The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1892-02-20
theft own - liberty -Sa1 an Mi6ir
Gay, in The STANDARD
The Scientific Method and TIE Single
Tax.

Enthusiastic advocates of TIE single
tax arc often rebuffed with the remark;
''Oh! that is only Georges opinion.
You are advocating a mere theory" To
persons of unscientif1c mental training
the objection seems to stop further argus
ment
The golden rule Of science--that OF
Descartes-isi Give unqualified assent
to NO propositions but those the truth OF
which is SO clear and distinct that they
can not be doubted" In other words.
through the exercise Of doubt comes
positive knowledge. This rule is the
foundation of scientific logic, and its
adoption by few great thinkers and
investigators has produced what is
termed modern science" There could,
indeed, be no exact science without the
adoption of some such rule--no Dar'
wins, Tyndalls, or Spencers 1t was
adopted consciously or unconsciously by
the author of progress and Poverty"
and he has made of political economy.
which was originally called Political
| Arithmetic, science allied to arith-
metic. He could not have written the
work except by subjecting to dottbt all
that had been accepted up TO his period
as sound political economy. ! venture
to assert that no objection has ever
been made to the single tax theory, as
a theory, that has not been. or that could
not he, easily and convincingly
answered on basis of scientific logic.
1t is their scientific haiti of investi-
ton which prevents many men OF high
intellectual attachments from carefully
considering the irrefragible logic OF
Progress and Poverty" To them
Georges theory" is merely q notion,
belief or an opinion. aud. of course
they regard their notions, or opinions
as good or better than his The same
habit explains why the state papers OF
Blaine and President Harrison contain
economic doctrine that makes an or
binary, unpretending single taxer smile
Such statesmen are quite unware, as
their self-confdence shows that there
exists any scientific test by which the
fallacy of their views may be clearly
demonstrated. Yet the new politica
economy furnishes that magic test, ane
happily it is being applied by rapidly
increasing numbers of people in al
parts of the world
A man of science. Herbert Spencer
helped to lay the foundations OF thu
new political economy when Georg
was a mere boy. Whatever Spence
may have since said in relation theret'
can not impair the severe scientific logi
of his earlier utterances They stan'
on their own undiminishable power
: conviction, and it is out of his powe
/, to repudiate them.
Prof. Huxley, a man of scientifi
methods. wrote an essay on Capital
the Mother of Labor"-important I
!. the single tax. From a biological stand
point this essay is scientifically logica
and very interesting. but it has no bea1
!, ing, as he imagines, upon the new pr
! litical economy, whose concretions n
evidently knows nothing about II
!, may, however. some day pick u
Progress and Poverty" and really rea
it. If he does, he is too sincere maj
i though vain one, to withhold. nj
: necessarily change of views. but ne
!, siews altogether.
Then there are the wise editors I
, great newspapers who may have ha
;. time once to read and digest scientif
II books, bat who have no time now; the
d,1nolish Progress and Poverty" in
N few paragraphs. The future historic
n of this epoch will greatly wonder hoy
'e in the midst of abundant wealth
IL scientific ideas relating to polite
. economy, there could have exists
ID among the educated and inhuenti
such dire poverty of information.
X However, there is much hope to
u derived from one of Herbert Spencer
~ conclusions: 1.-The belief of the scie
10 tific will eventually become the bell
u of the world at large."-D. E. Crnni
in The Standard
n L. ~