The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-04-09


had hardly a foundation In them. step
was taken, however, toward the establish
ment Of scientific politics when the con-
oeption Of society as an organism was
applied 10 the Interpretation Of political
history. AZ long ago as 1874 Herbert
Spencer suggested. In THE Study Of 30
oiology,' that "a little time might per-
haps. with advantage DO devoted to the
natural history Of society. Some guidance
Tor political conduct would possibly be
reached by askingi What Is the normal
course Of social evolution, and how will
It DO Affected by this or that policy1 II
may turn out that legislative action OF no
Kind can be taken that is not either In
agreement with or at variance with the
Processes Of national growth and develop
ment az naturally going on; and that Its
desirableness is TO be judged by this ultl-
mate standard rather than by pro1imate
standards. Without claiming too much,
We may. at any rate, expect that II there
does exist an order among those struct-
ural and functional changes which societies
pass through, knowledge Of that order can
scarcely fail 70 affect our judgments as
TO what is progressive and what retro
grade-.-what II desirable. what is practi-
cable, what is Utopian.'
Mr.. Harvey points out that in his 'Prin-
oples Of Sociology Herbert Spencer
applied this conception Of society as an
organism in the widest sociological sense.
Sir Leslie Stephen did a similar work in
the ethical section Of sociology. 1t Is the
application Of this conception in the political
section which concerns the author Of this
book. Sir John Seeley has already made
such an application 10 a certain extent in
his Lecture on Political Science QSs5-8).
II State be in a sense an organism, there
must necessarily be two aspects in which
1t may be regarded one the internal, In
which the interaotion Of the various parts Of
the organism Is considered, the other the
external, in which the interaction Of political
communities upon one another is the sub
iect Of examination. There is, again, to
be investigated the relation between these
two aspects; that Is, the relation between
the organism as affected by the interaction
Of It's own parts and the same organism
as affected by other and similar organisms.
Sir John Seeley directed his attention to
the classification Of political communities,
and 10 their mutual interaction. The in
ternal aspect Of political communities did
NV OplHo Hllllh TIC pulNlo VI hua WIN
II almost seems. indeed, as II he saw in the
interaotion Of States the chief determining
causes Of their internal condition. He Ger
tainly eIpounded at length the effect Of
Continental politics upon Great Britain,
and undertook TO formulate the general
law that the progress Of internal reform
varies inversely with external pressure
II was, for instance, Englands prosecution
Of war almost uninterruptedly for twenty
years against the French Revolution and
Empire that postponed for generation the
passage Of the first Reform act.
Our author recognizes a third stage OF
the development Of political science in the
application OF the evolutionary laws to
political societies. This application was
first made by Walter Bagehot in his Physics
and Politics" Os79. Bagehot was mainly
occupied with the effects Of war and its
later substitute, discussion, upon human
society. which effects he found exhibited,
first, In the elimination of incoherent nation =
and, secondly, in the establishment Of
certain intellectual and moral character
istics In the surviving nations. This line
Of inquiry was pursued further by Mr.. B. G..
Richie, who IN @Darwinism and Politics'
QsSe). indicated the sociological equiva-
Tents Of heredity, environment and variation.
Six years later DR.. j. B. Haycraft. in Oar
winism and Race Progress explained
the biological causes Of the advance or
the degeneration of races. He dealt
specially with the factor Of disease, and
made his work interesting by brin gin &
pathological science 10 bear directly upon
pressing social and political problems
With these works before him, Mr.. Harvey
holds that the operation of the laws Of
natural selection in national evolution
and 10 International relations has been
! oonolusively proved. and therefore that,
! although a political science cannot yet be
said 20 have been constructed, a method
has been devised by which it has been
made attainable. This method is described
az consisting Of three elements: The oh
| servation Of facts concerning nations; that
! is, history; the hypothesis Of nations as
organisms; and the application Of the laws
| OF biology TO explain the growth and de-
velopment Of nations,
Is the hypothesis that nations are or
| eaninns well founded? Our author deems
! it abundantly clear that a State Is an or.
! eanian, and that the facts Of struggle
selection and cooperation are exhibited
! in all examples OF collective lie. lie ad'
| mits however, that the notifications which
ensus when tn, 90 lective life is that Of
! conscious ,volitional human beings gathered
! in large bodies wait still TO be elucidated
! II Ia pointed out that. as compared Will
the struggle for existence among animals
| the most noticeable feature Of the struggl,
! that goes on within human society is that i
is limited. The more advanced the society
| the greater the limitation. All the variec
forms Of philanthropy, all the provisions
made by States for the distressed, all tn,
charities Of private life, are. apparently
direct reversals Of the natural laws OF con
fict and selection. Yet being the char
acteristic OF all collective human life, anC
especially Of the higher forms, the limita
ton must have singular Significance ii
the process Of evolution. There Ia nc
doubt that the explanation OF those char
ties which suspend the struggle between
individuals Ia the greatest problem O.
psychology, Of ethics and Of politics.
Mr.. Harvey Ia inclined to think that tn,
explanation may be found In the effects
OF the struggle between nations upon the
individuals composing them, He recalli
an article entitled Socialism and Natura
| L. -. t.VIf