Messrs. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 27 and 29 West 23d Street. New York ; Jansen, McClurg & Co., 119 State Street, Chicago ; or VV. H. Clarke & Carruth, 340 Washington Street, Boston, Mass., who are the pub- lishing agents of the Society. The official year begins on the 1st of January. Letters of inquiry should enclose return postage. Money should be sent by draft, postal order, or registered leUer to the Secretary. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. Hon. David A. Wells, Norwich, Conn. i Geo. S. Coe, New York City. \ Finance Committee. Horace White, New York City. ) E. M. Shepard, Treasurer (120 Broadway), office address, 4 Morton St., N. Y. City. R. L. Dugdale, Sec7-etaiy for the- East, 4 Morton St., N. Y. City. Edwin BURRITT S.MITH, Secretary for the iVorthwest, 142 Dearborn St , Chicago, 111. B. R. Forman, Secretary for the Southwest, P. O. Box 2415, New Or- leans, La. F. W. Dawson, Secretary for the Southeast, P. O. Box D 5, Charleston, S. C. W. W. CR.4.NE, Jr., Secretary for the Pacific Slope, P. O. Box 915, Oak- land, Cal. Prof. W. G. Sumner, Yale College, Archibald Mitchell, New Or- New Haven, Ct. leans. La. Charles Francis Adams, Jr., Bos- Franklin MacVeagh, Chicago, ton, Mass. 111. Geo. Haven Putnam, New York Gen. Bradley T. Joh.nson, Balti- City. more, Md. R. R. BowKER, New York City. Robert P. Porter, New York A. Sydney Biddle, Piiiladelphia, Pa. City. Jno. Watts Kearny, Louisville, Ky. John H. Ames, Lincoln, Neb. Worthington C. Ford, Brooklyn, Geo. Mason, Galveston, Texas. N. Y. PErER Hamilton, Mobile, Ala. Horace Rublee, Milwaukee, , Wis. E. D. Barbour, Boston, Mass. M. L. Scudder, Jr., Chicago, 111. SOCIETY FOR POLITICAL EDUCATION. The following Economic Tracts hav^ been issued during the year (series 1880-81) : 1. " What is a Bank ? What Services pendix of questions proposed for discus- DOES IT Perform ? " by Edward Atlcin- siou before the Political Economy Club son, of Boston. Price 10 cents. of London, by J. Stuart Mill, George 2. " Political Economy and Politi- Grote, and others; and questions debated CAL Science" : a priced and classified list by the Soci^t6 d' Economie Politique of of books on political economy, taxation, Paris. Price 10 cents. currency, land tenure, free trade and 4. " The Usury Question " : compris- protection, the Constitution of the United ing an abridgment "of the famous essays States, civil service, co-operation, etc., of Jeremy Bentham and the letters of compiled by Prof. W. G. Sumner, of John Calvin; the speech of the Hon. Yale College, David A. Wells, W. E. Richard H. Dana, Jr., before the Massa- Foster. R. L. Dugdale, and G. H. Put- chusetts Legislature; a summary of the nam. Price, 25 cents. results of the present usury laws of the 3. " Present Political and Economic United States, by the Hon. David A. Issues " : a collection of questions for de- Wells ; and a short bibliography on the bate, and subjects for essays on current subject of interest. Price, 25 cents, topics in American politics ; with an ap- There have been six thousand of these Economic Tracts distributed, every member receiving a set of the series for his membership fee. (These tracts may still be obtained of the Secretary at the prices named, or by for- warding 50 cents for the series.) A series of tracts will be published and distributed to members during 1882 as in 1880-81, the subjects of which will be announced from time to time. The Executive Committee has selected the following books for the course of reading for 1882, which will constitute the second series of the LIBRARY OF POLITICAL EDUCATION : " A History of Political Economy in change, by J. Stanley Jevons. 402 pp., Europe, by J6r6me-Adolphe Blanqui ; $1.75. translated by Miss Emily J. Leonard. On Liberty. By John Stuart Mill, 304 628 pp., $3.50. pp., $1.50. Money and the Mechanism of Ex- Members who join for the year 1882 may read either the first or the sec- ond series of the Library, but the Committee recommends them to begin with the first series, unless they have already read the books comprised in it. In order to enable persons in places where no public library is accessible, to procure, at a reduced rate, the volumes recommended by the Executive Committee for the annual courses of reading, the Committee has arranged for special editions of these in uniform binding, with the imprint of the Society upon the cover, which will be issued in annual series under the gen- eral title of the Library of Political Education, and can be supplied only in sets.