Sismondi used to complain that Liberalism, after it had achieved its triumph, had attempted to convert political economy into a system of orthodoxy. But Liberalism is not the only doctrine against which a similar charge might be brought. It is only a few years since Schmoller, the chief of the German Historical school, in an address delivered as Rector of Berlin University, declared that neither Marxians nor the disciples of Smith could in future be regarded as accredited teachers of the science. Does the German Historical school really wish to revive that ostracism from which it was itself one of the first to suffer? Neither can we, as Frenchmen, pride ourselves upon having been less exclusive. The indifference or even the actual hostility with which the Historical school was for a long time treated does very little credit to us. Moreover, that same intolerance of which “bourgeois economics” was so justly accused, is it not to be met with in an equally extravagant fashion in the socialism of to-day? The ultra-dogmatism of the Liberal school can be easily paralleled from the history of Marxism and the frantic efforts made by some socialists to prevent other Marxians making a breach in the doctrine. If there is one lesson more than another that emerges from a study of the history of economic doctrines it is the necessity for a more critical spirit and a more watchful attitude, always ready to test any new truths that present themselves, to extend a hearty welcome to every fresh observation or new experience, thus enabling the science to enlarge its scope and gain a deeper significance without sacrificing any of its essential tenets.
FOOTNOTES
[1] See an article by M. Deschamps in the Réforme sociale of October 1, 1902, on the value of this kind of teaching.
[2] In an article on the teaching of the history of economic doctrines (Revue de l’Enseignement, March 15, 1900) M. Deschamps declares that it is unpardonable that we should be unable to make better use of the marvellous economic teachings of which both ancient and mediæval history are full, but he adds that “as far as the history of the science is concerned there is no need to go farther back than the Physiocrats.”
[3] In the new edition of M. Espinas’s work an entire volume is devoted to the study of economic doctrines in ancient and mediæval times.
[4] “What useful purpose can be served by the study of absurd opinions and doctrines that have long ago been exploded, and deserved to be? It is mere useless pedantry to attempt to revive them. The more perfect a science becomes the shorter becomes its history. Alembert truly remarks that the more light we have on any subject the less need is there to occupy ourselves with the false or doubtful opinions to which it may have given rise. Our duty with regard to errors is not to revive them, but simply to forget them.” (Traité pratique, vol. ii, p. 540.)
[5] Wealth of Nations, vol. i, p. 351.
[6] Quesnay’s first economic articles, written for the Grande Encyclopédie, were on Les Grains and Les Fermiers.
[7] Professor Hector Denis, speaking of the Physiocratic doctrine, remarks that its imperfections are easily demonstrated, but that we seldom recognise its incomparable greatness.