ABSTRACT
The term Commonwealth seems to have been first definitely used in English in connection with the government of Oliver Cromwell. Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations has been generally recognized as the book that most definitely laid in modern economic studies. But it is coming to be recognized more and more, as we have seen, that the emphasis has to be laid on Welfare rather than on Wealth. It remains true, however, that to understand the citizens of any place. It have to take account of the characteristics of the region in which they live and of the nature of their social inheritance. Even when we try to think of an ideal society, we have to think of it as situated in some place having special features that are bound to affect the lives of inhabitants. Hence it seems best to consider them in their relations to national and international modes of unity rather than in their bearings upon smaller groups.
