ABSTRACT
In the last thirty years of the nineteenth century, the powers of the State grew rapidly. Reactions to this development in social policy were mixed. Some, like the individualist philosopher and sociologist Herbert Spencer (1820–1903), regarded it with alarm (9c); others, like the influential Fabian and strategist of the early Labour Party Sidney Webb (1859–1947), saw it as a natural and appropriate phase of community development on the broad march to socialism (9e). Alfred Marshall (1842–1924), the leading economist of his day, argued that in a mature economy the State should take the initiative to eliminate the crudities of unrestrained capitalism (9g). Though no socialist, he saw society developing a collective purpose to subdue ‘individual caprice’. Professor David Ritchie (1853–1903), the Oxford philosopher later famous for his attack on the theory of natural rights, criticized Spencer’s views, particularly from the utilitarian standpoint that the State could minimize the gross waste of resources which resulted from unrestrained capitalism (9h). When he wrote, in 1891, he was a member of the Fabian society, though his political views were rather liberal-radical.
