ABSTRACT
Economists, too, have in general confined themselves to the investigation of the " laws " of the existing economic system. This investigation is unobjectionable and necessary, but the proper procedure is to go further, and inquire whether this system is fundamentally just and productive of social wellbeing, and if found not to be so, to use every effort in reconstructive work, in the foundation of a new system. The new social economy cannot be divorced from ethics. Undoubtedly the economists' investigations and analyses have helped us to understand the complications and intricate workings of the present economic system. But political economy, while necessarily having its scientific side, is an art ; and an ideal economic system calculated to benefit equally all members of society, must be constructed in theory, and the necessary steps taken for its actual adoption in our working life. What would be thought of doctors of medicine, if they devoted themselves solely to the theoretical, and neglected the practical ? The sick man wants to be nursed back into health, and not lectured on thz scientific aspects of his trouble. Pathology in itself is of no interest to the patient. He wants to recover his health, and has no use for a medical man who has a deep scientific knowledge of diseases, but does not combine with i t the art of healing.
