ABSTRACT
The relative importance of administration, as compared with the enforcement of general rules, may be at its maximum in the earliest stage of social order and diminish as social integration. For the most part the general rules are prescribed by custom, law, and the social imperative; while the occasional or particular commands emanate from administrative authority and public opinion. Within the borders of most civilized countries, individual ownership of land is recognized and protected by the law. The organization of the world as a whole cannot be developed adequately into a really social structure unless its common interests are the subject of a control which is collective in its nature. The theory of the absolute independence of all states and the corollary of the duty of non-intervention are inconsistent with the principles of social order and must accordingly be rejected.
