[1042] Principles, Book IV, chap. 7.

[1043] “Among the panaceas advocated in our time none has been more criticised than ‘association.’ From a practical point of view these societies seem to present none of the advantages ordinarily associated either with complete independence or with a well-managed business concern.”

[1044] “I have frequently posted as much as 1000 kilometres in order to consult some eminent landowner living on the confines of Europe.” (Letter to M. de Ribbes, October 3, 1867.)

[1045] “This method is based upon a careful observation of each fact and its past history. Nothing is left to the imagination, the presupposition, or the prejudices of the observer. It is essentially scientific and exact.” (La Réforme en Europe.)

[1046] These monographs appeared first of all, as we have seen, in his great work on the European workmen in 1855. The work has been carried on by his disciples and the results incorporated in the Ouvriers des Deux Mondes, which already numbers above a hundred volumes. They have also employed the method in writing monographs on industries and communes, etc.

The method requires supplementing by reference to statistics of population and wages, which can only be supplied, of course, by Governments.

[1047] “The comparison of receipts and expenditure should help to discover any oversight, just as the weight of a chemical substance both before and after an experiment helps to determine the nature of the chemical reaction.” (Bureau, L’Œuvre d’Henri de Tourville.)

[1048] With a good deal of candour he admits offering a reward to anyone who could show him a single happy family except under conditions of this kind. “But,” he adds, “all my efforts proved fruitless.” (Les Ouvriers européens, vol. iv, introduction.)

[1049] When Le Play teaches us that the essential condition of society implies