Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/698

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678 POLITICAL ECONOMY and is fully in accord with the English school of the present time. The names and doctrines of most of the leading economists of Great Britain and the United States, other than those who confine themselves to the examination of questions of finance and banking, have been already mentioned. In this class Henry Dun- ning McLeod, Prof. Bonamy Price, R. H. Pat- terson, and R. H. Inglis Palgrave now hold a prominent position in England. The late Ste- phen Colwell of Philadelphia published in 1859 (2d ed., 1860) " The Ways and Means of Pay- ment, a full Analysis of the Credit System, with its Various Modes of Adjustment," which is still the most exhaustive examination of this entire field in the English language, giving both his own views and those of his prede- cessors, and a fuller and more complete state- ment of moneys of account than any previous writer. In France, among the more distin- guished writers on political economy are Blan- qui, Tracy, Louis Say, Droz, Rossi, Cheva- lier, Dunoyer, Gamier, Baudrillart, Bastiat, Fontenay, Coquelin, Faucher, Reybaud, and Wolowsid. One of the most noted of these was Frederic Bastiat, whose works were pub- lished collectively after his death (6 vols., Pa- ris, 1855 ; new ed., 1862). He was a strong par- tisan of free trade, and a decided follower of Locke, Montesquieu, and Hume in regard to money, holding that "it is quite unimportant whether there is much or little money in the world. If there is much, much will be used ; if there is little, little is required; that is all." His most important work is his Harmonies economiques (1850), maintaining the doctrine that "all legitimate interests are harmonious," which he sought to demonstrate by doctrines greatly resembling Carey's theory of value, and the consequent law of distribution, enunci- ated in 1837. Speaking of the law of distribu- tion, he says : " Thus the great law of capital and labor, as regards the distribution of the products of their joint labors, is settled. The absolute quantity of each is greater, but the proportional part of capital constantly dimin- ishes, as compared with that of labor." It need hardly be added that he took issue with the theories of Ricardo and Malthus. M. Michel Chevalier has principally devoted himself to the questions of policy growing out of inter- national trade, and is a thorough partisan of free trade, having taken a leading part in the reciprocity treaty between Great Britain and France in 1860. Germany has produced many works on all branches of the subject. The formation of the German Zollverein or customs union, establishing entirely free inter-state trade among the states composing it, with such a policy as should protect their domes- tic production from external disturbance, was due to no man more than to Friedrich List. His " National System of Political Economy " (Stuttgart, 1841; English by G. A. Matile, Philadelphia, 1856) is built upon observation and history. " Nationality," says the English translator, "is the ruling idea of the book; but with his vigorous mind and clear intelli- gence, he enlarges it until it comprehends every topic of human welfare." "The Ger- man eclectic works," says Colwell, " furnish a vast amount of well arranged information, and they may always be consulted with advantage. We would refer," he adds, " especially to the works of Schmalz, Jakob Volgraff, Krause, K. H. Rau, Lotz, Hermann, and Schon; but there are others of equal merit." To these names may be added K. A. Struensee, K. F. Nebenius, J. G. Busch, Schonberg, W~appaus, Schaffle, Scheel, Hermann, Walcker, and Bren- tano. In Italy much attention has been given to political economy from an early period, and a collection of Italian economists in 50 vols. 8vo was published at Milan in 1803-'16. The Biblioteca deW economist^ another collection of Italian and foreign writers, edited by Fran- cesco Ferrara, professor of political economy in the university of Turin, and an adherent to the school of Adam Smith, has been for several years in course of publication. "In 1764," says Say, "Genovesi commenced a public course of lectures on political economy from the chair founded by the care of the highly esteemed and learned Intieri. In consequence of his example, other professorships were af- terward established at Milan, and more recent- ly in most of the universities in Germany and Russia." The disciples of the most recent school of political economy in Italy treat it as a science of observation based on the in- vestigation and study of history and actual life, and reject the notion that it consists sim- ply of deductions from the principle of indi- vidual interest. The first number of their monthly periodical, entitled Giornale degli economist^ appeared in Padua in April, 1875. Among the leading members of this school are Luzzatti, Lampertico, Forti, and Boccar- do. Among the best books of reference on this subject are: "History of Prices, 1793 to 1856," by Thomas Tooke (6 vols. 8vo, Lon- don, 1838-'57), which argues strongly against the theory of the economists in regard to the effect of an increased volume of money on prices, as maintained by Locke, Montesquieu, and Hume ; " The Literature of Political Econ- omy," by J. R. McCulloch (London, 1845); Dictionnaire de V economic politique (2 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1852-'3), a most complete, trust- worthy, and valuable work ; Histoire de Veco- nomie politique, by A. Blanqui (4th ed., 2 vols. 12mo, Paris, 1860), containing a catalogue rai- sonne of political economy, which is full and valuable ; " A Dictionary of Political Economy, Biographical, Historical, and Practical," by Henry Dunning McLeod (vol. i., London, 1863) ; "History of Agriculture and Prices in Eng- land," by J. E. T. Rogers (2 vols. 8vo, 1866); Duhring, EritiscJie Geschichte der Nationalo- Tconomie und des Socialismus (Berlin, 1871); and Roscher. Geschichte der Nationalokono- mie in Deutschland (Munich, 1874).