New-York tribune., 1898-12-28
A CONGRESS OF ECONOMISTS
MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMIC
ASSOCIATION.

| WELCOMED TO NEw-HAvEN BY YALEs PHESi-
pENr-AN ADDRESS by ARTHUR T. HADLEY
New.Haven. Dec n-The eleventh annual meet
| ing CT tte American Economic Association bognn
here this evening In the building OF the New-Haven
| Colony Historical Society and sessions will be held
/ tomorrow and on Thursday. An address or wei
| como was delivered by Timothy Dwight. president
| Of Yale University. The convention then gave
| It's attention to the annual address OF President
| Arthur 7. Hadley.
Professor Hadley began with n general review OF
the progress Of interest In economic science. ana
said that the trained economist was now hnd'hB
growing field in Journalism, In finance. In railroads
and In education. In the one vital respect oi III"
huence on government and legislation the 'ecoho-
mist found not only less than ne should find TO 90
but less than formerly He pleaded for enorts 10
reunite these spheres OF activity. and continued;
At the end OF the seventeenth century poiit,on,
economy was understood as an attemp. p5uc uS aPp ~
national affairs and with this view In mi1r nhan ,a,
and the present Century have witnessed reaction
The new conception has broader aims and @ broaaeo =,
be oss Of concreeness and with this loss Of
dehnIteness and aim the almost inevitable result @ o.
Srnctice Of an a." art The economists are partly to
blame for this, in that they did not make as clear
their points. but instead took refuge In the secli-
sion OF the schools and built up theories % o.s "a
process of evolution which tended to carry them rhn
from the influence or econoTic tneoiy
judiciary the legislature and the admlnistra,,11n 1
were subject to separate influences when rs. raas
them less ready to rely on the political economist
In the earlier times the economists ana 1rs,s
with with those Of political ethics, and each science
was thus brought into vital connection WIN he the
courts has had the same effect the economic
theory Of sovereignty Of the nyldual IN
politics sciences whose best work has been been
done hand in hand with each other and In the mosS
.l,,In, ,.I{n tfn
this separation have been so serious that enorts
have been made to reintroduce connection oy
means Of commissions ~ various forms-raiiroad
commissions tax labor and an indefinite number OK
other commissions They have too Sien PROVED 81
the law: and In assuming quasi-judic.ai Iuncuons ,
they have anasonzed the courts instead OF helping
AZ economists lost the chance Of influencing
Idseal wSea sd Tere er
bates? For the better part OF century THIS p9ssi
are numbered II they are not already ended The
system Of representative government devised
admirable as a means for giving free discussion to
measures has not proved equally sucEesSruI as srS
stages. .,
disadvantage. In the creation Of public sentiment
OF public business Il means exchange OF fayors The
economist Is at disadvantage in influencing mem ,1,
feren from theirs He is trying to pursue collectv:
interests they are rns perforfs OF ~ m soms
fashion to reconcile divergent ones
This difference OF aims ought 10 put the econ0nlst
at a corresponding advantage in advising the Exec
utive. But the Executive however much he may
desire Ia avail himself OF the services or econo-
mists cannot always do II too often happens
that the economists. In their encouragement OF IN.
dependent voting each National issue as IL
arises deprive themselves of that influence within
the party councils which is nece ssary for CARRYING
any Issue whatsoever TO its logical test and concur
sion.
But things by no means at their worst, II we
compare the conditions OF to-day With those or
thirty years ago soc marked increase or eco
nomic interests methods and influences in the work
OF government ,-,, -
Whatever we may think Of Imperialism as a
sentiment or Of National expansion as poncy-and
| was one of those who looked upon them with re-
gre-these are things 10 which we are already com
mitted This policy brings new problems OF admin
Isl ra tion upon us Nation. and renders X more
necessary than before TO study the art Of ma
tlona government. And the need OF an effcient
Army will Of Itself make II necessary 10 give more
independence 10 the Administration and more op-
portiInity to It's expert advisers The need for
Government OF our colonies which shall rec.
ognize the principle OF trusteeshp rather than o,
spollation must conduce yet more strongly toward
the results.