Page:The Economic Journal Volume 1.djvu/27

Rh certain axioms, for in these days those very axioms were disputed by those who derided economists. In fact, it seemed to be a daring undertaking to profess themselves economists, because there was a general idea that economists had finished their proper work in the education of the nation. It was said they had given arid food instead of generous food, and that a great portion of our society had been built upon economic doctrines which ought to be reviewed in a more modern spirit. Now, he was for the simple diffusion of truth, and he was entirely in favour of a journal of this kind to receive contributions from every school of economists. He had the greatest possible confidence that economic truths, when fairly examined, would show themselves as capable of demonstration as the truths of any other science to which men devoted their attention. The establishment of a journal of this kind would be a means not only of concentrating in one available form the views of many economists, but would also form such an interesting literary work as to command the attention of those who were not economists, but to whom the demonstration of certain doctrines of the science would be of considerable advantage. He saw in certain quarters men who called themselves political economists, but who had not the slightest idea what economics were. He had been warned by Professor Marshall against saying that there was anything orthodox in any school of economics. But economists were entitled to say that there were—he would not call them schools, because they could not claim that title at all—but certain groups of men who seemed to disbelieve in the possibility of any economic science whatever. There never was a time in the history of our country when it was more necessary that the truths of this science should be studied with boldness and single-mindedness; and he had no hesitation in saying that economic truth might be made to include all that was generous and ethical, and to command not only the intellects and the heads of men, but their hearts also. It might be true that the older economists paid too much attention to certain sides of human nature—that was and always had been his own strong opinion. That might be the reason why certain schools of economists had lost a large portion of that public confidence which at one time they commanded. He felt they all had their work cut out for them, not only in examining all the new problems which came before them in so many new and various shapes, but in defining some of the elementary truths of the science, and in showing that they were not in the slightest degree incompatible with the progress which the country