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No. 43
THE
CAMERALISTS
THE
CAMERALISTS
THE PIONEERS OF GERMAN
SOCIAL POLITY
BT
ALBION W. SMALL
No. 43
BURT FRANKLIN
New
York
25,
N. Y.
Published by
BURT FRANKLIN
514 West 113th
Street
New York
25,
N. Y.
First
Published
Chicago
1909
PRINTED IN
U.S.A.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Preface
CHAPTEK
I.
vii
Introduction to Cameralism
.......
The Civics of Osse m. The Civics of Obrecht rV. The Cameralistics of Seckendorff V. The Cameralistics of Becher VI. The Cameralistics of Schroder VII. The Cameralistics of Gerhard VIII. The Cameralistics of Rohr DC. The Cameralistics of Gasser X. The Cameralistics of Dithmar XI. The Cameralistics of Zincke XII. The Cameralistics of Darjes XIII. The Cameralistics of Justi Xrv. The Argument OF JusTi's "St aatswirthschaft"
n.
21
40
60
107
135
....
175 185
....
206
222
232
267
285
3x5
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
Philosophy
394
Police ywissenschaft"
436
....
The
The The
Cameralistics of Sonnenfels
"Introduc-
459
tion"
48.
XIX.
XX.
XXI.
XXII.
505
lung"
525
The
of
Sonnenfels "Hand542
Summary
586 597
Index
PREFACE
Like
its
Adam
book
is
a mere fragment.
deals with
States.
It
German
It dt)es
not attempt
book
falls in
the
eighteenth century.
relations
between
and other
social elements,
its
and
ratio of
Con-
synthesis, for
To
was
justify
my
it
which
prove
this
book cost
that
well spent,
would be necessary
to gain
to
first,
Amer-
icans have
much
system of the
Germans
it
historically.
These propositions
must be
left,
To
thing
is
virtually a lost
ever>'-
Although
its
now
belonging to
German
heredity
the social sciences in America could correctly define the term, and few could name more than one or two writers to whom
it is
j)roperly applied.
German
writers,
VUl
century,
THE CAMERALISTS
who approached civic problems from a common viewpoint, who proposed the same central question, and who developed a coherent civic theory, corresponding with the German
system of administration at the same time in course of evolution.
To
was
was the
To them the object of all social theory state. show how the welfare of the state might be secured. They saw in the welfare of the state the source of all other welfare. Their key to the welfare of the state was revenue
problem of the
to
ready means.
For reasons
ists in
to
be mentioned
later, allusions to
the cameral-
frequent
among
If,
however,
we
in
in this country,
we
find that
would be clearer
if
Homigk
and Schroder are disposed of in a paragraph of about seventy words, and another paragraph two lines longer, in the chapter on the physiocrats (!), mentions the "Chamber Sciences," as represented by Justi and Sonnenfels only. The third edition of the same book, or the volume which took the place
{sic)f
under the
title
An
Introduction
Austrians,
Political Economy, mentions the same three and adds a couple of lines on Seckendorff in the section on "Industrial Freedom;" it mentions Gasser, Dithmar, and Darjes in the section on "Professional Chairs, Newspapers, and Academies;" it gives a paragraph each to Justi and Son-
Study of
'
title,
Guide
to
Economy;
PREFACE
nenfels, in the section entitled "Bureaucratic
IX
and
it
Professorial
Eclecticism;"
and
then, after a
pages
later,
about the
bearings
time finds
its
with Rau,
strict
who
began
cameralism in the
sense
had passed
prime.
a dozen names of
period.
disposes of them
of these writers,
and
German
names
thought.
of the cameralists,
little
and turned
to Palgrave for
more
information,
gathered
from
would be found beyond repetition of scraps Roscher; and these so disconnected that
All the
an adequate introduction
of the question.
to the subject
by means
of
of
them
would be out
During the
last generation,
American readers
German
writers,
appear to have
phases of
relied, as
German economic
it is
upon two
Of Kautz
enough
to say that he
is
was
of the rear
guard
if
of the rhetoricians.
lucid reading.
His book
wonderfully plausible
not
Its early
logical conclusions
superseded.
it
own
procedure, as
appears in the body of the book, shows that for him these
'
Julius
Kautz,
Die geschichtliche
Enhvickelung der
National-
Oekonomik und
'
land, Miinchen,
if
nothing appears to
work
name
is
used.
THE CAMERALISTS
His actual method
is first,
derivation,
many
When
inquiry
projected
upon
thought in
little
Ages and
Adam
economic ideas and principles were no longer mixed and combined with the
political, legal,
and
The
and independence of it. Compared with men the period from Martin Luther to
course intellectually free.
raries of
Adam
Smith was of
if
On
contempopolitical
economic and
nineteenth-century ideas,
was paralyzed
it
Even
to
if
Kautz's generalization
it
make
valid, use of
as a
was
like finding
a sufficient explanation
American experience since 1776 in terms of the mere negative condition of independence from England. Anyone who can have patience with discursive essays upon
of the course of
of
economic
Loc.
cit.,
p. 25.
I'REFACK
theory would find Kautz impressive.
XI
As a guide
to critical
is
impossible.
cal school,"
Whatever our estimate, on the other hand, of the "historiand of Roscher's contributions to economic theory,
The volume
cited above,
on the history
of
economic
to
work
in the field
which
this
The
Roscher
went
in the studies
which
this
book
reports, the
more my wonder grew that German scholarproduced a work which would be as evident
For obvious
At the
same
time,
comparison
may
was work
left
is
by Roscher.
The most
come
to their
own
in the
my
debt to Roscher,
In the
collector, not
an
interj)reter.
was
as an assembler
of details,
in
have
still
which
about matters
slips
of fact.
It
was not
my
whether these
were more
At
may
Ml
THE CAMERALISTS
At
all
DU
more
My own
study of these
exception
differed
is
noted,
upon
the
work
named, whenever
it
from Roscher.
chief issue with
But the
Roscher
is
much more
radical.
of the cameralists
cast.
The
a blur
more
s|)ccific thesis of
is
fallacy
and
German
right,
the thesis
sustained.
hope
am
main movement of thought, confers a distinct advantage making out the larger meanings of the body of literature in
In order to justify this challenge of venerable tra<lition,
question.
In
a series of twenty-four
in
(iermany.
The
(2)
sub-
volumes
in the series
(i) Gesrhirhte;
(4)
wissensrhajl;
(3)
Jurisprudenz;
Allgemeincs Staalsredil
und
{())
I'olitik; (5)
iMndivirthsrhajtslehre.
available,
and
have been
more suitable than any others that might As a j)rogramme for (ritical rosea n h. [)rofM>sed.
PREFACE
xiil
work in advance to preconception and misconstruction. A precisely analogous fallacy would be involved in a scheme today to parcel out among different scholars, in accordance with present national boundaries, an
sion of labor surrendered the
Charlemagne.
The
political
map
of
it is
today,
But
middle of the
the past from which the evolution of the social sciences could
On
the con-
been the
great
historiographical
commandment
with
The
result
principle.
The
was a conspicuous vindication of the violated sort of analysis which the present volume
reports very early unearths the fact that the conventional division of labor in the series threw the data out of their relations
of their
meaning.
it
In particular
it
estopped analysis
them
at their
economists.
They were
title (5)
This
Under
above.
XIV
THE CAMERALISTS
Roscher
of
of the
meaning
Germany.
The
first critical
of the cameralists
center
What was
their other
from which
Rarely
is
this
The answer
Turning
Bluntschli.'
He
says:
science (Staatswissenschaft).
in
the seventeenth
ently
Only by degrees did the Germans overtake these leaders, and presit was their fortune, through diligence and thoroughness of
investigation, through
their thinking, to
first
last.
judgment
filled
large part a
to
mere survival
of that obsession
rest of
which
Germany, and
Europe, during
awe and
made
other
in France.
Germans of much less real importance for civic science. Von Mohl had meanwhile written, 3 and had really given the
Loc.
cit.,
p. xiv.
'
PREFACE
cameralists
XV
though he does
if
more
not necessary,
were possible,
to
cloud the
title
My
conten-
tion
is
that the
Germans were not as sterile in this field as it own fashion to suppose. In fact there was no
more virile political thinking in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries than that of the German cameralists. I do not say that it was as profound, as abstract, as highly generalized, as political works of the first rank jjroduced by It was suited to the occasions which set its other nations. It was effective. As in the case task. It was constructive.
of all theory, in
is
comparison with
its
practical counterpart,
it
cameralism of
do not
Locke or Montesquieu and on the ground of probable influence upon affairs the case of the latter does not on the whole suffer by comparison with any political theorists whatsoever. Moreat least as pertinent to Grotius or
as to the cameralists;
over, the plea that neither the letter nor the spirit of these
political
by parity
it.
of reasoning, exclude
every great
the formative
meaning
human
the
New
Testament
to the
to
amendments
American Constitution.
At
all
made
the
the most
If
xvi
tree should
THK CAMERAMSTS
be known hy
in particular,
its
fruits,
scholars in
;j;tn(.ral,
and
the
Germans
have
Krf>ssly
hlundcrcd
in sHj^hling
There
is
my own
in
another
resi)cct.
Roschcr
princes.
That he
is
unable
strictly to carry
is
titles of his
"The Dutch
System;"
of the
"The
Middle
Seventeenth Century;"
"The
I;"
National Econom-
ics of the
Last (ireat
German
Polyhistorian;"
National
Fxonomics under
of
Leopold
"The "The
Austrian
Prussian
National
"Leilmiz
National
"The
of Friedrich
Wilhclm
Frederick
the
Great;"
Eighteenth Century."
My
plan,
phenomena
of a coherent
last
tendency of thought.
It
said
by or
methods.
would
and
in co-opera-
gramme
There
to glorify
lines of
this
book a wish
German bureaucracy at the expense of American The advantage to Americans of understanding German institutions will not come from adopting or even inritating them, but from adapting whatever may be learned
republicanism.
PREFACE
from their workings
to the
is
xvu
of
improvement
social
our
own
institutions.
The aim
of this
book
of
for interpretation
German
through their
say
it is
own
process of evolution.
The
Hegclian.s
other.
German and American polities should tend to complete each The one starts with the assumption of the state as the social unit. The other starts with the assumj)tion of the indiExperience has shown that neither
is f)art
assumption
of the truth,
is
and
upon
the
two phases
my
belief that
a service
may be
ren-
this assimilation
by promoting
of
to
German
is
polity.
Taking
it
way
of society
and
of social theory
to the
French Revolution
marked
The
when German
My
effort
Nor
is
an attemjA
to put
new
in
Not
to
'
its
The
is
ocular
it is
xviil
THE CAMERALISTS
was
still
incomplete,
we
of
may
from Rossig.^
the
if
sented.
makes a hodgepodge
by jumbling together
philosophers of massive mold like Pufendorf, historical philosophers like Moser, metaphysical philosophers like Leibniz,
Wolff,
cameralists.
force,
Not by
"econo-
Roscher reduces
common denominator
mist."
juvenile
assume that
is
in
of
a metaphysician and
upon each
or two
and intense as that of two metaphysicians Sometimes such cross-fertilization is more fruitful than in-and-in breeding. Again it is not. Neither is it to be assumed in a given case without proof. Nor can it be
thinking,
as direct
historians.
may be
cull
carried
from every
economic author
which carry
them-
some
sort
theological
implications.
Those implications
to the authors
2 vols.,
78 1.
PRKFACF
selves
to
XIX
In any event
it
would be absurd
by jjatching
make a
and purpose.
Before a truthful
in
made
terms of another
of theorists,
and even of each individual theorist, must be accurately determined, and corrections must be made accordingly in the ])rcsumptive force of their formulas.
Neither Bluntschli
It
is
nor
this principle.
a marvel
German
German
social sciences.
The
Meanwhile the
attention than
it
little
book
to
I
of
seems
in this country.
Indeed,
could
German
literature
The
chief
reason for
largely anticipated
of
my
German
mercantilism as a theory,
and as to the doctrine of population. Any competent scholar was bound to reach similar results if he analyzed the sources
instead of repeating hearsay.
Sludien
iiber die
zum Ende
viii
Von
XX
Until
1
THE CAMICRALISTS
had reached
my own
as far as possible.
to
me
until
had completed
if I
my
manuscript.
his
tunate, because
my own
Tn
had omitted,
of access to his
On
the
my own
first
resulting
my
belief that
am
In the
which
Marchet
the
to explain
|)()litical
method
of Kautz.
Marchet
is
not
suffi-
He
does not
unlike doctrines
to
That
which
this
upon
etc.
e. g.,
all its
strictly
social doctrines.
futility
In
PREFACE
his
XXI
more
intensive historical
which SchmoUer's
is
secure.
The
relation of his
and
indicated in the
have
tried to present
a digest of
is
German
social sciences.
Accordingly
I offer
in this
volume
my conclusions, and
The
only precon-
was the commonplace that they must be allowed to speak for themselves, and from their own standpoint, whatever that might prove to be. This commonplace has had at best fitful
ception which
historical
I
respect
among
to
want
is
of per-
manent use
methodology.
My suspicions
were
them would
law that
of all the
his
purposes were
I
those of the
moment
at
liich
are epidemic
xxii
THE CAMERALISTS
me
them
in the histories.
It
seemed
to
that,
if
this
turned
logic, in
an example so
in
enlists
more
to
porary argument.
methodological
purposes.
If
historical
I
valuations
of
the
wanted
knew about
I
the cameralists,
when
began
this
study,
On
indicated above,
of so
many
and
to the syn-
thesis of
them,
determined to find
would be an amazing coincidence; and I out for myself whether such a phenomenon
first
had occurred.
made
It
out
was
more intimate
relations than
heterogeneous collection of
affected
marks
German
proceeds from or
marks
forthwith furnish
the fixed
German
Whether the
discussed in the
concluding chapter.
I
by retaining
many German
PREFACE
to propose English equivalents.
xxiii
This was
for
sons:
first,
and
in
would
really
be ours, not
theirs.
have gone
still
farther in retaining
German terms
somewhat
or even con-
siderable quotations,
when
for readers
German.
local color.
With the same purpose in view I have deliberately chosen awkward renderings of many German expressions. By so
doing
I
authors.
many ways
their thought
and
it is
falsification of history to
men
American conceptions of the growth and meaning of German social theory have been confused by neglect of translators to count with this elemental fact. This has been amply emphasized in the body of the book, but I add a typical instance from a different source. While writing this preface I had occasion, in another connection, to consult the
would now.
,
Of European
Heeren
is
states
of the
sixteenth century,
made
At
first,
kingdoms was
no taxes could be
levied.
Vol.
IX of the Historische
Werke,
p. 16.
The
in 1864
oj
under the title, A Manual 0} the History Europe and Its Colonies. The passage is on p.
System
xxiv
THE CAMP:RALISTS
(for
no
art
was
known but
In the
first
place, Heeren's
own
U'irthscha/t
criticism.
correct idea in
mind or
not, the
term Staatswirthscliaft
itself
which
it is
It
last edition
was
it had carried when the book first appeared; and never and nowhere had it meant precisely what writers or readers in England in 1864 understood by the phrase "polit-
ical
economy."
Still
it
in the quotation
par?.[)hrasc
real
fairly
represent
the
original.
The
author's
substitute:
"the
financial
states
did not
go beyond pro-
grammes
raising
revenues."
Standing
by themselves,
They
English
The
German terms, added to the unsatisfacGerman tradition itself, is a state of regrettable misinformation among English readers about the actual course of development in German social theor>' and practice.
tory condition of the
I
have
language
and
which does not represent them as using nineteenth- and twentieth-century concepts of
Germans,
still
less of
Englishmen
or Americans.
'
The
italics
is
Slaatswirlhschajl.
die Kunsl, (Jeld
The
aujtuhringen.
PREFACE
It
xxv
and
has been
my
My
me
several hands.
Moreover, space
was
cited,
books
and other
illustrative material.
At the time
I
it
most
of the
this
volumes
country
and Germany.
verification,
but
strictly
within
my
power.
been removed
be taken as
my
disposal.
The capitalization,
passages cited.
must accordingly
illustrating rather
My
number
of the cameralistic
this
written.
My
libraries of
Museum.
Albion W. Small
igog
CHAPTER
Every theory, system, science
INTRODUCTION TO CAMERALISM
is in
some way a
which
it
reflection
developed.
No
effect
concerned
We
need
Enough
that in
some way or
other,
which
it is
produced them.
we attempt
and
it if
to detach a system of
scheme
poses,
of activities impelled
we
try to set
though
inevitable misinterpretation.
The same
interested,
than delib-
erate separation of a
body
of thought, in
develop-
ment.
previous
growth.
crudeness
dismemberment of the process of which science is an interpretation, and consequent substitution of fictitious processes, more or less remote from on? another and meaningless for one another. We have then, so far as we depend upon these sciences for knowledge, a collection of ghosts stalking
abroad
in defiance of all
known
laws,
less
and
single instance in
which
this
book
We
are
THE CAMERALISTS
and cameralism. A history of neither this hook may he called a brief
to
to
be allemi)ted.
At most
of the
complete
if
it
were to satisfy
An
to Justi.
authentic
interpretation
of
cameralism
necessarily
and
must be analyzed
of this survey
his system.
history of cameralism
would
It
Saxony (1553-86) and Landgrave Philipp of Hesse (1518It would follow changes of form, content, relations, and 67).
name, and
it
would be obliged
in
differences between
German and
English
institutions
in the
must
in the
be stated partially
of
one case
other.
Le.xis, in
title
Kameestab-
and that
istration
If
began
to
f)e
we
system and of
its
technology,
we
in
among
was written and Georg Obrecht, whose FUnf unterschiedliche Secrela Politica appeared in Strassburg in 161 7. These authors
the writers Melchior von Osse, whose Testament
1555,
will presently
Grundsdtu der
Poticey,
1765.
INTRODUCTION TO CAMERALISM
through the historians of economics.
The
it is
interi^retation of
and
its
intelligible.
Exag-
we may
Came-
To
adaptation.
will follow is
economic interpretation
insist that the
No
it
issue
is
ultimate elements
Be
that as
Cameralism
raised, directly
and
It
deliberately,
technique of government.
and laws
institutions, to
last
had
been
Adam
Smith's time.
It dealt
with
as proclaimed at the
many
The
situation
first
and climate
of the country;
4
industrial structure,
THE CAMERALISTS
and the foreign trade relations; the ecclethe Holy Roman Empire; the character within the Empire, and outside of it in Europe
the prizes for national competition in
siastical organization;
of the states
of the citizens.
may be
scheduled
both from
political philosophy,
passed as wisdom in
Roman and Teuton sources, the and the rule-of-thumb conclusions which the conduct of life, from individual habit
fact, the
and
of
government dominated
all
So
far
importance of everything
else.
The purposes
of the
state
state.
were paramount.
The
Cameralism was the system elaborated by the chief agents of the rulers, partly as mere classification of practices which rulers had already adopted; partly as ways and means
of accomplishing
more
of the purposes
which the
state proposed.
But
tion of cameralism
be called to mind.
In the
first
place,
we must remember
that the
German
ter-
essentially
more
like
Old Dominion, than like any political Americans are familiar. Even if the prince controlled territories which it would not be extravagant to describe as big farms, it was long before the operations of management were transformed from the primitive type of the
flourishing days of the
modem
The
adminisit
German
states
does
INTRODUCTION TO CAMERALISM
not
in
fall
New
and
managed
her dairy.
The
advisers
who
we
find
them possessing
and
policy.
The
was
to their
They
The
wisest
German
states,
the peasants
and artisans
particularly,
men
As an estimate
edly correct.
by dispensation
authority.
us.
It is
under
The
The
ruler
and
his govlight
when they were contemplated as fulfilling the duties of guardianand politically incompetent masses. Under the circumstances paternalism was not an arrest of development; still less in principle an abuse of power. Whether in operation or in theory, it was the ideal expression
of the situation.
German
states
were involved
With
concerned we have
it
now
by the statesmen
that
of
of the period.
German
state
own
calculation,
of
self-maintenance,
force.
and
especially
by control
an adequate military
6
The
THE CAMERALISTS
camcralists of the books, as distinguished from the
tasks.
German As a
They
in administrative positions of
some
sort,
to a certain extent
theorists.
from experience.
We may
earlier
^^
characterize these
Tjuriters
distinguished
later theorists
from
tfieir
contemporaries and
'^^
from
and
by constructing a
science" or group of
coin the
We might would be more appropriate to their actual character than either of the terms by which they have been known. Under the circumstances to which we have referred, the most constant and pressing need of the
central consideration of the fiscal needs of the prince.
name
"fiscalists"
and
it
was ready money. The men who elaborated the theory of government for these German states had virtually to answer this question: What programme must a wise government adopt, in order first and foremost to be adequately supplied with ready money, and thus able to discJtarge the duties of the state in their various orders of importance ? The most typical of these men expressed this paramount consideration very positively and frankly. One of the reasons why later cameralists used superficially different formulations of the same essential regime, was that the fiscal systems had become relatively fixed, and could be taken for granted. The less conventionalized portions of the system, and especially the idealized versions of its aims, could then come in for a larger share of attention and there was more room for speculative excursions
ruler
;
by which
later writers
hoped
INTRODUCTION TO CAMERALISM
during the cameralistic period was war, and the primary task
of governments, especially in
The
fiscal
is
known
This
a cardinal
political fact, is
a datum presupposed
As Schmoller
we pause
for
policy of the
European
it
and eighteenth
our
centuries
which
its
system
its
it
is
not, of course,
several forms.
The
general
enough known.
Difficulties
were
Encouragement was given to domestic shipping, to the and to the coasting trade by restricting or forbidding foreign Commerce with the colonies, and the supplying of competition. them with European wares, was reserved for the mother country. The importation of colonial produce had to take place directly from the colony itself, and not by way of other European ports; and everywhere an attempt was made to establish direct trading relations by great privileged trading companies, and by state aid in manifold The general features are known; the details have ways even yet not been subjected to due scientific investigation. Our
treaties.
fisheries,
is
the
com
trade.
this:
as
way demanded
nificance (Macmillan,
issue of Schmoller's
Jahrbuch (1884).
THE CAMERALISTS We
have accepted Schmoller's general hypothesis in expla-
main
historical scholarship.
He
epitomizes
it
to
show by a
denburg, that during the course of the period from the fifteenth to
the seventeenth century, the creation of the
German
territorial state
We was not merely a political but also an economic necessity have to do with a great historical process by which local sentiment and tradition were strengthened, the social and economic forces of the whole territory consolidated, important legal and economic institutions created; by which, further, the forces and institutions
thus united were led to a battle of competition with other territories,
involving
numerous
shiftings of
toll,
confiscation of goods
embargoes and
tation
softened
and the like; while, within the country itself, old antagonisms and trade became more free. To so powerful and self-contained a structure and so independent and individual a policy as the town had reached in an earlier age^ the German territory scarcely anywhere attained .... yet this very time the second half of the sixteenth century, and the seven-
teenth century
for
an
economic transformation.
narrow
|X)ssible
circle of the
converging
and pointed
a correspond-
Germany, economic bodies were stretching out and becoming political; everywhere new state systems of economy and finance were arising, able to meet the new needs of the time. Only in our Fatherland did the old economic institutions become so petrified as to lose all life; only in Germany
ing policy
Everywhere, save
in
skill,
Loc.
cit.,
pp. 43
ff.
INTRODUCTION TO CAMERALISM
And
it
9
li
loss in
men and
capital whic
more than one century, in comparison with the Powers of the West; was not even the transference of the world's trading routes from the Mediterranean to the ocean that was of most consequence; it
it
was the
What,
to
each in
its
and supe-
then later to
and now
to Holland, France,
and England,
a state policy in
had been
to
Those
and
policies,
and
to bring
other.
quite unlike earlier times, the state organization assisted the national
economy and
bond
and economic life. It was not only a question of state armies, fleets, and civil services, it was a question rather of unifying systems of finance and economy which should encompass the forces of millions and whole countries, and give unity to their social life. There had always been great states; but they had been bound together neither by traffic nor by the organization of labor nor by any other like forces. The question now was with a great society divided into social classes widely different from one another and complicated by the
division of labor
to
of
common
national
and
religious feelings,
and administration,
its
and
life,
which should
government
civilization
in relation to the
rulers;
it
town and its environs. This was no was the innermost need of the higher
enlarged and strengthened
that such
forms of
social
into existence
The whole
lO
tunes,
trot
THE CAMERALISTS
only in Germany, but everywhere
else, is
summed up in the
Is
opposition of the economic policy of the state to that of th^ town, the
district,
and the
summed
its
up
in the opposition to
newly
rising states,
and
will
understand
it;
innermost kernel
in
it
is
not
state
making making
at the
same time;
state
and so
lies
gives
it
a heightened meaning.
The
not in
not
but in some-
and its institutions, in the and territorial economic policy by that of the With this accords the fact lately' pointed out with national state. regard to the literary history of the movement, that what is peculiar
its
replacing of a local
much
the state
itself.*
The
last
which we
to
shall try to
show that
be
misleading.
Mercantilism,
the
instinctive
same
prominent objective
On
For Schmoller's
later
Index,
title
"Mercantilismus,"
etc.
INTRODUCTION TO CAMERALISM
a grotesque mythology supposed
to of the, political
n
p(jlicy.
The
outside of
Germany.
in the
it
proper
applies
mythology as
book
refer not
merely
theorists
theorists.
alone, but to
The
One
is
is,
Adam
mercantilism.
ciple of the
it
When we
"The
Prin-
produced
Commercial or Mercantile System,"' we find that its efifect in this direction more by innuendo than
by
precise assertion.
The
That wealth
consists in
money, or
and
silver, is
a popular
notion which naturally arises from the double function of money, as the instrument of commerce, and as the measure of value.
The
of
its venom in part by assoBook IV, "Of Systems of Political subtitle of chap. i. The reader under-
economy" based on
or in gold and silver;" and that there was a "commercial or mercantile system " which posited this principle.
in the first place that
his work,
It
turns out
Smith did not distinguish, in this part of between " political economy " as a theory, and eco-
nomic
'
policy.
Wealth
oj Nations,
12
THE CAMERALISTS
though money were the only
upon
the absurd-
that idea.
of "political
prevailed.
on
The two
sisted in gold
into a countr)'
it
became
as
economy
(sic) to
diminish as
much
home consumption,
and
to increase as
much
of domestic industry.
he instructive, and
written.
is
to
be hoped that
it
will
modern and somewhat more full-grown version of the same fiction, this time by a writer who may fairly be presumed to have inclurled the Germans more directly in his generalization than was probably the case with Smith.* This historian of
political science says:
The
first
attempt
to put the
[W'irlhschajlslehre]
on a was the
scientific
and orderly
basis.
The
central
Consequently the
silver,
every possible
way
to acquire
gold and
and
to retain the
The means
advances of capital,
favorable
precise
'
regulations
ed.,
\'(>l.
commer-
Bax
1, p.
450.
Staatsu'issenschajlen, III.
Bd. (1858),
3 Italic s
296.
mine.
INTRODUCTION TO CAMERALISM
cial treaties
13
and exclusive
then prohibition
fit
for
domestic manufacture.
Nothing
employed.
is
easier than to
would therefore be a waste of time to stop for discusAt the same time, the ques-
and circumstances
is
not to
It
by others that
pose.
It
this first
system of
political
economy
(sic)
was not a
equally easy
statesmen,
sarily
upon
it,
emerged neces-
The accumulation
states.
easiest, not to
say
These were
wanted
of the
for in gold
and
0} a basing
of popular welfare,
and therewith
income of the crown, upon more prosperous agriculture, not a word could he said; partly because of the lack of all rational knowledge
of agricultural
economy on
Such mixtures
of
which
Von Mohl
fails to discover,
to
add vogue
to,
He
its
should be
made
14
without question.
THE CAMERALISTS
How
far
last sen-
may be
of agriculture published
by Zincke.^
Now
the fact
is
among
the cameralists.
This was,
first,
bom
till
after their time, and second, because such material for political economy as was contained in their theories was wonderfully sound, as far as it went, on the meaning of money and the
precious metals.
It is
to a certain
would be
England
today with dogmas which might be deduced from generalization of British policy in the
policy,
tical
Boer war.
Mercantilism, the
It
it
was philosophy.
answer
What
is the practical
situa-
war
to
be fought
economic principles,
all
would want
all
"The
The
conclusion would
have essentially the same sort of logical support, and would have the same degree of
validity,
which examination
of the
Vide below,
The
ists
given by
Cohn
more
many
INTRODUCTION TO CAMERALISM
mercantilism.
policy.
political
15
They certainly believed in a mercantilistic They certainly did not believe in the mercantilistic economy which has been charged to them by an age
meaning
of the policy.
about population.
represented
as
Malthusian principle.
The
cameralists
number
Their
beliefs
beliefs
which the
railroads,
and the farmers of the prairie states act upon every year of abundant crops. They assume that hands enough are not to be had for harvesting. The cameralists knew as well as modern economists do that there was a limit beyond which more mouths could not be fed. They did not qualify their statements about population quite as carefully as men must who have in mind the Malthusian chapter in economic theory.
Substantially, however, they held tenable views of the subject
parallel circum-
by the most convinced Malthusians in the world. Perhaps the most radical misunderstanding of the cameralespecially
ists,
on
connection with
is
their
theories of absolutism.
To
Americans, absolutism
that
factor.
much profounder
which the
political philosophers
they
to learn
little
more
of civic evolution.
docile
if
l6
THE CAMERALISTS
more
in degree
American
The
truth
promoted
social control
practicable the
authorities.
by expressing in the most vivid way enormous value of obedience to the accepted
of these fictions
Each
in
which
an age
said, in its
obeyed."
While
absolutism as a principle
indefensible,
it
was subordinated
in effect
of
judgments
civic
of the cameralists
way.
Apart from
all
details,
whether on the
credit or debit side, the salient fact about the cameralistic civic
theory
wan
its
of the community.
The
absolutistic state, of
used means and methods which are out of the question for
democracies.
That same
and arrived
crete result, to
Whether we
will or no,
is
human
experience
is social.
The
type
of association
more important
Whether
between
social ascend-
ascendency
must
INTRODUCTION TO CAMERALISM
tion.
17
the col-
Whether
the
lectivistic
principle,
must
it
decide.
Even
if
much
will
be the part
col-
wisdom
achievements of
German
Whether the coUectivistic principle is ever beneficially to modify democracy or not, there is hardly room for debate upon the proposition that in sheer economy of social efficiency Germany has no near rival among the great nations. Whether the method of this achievement costs more than it is worth, is an open question. That, in view of what it has accomplished, it is worth understanding, is beyond dispute. The explanation
of the
German
German
school-
master
won
It
would be a
superficial
was
its
whole
civic system.
No
modem
more contemptuously
by the
is
rest of the
German
its
principalities.
They were
tic
Each, with
minute cameralis-
raw
The
German
people
civic duties,
and
modern
European
history.
Without attempting
to
THE CAMERALISTS
we may begin
In
is
account Vjiographical
in
in
addition
to that to
be found
Die allgemeine
deutsche Biographie.
While
it
is
ment
of this
book
is
Roscher's interyjretation.'
We
shall
presumpof
their
and the
sociological
significance
system.
and
Cameralism
of the
em]:>loyees of governments,
made
in the
Roscher distinguishes
'
in the
'
While Ros<her
partially corrects
an
error, yet
he rehabilitates
it
at
the
same time
Lidrlell
in
u-irthschajlstehre, p.
1
and
Srcnt:
sense
ff
is
selves,
Cameralia, or Cameral-
prfKfeded; in a wider sense the term was applied to the sciences of the
state in general.
.\
who
INTRODUCTION TO CAMERALISM
century three principal tendencies
economists:*
first
19
national
among
the
German
its
chief seat in
best represented
by
SeckendorflF.
Then a
attaches
and Conring loom up. A third group, viz., the itself most closely in part to Austria,
Electors.
It
practical-progressive,
begs the question at the outset, to use the phrase with which
To
Germany
is to
imply that
there already
that phrase
was a systematic economics in the sense in which was understood two hundred years later, when Roscher wrote. It is certainly not true that an economic
theory existed in
Germany
by the phrase
'
in
England since
Adam
it is
Smith.
It
would be
I shall
urge later
okonomik" corresponds with what existed in and eighteenth centuries, only if it has the force of the phrase "national management." This management included morals, education, religion, politics, diplomacy, war, and finance, much more directly and intensively than it concerned itself with economic questions as understood in England and America. It is an anachronism therefore to credit Germany, before Adam Smith's critique of economic relations was imported and domesticated, with an economic science in the British sense. The men in Germany who theorized about civic interests before the close of the eighteenth century were political scientists after their kind. They were political economists only in a secondary and incidental sense. This
distinction is crucial for the interpretation of all the social sciences in
Germany from
this
point
Loc.
cit.,
p. 338.
'
30
less difficult to
THE CAMERALISTS
support a claim that economics in
Germany
be a
facts. Economic science in Germany was merely a subordinate and subconscious factor in the cameralistic theory of governmental management. It had not
irreexist.
the
cameralists,
whether
sound or
not
not,
were
at first
homely
tions.
thrift,
critical
of social interest
was
civic,
not economic.
are
With
this
theorem
we
bound
to arrive at
a revised
Readers who want the author's conclusions, but who are unwilling
may
Ifist
chapter.
CHAPTER
THE
If
II
CIVICS OF OSSE
book were
to trace
minutely the
men, princes and their servants, was in many ways typical. Such an inquiry Osse would take us far beyond the scope of the present study. It would be rather an investigation of the history of German
whom
Reforma-
would bring
from that
which
this
argument
is restricted.
of princes at a time
when
in
man
of
rulers
was
still
undecided, and
when
the administration
stage.
German
states
was
an early formative
His activity
He
is
of
marking the
length, than as
Osse was bom in the hamlet of Ossa, near the obscure town of Geithain, in 1506. He studied law at Leipzig, was
"scholarly, conscientious, laborious, gentle
He
was men-
tioned by
Zamcke
as consUiarius Misnensis;
till
he remained a
released
Herzog Moritz, 1541; the same year was by Moritz to enter the service of the elector Johann
AUgemeine deutsche Biographie,
31
title
Diestel in
"Osse."
22
THE CAMERALISTS
Friedrich, where he remained as chancellor for six years. There are confusions in dates at this period, but after employment of uncertain length at Meiningen, Osse was in 1 547 made
Ho/richter in Leipzig,
On
account of
ill
health he with-
drew from his judgeship in 1555, and composed the document which is his chief title to a place in history. He died in 1556.
A
is
unnecessary.
own
of his editor
The
complete story of
this
and we must
pass
it
Osse and
Strick.
The editor, Thomasius, implies that the reputation thus referred to made Osse uncomfortable at the court of Johann Friedrich,
and accounts
ever, that he
Thomasius
protests,
how-
While declining
was no angel
gospel.
At bottom, the case against Osse appears to have been was not as comTestament, ed. Thorn., 171 7, "Vorredc," p. 10.
CIVICS OF OSSE
plete
23
as
still
the
Lutherans demanded.
He was
accused
of
being
at heart a papist.
his guilt.
We
entitles its
author to rank as a forerunner of the seventeenthis a monograph and by command and was intended, both by prince and his emeri-
and eighteenth-century
of his prince,
cameralists.*
its
It
author's
life,
which
Adam
Smith
later
The form
is
in
is
accessible
is
reputed
to have
been the
first
Germany
of
At the time
is
of
We
shall
a few
details in
Osse.
*
Ckurfilrsten zu Sachsen.
schafften.
1556.
Anitzo
zum
Gegen Hertzog Augusto Gnaden Rdthen und Landvollig gedruckt. Auch hin
und wieder durch nutsliclu A nmerckungen Erldutert. Nebst einer Vorrcde und Anhang von einen Versuch kleiner " Annalium" den damahligen Zustand so wohl bey Hoje als auf Universitdten desto deutlicher sich cinzubilden.
Zum
Halle
hti
Magdeburgisch. A.
title-page to the
MDCCXVII. A
body
portion of the author's special of the document reads: " Welchergestalt eine
Hiilffe eine
und rechtmassige
Justicien erhalten
kan.
geschieht von
dem Regiment.
Gericht-
und Policey der l6blichen Chur- und Furstenthum Sachsen, Thiiringen, und Meissen, Hochermeldtem Churfvirsten zustandig."
barkeit
94
In the
first
THE CAMERALISTS
i)lace,
document, that
Thomasius says, in the Preface to the he was first shown the imperfect manuscript,
He adds that up to that time it was unknown to him, and he had not even seen the portions that had been printed. Later he bought the full manuscript at an auction. Thomasius
biittel.
in
Osse a
man
\\
after his
own
?
heart.
man
about
p. 16):
is
whom
the
so
many
suspicions existed
{V or rede,
The author
to be improved.
plish
all,
first
of those counselors
in
known
to us
who
is
The
first
The document
notes, 548 pages.
is
we have
264 pages,
of the
Thomasius' collection
on the history
Uni-
versity of Leipzig.
The
of the c(^llection is
The
editing of Osse's
improvement
problem,
it
of the educational
was
ments together.
a
treatise
ai)pears that
Thomasius wanted
on
political reform,
Roman
The
make
number
271.
The Testament
in
much
they
fill,
If
we should
in
we should
of
find
two stadia
development
the most
shall not
marked by
CIVICS
OF OSSE
25
Thoma-
of cameralism proper.
On
to deal.
We may
must be examined
guage, or of
its
in later theorists.
geographical variations,
line,
much
later
later
than Becher.'
in the
of Latin
by the
side
of
German
of
sion
age.
Osse's
vocabulary,
modem
p. 33),
this is not to
be attributed to the
editor.
He
says that he
changed
aher.
little
of substituting the
word oder
word
Osse's
is
own
man
in the
as follows:
The motives which have moved me to set down my opinions German language, are not for the sake of His Electoral Grace, who, God be praised, was in his youth thoroughly instructed in the
Latin tongue and good
arts,
Latin language, and the desire that they might not be hindered in
it
among all
(Obrigkeit)
may
prove and
ff.
make
evident
its
virtue
pp. 8
and aptitude
in
Vide pp. 40
below. below.
3 Zuschrifft,
ff.
ff.
26
two ways.
projects,
First, in
THE CAMERALISTS
time of war, through manly deeds, good sagacious
their lands and subjects, second, in time and maintaining of good godly righteous government, judiciary, and Policey.^ For with these two every magistracy should necessarily be adorned and supplied, in order that in every time of war and peace they {sic) may be able well to govern, protect, control and defend their own.
and protection of
briefly
upon the
As
he continues
(p.
33)
in times of peace, I will
As
to
write, as
much
all
as
God
vouchsafes
me
grace, for
He
is
the ground
on which
is
must be
built
which
is
to set
dovm
five electors of
is
Saxony, the
fifth
then
He
own
command
of the elector.
We may
safely
He
Such a command
reason I lay
am
all
down
first
of
upon
is
It
special diligence.
understandit
and
wit, is to
according
is
to his
own
will,
caprice
and opinion,
it
government
a higher
who
by nature are of one origin with him, which same may be known
from
I
all
The
German form
will
appear
CIVICS
to be ruled
OF OSSE
cattle
27 by one of their
is
own
in
necessary,
which
Now
man, who
and more
stable.
excellent than
man
himself,
if
the government
is
to
be
yet fallible,
in
common
with
.... and
and
even in case a
man
God, out of special grace to human means of the common written "aw [der ordentlichen heschriehenen Recht und Gesetze] whereby to keep the temper of magistrates and judges in the right way, in order that the same may govern others and render justice without any hindrance of inordinate inclinations and affections, and when one considers the usehis successors, therefore almighty
fulness of such a divinely given means, one finds that this ordination
of rights
and laws
is
gifts
with which
God
has blessed
men
for
out
all
inordinate affections
right
and
inclinations
if
it,
When now
those
such
common
it
and law
is
ordained, even
who
act con-
trary to
.... no
since
one has
that
is satisfied,
we know
tience
is
avoided.*
is
later (p.
drawn
still
more
distinctly:
The
The
naive reasoning
at face value.
means of control so long as people Revolution was certain wherever it was repuefifective
98
THE CAMERALISTS
Hence follows that it is a human duty to hold the common rights and laws in honor, to esteem them high, and to subject oneself to them with patience, as the means whereby common peace, repose and welfare are maintained. And that also the estabUshed magistracy is under obligation to protect such right and law, to enforce it and to govern according to it, not oppressing anyone by acting contrary to it. For there can be no doubt that as the powers that be are ordained of God (Ad. Rom. 13) likewise also human rights and laws by the powers that be, so that they flow from the providence Accordingly everyone and special destiny of almighty God should remember that if he disobeys the magistrate and escapes
punishment, yet he
almighty God.'
is
part,
Osse says
part about
that, in order
it is
necessary
Christian
in the
first
all
governments.
it
As
to electoral
Saxony
in particular, he adds,
He
specifies
not elective
line."
The
con-
(p.
and the good customs and The country has therefore grown and otherwise.
affairs is of
Then
And
since every
government
in
temporal
two partr
[auf zweyerley
stehet],
namely government
it
(sic)
and
Policey,
and
is
in
I Entirely aside from the familiar dogmatic basis of this argument, Osse's use of the terms " beschriebene" and " geschriebene Rechte" apparently without variation of concept plainly shows that the argu-
of its plausibility from a peculiar form of the ambiguous middle hidden in the logic, i. e., the ecclesiastico-theological associations of the terms "heiiige Schrift," ^' geschrieben," etc., were carried over
to all written laws.
Thomasius at once challenges this dictum, on the ground that debates over "the best form of government" are mere pedantries.
CIVICS
land in this respect also should
lands.
OF OSSE
blessed of Go<l before
2Q
l)e
many
other
For, in the
first
the civic offices with functionaries, with orders that each shall
receive
what
is
due,
and
the subjects.
is
For
in this country,
maintained, and
to trade with
one another
commerce
und
Geleit],
is
much
trade,
ha.s
and where is much trade and people .... the land improvement and prosperity, etc.
in
general
This passage
states at the
may be
In the
German
officials
officials
were unor-
ganized,
atized.
Men
of all the
governmental
since,
We
have
Our
it
merely draws in
embryonic period.
Osse enumerates as another blessing of the country the founding of "drey Fiirsten-Schulen, als Meissen, Pforten,
Grimma,'
Schulen."'
'
und zwo
treffentliche
Universitiiten
und
hohc
The author
first
The two
Leipzig, i4oq.
1502.
3
to prepare
THE CAMERALISTS
men
was
for ofl5cial positions
in legal knowledge.
the papacy
of
influential
these foundations.
Then mention
is
made
of
the
two
by the elector, the one at Leipzig, the other at Wittenberg, and the Schdppen are also praised as beneficent institutions,* and besides the other higher and lower courts held by prelates and nobles on their estates, there are many
Hoffgerichte held
that,
possesses a
specially
fine
by the grace of God a praiseMoreover the counPolicey,' and all affairs are
fine,
courteous, afifable
In addition
Yet in
it is
He
His
The
caution with
is
command
and the
welfare
of
common
and
all
many
These courts were supposed to secure justice in minor cases by Thomasius has an imporofficial and lay persons. tant note (p. 210) on the quarrels in the law faculties over SchdppenVide pp. 208 and 310. stuhle.
fair
combination of
to judge
tartly
fine or
comments, "I
a nasty Policey
will
not undertake
be."
it
may
We shall
our pur-
suits
pose to deal with the maturer form of the system particularly as reflected Vide below, p. 436 et passim. in Justi.
3
than that the concept gute Ordnung fills the place in phy which the notion "freedom" occupies in ours.
German
life-philoso-
CIVICS OF OSSE
31
whose
selfish interests
are on
all
to take
This fundamental
upon improvement in the universities. He recurs to the three reasons which he had assigned in sees. XCIV-XCVI of Part I,
for unsatisfactory conditions in public
life, viz.:
(a) defective
admit young
men
to the
(c)
frequent changes in
oflSce,
and he
This
adds a fourth,
excludes
viz.,
favoritism to relatives
and
friends.
more talent from public careers, or from the places which they would be more competent to fill. The first means suggested for correcting the evil is a system of secret
of
men
Their duty
men of promise, and to recommend them for appointments. Thereupon follow all the propositions With respect for the improvement of schools and universities.
should be to pick out young
to the latter,
Osse
restricts himself
"arme
betriibie
because
As a source
he professes ignorance of the facts at Wittenberg (pp. 258 S.). of information about conditions within and around
the University of Leipzig at the middle of the sixteenth century
In
this con-
mentioned.*
As
will
32
cameralistic theory
THE CAMERALISTS
was
built
is
up had not
yet risen
upon Osse's
to
horizon.
His document
compare
The
chap-
Table of Contents
ters
is
worth consideration.
The
titles of
of everything
must be understood to stand for a series of indictments which might be classed under those heads at
Leipzig,
to create a prima-facie
Here
men
In later chapters
content with a bare
why we must be
This
first
xiv) is a fine
and
among
the
more academic
thinkers.
The
and conduct on the one hand, and frequent and almost proverbial formulations of abstract moral standards on the other, is perhaps nowhere more evident than in this
facts of institutions
period.
made from the literature of this period, which would compare favorably in moral import with generalizations of the same order in any subsequent generation. The essential demands upon justice, as presented in this chapter, are that
eaaly be
it
shall
be
To
this particular
(p.
long note
Furstlichen Sdchsischen
erlangen, zu desto
bessern Verstand des von D. Melchior von Osse auj ChurjUrst Augusti
lichen Bedenckens.
AUergnddigslen Bejehl A. 1^55 verjertigten und Ij6 ubergebenen RechtZum Gebrauch des Thomasischen Auditorii.
The
first
half at least
is
CIVICS OF OSSE
The author has, to be sure, said much justice. He has however forgotten the
that best
it
33
is
about
is
same
and
that justice
shall not
be tediously suspended.
In
fact,
sufficient
clearness
on
and eighth
sections of the
same
chapter.
Then
and suggestions for their correction. The same general scheme is followed in the succeeding chapters Distinguishing the chapter on in the division on justice. Policey from the latter for purposes of emphasis, and because
the Saxon courts, the subject occupies such a unique position in the cameralistic
period, we must give our attention we have intimated, he ought not
in the series of writers with
to the editor, although, as
properly to be considered
are chiefly concerned,
whom we
and although the chronological order is disarranged by attention to him here. Osse begins the chapter on Policey with a remark to this effect: Aristotle and the greater part of the ancient wise men have held that a good Policey of a land or
a city requires four "pieces,"
^'Praeiorium,'
viz., ^^Princeps,^'
^^
Concilium,''
translates,
and
^^
Popidus.'"
"a
an
ruler or
overlord;
judicature,
cue,
and a pious obedient people."^ As in the case of Thomasius at once takes the and his note is an important symptom. Beginning with
which form one
of
bibliographical references
the
lines
of
evidence
i)y
which we
be
discussed later,'
'
Thomasius continues
unpartheyische
He
first calls
to
mind
rites:
34
THE CAMERALISTS
This very year there appeared
at Franckfurth
am Mayn
It
a book
contains seven
The
author,
who
must
rest
upon four
tion.
chief pillars,
namely
Policey, fiscus,
The
and
external
con-
The
life,
a vigorous
society,
namely,
(i) in
a vigorous growth of
a religious worship,
(3) in virtuous
in its sustenance,
through
(5)
(6)
abundance of necessary,
robust health,
useful,
means-of-life,
and
(7)
peaceful security.
The
and
try.
places,
and
(9) in
a convenient ornamentation of
is
On
disintegrated
through
vicious
decline of population,
(2)
life,
and
and plagues,
(7) turbu-
towns.
different kinds of
removal of the
Fiirstlichen
Machtff.,
und Rent-Camtner
nota
ff.)
One
German
word Ver-
stood to
mean
"constitution" in
word should never be underthe modern sense, until the beginning I believe I fairly represent what the and even to Thomasius by the vague
of the quotation supports this view.
CIVICS
of a Policey bureau, the
OF OSSE
35
members
above points,
(2) averting
harmful occurrences,
com-
men and
and places
detectives,
(6)
inquisitions, (7)
end drawing useful ordinances and things, (9) responsibility for observance of Thereupon the author enlarges upon each of these nine the same. points of good Policey, especially upon the population, religion, virtuous conduct, good kinds of education, riches, health, security, order and adornment of a state, especially upon the means of securing Now the author deserves these things, and of avoiding the opposite.
in the state, (8) to that
relating to persons
which
viz.,
pedagogy
Indeed everyone
truth he will
who
much whose
comwill
He
if
he had spent
political
to the Aristotelian
monograph of the same author, another tract also published by him this year, viz., Politische Gedanken, welcher gestalt Monarchen und Konige, Republiquen und Fursten, nebst ihren Reichen, Ldndern und Unterthanen, durch eine leichte methode mdchtig und reich seyn oder werden konnen; and he continues
Thomasius then
refers to a second
In this connection
much remains
to
be said in order to
make
(i) It
mention only
clearly
how
36
THE CAMERALISTS
He
observes at the outset, to be
Oeconomie^ of the
with trade and business [Handel und Wandel], with the appertaining
the taxing system with the arrange-
ments
and he promises
pillars.
to
expand
his
After he thereupon
announces, however, that the Policey has charge of the internal and
external condition [Verfassung] of a state, one
for the opinion
that,
is
because the
fiscal,
must
also
And
in
if
here understood
hand and taxing systems aim at the well-being of the rulers, this difference might have been announced at once without circumlocution by the author, but on the other hand it would then not be clear how the commercial system is distinguished from the Policey system,
the well-being [Wohiseyn] of the subjects, since on the other the fiscal
especially as everyone understands that the
chapter,
also there
very serious
that the author regards all these four pillars not as the
ground
of a peaceful and virtuously reasonable state, but as a ground of the increasingly prosperous of the second tract he lays
rulers
fiscal
must attend
and highest
the
title
although in
'
become powerful and (supplying from For the present tract he chatters about religion and virtue,
interest, viz., to
later.
The
title
Vide
Index,
book
is
the
upon the
later writers
have so far
account of
CIVICS OF OSSE
it is
37
at the beginning of the
second chapter
religion is
it
he announces that he
whether
will
and
Indeed, in chapter
6, p. 9,
he recom-
mends polygamy
Again he
tution,
as a serviceable
refers to regulation
and
to
Who
the author
had read his two tracts and had made Meanwhile he has sufficiently betrayed himself when, in the tract, How Great Lords May Become Rich (p. 11), he cites a Discurs published by his father in 1655
identity a short time after I
these notes.
of this
trative
Thomasius saw a great light, partly through the eyes unnamed writer, on the place of Policey in the adminissystem. So much of the note is quoted, however, not
its
primarily for
appended.^
They continue
istration.
admin-
Gsse says:
good condition,
is
if
one
is
to maintain a
good Policey,
for a lord
and
ruler
in three respects
same in good when the people [das Volck] lives virtuously, and some among them are promoted to learning, and to good arts, and many wise and learned people are in their
intrusted to him; namely, that he should maintain the
number, from
whom
the rest
may
receive
good
instruction,
and they
Vide above,
p. 33.
38
are not
left to
THE CAMERALISTS
wander
in the darkness of ignorance,
and everything
hindered
is
by the
ruler.
The
foregoing
of firstrate importance
when we
generalize
this
land
is
worthy Policey"
He
For instance,
and urban
Thomasius comments
on the
grounds on which
based,
viz., that in
and
calls
upon the
elector to appoint a
In the
upon the elector correction of practice in the criminal courts, and especially prevention of illegal resort Increase of the amount of light and air in prisons; to torture. certain sumptuary reforms, on the ultimate ground (p. 516)
third place, he urges
money from
was able
to
recommend.
these considerations.
closes with
An
is
title,
As evidence
he
in 1555, "in
31 biss 59 zu lesen."
CIVICS
Wohlfarth belangende.
OF OSSE
39
It replies to
adopted in
Saxony, would
it
not
all
Roman Empire
(2)
The unhappy
point.
is pri-
are to be considered,
and
it is
our inquiry.^
is
not directly
germane
to
our purpose,
is
its
the Testament
again.
It is profess-
edly an attempt
It
is
in Saxony.
of
it
1 409-1
629.
To
the student
Saxon
history,
and
Thomasius insists (p. 532) that Osse's omission to mention in this connection the Religious Peace of Augsburg (September 25, 1555) strengthens the suspicion that he was not a good Lutheran, but at heart
papist.
As
the Testament
mention it, the editor thinks, points sympathy with any arrangement in the nature of a modus vivendi between the contending forces. Osse's own professions do not tend to confirm this hypothesis.
later, failure to
CHAPTER
THE
The
only writer
III
CIVICS
OF OBRECHT
whom
is
etc.).
Although
is
his
name
no reason him as an important contributor to cameralistic Thomasius {Vorrede zum Testatnent, p. 25) intimates science. that Lohneyss borrowed much without credit from Osse. I
frequently occurs in the cameralistic books, there
to regard
Inama
first
says
him
*
:
He was
He was
Master
August of Saxony.
In 1583 he
At both courts
to
have a model
tireless
admin-
among contemporary
for their display.
title
From
"Erbherr
in
his
own
printing
own
The
latter
part of his
without traces
in the
War.
'
was zu der lohlichen Reiterei und einem Cavalier zu wissen von Nothen, auch Chur und Warlung der Pjerde und wie man dieselhen auj allerhand Manier ahrichUn und zdumen soil, 1609, 2fJ cd., 1624; (2) Bericht vom Bergwerh, wie mandieselben bauen und in guten Wohlstand bringen soil, 1617; (3) Aulicoel
gehori^,
40
CIVICS
OF OBRECHT
41
und Regierungskunsi;
has no special
scientific weight.
his
work
flourishing period of
German
of
The biography
Eisenhart's sketch:^
Georg Obrecht
is
best epitomized in
Obrecht was
city in 1612.
bom
in Strassburg in 1547,
and died
in the
same
As a young man he
studied in Paris.
After escaping
the massacre of St. Bartholomew, which cost the loss of his library,
Laws
In 1575 he was
made
Professor of
Law
life.
in Strassburg,
and he retained
As
the fleeting
assumed the spiritual leadership of Protestant Germany. Along with Giffen and Gothofredus, it was chiefly Obrecht who founded the fame of the Strassburg academy. He held various offices and dignities besides his professorship. In 1604 he w^ made a noble of the empire, and in 1609 he
received the
title
of Palgrave.
of this
book Obrecht
is
important as the
The
oder Hoj-Staats-
1679.
to
Apparently the
title
under the
writers
und Regierungskunst, 1622-24, republished was identical with the book often referred Teutscher Regentenstaat (vide Roscher, p. 116). There
last
are good reasons for the suspicion that Lohneyss has been mentioned by
many
who
him was
at
second hand.
All. d. Bib., in loc.
A nstellung,
Erhaltung
und Vermehrung guter Policey, und von billicher, rechtmdssiger und nothwendiger, Erhohung eines jeden Regenten Jdhrlichen Gejallen und Einkommen. Allen Hohen und Nidern Ohrigkeiten, besonders dess Heiligen Romischen Reichs Stdnden, in diesen letzten und hochbetrangten
42
THE CAMERALISTS
in the Preface
monographs which make up the volume is disclosed at once by the author's son, Joannes Thomas Obrecht As editor he gives C. et Comes Palatinus Caesareus"). ("J. an account of the origin and purpose of the different monographs. Attention is piqued at once by the statement, "I printed the bo{^ at my own expense, and secretly."* According to the editor's explanation, the essays are the outgrowth
and development
the wars with the
of
is
stated in con-
document.
In a word,
the question of
money
belli.
to
had publicly discussed certain theses de principijs had maintained, among other
to
In
things, that
dance
of
money
He had
also
announced
sion, to
that he
means."
A
of
single
remark
would be
If there
little
for the
every
German
what
it is
state,
it
would be necessary
to set
down
this
item for
Germany
Advocatum, d^ Academiae Hernacher im Jahr 1617 zum Truck befordert, und biss anhero ingeheitn gehalten: Nunmehr aber zu mdnnigliches Nutzen publicirt, und mit nothwendigen Registern verbessert. "Lectio lecta placet,
Sacri Palalij Comitem, Ret pub. Argentinens.
AnUcessorem.
in
secreto," Vorrede, p. 1.
CIVICS OF
fully,
OBRECHT
43
however, by
facts.
German historians that no question remains Our problem is to interpret the pheHere then was a
all
nomena
in
of
He confronted
in
types of
men
it,
theoret-
ically or practically
Germany.
The key
he saw
was the
With
and the
result
was a scheme,
first
fairly
be called a respectable
draft
quite
programme which was later worked out in detail, and in the same spirit, by the cameralists. Without preabout the extent to which the object of subsequent
we must
define
make
it
posals.
how
civic authorities
might solve their most importunate problem of commanding the sinews of war,
and
more ordinary
expenses of government.
this
theme.
son does not
tell
The
the
why
it
to keej)
monographs
secret.
and the learned alone, and that either the monogra[)hs themselves were not sufficiently matured for publication, or that no
public existed, outside of a select circle, intelligent or responsible
enough
appears in
So far as evidence by reading them. the volume itself, Obrecht's theories contained
to profit
hostility.
At the
On
on the
fiscal
problem, and he
44
THE CAMERALISTS
first
monograph.
chiefly in Latin.'
was demanded from high quarters, or whether the above occasion spurred him to further study.
father's further opinion
At
all
were
and tested them by the Word of God, in order to learn which doctrines were to be rejected, and which, as precious pearl and gems, should be loyally retained, and by
available,
the grace of
God
so set forth
was calculated
on the one
and
subjects,
the proposed
means would be
of the
sufficient,
and on
the other
be unreasonable.
Obrecht, however, did not fully trust his
own judgment
call the
He
Georgii Obrechti,
Discursus Bellico-
polilicus.
Invictissimo
Laudatissintae
I V. ab
A ugustissimo Principi ac Domino, Dn. Rudolpho Memoriae. II Romanorum Imperatori, Anno M. DC.
et
A ulhore
sus Turcicum
ostenditur.
2
geri possit,
quam
jelicissime
Optimo Maximo," the title-page reads: " Politisch Bedencken und Discurs: Von Verbesserung Land unnd Lent, Anrichiung guier Policey. Und
und billicher Vermehrung eines jeden Regenlen und Oberherren Jdhrlichen Cejdllen und Einhommen." This monograph occupies 135 pages, without index. Its main propcjsitions are in German, and they are fortified by copious quotations in I^tin from the Politicorum scripta, the same ranging from legendary sayings of Servius TuUius, to dicta of contemporary authorities in canonical and civil law.
jiirnemblich von nutzlicher Erledigung grosser Aussgaben,
CIVICS OF
OBRECHT
45
"under pledge
of
states-
men."
With
third
The
document
in the series
in
form an independent
monograph, but the editor says it was drawn from the Bedencken and was intended to show more plainly how the ideas in the former treatise could be applied. It was finished in 1610.
It
contains 46 pages.
'
There
is
monoit
The
Bedencken was
that a copy of
was completed,
this first edition
if
the former
is
correct.
Thomasius adds
This appears
to
was
in his possession.
monograph rather certain. From Thomasius had never seen the edition of 161 7, in which the document in question was virtually the second chapter. Of that edition he says, upon the authority of Deckher, "descrip/i5/1</m/>o/i5, p.m. 335 Theother, presumably somewhat enlarged,
the
title to
make
plain that
appeared in the year 161 7." He further states that copies of the latter edition, at some date which he does not mention, sold for one hundred
Gulden.
est
To
account for
this
quae
illi
Thomasius concludes
The
inference
reason that can be surmised for calling in the book out of reach of their children.
similar to parents'
motives for keeping some books which they find profitable for themselves
A
in the
ciret
little
document
collec-
worden."
The
date referred
t<j
tion
The
title
and general
outline indicate
its
scope,
viz.,
Constitutio
niitzlicher
Durch
46
THE CAMERALISTS
Having gone sd far in his studies, Obrecht discovered that something more was necessary. He concluded that the entire life of sovereigns and subjects must be conducted in accordance with the dictates of thrift and morality, or the means
woidd
still
Accordet
ingly he harked
back
to
Roman
exploitation of
"Censum
Censuram" and he
prompted by
his conception
Roman
system, partly
a speculative proposal.
the
animus
means
At
to the state.
same
time,
and
this is
trait that
improvement of the physical, mental, and moral life conwas an avowed and prominent part
und
erlangt wird; Beschrieben
II.
Ein sondere Constitutio und Ordnung, dc ludiciario Vectigali. Von sechs Ordnungen, in welchen die bona Fisci, dcm Aerario
i.
und uncrljawlen
cr*
2.
Ordinatio, de Bonis
habitis,
Vacanlibus:
3.
Ordinatio de Bonis
& proderelicto
Thesauris;
Orrlinatio, de Bonis
Datnnatorum
Ordinatio, de Bonis incest as Nuptias conlrahenlium; Ordnungen, durch wclchc ratione bonorum suhdilorvm das Aerarium Sanctum mit vielen starckcn Jiihrlichen Gefallen, und
Proicriptorum;
III.
6.
Von
vier
Einkommcn
versehen wird:
7.
in
Linea coUaterali
gradum heredes post se rdinquunt: 10. Ordinatio, von ciner nothwendigen, und hochnutzlichen Fewr-Ordnung. IV. De Fine huius Constitutionis, und wahin obcrklilrlc reditus kdnnen, und soUen verwendet werden.
CIVICS
of the
OF OBRECHT
47
programme.
It
cumulative insistence
was not stated by the cameralists (Justi It was emphasized with as a means-end, and this factor became
in
German
polity.^
The
document or ^^secretum" in the series is referred to as the Aerarium Liherorum. Ostensibly it was a plan of savings and endowment insurance for children. The author avows quite frankly, however, that in essence it is a detail in
and
last
his fiscal
scheme.
hands
of the
and
to
The
so-called "Constitution,'" in
scheme
of Policey
is
ein
Wie
es
gleichsam mil seiner ganzen Policey, als eines Politischen Leibs, und alien
desselberen
Gliederen,
II. Wie gemelter und Administration, auff: und zunemmen und undergang zuverhiiten. So dann zum III. Wie
den
Underthanen beschaffen.
aitss
und gejdhrlichen
Zeiten,
Weg
A ppendice. The "Information" and " Erkldrung," together with the Appendix, occupy 32 pages. The inscription of the former reads: "Kurtze Information und Erklurung.
In welchen die Precia Inscriptionum bestimbt,
und die Nutzbarkeiten welchc auss den inscriptionibus, inscriptionum Document is 6* A Ibis, wie auch aus Anordnung der Deputaten, st^wol privatim, als publice zuerlangen seind, kiirtzlich deducirt werden, Zu besserem Verstand, unnd Nachrichtung, voriger Policey Ordnung, und Constitution angestellt." The special title of the Appendix is: "Von
underschiedenen Inscriptionum Documentis."
The
Constitution contains so
many
docu-
quoted in
full in
an appendix
if
48
THE CAMERALISTS
If,
however, a
and
government.
in
Since,
however,
Beyond
sidering the
fiscal
contents.
Conof
of a coherent
scheme
administration,
we may
scheme
exhibits.
^^
Billico-
This
is like
stopping
is afire,
Summus
Hostes;
Justa Causa;
et
is
paved
all
problem of
The monograph
and
pages,
Constitutio
in addition an Index of 8 pages. The title-page reads: und Ordnung. Von einetn Hochniitdichen Aerario Libero-
Summen
Celts, fiirnemblich
selbs,
und Gemeiner Wohljahrt turn besten angelegt werden: Sampt allerhand Erbldrungen, und xweyen Kinder Rechnungen. Beschrieben unnd
von Georgia Obrechto
etc.
angestelll
CIVICS
OF OBRECHT
named
49
are classed
we may
would be attached
"burdensome" tax was one which impaired the citizen's means of maintaining his standard of life. A "non-burdensome" tax was one which left the means of livelihood intact, but might
theoretically absorb all increments of profit.*
The author names first among means which impose no burden upon the persons who supply the revenue, "6owa oikonomia." In the text he uses the Greek form olKovofitav. He explains that he means by it good administration in general. That is, all functionaries are to exhibit fidelity and diligence, they are not to incur needless expenses, they are to exercise frugality and parsimony, and thus to have in hand the means with which to meet unforesecond class of resources.
the fiscal
seen
demands.
This observation
is
necessary,
because a
cardinal
datum
did not have the idea, and consequently did not have a word
^
I,
quibus
De cum
II.
De modis
praecipui de
bona Oeconomia
et
We may merely name the four classes of resources which the author
first
head,
viz., (i)
imposition of taxes;
(2) extra-
ordinary taxes; (3) "51 annui reditus atque census, sique portoria et vectigalia augentur" (and without entering into the question of the precise
connotation of these terms at the date of the book, the author's illustrations
which may
much more
literal
meaning under
this head.
50
for
THE CAMERALISTS
"economics"
in the sense attached to that
term
in nineteenth-
the
haushaltung. as
shall see, the Greek term was often resented for agriculmanagement only. In the intermediate ])eriod its meaning was unprecise. Our concern at this point is merely to
we
tural
development of German
the
social theories.
The remaining
pur|>ose.'
titles in
monograph
refer to details of
the fiscal resources of the time which yield nothing for our
emperor down
to the
minor
princes.
working
tcjol
for
him as
for
.sociologists.'
The
exhibit
'
This
will \}C
viz.,
"
De novorum Acceptorum
et praecipue
justitiae
administratione
accepta augeri
lustitiae
redilus altsque onerc sulxlitorum augeri possunt." " De Commeatu Pabuli et Frumenti, item de armis, ct dc
ijs
rebus,
quae ad arma
"
jxirtincnt
(omparandis."
belli
De Praecedentibus ad ronstitutionem
accommodandis."
Thus, "Sintemal wie in einem Natiirlichen Lcib, die nervi prima animalis sensus et motus instrumenta, auch causa actionum seind: also in corpore civili, oder in einer Repuhlica, als in einem FUrstenthumb,
CIVICS OF
vital force of
OBRECHT
51
governments lead
viz., to call
and
and
of adopting the
means
to be proposed, or better
and
their subjects.
The
first reflect
German
states,
and secondly,
money
properly to pay
employees, rulers
own
He
are to be sure
many
magistri, as
Bodinus
to
calls
them," who
means
of raising
money, yet
to point out
No
one appears
just
and
lucrative,
and
at the
same time
require-
He
proposes, there-
satisfy these
ments.
The body
on the
lines
previous paper,
means
Graffschafft, Herrschafft,
Gut gleichsam
die nervi,
und in fiirnemmen Statten, seind Gelt und und instrumenta, ohn wclche kein Respublica,
Zeit, als in
angericht, gebessert,
Kriegs
Empc-
little
"Dann
und Gut
nit
welche von
dem Him
ebner massen Gelt und Gut gebiihrlicher weiss zuerlangen, gehort einer
jeden Oberkeit zu, die gleichsam in Republica, als in cor pore
anstatt Hirns
ist,
civili,
und hat
solch corpus
voUkommlich zu
regieren, etc."
S3
dening the subjects
the subjects.
is
;
THE CAMERALISTS
second,
eral the
scheme
is
The
specific propositions
do not concern
approximately
chapters.^
many
are
As we
in search of the
poses.
much
information
on these
dence,
tive significance.
In the
general
place,
way
Thus he
That today
seek
all sorts
certain
mammon
diminish and weaken the same in weight and value [SchroU und Korn]
is directly
contrary to
all
Holy
doubt
Empire with
the curse of
respect to coinage,
it
beyond
all
God and
temporal punishment.
t)rpe
of
commerce
to
members
of the nobility
began
be
Thus,
side,
after citing
(p.
a number of opinions
iii):
on the conventional
1
he asserts
These were
to
CIVICS
I
OF OBRECHT
in
53
and so
It
of the republic.
body of the
republic, as
it
consequently, I hold
(any on trade for the sake of lightening the burdens of their subjects, and of discharging public obligations with the least difficulty.
To
this
ruler
allows, all
and overlord should make it an object of diligent attentowns and country regions, so far as opportunity sorts of traders should be located. For the traders not
all sorts
own
and risk, but they also draw out of the country those wares of which the country has a superabundance But a ruler should
look out for the following four points:
carry on no forbidden
traffic,
I,
them out
that
no
scarcity,
tend to the
common
is
neighbors;
He
may
seems
bring
to
same may be
to
sold again."
The
chief reason
interest
on the advances
54
THE CAMERALISTS
and then
be sold al reasonable
rates,
Promotion
reasons.
and
for similar
recommended.
127):
all
And
it is
beyond
it
all
the above
is
set in operain
will
ai)pointcd towns
and
territories,
and
revenues
will
129):
If
a ruler
is
it
charges
subjects
....
who have
losses
may
avoided.
The
Sancti,"
first
furnishes
testimony,
the
stronger
it was inadvertent, as to the central purpose which It is a paswas molding administrative theory and policy. sage which distinctly locates the moving springs of cameralism.
because
spirit rather
than the
letter
it
is
known
to all of
secret,
and
daily
there
CIVICS
OF OBRECHT
55
all sorts
of just
and extraordinary
treasury, such a
revolts,
stand
it
And
money may be
danger
is
the
money
is
collected,
that the growing burden of interest charges will ruin the state, as
was
and
especially
Lacedaemonia,
Hence
it
is
necessary to show
how
these dangers
may
be
As we shall attempt to show, this problem means to cover the expanding fiscal needs of the
All the incidental tenets of this technology, whether they were the opinions of exceptional writers or substantially the con-
sensus of
this
all,
must be interpreted by
is
main
interest.
an
ordi-
rulers:
propositions.
It
which
entitles
him
to higher
rank in the
rolls of
Ger-
man
political writers
own country
In general, subsequent events conformed and the Policey system afterward developed, to which we must give so much attention in later portions of this book, was entirely contained in principle in his proposals. Without attempting to prove this in detail, we may briefly note
to his views,
have assigned.
56
TfiE camp:ralists
and
all
the
aims
which he had
in view.
publicists
ffjr
upon magistrates,
fulcra
viz., first,
and
j)illars
of jjolitics,
all
and
sufficient
and organization
of the Policey^
As
Obrecht
administration
makes use
of census
and censorship,
if it
yet in
were possible
more
He
recommends
to
that the
methods now
be retained.
With reference
that
its
the censorship,
however, he declares
policy
may
exceptional.
He
declares that
of preventive
programmes
of
his time
know nothing
policies.
The
chief
of a
falls
therefore
on the outline
improve the
morale of the people, and thus not merely to diminish vice and
crime, but to raise the general efficiency of the population.
this
is
a proper
we have
(icrman
[)olitical
theory
progressively
assumed
that
such
guardianship and promotion of public morals formed a necessary part of governmental res[>onsibility.
ingly a pioneer
among post-Reformation
out
f)ath
administrative theor>'.'
'
The
inirorluction
is
in full
if
space
had
fjcrmiticd.
CIVICS
OF OBRECHT
is
57
drafted
The
in the
form of a royal
approximately
its
this:
The
and
Constitution, with
seven
Sanctions [Sanctionibus]
we may
old, rich
all
and poor,
how, in
in all parts of
and
also
how
all
of
its
branches, and
may
be protected
against ruin,
in constant integrity;
all
and how
we may bring
jects
may
rightly, well
and
usefully bring
life,
may be
to their
appointed
blessing
and
to the
common
weal, a
and an honor,
first
eternal advantage.
The
and supervision
their
of
than
twenty-third year;"
and conknowledge
the
tinued observation of
we may have
direct
ment:"
'
the
fifth,
arc
"von den
und wol
Rerum-
jundamenta Ret familiaris genandt werden." In this connection the plan contemplates the appointment of officials who should
publicarutn,
One
was
to prevent
squandering of the
The word
here used
sie
worth our
notice.
The
phrase
is:
"auss welchem
ihre
Otconomi anstellen
sollen."
58
THF CAMERALISTS
immigrants
to
become
citi-
zens,
and
of other cases of
The
and propose
and including arguments intended to show the benefits that would accrue, first to individuals, then to the \)\i\)For example, we find at lic, from adoption of the programme.
registration,
.>nce (p.
the
first
Geburtsbriejff;
obviously
an
early,
On
gramme, Obrecht
of a
supposed
both in war
to administer
more
in-
common
more
welfare {Gemeitie
Wolfart) with
more
intelligence
come
and
in
effi-
ciently;
sorts of Deputaien
contemplated
in the
programme,
many
better
adopt-
ing the
programme
is
convincing.
of fees
The
underlying
purpose,
is
the collection
registrations,
The
is
same
posed
is
in
unnecessary.'
'
Vide above,
CIVICS
OF OBRECHT
59
Whether he upon administrative organization or upon academic theory, his book reflects beginnings of theoretical and practical tendencies in ways which make their essential impulses much more evident than they appear in their later more complex variations.
evidential value of such a writer as Obrecht.
actually exerted
much
influence or
little,
either
CHAPTER
Veit
in 1692.
IV
in 1626
and died
Seckendorff's
are all-important.
Enough
of his biography
may be
he spoke.
He was
of his
In 1636 he
went with
his
mother
He
is
said to have
com-
in 1639.
tion of
Herzog Ernst
in 1640.
of Gotha,
who
sent
Gymnasium
Soon
for,
on the charge
The
same year
to the Univer-
jurisprudence,
and
way
to continue
visit to
the
Low
Countries,
him
In these
was to summarize selected books and the duke in his leisure hours, on Sundays
titles
to
a single
style,
the usage of the passages from which they have been cited has
been followed.
60
CAMERALISTICS OF SFCKEXDORFF
or
(iurinjj;
6t
journeys.
The
first
of his imporlanl
was wrilten
it
in
1655.
civil
"It
law,
may
be
German
and was
approval
had the
si)ecial
ment
of rules
and prescriptions
Gotha."
government
dienst,
of
and
of chancellor.
valued in finance,
He
Gymnasium
of
Duke
He
till
resigned
direcior
his
responsibilities except
Landschafts-
near Altenburg.
The
much
to pro-
Maimstill
1680)
Seckendorff
be
He
arrived
new
CommfrUarius
historic,
us
et
reformatione, 1688-92.
Th. Kolde,
in
AU. d Bib
title
Der
Chrislenstat.
62
THE CAMERALISTS
Seckendorff's close relations with
Duke
Ernst of Gotha
were prime
among
was popularized in the nickname "Praying Ernst," and he was later known as "Ernst the Pious." His ecclesiastical
laws have been called a complete course in pastoral theology.
He was the father of twenty-two children, and in the management of his household and of his state he was regarded as an
edifying
example.
life.
Seckendorfif
virtually
systematized
Duke
Ernst's
composed Ernst's
According
practices as
treatise.
to the Preface
to treat only
German
principality,
to include
German
Roscher regards
retirement
up the
life
of
upon
new
University of Halle.
The
was
was a
Such
nothing can be inferred from the incident which has the slightest bearing
upon Seckendorff
which he
was
German
economics.
This emphasis
upon a merely personal detail is characteristic. Roscher's service to science was principally in assembling details. He was much less successful in estimating their value. Seckendorff is classified by Roscher as conservative, in the sense of adhering to the old ways, while he was liberal, in the sense of thinking freely, if the phrase may be accommodated to the rigors of his time. He was not attracted by the innova-
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKENDORFF
63
War.
In this
respect he
licists
was
I
in nearly the
same
pub-
to the theories
of
Leopold
Moser
to the politiII.
civic life
life
he was a sycophant."
God
not true
justified
In other words,
had
virtually
was the highest moral law, but it still retained was the ultimate Seckendorff was consequently the mouthpiece of
the type of
German
state in the
We
shall
Absolutism in the
strictest
was
not.
From
was
virtual absolutism.
That
is,
it
one but
God had a right to discipline the prince, because he was responsible only to that divine power by whose grace he had been made sovereign over a defined group of men.^
We
first,
and
For confirmation of
this
flf.
cf.
doc-
64
THE CAMERALISTS
The
theory and
been in
later times.
The work
of the cameralists
was so
to serve
power and
efficiency of their
ence to competing
purpose, and
would be promoted.
in fact centered
were
stood accordingly.*
upon the foregoing propositions, scarcely anything could be more illuminating than the dedication of Der Fursten Stoat. Because our language makes an exact rendering of the ceremonial titles and phrases impossible, we quote the form of address in the original, viz.: Dem DurchIdtichtigsten, Hochgebornen Fursten und Herrn, Herrn Johann Georgen Erh-Printzen der Chur- und Hertzogen zu Sachsen, JUlich, Cleve und Bergk, Landgrafen in Thiiringen, Markside-light
'
As a
the general setting within which the problems of the several states of
Germany
522
ff.
The
which
in the period in
Bryce,
loc. cit., p.
371.
Holy Roman Empire, chap. xx. Vide "The Emperor was Leopold I, 1658-1705.
After 1663 permanent diet at Regensburg, consisting of the representatives of the eight electors,
secular princes,
tion, often
and the
imp>erial cities.
(A miracle
of tedious legisla-
'A bladeless
corum
was
was decreed
estates, as
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKENDORFF
grafen zu Meissen, auch Ober-
65
nem
gnddigsten
Herrn,
&"c.
Durchlduchtigster,
dr'c.
Hoclige-
und Herr,
itself
The
English.
non-committal
cannot
be
reproduced
in
The
the rhetorical
It
is
as
principalities,
it is
lordly
all
which
is
an inexhaustible
warmed, and nourished. It is to be compared with sea, into which all other wisdoms and arts flow, and through high and occult art, for the common welfare, is again discharged and distributed through the whole land. It is an everis
illuminated,
green of Paradise of
virtues
all
and
in its turn
and place
All-
bears grateful
nise to grant for his royal office, with which he received also the greatest treasures
and
gift.
Foolish
therefore those
who would
name
and of
and
crafty
measure of
my
a few beams of this bright illuminating sun, certain drops from this
great sea,
and certain
fruits
according to opportunity to
make them
and
prin-
66
cipalities of
TIIK
CAMERALISTS
is
in the Preface,
also,
illustrious highness,
is
allowed
myself to seek, under your eminent name, protection for this very
imperfect book.
public expression of
May it please you most graciously to accept this my most submissive zeal, as I hereby in humility
profess
it,
wretched
stuff
was merely conventional. Something of often much more extravagant, occurs in the dedications
it
We
sample
it
to stand for
It is
thought which
it
attempted to express.
The
style
was appropriate
which pre-
But
merely incidental.
The main
of
thing
is
dictated
fairly
by tradition in one
represent the
attitude
interests of
men
in civic society.
was fundamentally an
a group of inferior
of control over
was an
upon
it
we
are to analyze,
we should from
step to step
German
and European politics. For this part of the process recourse must be had to the historians. We can merely in passing make note of the dependence of such a study as this upon their
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKENDORFF
larger work.
67
Of the
To
all
War was
Bohemia,
thoroughly unsatisfactory
lost
still
in the Diet;
of sacrilegious spoilers:
to the princes,
supremacy
to
no practical account.
No
possible to a contest in
no one victorious: which had ceased because, while the reasons for war continued, the means of war had failed. Nevertheless, the substantial
German
princes,
for they
territorial
independence whose
may
and the maturity of which had been hastened by the events of the
last
preceding century.
It
justified as rightful
and necessary. For while the political situation, to use a current phrase, had changed within the last two hundred years, the eyes with which men regarded it had changed still more. Never by their fiercest enemies in earlier times, not once by Popes
or
Lombard
and the Swabian Caesars, had the Emperors been reproached as mere German kings, or their claim to be the lawful heirs of Rome
denied.
first
persons
world,
and declare
its
monarchy,
prevent
selves,
subjects from
which no superstitious reverence need making the best terms they could for thema sovereign whose religious predilections
an era
in the history of the
The Peace
Empire not
of Westphalia
is
Holy
the
less clearly
marked than
it
As from
name Romano-Germanic,
68
forth
it is
THE CAMERALISTS
in
everything but
it
title
German Empire.
Properly, indeed,
and
ber;
that
was no longer an Empire at all, but a Federation, For it had no common treasury, no of the loosest sort.
tribunals,
efficient
its
common
states
were of different
to different forms,
The
traveller
by
rail in
central Ger-
amused to find, every hour or two, by the change in the soldiers' uniforms, and in the colour of the stripes on the railway fences, that he had passed out of one and into another Much more surprised and embarrassed of its miniature kingdoms. would he have been a century earlier, when, instead of the present twenty-two, there were three hundred petty principalities between the Alps and the Baltic, each with its own laws, its own court (in which the ceremonious pomp of Versailles was faintly reproduced), its little army, its separate coinage, its tolls and custom-houses on the frontier, its crowd of meddlesome and pedantic officials, presided over by a prime minister who was often the unworthy favorite of his This vicious prince and sometimes the pensioner of a foreign court. system, which paralyzed the trade, the literature and the political thought of Germany, had been forming itself for some time, but did not become fully established until the Peace of Westphalia, by finally emancipating the princes from imperial control, had left them
used,
many
up
till
1866, to be
masters in their
rior nobility,
own
territories.
The impoverishment
of the infe-
and the decline of the commercial cities caused by a war that had lasted a whole generation, removed every counterpoise to the power of the electors and princes, and made absolutism supreme
just
where abs^)lulism
is
have
states in
After
in
A. d.
1648
became obsolete
rest.
most of these
forced to
the
Germany was
drink to
ail
its
had departed.'
tal
Europe, Vol.
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKENDORFF
the other
69
hand the
legists,
each group in
its
way
acting rather
Germany from
the Peace
draw a sharp line between the technical details of this theory and the general social ideas which the theories implied, on the one hand as their basis and on the other hand as their aims. The technical details we shall ignore, except as they are necessary for making out the more
will
Our purposes
Our
principal question
is.
What
cameralistic theories
upon
the problems
To
order
assist in fixing
landmarks, we
was the
Adam
Smith of cameralism.
and chiefest in the two volumes already named. We shall first examine Der Fiirsten Stoat. The Preface, in archaic and bungling fashion, indicates that the purpose of the book is not to discuss general political ideas, nor forms of government in the abstract, but to furnish an account of the operative machinery of a typical German state. Of this preface, we may note, first, that it indicates
is first
this field,
"an experienced
wrote,
courtier,
Herr Lohneisen."*
its
Secken-
dorflf states,
when he
was in
*
his
mind.
and that only a dim recollection of His book was rather the result
contents
of his
own
Stoat,
Veit Ludwigs von Seckendorf, etc., Teuischer Fiirsten nun zumfUnfftenmal Ubersehen und auffgelegt, Auch mit einer gam neuen Zugabe. Sonderbahrer und wichtiger Materien um ein grosses TheU vermekret Anno MDCLXXIIX. In my revision of this
Herm
fifth edition.
p. 116.
70
observation.
of a
THE CAMERALISTS
Second, the author thinks that his description
state
medium-sized
may
easily be
of the
adapted either
to the
members
German
civic family.
states.
He
conit
many
of
his
knowledge that
it
really
is.
Fourth, the
of imi)erial
or princely prerogative.
The
all is
fact that
such an explanation
could be thought of at
trariness of the regime
a cardinal
it
symptom
of the arbi-
which
reflects.
emperor and
all
the
members
Nothing
The mixture
what
and
of poli-
and
piety,
however,
is
is
other-
The book
(22 pages)
is
is
The
first
shortest
characteristics of a state,
The second
to Policey,
and
e., it
treats
of a lanrl
The
third
and secular aflfairs." part (266 pages), on the properties and revenues
and
The
translation
wliii
"constitution"
is
avoiflcd
if
because
it
carries
associations
would be
largely anachronistic
p.
Vide
34 above.
'
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKENDORFF
71
Instead of a fourth part, co-ordinate with the first three, 198 pages are devoted to a more specific scheme of organization,
in accordance with the foregoing discussion.
after 1664 contain
The
editions
an appendix
upon various passages in the body of the book. While the contents of Seckendorff's system should be rearranged in another form, to show most distinctly their relations to cameralism as a whole, we must be content to sketch them
notes
in brief, so far as they are important for our purpose, in the
German
and the consequent need of accurate accounts (pp. 30These accounts should contain precise descriptions not only of the form of government of the state in question, the particular subject with which Seckendorff proposes to deal,
32).
and
which he hopes
all rulers
his
book
will
serve as a model;
and magistrates
it
must accommodate
on the
their policies.
Jangiich) model or scheme in accordance with which the necessary description of the external conditions of each country
may be worked
as follows:
First,
out
(p. 33).
is
in brief
the principality;
how
the geographical
(d) the
need of maps
Second, an account of
72
THE CAMERALISTS
and dependencies;
i.
e., (a)
according
arrangeofficials;
according to various
artificial
ments;
(c)
among
various
and
country;
(e)
more
specific description of
(/) streets,
bridges,
and passes
(pp.
35-
fertility
of the territory;
c., (a)
(b) varieties
of produc-
tivity of countries;
of the
fertility
of particular countries
Fourth, an
viz., (a)
the uncertainty
somewhat more
essential
marks of
difFerence;^
(d) per-
sonal and peculiar qualities of the sovereign* (pp. 49, 50). Fifth, a roster of the servants of the ruler and of the government (p. 50).
If the
it
would be necessary
>
a tech-
It
demands that judgments of that nature shall be based on adequate examination of the facts, instead of accidental and fragmentary evidence.
kendorff
He
many
characteristics of people
which are
attrib-
uted to their ''natural traits" are due rather to their bringing up and
their food supply {Aufferziehung
paragraph
'
(p.
4j).
The
criterion in
mind here
is
and
eccle-
siastical structure,
3
on the administrative
is
to social differences
which
reflect
is
group
interIt
very crude.
names
4 The specifications under this head concern chiefly the traditions which hedge afx)ut the succession. They are of an entirely different order, according to modern methodology, from those with which the
chapter began:
i.
e.,
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKENDORFF
nology, in order to trace,
first,
73
and
theoretical, to
be solved,
Our
is
concern, however,
Our
object
which cameral-
The
pose beyond
was
essentially
machinery
many from
There
was nothing in the programme of description marked out in this book except the fourth and fifth categories which would
not be equally in place in a democratic country.
in Seckendorff 's scheme, however,
of the stock with
it is
As
it
stands
do business.
planning
directly con-
The second
and
it still
more
princes in general.^
First,
Under
this
The government
saw
I
it,
of a country is
by no means an autocdistinction, as
The
Secken-
do not think
In practice, from this time on, the titular head of the Empire was virtually
only one of the most powerful
princes in
his
among
Germany, the
ruler of Prussia
The
down indeed
to
first
instance
upon the
fluctuating
I take
the liberty of using the term sovereignty in connection with these rulers
and
states,
it
were
relatively trivial.
74
slate of his time,
THE CAMERALISTS
which we describe as a quasi-absolutism,
may
says
own
words.
He
German
lands,
God
power exercised by a single man in the country, who regards himself as the highest, and who, with or without right, uses the greatest
to his will
fwwcr u[)on all the others for his profit and advantage, according and caprice alone, as a master is in the habit of domineering
men
On
the other
government
the
German
principalities
and
and wisely ordered Policey, is nothing else than the supreme and highest dominion of the proi)erly ruling territorial [)rince or lord, which is enforced and exercised by him
lands, as in almost every righUy
over the estates and subjects of the principality, also over the land
itself
and
its
the
common
If ideals
and
welfare,
and
were
realities,
German
not be classed as
absolutistic in spirit
and
it
in essence,
whatever
The
fallacy
which
was
was
good
of the people
of view. We shall see what and we shall see that the camesome ralists in general were oi)pose(l to any further qualifications which would tend to make the ruler more responsible to the
modern point
[)eople.
The
cameralists did
much
to
raise
the standards
virtually
They did
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKEXDORFF
/.>
adopt them.
Within
limits,
which devclof)ing
civic conscious-
Cameral-
was taken
for granted.
53) Seckendorff brings the sovereignly
it
(p.
"When we
thus ascribe
supreme authority
all
first
and authority
either
All these,
and
collectively as
mere subjects."
by
the
(p.
the
emperor
(3)
the recognition of
is
found further
(p.
no longer use
"by
the grace of
God," nor
The
prince
supreme
God, and
On
principality
common
(p.
advantage and
wcll-lx;ing, in spiritual
56).
Thereupon Seckendorff moralizes: "The final purpose of all human actions and deeds is the honor of God, for which the human race was esf)ecially created. Particulariy however is it seemly for those high authorities who are God's deputies on earth to see that the honor of
76
their sovereign
THE CAMERALISTS
heavenly overlord
is
sought
in
all
things,
etc."
Germany, more than a hundred years ago, turned to evangelica' by adopting the Augsburg Confession, the princes have resumed those sacred offices which belonged to them." In the third place, the prerogative of the prince in worldly adminFirst, in istration may be specified under four heads (p. 58): establishing his own power and dignity, so that he will be able to suppress disorders, and will have prestige enough to make his government efficient in gaining its ends; second, he has to establish power, good laws and ordinances in the country, by which righteousness, peace, and repose, and the means' of the country and of the people will be brought into being, and maintained, the evil punished, and the good promoted; third, the supreme jurisdiction in the country
of
religion l>elongs to the prince, that
is,
to
his
and
it is
fourth,
all
the
means whereby
may be
set in
motion
disoljedient subjects or
by
Empire.
In sec.
i,
over the
German
"In order
have to
within the
rial
Roman Empire
is
majesty
is
the
supreme head.
It
German
country
'
We
shall
call attention to
frequently.
It
oftencr
means wealth plus everything else, from IxKlily strength to and a strong army, which is a civic resource. The
robrless term
"means"
is
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKENDORFF
consequence that a German prince or Landes-IIerr
alone to his conscience toward
is
77
not responsible
God
and actions, but that he is also under obligations, and in many ways bound by his sworn duties to pay the due respect and obedience to the regularly chosen ruling Roman emperor and to the Empire, and to all that the imperial majesty, with the electors, princes, and estates of the Empire have ordained and may ordain" (pp. 60, 61).
This
is
ample
commentary upon Roscher's judgment cited above (p. 62; vide Roscher, p. 243), that Seckendorff was a champion of the old order. To him the Empire was still a vital reality. There can
of course
be no valid interpretation of
German
history, not
work-
among
than a
it
fact.
It is
would be impossible
compress into a
formula the
changing
which cameralism
developed.
The most
On
the
was no
masses between the graded feudal type of sovereignty represented by the Empire, and the quasi-absolute type represented
down to the Franco-Prussian War. Democracy made progress directly or indirectly toward its own by collisions of interests among which, sometimes for weal and sometimes for woe, the imperial interest was a factor.
increasing modifications,
If
78
coefficient.
THE CAMERALISTS
For our present purpose the perception
result for the people of
suffices
that however
Germany was
shadowy imperial sovereign and the matter-of-fact territorial sovereigns, whether of major or minor importance in their immediate effects upon the evoquarrels between the
lution of constitutionalism, as the next species of political order
in
The
Germany, were
in principle negligible
point of view.
of control,
tributed.
was
dis-
To
German
simply
in
meant one privileged player more or any event he was only a pawn.
no
significance for our
game
in
which
We may
therefore cancel
it
was
of
relation of
viz.,
the essential
the
major premise
of cameralism.
For
parallel reasons
we need
viz.,
house.
These
rights
may
However
tutelage
these items
it
and the
remains unaffected.
In chap, iv on the other hand
of quasi -sovereignty
we come upon
most constant
which were
more
democratic character.
of the
One
of the
difficulties
mo<lem student
of conditions
how
an
irreducible
minimum
of
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKEXDORFF
79
Of course
and
the explanation
is
of controlling
of controlled groups at
any moment
is
resultant of forces
interests out
which German
settled.
body
ical
of tradition represented a
mass
of social inertia,
compared
j)olit-
territorial princes
were
These cus-
Yet
the sovereignties,
more firmly established than and whatever the theories of divine right, was the
price which the quasi-
The
modem
of influ-
had no
initiative in legislation,
and a minimum
last
decide whether
At the same
much more
of
real limitation
of the princes,
indicated.
In the
first
The
is
alternative description of
is
formulated in syntax as
Its
attempts to express.
substance
government of authorities
8o
THK CAMFRALISTS
and souls
German
principali-
as will
Thus
jects
and pf)wers
[Bejiignisse] of sub-
lK)und to
resfx-'ct,
God,
For instance,
or conceded
involved in
s^jmething, or
it
is
is
general
ancient
German laws and principles, or it is in accordance with tradition.' Thus the prince must, in the first place, have
In the second place the prince must
may
may
manner
he has entered
into agreements with the estates or subjects of his land, the ruler
may
estates or subjects.
becomes necessary
to
is
proper
and
that he gain
consent,
in
Besides
many
which
II
should
l>e
he was ihus *iefining freedom, from our angle of vision he was simply
qua.si-al>solutism.
whether and
in
resper
these
limitations,
and what
sp)ec
The ruler was relatively what particulars he would ific a< tions respect for them
demanded.
The
making new laws. They were thus at the mercy of the caprice of the prince to such an extent that their ancient liberties might at any moment virtually Ix: nullified.
to the law, or to take part in
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKENDORFF
and
(p.
8i
their
and hears
he
is
The
first
theorem
is
to his servants
The
(die
iMndvs
umbstdndlich zu mssen).^
Chap,
cellery,
inquir)'.
'
vi
it
but
It
specifications
general description of a Landtag follows (pp. 77 ff.). The whole discussion is typical of a state of things already referred to, and
emphasized later, viz., that during the canieralistic period there was growing dctiniteness of opinion about the things wanted of governments. Very little appears in the writings of the cameralists to show that their eyes were opening to the need of some reinforcement of these wants beyond the irresponsil)le will of the rulers. In other words, the cameralists formulated governmental standards which involved more and more consideration of the wants of the people. They do not come out into the open with any theories of effective sanctions for these popular
to be
lemands.
The context elatwratcs the proposition by making it equivalent demand that the prince shall know all that is in the programme of the (ameralisls a naive way of reiterating the supreme inif)ortance of cameralism The a.stonishing thing, to the modern mind, in the elalx)ration of this theorem is that its tone is that which we might expect in a tutor toward a prince in his early teens. One wonders whether the author was really a<ldressing rulers, or was actually attempting to make the reail
to a
was a
cor-
One wonders
They
alx>ut the selection of the servants of the prince (pp. 8y-t;2) could
l)ecn intended as exhortations.
all
have
garded
logic
The fact that they were usually by the quasi-absolute rulers was a large part of the
disresocial
82
THE CAMERALISTS
civil
Chap,
functions'
vii
recurs to the
first
"which consists
in
At
this point
we come upon
which
peculiarity of cameralism
pretation
is
fundamental.
and power of the government as the foremost consideration. Whether this is a tenable position we are not now concerned
to inquire.
Our primary
object
is
to
make
the substrictly
and treated as though they were taught as universals by the cameralists, or with the same emphasis in relation to some other center, the whole meaning of cameralism as a phase of social science is radically misinterpreted. Suppose
we
Lincoln's "government of the people, by the people" means that the foremost aim of the state is what the people want, because they want it. Whether this would be a tenable principle we are also not now
say that
Abraham
concerned to inquire.
It
is
major premise
of soial theory
would tend
different
to arrange institutions
and
policies in a
system very
assumption.
The
ernment
to the
rank of an end in
The
alternative sug-
gested would
of a means, to be
to circumstances,
tion to
what
it
employed in one way or another according and to be respected much or little in proj)orproved to be worth. Meanwhile, all sorts of
p. 76.
Vide aJx)ve,
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKENDORFF
variations
of
83
people
who
reasoned from one and the other basis, about almost everything
with which governments have to do.
the one standpoint
it
It
would appear,
many, individual
initiative
distrusted,
commercial
policies
we
are intery)reting
makes
all
Roscher taught
As we have
said above,'
that interpretation
a cardinal
error.
The
cameralists were
came
The
That
assumed conditions, among them being the presumption of the paramount worth of the government and its incarnation, the ruler. These cameralistic judgments were not passed upon economic questions in the shape in which they arose
cameralistic systems at
therefore,
we have
to
understand
it
the
main consideration ? Whether the cameralists judged sanely on that question or not, the answer was not intended by them
Vide Preface,
p. xiii.
84
to
fit
;
THE CAMERALISTS
the primarily economic
questions
which were
later
raised
and
it is
The
chapter
(vii)
in
which maintenance
of the sovereign
power and dignity is discussed occupies, with its prefixed summary, eighty-two pages. This is a natural and proportional allotment of space to correspond with the
prominence
to the subject.
It is
altogether inconto
Adam
We
what we
its
character as a
symptom
of partiality for
political structure.
first
democrat would lightly waive aside as mere matters and good form. On the other hand, the first important stipulation is of another kind, viz., that the prince must annually verify the boundary lines of his territories to make sure that his neighbors are not encroaching (p. 1 16) and the next follows naturally, viz., that as a last resort force must be used to end the aggression The specifications under the head of protection of the (p. 117). princely dignity with respect to the emperor (pp. 119 S.) are largely
which a
of ceremonial,
;
modem
if
that
is,
princely prerogative.
The
upon
stickling
about
etc.,
technicalities.
Specification of the
would belong under this head in any system which made room for government at all, and SeckendorflPs treatment of them here is in no respect peculiar. The political type
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKENDORFF
for
85
lo the
fT.).
The
safety
matters
amusements proper
to the prince,
prominence which would be possible only under arbiParts of the chapter are prolegomena to a plan
for
pp. 175
ff.).
of mental
young princes
(e. g.,
and 138-164).
state
No doubt all
it is that it is exhortation to which no power in the was supix)sed to be justified in compelling the prince to listen. Other parts of the chapter (e. g., pp. 135, 136) are appeals to the piety of the prince, and rather broad hints that if his intelligence is
also very
empha-
ciples
must be taken for granted. The prinand working rules of such a government were the matter in hand. No question was admitted which would go behind this presupposition of the divine right of such a type of government
irresponsible to his subjects
and
policies
and ruler. All the subdivisions of the cameralistic system turned around this primary reservation.
Nothing
upon the
tolerable.
upon
their value as a
formu-
On
that a
modern reader
bound
to suspect
between the
state.
One can
lations,
of the social
for
more equitable
no
On
if
86
THE CAMERALISTS
Whether or not such men as Seckcndorff had any premonition of the
and
lest
and of the character which rulers should maintain, must have been factors in shary)ening the ])erception of citizens that the
reality
The
)f
among
the factors
which
is to
Our
show
just
and
in practice,
which impended.
for
cient guarantee.
was therefore inevitable. Instead of starting with the paramount value of the quasi-absolutislic type of government, and making political and social theory a technique of maintaining
it,
Chap,
ciples
viii
which
for the
j)olitical
prin-
and programmes,
( Vide above,
viz.,
and laws
land."
and common
Father-
make
for
ends correspond-
common
blessings
ourselves
and our
posterity."
The
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKENDORFF
essential difference in the
87
all political
of
upon the
able
utililty
means
to
popular ends.
However
actual bias
political
may
impartiality, there
was a
said,
between
and
The
as
we have
a question
people secondary.
The
latter
making the people primary and the government secondary. Only so far as the welfare of equal citizens and
the outset the welfare of quasi-absolute governments involve identical
relations could correspondence be expected
starting
between systems
on
its
administrative side.
We
problems
of social science.
be exhibited in considerable
detail,
as typical in spirit
and
88
THE CAMERALISTS
and
ruler alone,
his best
and
it
is his
At the same
time he declares
general
is
"The
them
that
by means
of
may
be sought."
shall
We
that,
during
The
simply
is
In
effect, the
ideas
Pre-
vious
to
the
democratic
revolutions,
conflict, as
welfare.
Meanwhile expression
distinct
of
popular interests in
change were
visible in
more democratic
institutions.
consequence of
justice,
and
it is
be
teaching of King David, that the two kiss each other, and the one
Finally, prosperity
and welfare
arc established chiefly upon these two precious gifts of God, but
number
of the p)eople,
and
of
in their
all
(sic)
these
and the
(p.
last
aim
is
the honor of
God, as we have
where shown
193).
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKEXDORFF
Accordingly Seckendorflf regards
it
89
An
extended discus-
and
compared with
be taken for
viz.
:
democracy,
the
this
process.
may
Our
Other groups have at the same time progressed more securely and rapidly under the guidance of paterarrest of progress.
German
populations in the
We
German
tion.
quasi-absolutism in
its
We
fallacy
when proposed
as
an
a-priori principle.
Resuming
dorflf indicates
the
as
means
ff.)
good organization of
strict prohibition of
justice
(2)
On
the
means
and increasing the numbers programme midwives and nurses, the support
<)0
THE CAMERALISTS
measures
for cleaning
and draining
of su])|X)rt,
towns,
etc.
I*assing to
problems of securing
to the people
means
(i)
SeckcndorlT's
programme
life,
the intention
on the
j)art
of
shall lack
means
of secur-
God, or by
own
fault;"
products.
JK-r
programme
num-
e.,
the good
education of youth;
adequate ordering of
all
means
of
making
which
trades;
i.
of graz-
e.,
of
day-laborers and
common
(7) regulation of
i.
(8)
certain classes of
(9)
sumptuary laws,
i.
e.,
and celebration;
(10) discourage(11) suppression
e.,
clothing, etc.
ment of use of
bankrupts,
erties
and food;
(12) just
management
belonging to communities.
five
heads, of measures
employed
in
sur[)lus products,
viz.
214
fT.):
(i)
Special account
is
to be
made made
must
and
special provision
encouragement;
(2)
encouragement must
story of the degree ot
The
tells Its
own
differentiation
The
and moral
its
and
artisans.
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKENDORFF
91
must be given
to regulation of subjects
(5) the people
who
must
want
to carr)'
on foreign trade
in these goods;
worked out
in so
much
greater detail,
and
with so
much more
Seckendorfif's schedules call for two writers up to Justi. comments only: first, they show farseeing discernment of factors which must always be rather elementary in the prosperity of communities; second, they are crude
judgments about
In
collection of very
means
was a
social causes
and
effects.
The
apply
to
had not been generalized, and the validity of these rough and ready judgments had not been adequately tested. That is,
Seckendorff's embryonic Policeywissenschaft, from the viewpoint of our present analysis, was merely a collection of provisional
working
rules,
one
effect of
(ixi
the time of
Adam
on which govern-
mental relations to
all
economic
activities
They
reflected the
Chap,
courts.
ix (pp.
is
absolutistic
no question of principle between quasiand democratic theories of government, as to the fundamental conception that the government must administer
In this respect there
is
There
justice.
92
lies
THE CAMERALISTS
which
calls for
our attention.
If
of comparative
Germany during
this
occupy
of
The puq>oses
to consider
German
administration.
we may
is
included.
Here
We may observe
than Justi
an index, Seckendorfl makes these submore prominent in his general the<jr>' of the state does in the same connection.' This dilTerence by
the ecclesiastical side of government.
the two
men upon
Sec-
ordained princes, in
whom
secular
and
religious prerogatives
for publication.
it,
were indissoluble.
Justi
He
and
its
place in
by Seckendorff.
Contents and comparison of and IV with the corresponding portions of Justi's
all
the evidence
it
falls
in the
development of
We may
in
pass, then,
from
i.
this
pp.
Slaatswissenschaft,
e.,
122-32.
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKENDORFF
outline of the
sis of
93
more important
Slat.
of his
two books
to a brief analy-
Der Christen
Our account
later
of Scckendorff
more properly
than as a
political treatise.
and
politics
were more
in evidence at the
time of
its
composition
may be
today.
So
far as possible,
we
shall confine
light
cameralistic theories.*
An
cant because
was
the book
was the assumption that the descendants of the prince was dedicated would continue to exercise
If
whom
his pre-
there
mind
changed
The
strong
The
litle-page reads:
Herrn
Veil
ten-Stal.
In Drey Bucher
selbst,
abgetheilet.
Ludwig's von Seckendorff ChrisIm Ersten wird von dem Chrisdie Atheisten
tenthum an sich
und
dergleichen Leute;
Im Anderen von
und Im Dritten des Ceistlichen Standes, nach dem Zweck des Christenthums gehandelt. Darbey unterschiedliche merckliche Stellen, aus alien und neuen Autoribus, in besonderen Additionen zur Bekriiftigung und Nachdencken angehdngt zu befinden. Leipzig, verlegts. Joh. Friedrich Gleditsch. M.DC.XCIII. This second edition (first dated April 18, It is apparently a reprint of the 1685) is the only one that I have seen. first, without change. Nothing appears in it to show whether it was given to the printer by the author, or by an editor after his death. The body of the book, after a dedication, preface, etc.. occupying 38 pages, consists of 719 pages. The Additiones and Index occupy 570 pages.
94
probability
is,
THE CAMERALTSTS
in Seckcndorff's case at least, that
no such
fancy-
The
when
the
and some
of the
among persons who were regular or occasional visitors at court. The impulse of Pascal's writings led Seckendorff to attempt
a refutation of atheism, and this constitutes the substance of
the
first
As
was purely
theoretical.
found such
expand
it,
and
especially to
great
the ground of
chief
human
actions."
In order to carry
and
their
upon them.
was able
While
this reflection
was
still
in progress (1681)
the death of the elector so changed the situation that the author
to retire
to writing.
He
mentions
among
those
who
read
useful suggestions.
The
man
of affairs
and not a
affect
They
wouM make
first
The
book
of
The
title, viz..
Das
Erste Buck,
Von
dem Ckrislenthum an
wie
es
'
CAMERALISTICS OF SIXKFXDORFF
getic for religion as formulated in the
95
Augsburg Confession.
belief in this
lliul
body
has
of
down
to
adherence to
it
an interpretation
of
It
Lutheranism.
For
we should go
to the theologians.
commend Lutheranism
men
of his
own
class.
It is
ways
in
which true
religion,
He admits
way
the third
For
this reason
he discusses
mein
It
hestehe.
Of course
in
this
its full
reckoning
must be kept
in
was appealed
here in detail.
ence of
Among the curiosities of this chapter is an argument for the existGod based on an ad hominem appeal to the current belief in the
God
as the supreme
existence of ghosts.
also admit
existence of spirits,
spirit."
must
The
plausibility
of the
the
der
und ewigen
"Den
is
Geistlichen,
Weltlichen
und Haus-Stand."
The problem
in this sense
96
THE CAMERALISTS
He
distinctly formulates the
purpose of
this
second book
in this
way:
"To show
initial
chief
His
aim
is to
life it
show that if this reform should would make all other civic
this
improvement
premise
(p. i88)
to be sought approxi-
mately in
this,
that one
may have
life;
and other
children,
time, that he
to
no exceptional end.
be added
the
common
freedom or
own, to be thereby
in appropriate respect
nature
this
modem
inventions,
by a
reflection
which follows
schedule, viz.:
Most people seek to fix the blame and to locate the cause of evils and misfortunes at the wrong point. Each is more ready to blame another than himself. Hence arise envy, hatred, hostility, resistance and embitterment against those who live in better fortune, especially
against government.
themselves in any
way
own
troubles.
Then
follows
homely exhortation,
name
of religion, to
body and
afifect
estate.
Christian content
These rules are urged as having a f)eculiarly and force, to be sure, but that fact does not
and tendency
of the argument.
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKENDORFF
The fundamental prudence
of
97
good bodily
habits, of temper-
Then
virtues.
follows an equally judicious chapter on the domestic With mere changes of detail in the illustrations, it
fairly well as the syllabus of
would serve
family.
lecture, or indeed
of a series of lectures, in a
modem
sociological course
on the
The argument
but
it
would be more in accordance with later usage to say that the rest of the book amounts to a treatise on practical Christian ethics in the social as distinguished from the individ-
and
With
way
the state, as
it
presented
Seckendorff's understanding.
that all the difficulChristianity.
encountered in civic
life
neighborhood
the grosser
their departure
way
and crimes.
Incidentally,
excursus of more interest for our purpose than his proper argu-
ment.
tion,
It is an observation bearing on the doctrine of populaand seems to have only a forced relation to the context.
He
says:
When
of support
for
common means
necessairy
differ-
ence must be taken into account between countries: for the situation
is
of one sort in the case of those which derive their ordinary support
sort with those that are
devoted to
98
trade
THE CAMERALISTS
and commerce, particularly to navigation. Because less of Germany, than in other regions, we have the more occasion to speak of the other sort. We must know, therefore, that
the latter exists in
means
of support
jrom
For example,
we
arable land enough for the cultivation of ten plows, no more than
that
number
their living by artisanship, or get a chance to work outside the boundaries of the locality. If this does not occur, each hinders the others, or there is a scarcity of support. There
the others
must get
in the locality
He
We shall
on
this
much more
intelligent
Where
and
and
ecclesiastics
esj)ecially
also
at the
mode
of
life,
in all localities
many magistracies, but it was allowed in many respects to take its own course. Accordingly no one understands why a given occupation flourishes in
a given
locality,
skill
The
life
present purpose
is
do not succeed
to
Christianity
comes
in
improve
livelihoofl,
and
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKEXDORl T
The
is
99
dence
However
men
of
In
same men,
religion
was
also both
an end and
to individual as well as
governmental
and government.
The main
thing
is
that
common
and
sanc-
political
These standards
factors,
of
moral
German
the
weaker or
interests
stronger,
in
shaping both
throughout
cameralistic
period.
human
interests
and
compared with
the interests
an increasing
ratio of influence.
It is characteristic of the
quoted he passes
sin of ta.x-dodging, as
we now
which
and
This leads
to discussion of
lOO
THE CAMERALISTS
made
upon discussion
He
at
He
says:
This
a dangerous and
difficult
matter:
human
tiently
than those
present
who have
it;
the
power
to ignore
it,
and
to insult
those
who
it is
a duty
stir
way
as to
rebellion
among
citizens
toward those
who
The
ers
wise suggestion
made
and
in the
absence of those
who least need to hear them, who should be concerned with them
most.
At the same time Seckendorff betrays very plain sympof the prevailing
toms
their
government
is
oppressive.
The
sanction
He might
and
instruct the
mind
On
the other
and the
on the
rulers'
tions
However we may appraise the force or validity of the sancupon which Seckendorff 's political ethic relied, he cergovernmental
It
conduct.
example
on the principle of
of governmental
noblesse oblige,
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKENDORFF
activities.
loi
ity
Thus:
in certain places
and the
specific duties of
government arc
to
in revela-
Holy
Scriptures.
When
to
no vain
title.
It
shows rather
to
and
conduct the
office
Hence
also
rulers,
of
all to
hope
for
when
the latter
presume
to
bound
what
to
conform
by the grace of God, rulers are and thus to promote the welfare them, and also to observe and fulfill
people
And
and thus a
ruler, if
he disregards
God
alone,
and
is
liable
to
no investigation by
who
advise
him
in
him from
all
What
is
who
are subordinated to no
true also in
its
(vii)
and
In chap,
viii,
however,
equal
mth
Christians,
e.,
by Christian
102
a pious
life.
THE CAMERALISTS
There
is
is
must
Every-
is
who
and companions
toward destruction.
Upon
tinued;
and neglect
among
the subjects;
down
who
and who administer the other jura Episcopalia, which the bishops
alone previously administered, either in
OffidaUsy
names
even when
is
expounded;
the importance of
is
even
if
rulers fail in
any
of these respects.
and
the
in conseis
quence of war.
It
preservation
is
first
work
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKENDORFF
of government.
103
Nevertheless, righteous
of
governments properly
The
The
evils
of
war are
of Christian precepts. in
The
chapter contains
an argument for the reinstitution of universal military duty; an essay, in twenty-seven sections, on organization and
discipline of
scheme would lead to successful ending of war with the Turks, and efficient conduct of all necessary minor wars.
that the proposed
Chap,
chap,
xii,
to miscel-
upon proper
liberty,
in luxurious
arts, in
and
in establishing monopolies.
The
initial
last
presumptions of
is
German
civic
theory,
namely, that
the government
bound
At the same
time
it
reiterates
The chapter
1570"
(P- 331).
I04
THE CAMERALISTS
Christianity, or from Christian love, flows the provision
all
From
possible encourtheir
in their livelihood
numbers
number
etc.,
of well-nourished
people; and to that end not merely external peace and the moderation
of the governing power in collecting taxes,
are useful,
whereby means of livelihood may be assured to the people, and multiplied in reliable ways, for the more important Christian purpose that they
to give to the
may
\)C
community
[Gemeinen Wesens] and the care of the poor and the needy.
In the
spirit
profitable
occupations
through
good
organization;
ment
of
toward selection of
competent
and two
own
delinquencies in
of i)easants, artisans,
observance of
commerce and artisanship, with praises and soldiers for their relatively faithful Christian duty, and a final appeal to the selfguard the welfare of these lower
classes.
less closely to the lines of the
Its title is
interest of rulers to
The
third
On
the Spiritual
Stratum and
Its
Reform in Particular.
The
author's treatment
reference
Instead of
this,
would have
to
CAMERALISTICS OF SECKENDORFF
dogmatic theology, homiletics, pastoral duties,
religious pedagogy, the theory of missions,
105
clerical ethics,
and church polity. It deals briefly with the education of women. In so far as it touches clerical ethics, it is on the same general basis as the earlier books. The most notable fact is the degree to which
the relation of the church to the secular government
over.
this
If
is
slurred
mind an
pp. 705
fE.,
writings
have
with another
may
and incidenand last theoretical or practical administrators. They betray almost no consciousness that their technique runs back to problems of
Smith.
tally
The
latter
was
plainly a philosopher
an economist.'
The
cameralists were
first
a fundamental philosophy.
The
According
less per-
pay more or
Seckendorff's Vier
und
Vide Small,
Adam
passim.
io6
doctrine.
THE CAMERALISTS
The
allusions hardly go deeper, however, than to
pre-confimiation
instruction.
In
short,
cameralistics
was primarily a system of and for the bureau. It had only We shall indirect and remote affiliations with the academy.
find that this fact
was a very
Dithmar and
first
Stisser
we have presented
it
he should maintain, as
the
is
was put
into literary
form by one of
men
germ
of later cameralists.
CHAPTER V
THE CAMERALISTICS OF BIXHER
The
cameralistic series next includes three men, Beclier,
Homick, and Schroder, whose chief contribution to the theory was on its mercantiiistic side. To the first and third of these
it
of cameralism will be indicated more briefly. Johann Joachim Becher was born at Speier in 1635. He died in London in 1682. He was the supjwsed oriuiinator of
the
chemical
"phlogiston
theory."
In
the
midst
of
the
difficulties,
he became a
self-
man
of
no mean attainments
in several directions.
He
said to have supported himself, as well as, for a time, his mother and two brothers, by serving as an informer. At the
De
lapide
tris-
in 1661, a Universal-
Then he
various factories in
Mannheim; later, with the elector of Bavaria about foundation of a German colony in Guiana, a West Indian colony, etc.
further,
and body physician of the elector of Mainz, but in the same year went to Vienna as Commercienrath. He was sent to Holland on an imperial errand, and in 1667 wrote in ten days
(?) his Methodus didactica; and soon afterward. Regel n dcr
chrisUichen ButidesgenossenscJiaft, his chief cameralistic work,
if
it
may
properly be so designated.
Meantime he had an
in electoral
Bavaria
io8
THE CAMERALISTS
his
Monacensis.
for the
Count of Hanau to 3,000 square miles of land between the Oronoco and the Amazon, and published a Gfiindlicher
Bericht in description of the region.
The
Nothing ever
Incidentally,
came
of
it.
enterprises.
under
of
of the
duke
Giistrow
(1674).
1675
Becher wrote
Theses chemicas
and
experiof the
mented
in
Danube.
an
for
He
fell
into
disfavor,
went
Harlem a machine
inter-
winding
silk,
and
Dutch government
The enmity
in Vienna,
of
Count Zinzendorf, which had cut short his stay pursued him, and he went to England in 1680.
ambassador
to study
tried
still
The
imperial
here,
It is said
und weisse Narrheil in twenty-eight days (?) while he was on the water making trip. He returned to London in 1682, and died in
it
was
actual,
credited.
ff.
Vide <'>ppenheim,
CAMERALISTICS OF BECHER
109
It is
all.'
He
full
sense a cameralist.
even
doubtful
This
not important.
Whatever may
have been the differences between Becher and the more typical
cameralists, he
added something
title
which
at last
While Becher's
his vicissitudes sure, as for
to classification
as a cameralist
is
cf
more dubious.
Some
his fault, to
be
dissecting the
example when he was ostracized at Wiirzburg for body of a woman who had been executed. He
the
disliked
The merchants
of the
his standing in the
his activities in
He
lost
he
made
himself ridiculous
all
among
scholars by a
book which
Becher's
promised to teach
Taken
in connection
individual
Indeed, as
we have
seen,
it
can only
by accommodation
series.
'
of terms
had
its little
army
of func-
Vide Discurs,
23, 24.
'
no
THE CAMERALISTS
Few
of
them wrote books, but in some particulars such a sorry substitute for a book as this miscellaneous collection of Bee her better reflects what they were doing and thinking than the more systematic treatises. Becher's Discurs contains no direct
internal evidence that the author
It
of Seckendorff.
seems
to
1672, Becher asserts that his reasons for the dedication were
first,
three:
that the
book was
list,
was on
no
visible
common
of
German Fatherland
academic Latin.
German, instead
Kaufl-Hausern,
Wcchselbancken
fidition,
niitzlichc
und curiosc Sachcn begridcn. XXVIII." I have used only this third
widiligc
'
Franckfurt
edition.
M.DC.LX
first is
The
dated 1668
judgments passed upon Becher in less rritical scien tific perio<ls than ours, we may cite estimates quoted by Roscher from Zinckc's Leipziger Sammlungen (1758). Becher is spoken of as "the
of
first
As a sample
reformer of
Polizei,
and
finance."
German systems of artisanship, manufacture, trade, Of the Discurs, the same author says: "almost
fundamental lxx)k which can be used in a and its Policei system"
(Ros< her,
p.
435).
CAMERALISTICS OF BECHER
Becher adds that he
of dedicatinj^ to the of
1 1
may be
commercial
reply
is
affairs,
The
designed to bring
more
clearly before
his
country,
and wealth of the ways and means of establishing a populous and self-sustaining community are the most suitable subject-
and
that
He must
be
making
admin-
While Becher
of
no
less true of
him than
by the government.
that,
although the
first
edition found
many
clergy, yet
was soon
entirely sold.
It
was an innocent quotation It was assumed that John Calvin was the author quoted, and that the book must contain Protestant poison!
diate cause of the enmity of the clergy
The
implication
that the
it
is,
book contains, perhaps the author would a commercial programme. Such a profrom
wholly please no party.
to
to misconstruction or to disapproval
will
To
the non-
will
seem
in its leanings;
to the Catholics
will
112
to Holland, etc.
THE CAMERALISTS
Bccher
protests, however, that he has intro-
He
part
continues:
"The
sole
end of
this
new
edition
is
on
my
and
politi-
gemeinen
Wesens).^
in
strifes.
was
so intended or not.
Under
pure theory.
It
was
in s[)ite of itself to
policies.
contents, caution
undertake to
fK)se
[)resent
own
professions.
It is
enough
for
me
German man,
man
Fatherland and
its
head, the
Roman
Imperial Majesty."
first
am now
a
lanrl
to
make a
I must necessarily at the mind that man, as the material of the Republic, is an animal sociabile, and seeks society, as the sacred text itself says, "It
jirosfx rily of
or of a state consists,
outset call to
is
man
should
live
alone."
In order that he
that these
in
Reasons for
be assigned
Vide below,
connection with
Justi's
employment
of the
same phrase.
p. 299.
CAMERALISTICS OF BECHER
bom God
to
113
end of which
to
be
fruitful
earth.
must
call
mind
life
the
of
man from
solely
all
and
laws
Christians, have
If then I
made
were rightly
to define
a state I should
call
it
The two
expanded
is populous it cannot defend itself, but must be the prey of every enemy; and on the other hand, that a populous community
means of support are at command. in a community furnish one another mutual support. They live on one another. "When the members of a community arrange their affairs so
is
The
also
his piece
the
hand
community."^ Becher
is
community
sustenance;
For where the latter exists, there will be no lack of people and where this is disturbed [verstimmt], however, there will
must
first
and finally impoverishment and when one is to play on a violin one examine and tune each string, so when its sustenance is
Accordingly, just as
to be assured to a
to
every sort of
human
to
me
is
many
Each
It
would be unkind
let
wisdom.
Why
that
not
it is
to be understood as p>olitical
economy
114
he may; whether he
THE CAMERALISTS
is
common
gain or
loss,
prosperity or adver-
Because
however,
do
my
best to consider
and
members of the community^ in respect to the way in which they should work with each other in the matter of support, I will try then to put them together, and to form them into a political skeleton
[scdeton polilicum].
sorts of people in a
community: the
who
and here is included the magistracy [Obrigkeit], which is a servant of the community, and holds the people in good order and social
regulation, so that one
may
live
by the
community
the
is
community in protecting the soul, the learned who protect the mind [Gemiith], the physicians, apothecaries, barbers, bathers, who guard the health, the soldiers who guard the body and the whole state and land. All these are servants of the community, and although they help to increase and maintain the societatem civilem, they are still not the community itself, but as stated only servants of the same, who must be paid and supported by the community, and hence, in order that they may not become burdensome to the
community, they should be made proportional by the community,
that they should be neither too
many nor
too few.
citizens in a city,
and
penitents,
patients,
more
bad shape
The
who
whom
the
society
most
consists,
in the society.
may
properly be
The
first is
the trades-
CAMERALISTICS OF BECHER
man's order.
ant order
is
115
While the feas-
The
order
also the
most necessary
no material
to
Hence the Where there is no peasant, the handicraftsman has work over, and where nothing is worked over there the
to sell;
man works
craftsman.
at
wares, and
three
them
is,
and
to
make
a real community;
to support
....
the object
of a proper Policey
attained,
i.
e.,
human
society.
the
first
snout.
its
we accept
the
gem
we must
confess that
of
an unexplained sport
It is
nature.
human
if
society.
an ungrateful
but
value.
of ideas
The
which seem
If I
of the time.
it would be was merely imitation of pulpit conventionalities, and repetition of a stilted form which was not vital with new insight and had not even retained the spirit of the New Testament doctrine of which it was a hollow echo. I will add but a single query. If Becher actually saw that
that this
society
is
if
is
that
which makes
and
failure to
16
THE CAMERALISTS
if
draw
whom
he
many whom
?
left in
company
of the served
Until
we
are instructed by
what
who
we must conclude
embellishment.
the
first
is,
part of which
of those
who
rule
and
it is
who
assist
them
therein."
We may
repeat
that
eralism.
We
make
We
programmes
by the successive
we
governmental technique.
in turn in
common
We
seems
to
Our
use of the
other writers
which belong
in
more specific and we confine our further observations to a few items which may serve as shadings for the picture. For this purpose we find the opening paragraph
refer therefore to his table of contents for
We
available, viz.:
As concerns
the
first
point,
civic authorities
first
spiritual or
CAMERALISTICS OF BECHER
secular.
in
117
no good
a war
The proverb
runs,
"where parsons
is
rule, there is
the end."
is
aim
pax in
nostris diebiis.
comes, they
make themselves
manner
of the hireling
in the gospel.
to him,
and
since there
much more
The
issue
the
quite as
much
restiveness
under
clerical influence,
and someIn
times even more, than in the Protestant states, where the political
power
of the clergy
was assumed
to
Catholic and Protestant states alike, the struggle between state and church was not ended, but merely changed in detail.
was almost everywhere antagonism between the two types of prestate the antithesis between power was as real if not as evident a political factor as it had been when the immediate form of the issue was Papacy or Anti-Papacy. So long and so far as this conflict was undecided, the cameralism of a given German state was in part one of the military arms of that secularism which was still in battle array against ecclesiasticism.
tension.
In nearly every
German
the temporal
and
the spiritual
With
of gov-
a mixture
The
basic
theorem
of
Becher's
cameralism
is
in
the
proposition
all
the others,
ii8
and
all
is
THE CAMERALISTS
the most usual.
Indeed
it
is,
and very
community
(p. 14).
The
theorem
lord
who
has a succession
is
more concerned
for his
land and
and makes their interests more his own [hull bey iknen stich] than a government to which the sheep do not belong {sic). Consequently a monarchical government is when a ruler has his own
people,
own
will
in heredity.'
list
of
counts against
sample of
his quality
may be
cited
and the
subjects,
if
they please,
is
transacted.
in
found
found
democracies.
to those
must
(sic)
\)e
mentioned
is
democratic
government
there
no respect
is
of voices there
is
sort of
and
rebellions.
The
iMtrallel
in
other connections,
in the case of
argument
The
stand taken
is on monarchy
same ground
in the other ?
in the
CAMERALISTICS
Ol-
BKCHliR
119
and Aristocratic (p[). 16 ff.) and reaches almost the idcniifal judgment in favor of mixed monarchy which he exprchscd
four pages earlier in favor of pure monarchy,
viz.
Among
preference,
all
sorts of
is
governments
in voj^ue in
this
mixed form
retains thf
and
most
the
Kurofx.'.
Indeed the
Roman
The
Empire
moment
of such a government.
[)resents a
el
monanli.
Palres eonscripti,
All
Thii.s
and
cities
present as
it
were a flemocrary.
to him.
and
cities of the
Empire
is
and enter
into
This
Roman
will
Democraticum Imperium,
would be
it
at
an end
The mixed
Hence
it
form
is
in comparativo aristocratic,
is
and
it
in positivo flemocratic.
in this
Roman emperor
would not be
the imperial
down by
capitulations
There
in
\vc
found
Der FUrsten Stoat between the king and the tyrant, although we must confess that the earlier writer was as much in the dark as the later about means of eliminating the one type and securing the other.
I
could
have
It
carry
exacting
j)eri()d.
I20
statements of
fact.
THE CAMERALISTS
It
shows no evidence
of the
iTt>
contemporary meaning
Roman
Empire.
speaks of
government as though
cerned than those of
more personal interests were conrulers on the one hand, and princes, estates,
It is in
and
cities
on the
other.
comprehended by the
relation to the
shall discover
more
below
book which we
between the
It
man
to support.
The second
correlations of those
who
rule
ruler."
The
novel," written
One
among
can hardly imagine that the ruling class could have had any
its
circulation
whom
rulers
and
their courtiers
would
like to inculcate
first
specification is
tl;at
a ruler
.... must
before
all
come
legiti-
he
may infallibly rest all his future weal or woe, and easily guess that who seizes at government by violence will also usually be expelled
by
all
force
is
just will
most
edifjring doctrine,
CAMERALISTICS OF BECHER
tices
121
of
their kind.
viz.:
The second
specification is
a similar
and must
the time to
platitude,
preserve order in
e.,
its
affairs,
it is
when
go
to church, not
etc., etc.
The
found
it
third detail
difficult to
is
arrange, viz.
art of
ruler
who
The
first
and must therefore follow all their advisers. The others never follow advice, and resort to compulsion whenever they
does not seem to have occurred to Becher that, under
are opposed.
It
was employed,
it
would be
just as logi-
be desired.
The
specifications
who
in their action
either
Sixth,
....
ulous
will
be very helpful
himself too
if
make
common,
and resolute: but he must not be too distant, and proud Ninth, a ruler, government, and land should seek the same consideration among neighboring states as at home, but to that end should not be quarrelsome, etc Tenth, a ruler must find the mean between prodigality and parsimony
but
is
heroic, brave
arrogant,
Too
severe
womanish.
122
THE CAMERALISTS
follows, in similar style, a scries of ten propositions,
calls
There
rulers
in
which Bccher
The
two
illustrations
by
They show
that
the
abuses
which
at
length
doomed
to those
])lainly
quasi -absolutism
who
the
that they
make
is
for
mwlification
of
fundamental
theorists.
The
inference
from them
merely,
"the wise
ruler should
do so and
so."
The
presumptions
no way of requiring
We
shall find
and so
movement
for constitutionalism
had won
its
right to
recognition.
On
commonplaces
a rather strong
There
these:
know
that he
soldiers
and learned
instruments.
sword and
and glorious
often
quill
whom
it
it
can
way
influence.
with their
and no one is exempt from Hence it is well for great lords to be more careful servants and subjects than with their closest kin (p. 27).
to the ends of the earth,
CAMERALISTICS OF BECHER
The
prince
is
123
well-
])ros[)crity
and moral
being of the subjects upon the strength of the state and of the
repeatedly urged, and indeed
is
The
German
principality
would have
investigated
in
connection
with
the
cameralistic
if
doctrines
to
we were
know how
ists
upon each other as alternate cause and effect. iii, on "the form and order of a good government," Becher attempts to set forth "the universal political laws by which land and people are conveniently and well governed."
reacted
In chap,
He
"a
regards
it
and as a preliminary to show how and whence magistracies and laws are derived, how they must be
short digression,
constituted
[bestellt]
and how
is
The
origin of
basis,
governments
dogmatic
and there
Thus:
is
Government
This nature
to
is
is
said to be the
enabled
which
made up
These
"the
latter are, (i) his existence, (2) his perfection, (3) his
omni-
Accordingly, after
by which
image
in himself,
man had lost the ability to realize the divine God instituted government, and gave laws to bind
Since the laws of nature are of five
men
governments,
(2)
(i)
now in the wodd five strata [Slande], laws and The spiritual stratum and its laws affect religion.
The moral laws affect honor, virtue, good conduct, and the nobility (sic!). (3) The doctrinal stratum and its laws affect the learned and sciences. (4) The civil courts pertain to possessions, sustenance, and goods. (5) The criminal court has to do with body and life,
124
THE CAMERALISTS
The
exposition continues:
maintenance of the
human
to hold
men
in the state of
which should be
God has ordained magistracy [Obrigobeyed as God himself. As has been said,
good laws to maintain, protect, govern, and control their subjects in the true religion; love and knowledge of God; in good morals, discipline, honor and integrity; in good and various sciences; with respect to their support and honorable In these earnings, their health and life, also legitimate increase. five points consists the origin of all laws and the foundation of authority and obedience.' .... Hence arises an important double question, namely, in what form princes, lords and the nobility in their government receive an hereditary succession and complete power over the subjects ? Is it that they should make them chattels, and
the office of the rulers by
sell
them
no respect
e.,
of quasi-absolutism
which
He had
no
a ruler might
be oppressive.
itself in his
The
have shaped
put
g<jvem themselves.
in terms
When
is
intoleris
able to consider
Thus he
For
this
says:
Here
arises the
most
difficult question,
it
Who
shall pass
on the
errors of the
'
government?
is
et infelicitatis.
CAMERALISTICS OF BECHER
themselves to censor their government.
I
1 25
judges,
and urge
their
out themselves
Immediately following
tyrannical;
this passage,
Becher distinguishes
He
calls the
former
He
own
(the peasants')
when the latter coerce them for their Thereupon he adds the judgment be condemned by the heavenly powers to temgood
!
if
Having thus
by warning
rulers of
By what means
The
to
reply
is
that a ruler
who purposes
above scheduled.
collegium should have charge of the souls of the sub-
The
first
etc.
The
fifth
fourth
is civil,
and attends
and income.
The
The
sists
more
about
evils
which need
That
is,
neighboring governments.
126
details.
THE CAMERALISTS
The
inference
is
that
most of
as the author
yet in existence.
There-
upon
It is
scheme
of Policey.
of
Mainz
for adoption in
his episcopal city, but apparently not actually put into execu-
It is
it is
first-
Mainz
The
was in efifect rather hortatory than responsible. The inference which it suggests throughout is that, so far as Becher was acquainted with the
of the Discurs leaves the impression that
facts, provision for all these details of
plete
and
inefficient.
of those
who
In
book seems
if
not of
and more
approach
of the author's
is
own
individuality.
it
Although
second part
amateurish enough,
bears evidence of
is
closer
visible in the
earlier chapters.
The
is
was not
pri-
marily a cameralist
strengthened.
That
is,
in the course
promoting trade.
interested
the time,
much
in this direction
was
sort
through governmental
initiative.
that the
central
of the
aim
to strengthen the
government was as
so far
trast
ami i)aramount in his thinking as in the programmes more typical cameralists. Indeed, we may say that, as this book is concerned, he was in rather striking conHis chief puri)osc could not be called ecu-
with them.
CAMERALISTICS OF BECHER
nomic
in the scientific sense, but
political.
If
it
127
and secondarily
of the period
would be more accurately indicated by passing him over with a much briefer notice than the undue prominence given to him by Roscher will permit. This second part of the Discurs may be described as an account of the state of trade in Germany. The subject is
approached through a characterization of the three strata that
make up
artisans,
and the peasants. Because this was more nearly fallow ground as a literary theme than the subject of government in the abstract,
Becher could appropriate
tion,
less in the
of current generaliza-
and the
powers
sen-
of expression.
The
The
and
by the
line
author
is
So far as
distinct steps in
is
the
main
ff .)
These three
strata should be
to be
aimed
their
3.
Consumption
is
the center
of
these strata.
fore should
be to promote consumption.
the only
In a word, consumption
is
Consumption
their soul.
Con-
sumption
means of binding these strata together, and it enables them to live upon one another. For promoting consumption, indeed, the trading stratum is necessary in the community in prois
The
latter increases
(sic), for
as I shall pres-
strata,
and thus
their
128
THE CAMERALISTS
sustenance, depends on the merchant, for the artisan lives on him and the peasant on the artisan. I am best acquainted with such of this stratum as are wholesalers [Fer/d^er].' .... These wholesalers must truly be regarded as the foundation pillars of the community. 4. Trade in foreign goods, when the same could be produced Instead of at home, makes for the destruction of the community.
favoring
men who
we ought
to deal with
(p. 106).
On
whom
and sustenance
This theme
did not betray.
nursing-mother that
money makes
5. These three strata have three dangerous and highly harmful and destructive enemies: the first checks population, viz., Monopolium; the second limits means of support, Polypolium; the third divides the community, Propolium.
being described as
in the
"when one member alone in the comway of support upon which otherwise many The term Polypolium (unrestricted competition
employment)
"In order
abolished
all
is
to
defined by the statement: remedy the evils of monopoly the Dutch have 'ZUnffte,* and have admitted Polypoliu\n, in that
is
everyone
people flock thither in great numbers and rob one another of work
.... by which
Propolium
is
the traders
word
in
and
"engrossing."
From
and
Becher passes
to his specific
of
Becher applies the term to the type in the industrial system of the time which combined the processes of the modem manufacturer and
jobber.
They
capital to those
who produced
CAMERALISTICS OF BECHER
promoting
it,
129
may be
avoided.
Having
specified
others
may be
reduced."
of
company under
The
a
occupied,
first,
less
properly governmental,
Horaeck,
166 1.
etc.)
was bom
in 1638.
He
Vienna,
there in
He
lived
company of the Spanish Franand Bishop of Croatia, Christopher Rojas, and al)out 1690 entered the service of Cardinal Lamberg, Prince Bishop of Passau,
courts on a political mission in the
ciscan
as Privy Counselor.
tion
He
died in 1712.
His
first political
publica-
was Hippophili Galeadi de Comdiis Francopolitae wahrer Bericht von detn alien Konigreich Australien, in which he argued for political consolidation of the estates of the German Empire, and support of a common army to resist French attempts at annexation. The book which appears to have made most impression appeared in 1684, with the title, Oesterreich iiber ailes, Wann es nur will. Das ist: Wohlmeinender Fiirschlag, Wie MUtdst einer Wohlbestellten Landes-Oeconomie, Die Kayserl. Erh-Lande in kurtzem iiber alle andern Staaten von Europa zu erheben, und mehr ah einiger derselben,
I'on
130
THE CAMERALISTS
all
From
series,
discover no
1784 to the effect that "Austria owes to this book the greater portion If this is not gross exaggeration, it is very strange of its well-being."
that the theorists betray so
little
Since I have
value, but
my
opinion
is
of
little
lead
me to classify Homick with his brother-in-law Becher by the modem commercial term "promoter." Apparently Homick made
for industrial
an impressive argument
If
to trace
in
The
made by
tria,
Germany, and
especially AusI
in the
recall
XIV
Luxembourg
and Trier, 1684: all as humiliating as the contemporary siege of Vienna by the Turks was horrible. "The cunning of the French
has brought almost everything into such chaos, that one can reckon
one's dates from nothing except (chap.
li).
God and
oneself," says
Homick
But the author hopes for "decisive war with that arrogant nation" which "will find its way into France" (25). The thing to do is to make economic preparations for that altemative, especially as France bases its predominance quite essentially upon economic
"Would to God we might take the general French things. gramme [aUgemeine Lands -Oeconomie] in many particulars
good model
either
(33).
>
pro-
as a
(23).
No state
or in
little
in
to
its
policy, without
in
much
The might
of
p.
39a
CAMERALISTICS OF
a jK'oplc
of
its
HIX'IIKR
means
131
dc'f)cn(ls essentially
upon ihc
ratio of its
to those
ncijj;hbors.
Xow Germany,
hundre*!
and
fifty
still
and especially through the same programme which has made Holland and France so rich, in spit(; of all the wars, which at this moment is followed by the English against
greater the necessity of
its rise,
The
France
very
(24).
The
state
blof)d, the
marrow
by the million,
with wealth.
On
the contrary he
is its
Homick identified possession of money made this definition: " The power
surplus of gold, silver, and
its
all
other
subsistence,
and so
far as pos-
from its own means, without dependence uj)on others, and including the appropriate cultivation, use and application of the same" (9). Quite special worth must be attributed to the inde-
at as
an
ideal.
of a land
falls into
two
classes:
Gold and
all
silver,
and indeed
on account of their
means of food, clothing, shelter, etc. A land that had only gold and silver would be rich, to be sure, but very dependent, since gold and silver can neither feed nor clothe people. A land that has all
other things except gold and silver
to
is
so,
somewhat necessary
rest
of goods in
own
Genoa,
is
insecure,
even
in
commerce.
Most
independent
is
rich in
example, China
The comparison
Yet he
is
Homick
and on
to the
may
trade are
132
better,
THE CAMERALISTS
no matter how strange it may appear to the ill-informed, to for a ware if they remain in the country, than one if
It also
it
is true,
when
its
cost is
much
"The
Accord-
as
much
as a merchant
who
on
Homick
of individuals
and that of countries, or as we would say, private and pubUc economy: and he even makes the fine tion, somewhat in advance of his time, that the so-called management (as we say, Finanzwirlhschaft) is "particular ment," thus maintainable only on the basis of the general
the country.
between
obsen'a-
cameral-
managethrift of
This
why
Quite in the
rules of public
spirit of the
"a merchant's
or cameral alphabet"
(1)
and
full
use of
its
productive capacity,
(2)
transformation (Verarbeitung)
fit
country
(3)
itself
of
all
state;
(4)
(5) so far as
home
products;
first hand, and not for money, but and (7) so far as possible (they should be bought [?]) in unmanufactured form; (8) greatest possible export of "superfluous" home products, and preferably for gold and silver; (9) no importation to be permitted, if enough of the same goo<ls, and of
home
products,
home.*
'
essentially the
same
view.
still
Roscher adds the note: "If we compare these rules with the
CAMERALISTICS OF BECHER
To the
133
et
publicanus
el
Homick's book is an attempt to furnish proof that Austria, more than any other European state, possesses the natural endowment for economic independence and wealth. It has at once
of
The bulk
productive veins of the precious metals (and not so far off as Spain's !)
chief necessities of
life
(10-14).
Everything
There
is
no
price in
is
the inhabitants
means lacking
in
need
est quarters
down, and Hornick urges that this programme should take the form of total prohibition of imports in case of silk, woolen,
linen,
and French manufactured articles (22). Violations should Then, in his judgment, all the incon-
Many
foreigners,
who have
The
Inordinate
rise of prices
Horaick urges further that artists and great Verleger should be more honorably treated by the state (28) and he argues that a mari;
who were
and
Serra,
we
meaning
134
THE CAMERALISTS
while
impossible (30).
On
the utility
means
harm
of guild
the
publicly useful
and
Privilegia private
may be
better secured
free
CHAPTER
The
VI
No
more
conflicting colors.
On
On
This
by
Ijy
....
a homine perversa;
gives
if
of
the
subject.
To
express
it
is the heavy villain, whose shadow ever and anon falls athwart the plot. Even if later writers do not refer to him by name, ideas which were rightly or wrongly
melodramatically, he
attributed to him,
furnish
many
name
Schroder-
The
Cammer, ad Augustissimum
I.
6r
Furstliche Schatz-
Principem Triutnphantem.
Cum
speciali
PrivUegio Sacr.
Caes.
Majest.,
....
1686.
I
to this edition.
\T,()
THE CAMERALISTS
more or
less
imaginary
characteristic of cameralism.
tion,
The
In
is
man who
has
of the article
biblio-
may
be summarized.'
life,
much
especially
The
latter
Schroder with
whom we
are concerned,
is
member
"Academy
with
relations
England throughout
One
was
which he
freely used.
Becher had
Schroder
was
called
upon
to
and he took the opportunity to and making them profitable for the treasury. Marchet says: " With Becher and Homick, Schroder composed the triple constellation which from the seventh to the ninth decades promoted the industrial advance of Germany and especially of Austria. I should arrange the series in the order Homick, Becher, Schroder. They used approximately the same means, viz., opposition to guild abuses, especially through destruction of the guild monopolies, and
facturing conditions in Austria,
make
AU.
d. Bib.,
in
loc.
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
the establishment of a
137
on foreign
tariff
Homick was most aggressive, and own interests; Becher and Schroder and with more consideration for their own
for attaining these
advantage.
The means
all
line
and that
the
when
With
paramount character of the princely power, Schroder takes a rank far behind SeckendorfT, and occupies the standpoint of Horn
In spite of his subservience to princes, Schroder must count as one
of those persons
who
helped to
lift
Germany from
that economic
War
territorial lords
had plunged
it."
A
cited.
leads to conclusions
somewhat
different
In the
right,
literally, seriously,
consistently.
of his successors,
to
the
essential
over with
all sorts of
disguises to
conceal
its
On
the whole,
we
are
bound
to feel a
philosophy which
insists
upon
would be
difficult
to
find
in
"divine right" a more compact and uncompromising profession of the faith than in Schroder's Disquisitio Politica
Vom
absoluten FurstenrechU
>
is this:
und Rent-Cammer.
138
II is
THE CAMERALISTS
the
common madness
rulers,
of scholars to
assume that
all
govern-
and their subjects. They assume that the bound to observe these compacts rigidly. For my part, I fail to see who shall have bound this yoke on the neck of monarchical government, since the same had its beginning not in a compact between the prince and the people, because Saul was made king by the immediate declaration of God, who also caused him to be anointed by his prophets before the people knew Moreover God had the jura and praerothe least thing al>out it. galiv of this king and his successors put on pa[;er and proclaimed and published by the heralds (I Sam. 8:9). And in order that such
between chiefs or
rulers are consequently
same had to be put aside and guarded in the archivo for the Lord Moreover the Holy Ghost himself was so careful (I Sam. 10:25).
about
this
his
own
and
God,
commonly called the Holy Bible, and he saw fit to substantiate the memory of the same to the end of the world. Moreover the people voluntarily abandoned all further pretensions, when God the Lord ordained such Jura regia, and thereby made plain that when the
king was once chosen, they would no longer be heard (I Sam. 8:
18, 19).
Such princely
right
now
as
God
Samuel
may
l)e
read
in i)lain
and
"This
"i.
manner
l>e
He
take your
sor>s,
for himself,
his
and he
fifties.
will
captains over
'
Under
this sub-title
Sfhroder quotes
in general.
the text.
For
example, wc caanol
to trace
an
upon Luther
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
"2.
139
He
will set
them
and
and
to
make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots "3. And he will take your daughters to be confcctionaries, and
to
be cooks and
"4.
to be bakers.
And
he
will
take your
fields,
and your vineyards, and your and give to his officers, and to his
servants.
"5.
yards,
And
he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineto his officers,
will take
and give
and
to his ser\'ants.
"6.
And he
to his
He Ye
w^ill
shall
be his servants."
With the
fact that
This
latter
datum
ism as a whole.
He
all
and potentates derive their position and right to rule immediately from God. Besides that, "most princely governments and monarchies" have in the course of time "conquered and maintained their prerogatives with the sword, and I therefore see no way in which this contradiction
Christian princes
in the gloss
from
its
historical
sentence:
"Das
In the
liberties
text.
I40
THE CAMERALISTS
some one
or other, of which
the
learned write,
The
author concedes:
There are few monarchs
thousand
Capitulationen,
to
be sure,
who
and
transactionen,
but
such
are
They
by force of circumstances.
They can
in
no sense be regarded as
office,
and which
"by
the grace of
God,"
since, as
They we have
God
left
hamper them with restrictions. Conpower is reserved to the divine majesty, and God has already announced the decision that the people's complaint will be rejected, according to the decree published by the prophet Samuel (I Sam. 8:i8), "And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king, and the Lord will not hear you in that day."' Consequently, although, through many successions, princes and their posterity have consented and sworn to many things, no jus has been thereby created, and no prince can be bound thereby, as though he had lost his original divine right. Hence a sovereign prince is authorized, without violation of a good conscience, in
to dispute with kings, or to
may
be called.
mean
that a prince
is
laws,
and
that he
not
bound as a
It is characteristic of this
method that
on
its
relied.
inter-
demanding
a king, and
God
as reluctantly acquiescing.
gates this part of the record, in his original statement, but in this clinching
passage he omits the clause "which ye shall have chosen you," which
would be a
sufficient
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
Mi
and that he may at will practice all sorts of tyranny without regard God, and justice and Christian love, for he is a man and has to deal with men, and like his subjects he is a member of the body of In short, the prince must have respect to the rule {Eph. Christ.
to
5:9),
"know that your master is in heaven." The prince must recognize two great obligations
first,
as appertaining
to his prerogative;
that he
must administer
justice
among
his
people:
and the
his
principles
and
to
and expose
body and
life
The monograph
may under no pretext preand as those which are thu de facto made have no validity, and do not bind the prince; so on the other hand a prince must so conduct himself in his government that he may be able one day to give account to God alone; as David
just as a people, or the subjects,
And
and
king,
have
And
and severe tribunal he must deal, where the judge himself is the accuser, and his own conscience must be the witness against him, where no exception and no excuse can be made, but where no other penalty will be decreed than eternal woe, torture and pain.
prince must well reflect with what a rigid law
In the Preface of the Schalz- und Rent-Cammer,^ the relations of the prince to the state,
may
The
it
first
edition.
a possible
questiof) of authorship.
The
little
room
for
T42
power,
class;
viz.,
THE CAMERALISTS
he must either (a) pin his hopes to the powerful
he must
or, (b)
make
i.
or, (c)
he
e.,
last
essentially un-Christian,
and
of the
he siys:
Iklwoen the
wil!
twf)
views
it is
not for
me
know
Ix'Si
where to
own
case.
For
it
seems
that a
to
me
who imagine
is
prince can
a prince.
Those
way do
Thvy judge only from outward appearances. They do how many small and large wheels belong in a clock
with these
flifticulties
not
know
cope
To
upon four
(a)
means,
tdlem;
I
viz.:
(i)
sapientiam
summam
If I
in
constituendo leges;
sil;
(3) vitae
diumi-
bonam jortunam.
myself to
liberty,
however^
mark with two arrows: frst with a standing army, second with plenty of money in the chest The army may be left to others, but I have undertaken to write in
would
trust
hit the
ihi.s little
Ijook of the
ways
in
have
be
triken for
will
examine the
bound together must acknowledj^c, in accorrlance with sound reason and experience, thit the prosperity and wdjare 0} the subjects is the foundation upon
'.t'hirh
members
all
happiness
of
is based.
He wants
have accordingly
means and ways by which a prince may make his subjects or his land rich and prosjx;rous. In order howevr that a [)rince, in exacting tribute and in ordering institutions, may make no mistake, I have advised that he make his demands wlu-re there is something to take, and where he who must pay can shown
in i^encral all jK)SsibIe
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
afford
it.
143
To
that
end
it is
about his land and his subjects, their occupations and their gains.
I
Schrbder
is
Apparently he does p. 14) and describes his book as a Utopia. not use the word in quite the usual sense. He means by it that while his scheme does not profess to correspond with actual administration in Germany, it is on the other hand not impracticable, and should be set up as an ideal to be attained.
He
way:
is
conjoined
by ways and means which are opposed neither to and that all Machiavellian maxims which are based upon
and other and in their stead should be introduced, to the advantage of both prince and subjects, mutual confidence and love that would be pleasing to God and would give peace of conscience, and at the last great day of judgment would obtain for prince and subjects the divine blessing. Those who, after the common fashion, with Adoram who was
mistrust, secret subtle tricks for oppressing the subjects,
Rehoboam
to
(I
may
think to gain by
off the
it;
me
made of wood or straw, nor how long it can last, Latronum, non pHncipum est, omnia auferre. A robber strips off my shirt. A prince does not even demand my
concern whether the surface of the earth
coat.
With
this preliminary
ception of government,
main argument of his seized upon by later writers as containing a sinister meaning, and the whole book was prejudged accordingly. The paragraph
reads:
144
THE CAMFRALISTS
prince
who has no
upon
walking on
stilts:
for the
tempers of subjects are lame dogs, with which one can catch no
particular hares.
Consequently
care for a
full
if
they believe,
or by waiving
all
always
in case of
them.
administration.
fully
The German
The
whom
Schroder took
mental revenue.
There was no
question
issue
The
of a sort of
happy-go-lucky
should
improvidence,
or
whether there
be
an
self-
attempt to antici[)ate
fiscal
would be
anyone
in
that the social pr(x:ess should have halted with the big-farm
opment of diversified civilization, to decide against Schroder and in favor of his critics. If he was a king-maker, he was more a Samuel than a Warwick. He cannot be made responsible for the abuses of governmental power by arbitrary rulers. The things which the people of the period most wanted required responsible and capable governments. These governments
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
depended
145
upon
relatively
fixed
sources
of
income.
The
power
The
it
exercise of this
power presented
civic
experience
to
had
to
deal.
Meanwhile
would be
hysterical
blame
His
at
While we cannot
them
addressed.
ad hominem arguments.
common
upon other
its
and
is it
and each
state
assuming that
own
ruler is
more devoted
to its
own
interests
efficiently
In this connection
would be irrelevant
Whatever
all
theorists
who had an
None
so
much
tially
I
case,
we
do not mean that no betrayals of views pointing to reconsiderafound in the cameralistic books. Instances of contrary impulses, if not insights, may be found between the
146
are
THE CAMERALISTS
bound
to
who
afifected to
or their sincerity.
was
for diflference of
next century,
service
vs.
who
failed to give
and
fiscal
system
no system.
It
for
example, that he
prefer his
collision.
series,
made
it
own welfare to that of his subjects, if they came into The fact is, however, that not a single man in the
Some
contlict
specific
of
an unrec(jnciled
To
a modern
man some
an
of these opinions
would be
absolutislic theory of
government.
In
this
ing
Even the more democratic opinion about particulars. free-thinking Justi never ventured to deny in jmnt the essential theorem which Schroder put in the most uncompromising
theological form, viz. (p. 7):
For that
the prophet
is
the
rij^ht
"He
heathen for thine inheritance and the uttemnosl parts of the earth
for ihy possession,"'
lines of
whence
it
is
So
far as they
V'^'ain
text just
(F's.
by changing the tense from future to past Schroder alters the enough to make it suit his purpose better than the actual language
2:8).
'
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
is
I47
a hereditary
riglit [jus
haereditarium], that
it
is
a complete and
it
is
by the Cromwellians
It
in
England, a royal
office
[officium
Regium].
does not say, "he has given the heathen a king," but
"he
ingly
evidently established.
Accord-
differ
When
therefore a
to the people, he
can
in
such
it
is
The
a hundred years
doctrine in later
less sense of shame to hide more frank than the same and sophisticated types, but no more justly
and
it
has
is
It
and who
tried to
institution, cuts
and absolute right of kingship, show what was necessary to sustain such an a much more respectable figure in history than
premises of the doctrine
to
conclusions.
Even a democrat,
whom
the
dogma of the divine right of kings is a childish superstition, but who prefers logical consistency to mental confusion, must
fmd something
ultimatum
In order
to
admire
in the
Bismarckian ring
of Schroder's
(p. 12):
now
that a prince
may
it
and absolute
'
in himself, I regard
this
is
as safest
and most
profitable that
Although
rely
literal
it means upon mobilizing the good will of his subjects whenever occasion demands, but must have a regular system of revenue."
"he cannot
148
he should have the
THE CAMERALISTS
hilt in his
he
may
hand and money in his chest, whereby effect, and prostitute neither himself
off
with fine
we
in the
own
explanations,
flock than
who treat him as the black sheep of the camerawe can pass a similar judgment upon Alexander
a firm foundation for American
Hamilton
finance.
On
the contrary,
we must number him among the upon the structure of German fiscal
income of a reigning prince, begins with a keen analysis of the prevalent unwisdom of European governments in committing
both disbursements and the creation of revenues to the Camtner.
The consequence
other
is,
Cammer knows no
way than
to
cauang
support
new
loan; or to
demand
grown
fat
some future lucrative service for a large sum of money, or some such device. By these means the cameralists have made themselves so hated and suspected in
or to
sell
the claim to
the land that they have frequently been excluded from assemblies of the estates.
point, so far as
fore dwell
must
there-
ufKm
and express
my
unauthoritative opinion
is
about
it."
The
that
and
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
talents
149
draw sharp
distribute
between
Handlung,^^
Policey, ^^
richer.
He simply
affairs,
(p. 21):
two separate
Collegia,
dis-
and the
The remainder
different kinds of
of the book is devoted to showing the work which such a bureau could do. As Schroder saw the situation, the treasury officials, from
were
effective
smotherers of
new
industrial ventures
An
by the
had no competence.
6r*
More-
Hence
it
is
ahsolutum
in
Collegium.''^
large
salaries,
own pecuniary
its
augmentations of the revenues, of the King^s crowone^' (27 Hen. Vni). He anticipates opposition to the plan on the part
<
E.
g.,
Sonnenfels.
ff.
below.
150
THE CAMERALISTS
made "some years ago" by a minister, who is not named, but presumably an Austrian official, whose untimely
The
for Schroder's
is
his
it,
book without knowing the worst that had been said about
would pronounce the author
first
and foremost a
same time, and with practically equal earnestness, a champion of popular interests against official greed. The argument is, in the first
establishing a stable fiscal system, but at the
place, a
systems of taxation.
raised.
He
declares that
they arc inadccjuate for the needs of the state, and that they
can never be
peof)le
ff.).
The
who
rely
whose only
interest is to strip
it
regardless of those
who must
depend on
This
is
by the closing
is
paragraph of chap.
The
is:
the
German manufactures.
The
last
reason assigned
....
the greed of the ruling classes and the consequent bad treatartisans.
sweat
of his brow, earn a belter piece of bread than others can ordinarily
gain, than the
tries to
government
it
falls
it
on him
like
take
all
can.
Tor
more.
He should know
that he
owes
his earnings to
me
as his ruler,
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
who
to
151
the great
it
He
Oh
They have no
idea what
is
means
to drive
such people out of the country, and at the same time to prevent
others from entering.
ice
for Enriching the Treasury,^* Schroder shows that he had thought much ahead of most of his comtcmporaries in tracing out certain economic relations.
false
economy
principle,
on the essential
as
and
his
merciless as
it is
just.
unnamed
parsi-
mony
The
of a treasury chief,
and adds
6r*
Oeconomiam
economic
Politicam.^'
phrase
is
nineteenth-century
conception
science.
The
must not be taken in its full modem sense. It apparently connoted only an undefined perception that rural management could not be taken in all respects as a model for civic management. This part of the argument concludes with the resume:
context shows, however, that the expression
Although frugality
wise
it is
is
a great virtue,
it
Otheris
will
If
it
greed,
the root of
is
more
destructive than
all
prodigality.
If
it is
tion of the prince, but also his interests will be sacrificed, for
always
to
take from the country, and in turn to consume nothing, makes the
land waste and barren, the subjects useless, and consequently the
prince poor instead of rich (p. 39).
The argument
with another
152
THE CAMERALISTS
viz.,
element in cameralism,
of
The author
continues:
Sound judgment shows also that when a prince without great much money from his subjects, and locks it in his chest, and guards it as a treasure, both prince and land must finally be ruined and imf)ovcrishcd The result would be that the country would be stripped of money to fill the chest of the prince, anri thai not a Groschen would be left for him to take from the country as revenue. This would be reckoning without the host. Whence follows that if money, which is the pendulum of the state, which it brings all inequality in the life of the state [Handel und Wandd\ into regular movement, is lost, commerce must collapse, and the people must become poor and needy, and because the means [Vernuigen] of the country mu.st then grow only from the soil, the fraction
reason takes
of the people, however,
who
from the
soil
and
in
its
produce
is
and there
will
|KK)r prince;
for
that
money
is
stored
in his chest,
so many, he
called
rich
man
is
fl.).
For
common
people
are
rich
in
money:
prince, however,
when he has
rich
j^j
subjects (pp. 42
This
last
subject of mercantilism.
failed to
in this connection.
The
paramount
The cameralism
of government,
of the books
norm
would
l>e
fK)licy called
mercantilism prevailed in
Germany during
the
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
cameralistic
period.
It
153
question
the
would be fatuous
to
of trade,
It
prominent factor in
futile to
approving
policy.
Our
interpretation
the precise
tradition,
first,
uj)on
was a
jjolicy,
not a
philosophy.
because
this investigation
was a
political
philosophy
but the
its setting;
modern
interpretation
theorists.
is
The most
was
had
to solve
where
it
was
practicable at
all,
of
commerce.
Almost
all
more
emphasis on the
dogma
that
They no more
believed,
nor intended
money
rather
There
is
that
the congressional
and
the only
154
THE CAMERALISTS
War have
believed that a protective tariff
is to
the
warrant the
German
In
fact,
man on
To make
political
cameralists, equiva-
economy,
an arrant anachronism.
virtually
hereitestes
makes
The whole
for the
abstract question.
What
wealth
It
was a progressively
may
f>osition to turn
The
inquiry
was no
Adam
Smith's sense,
.
Thus
derived, the
same
is,
consists
first,
it
fertility
of the land;
or,
use of in trade
when we bring
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
something from one place, and
sell it to
155
another place
advantage
in
much depends upon the fertility of the land, a Curam Rei RusHcae, in order may be well cultivated, and the inhabitants may not
it
their food
also something to
sell.
.... By agriculture
serves for eating
(sic) is to
grow
The
proposition
is
of other countries,
by
particular products,
which are profitable articles of cultivation, by reference to the book Oesterreich uber alles^ for additional particulars, and by special emphasis upon silk-culture {Seiden-Oeconomie) as
likely to
be as valuable to Germany as
it
to
be to France.
The paramount
(xii):
all
summary
we desire, this same shall be sought in products which our neighbors need, and which we can best and with greatest
Here, as in the case of
is
principle
is
of no advantage
of the
same an abuse
same may
I
arise.*
p. 1 29.
Vide
'
The
The
same as a source
means
of procuring a
"surplus"
156
THE CAMERALISTS
problem
most discreet use the
means.
Schroder must be given credit for dealing with the relatively concrete
of putting to
opportunities at
hand
He must
the cameral-
To
Schroder,
tional
we must
viz.,
interpreters of cameralism
pnxjf-text,
chap.
xxix.
The
it
reads:
"Whence a
of time
Prince
in
Riches" (Reiclithum).
Now
would be a waste
to defend
if
The
on the deeper
level of
economic philos-
ophy.
The general
more or less consciously joined, means for the prince either caused or was assumed caused by ready means for the peo])le. Without analyzing these alternative phases of the idea, we must allow Schroder
all
the cameralists
that ready
own
practical interest,
he
were discussing
in general.
Adam Smith's j)roblem of the sources of wealth When the modem railroad j>resident studies the
may
use
problem
No
rail-
economic theory.
The
cameralists were
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
intensely interested in ready
157
tool for
means as an
if
efficient
everyday purposes.
It
them as though they did pry into that antecedent philosophy and consequently propounded fantastic doctrines. The expressions which have been distorted into the dogma that gold and silver are the only wealth are no more properly liable to that construction than our railroad presidents' judgment that more freight is necessary for more dividends could fairly be construed into the
of wealth.
dogma
Schroder says:
By
in the
to be
[Reichthum; that
traffic
in the sense of
"ready means"].
with
itself
Hence the country becomes richer only in the degree in which money and gold are brought into the land either from the earth, or from some other source, and poorer in the degree in which money leaves the country. For since by common consent of nations gold and silver are the universal price of all things, and the value of the same is everywhere in the world reckoned according to the value of gold and silver, for which everything can be bought, we
must estimate the
riches of
Hence we shall name in order the means by which a land acquires riches, and then those practices
through which a land becomes poorer, in order that a prince
may
is by no means an attempt to prove had thought out precise economic concepts. They most certainly had not. It is absurd, however, to hold them responsible for use of certain terms in the exact technical sense fixed upon them much later, and thus by forcing an
The
present argument
158
THE CAMERALISTS
them
of
principle as unjust
just
only wealth,
London Statist as bank balances are the only wealth, while com and cotton and iron are not wealth. Schroder was talking
would be
to interpret writers in the
problems to
the treasury.
supports
itself
itself
not
is
largely a
verbal
matter.
the
concept
was peculiarly
interested.
cept,
Thereupon we charge him with identifying his specific conmost justly represented by the phrase "ready means," with the generic concept "wealth," which he had never found
occasion to use at
all.
Nor is our argument an attempt to show that Schroder, and the cameralists in general, actually had a perspective of the relation of "ready means" to other wealth, which adequately generalized the facts for all times and places. They The point to be made is that we must certainly had not. abandon the myth that they attempted such generalization.
They were not economists in the nineteenth-century sense. They were political theorists dealing incidentally with relatively
concrete
fragments
for
of
economic
later.
relations.
fragments called
generalization
by the conditions of
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
It is
159
This
It
fact has
has been
and did not care how miserable However this misrepresentation of Schroder may have come into circulation, a historian who should today assert that his book confirmed this judgment
the agricultural population,
its
either that he
flf.)
it
(e. g.,
the
understandingly.
(p.
142)
for
Schroder
an army as
The
Henry C. Adams had in mind when they wrote their books. The Elements of Public Finance, and The Science of Finance. Because neither of these modern authors included in his volume on finance a treatise on the improvement of agriculture,
it
The
charge
is
equally
He
evidently
knew much
So
it is
far as he betrays
true, to
have had no idea that much could be expected in the way of improving agriculture. Indeed he expressly says as much of manusubject, he seems,
mind on the
factures
of agriculture, at
For the
which
is
fertility
the spirit of
trade,
and
cheapness in
l6o
eatinj;
THE CAMERALISTS
and drinking causes cheap wages for labor, and consequently makes manufactures and wares cheap, so that they can be sold at a lower price than others offer, and hence the market can be held by
underbidding others, because everything follows after cheapness.
From the examples cited is to be seen what Austria could how rich and powerful it could be if through a good Policey
combine the surplus of nature, with which more than
in the
all
do,
it
and
would
other lands
wide world
it
is
its
Details on this
iiber alles
book, OesUrreich
wenn
nur
will.
commerce
in this country
however.
My
Wunden.
xcii
the materials
and the
skill to excel
if
the
source of
The
of the
tures
third surplus
latter, if
fertility
much
preferred to the
unfertile countries
and commerce
If
will
than the
is in
The matter
value.
If
as clear as
it
we appraise a pound
have very
little
of iron in the
mine where
origi-
however a watchmaker or
according to his
art, the
pound of iron in his hand and works pound of iron is worth a hundred times
as
much
It
as before,
etc., etc.
would be
difficult to find in
modem
political
economy
the
such
language.
Schroder
plainly
underestimated
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
relative
less
i6i
this
was
from misconception of
the
means which
especially
endowment
that
it
made
possible,
and
from
belief
would be
relatively easier to
more
soil.
would be unreasonable to expect much more public revenue from the workers on the soil,
for they
Without
he
of further
set
exactions
from
this
On
distorted into evidence that Schroder did not regard the soil as
how much
is
the
first
and obvious
by men
in the seventeenth
books, as a distinct
nology of the
state,
of a tech-
especially
most worthy
opening
i62
sentences of chap,
THE CAMERALISTS
vii,
"How
a Prince
May Have
as
Much
Money
as
He
Will," are
among
He
says:
from
is
nor
how
is
often.
different
who
are gaining,
Hence a prince must seek his interest with the and are thus in a position to pay, and if a
who
gain,
he
will
have a daily source of supply, for someone always gains, and no one
can find
fault,
is
made under
In
this
common
and as we
themselves
critics discredited
by attempting
absolutistic
to turn against
themselves asserted.
More than
what an expounder
if
analysis there
no limit to the right of the state to expropriate the private owner of land, with due compensation, if the needs
of the state require."
The
mouth
of a
modem
him
to
In the same
way
Schroder
stated in
its
would
book
is in its attempt to
The whole significance of Schroder's show how the prince might get revenues
of supply
more
successfully
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
than by crushing the
life
163
made
to yield.
to quote the
most extreme
cviii,
case
title
is
chap,
which
The
"How
May
Country, and
following
is
Still
Not Ruin
The
Although I have demonstrated that a prince may hoard in his chest no more wealth than the country has earned [erworben], yet
must say something further, namely, how a prince without ruin of and of business may also go farther and employ [angrrifThis takes place if a prince causes ihe fen] the capital of his land. subjects to do business with his own capital. Since now this is one
I
the country
wonder
more upon
body
it,
make
when
would see
in the
hands of the
His language in an
a fairer index of the
may be
cited as
spirit of
is
And
this in
my
opinion
by means of which he may be a benefactor of the poor, a refuge for the oppressed, a builder of fine cities, and fortifications, founder of
1
1 confess that I
am
from the
it is too summary and too detached argument to reveal his full meaning. On as a vagrant conceit which the author did not
politics.
From
the absolutistic
a vision of the absolutistic regime so realized that the prince would be a corporation sole, both politically and industrially, while the subjects would have legal existence
of perfection;
was a counsel
The
enough of any
i64
THE CAMERALISTS
many churches and schools. This is the treasure with which a prince may equip his capital city with qualified people, and may
sustain the magnificence of his court, with all of which the land need
common man
thinks, but
it
will rather
be
made
In
all
money
For
in this
way
a prince
in
fitting.
the
who seems
to
have
gained from others more than his social position or his merit
justifies,
and gives
it
to another.
may
not
prince.
Thus
expresses
Cuslodis
et
Dispensatoris
communium bonorum
worth
(sic), if
Accordingly a prince
as
may
it
much more
it
he only soon
consumes
is
and causes
among
the stomach of the country, the assessments are the foods which
If the
digests.
strength divided
among
said,
members
will lose
strength
and
die,
with them.
Since
there
is
we have
ability to give,
and where
it
can be spared,
it
follows that a
prince must
with his
perceive
it
know the means of each person in the country, together manner of support and his earnings, in order that he may how the money in the land is divided, and in what direction
This, however, appears to be an impossible affair, and
to
tends.
is
there
no practicable proposition
make
all
it
possible.
It is
indicated by the
of chap,
viii,
Order
Money
Is Distributed."
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
165
he thinks an approach
may be made
to
it
that
would go
far to
remove the existing chaos, and increase fairness in demands He begins by dividing for payments to the princely treasury.
the population into nine sorts, each to be treated in accordance
abilities:
(i)
clergy;
(2)
nobility;
(3)
artisans;
(5)
merchants;
(8) usurers;'
(6)
court or state
functionaries;
(7) lenders;^
(9) players.3
The
viz.:
hidden or
metals
goods;
(b)
{sic)
into
good gold or
inheritance;
(d)
presents.
The
is, first,
as might appear at
an
common
to all of them.
The
precise language
is:
addi-
means
to
of getting
money, or
of
becoming
rich,
which appertain
one as well
reflects
the
more
upon the use of language in such clear it becomes that tradition has
it associations which the words did not carry in the minds of the cameralistic authors. As we have said above, it is an unpardonable anachronism to make these authors discourse upon the antecedent problems of wealth in the abstract, when they were discussing merely the most available
1 1, e.,
not of
money but
Not
l66
THE CAMERALISTS
means
for the individual or for
cite the
schedules in use
duchy
of
industries
It is
v^rithin
the
in Schroder's attempt
to outline
or urban taxation.
in a relatively
The essential point is that what he did crude way became a matter of course v^th later
large part of their
cameralists;
and a
methods
schemes along
drawn
liy
Schroder.
It is
made
in practice of
At the
least,
it
was a
ing of
German
states.
means as
as chap,
These sthcdulfs are rcfluced to a conspectus which is numbered The insert xii, and af)[)cars as an insert in the edition of 1744. has been removed from the copy of the original edition which I have used. The tabic is a complete answer to the irresponsible charge that
Schroder ignored the extractive industries as a source of wealth.
should have estopped Se( kcndorfT's denunciation {vide above,
If Se(
It
p. 135).
villain in
}>c
making
it
e(|uitable system.
Thomasius recorded a
p.
fairly judicial
152, n. 76.
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
ferencc to prevent neglect of duties by servants of
167
all classes.
The
chap, xxviii,
"(ft
all
that has
title
for his
most elaborate
we reach a
and
all
when
means
to
fiscal
ends,
need
improved standards
of
life,
whether principally
in their
own
once shows
we have no immediate
details.
Our
in
said,
therefore, to establish
His main
object
was
The
general
may be
Our
analysis of Schroder
may be completed by
a reflection
We
must
distinctly
we have
discussed,
is less
than an appraisal of
civic
temporary judgments of
Schroder had
Adam
Vide below,
p. 452.
i68
THE CAMERALISTS
to retract nothing in principle
been obliged
which he had
may
want
give a
common name
to use,
we
manufor
demands
much
as the gold and silver which enable the prince to maintain the
My
ment strong is so pre-eminent that the wealth which satisfies this need is beyond all comparison the most important wealth, and
must
\)e
is
or not."
Here would be a plain contrast between the cameralistic and the modem scale of social values. It would assign to
money a
theory.
it
has in
modem
The
varied from
modem
modem
theory
on antecedent political philosophy. It posited an precedence between governmental strength and prosperity which democratic theory has inverted. the cameralistic theory was that popular prosperity
order of
popular
That
is,
dep>ends
on strong govemment.
cratic
Modem
the
theory, at least in
its
demowhich
assert
forms,
popular prosperity.
Thus
much
it
transferred
sake
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
of
169
supposed immediate
political
expediency.
The needed
of the sources
new knowledge
new
fiscal
more to be gained for the princely fiscus by ing other means of revenue than by depending upon
"There
is
exploit-
further
Thif
was
an economic principle
in a particular
of cameralism
shows
a marked increase of
extractive industries. tion in fundamental
a revolu-
economic conceptions.
It
denotes on the
management, with correspondingly enlarged ideas of the maximum resources of nature; and on the other hand, expansion of cameralistic science so that its fiscal division was better balanced by variously classified divisions which brought some of the neglected elements of the civic situation under equally
systematic analysis.
Of Schroder as a promoter
of Austria
it
of the practical
economic policy
does not
fall
Whether his judgment was the wisest under the circumstances, and whether the commercial expedients which he advocated
were in the
line of general technological
programme
covers
the
proposes.
The
foregoing
analysis
sufficiently
most
essential
question about
him.
Objective
contemporaries,
regarded as a prophet of
evil,
of mercantilism in general,
who
as
lyo
THE CAMERALISTS
These vagaries appear
to have
first
by opponents
of the mercantiiistic
programme, and
to
to us in place of the
much more
by general consent
of
of the
and the
f)rcceding chapter.
We name
first
unknown
writer,
von Klenck.^
His book
It
may
be called a
can be inserted
and
if
conveniently portable.
Roscher says:
is
A
kunst
lxx)k in
many
I
respects enigmatical
.... which
edition,
Tractal
The
it,
is
had been
und
dem
FursUiche Macht-Kunst, Gold-Grube, Oder Unerschopfliche Wordurch ein Furst sick kan miichlig und seine Unierlhanen retch machen. Durch cinen in vielen Wisscn5challten Erfahrnen Vornehmen Cavallier entworfTen, und mit dcssen Guthefindcn heraus gegeben Von Heinrich lioilen, Konigl. Preussis. Rath im Hcrtzoglhum Magdeb. und Prof.
The
I
editor's preface
is
3,
1703.
The
ihirfl edition,
which
have used,
is
not dated.
appears to
original.
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
Roscher also quotes the statement
(p.
171
Klenck's book was republished in 1773 as an appendix to the volume Klugheit zu leben und zu herrschen.
slight variations
his teachings
(pp. 303, 304), they are not important enough to require our
it would be more successful young princes than the more pretentious writings on the subject. He apparently had sf)me
The
in
the previous
and strong in its assertions that the strength and riches of the prince must l)e based upon the strength and riches of the people, and that the ancient prejudice against industrial and commercial pursuits as unworthy of the nobility must give place to pride in those
occupations.
Whether the author's hope of appealing to young princes was realized does not appear. References to his book by later and influential writers show that he actually did have a
share in winning respect for the views which he represented.'
We
that he
formula.'
He
All the world knows that in a few centuries France, England, and Holland, not so much through force of arms, as through a special princely art and science, have advanced to such a high power, that the gold and silver streams of the whole world seem to run into them,
flF.,
n. 41.
p. 6.
172
THE CAMERALISTS
To
reflect
is
upon such princely power, and demanded of every true patriot. I accordingly devote this study to the art of princely power, and I feel at liberty to call it a Studium Magnificum quod Magnos facit,
to serve the Fatherland,
whereby
opened.
in
may be
Bono Publico of the land, the princely treasury may be enriched, and the prince may become powerful. The "finis Primarius is thus the Bonum Publicum, the riches and prosperity of the land, quo Reipublicae bene fit; whence flows the Finis Secundus or Secundarius, the power and great might of the ruling prince, as from the proper source and spring. If the same contains much water, the Hence the welfare of the prince is so prince can also have much. with that of his subjects that the one without the closely bound up other cannot come into being, and still less be permanent.
The second
1
656-1 730.
He made an
impression by his
much
less
writing, but
The
f)erger,
third in this
much
the superior of
While
is
They
of
the doctrine
which they
to
expound.
The
way:
impossible to
There are many who have such a bad opinion of the Sludium
Cameralis or Oeconomiae Principis that they think
'
it
Roscher seldom packs as much into a few words as in his estimate: "In der Hauptsache ist Marperger als ein Verwasserer des von ihm bewunderten Becher zu charakterisiren. Ein entsetzlicher Vielschreiber, der z. B. in seinem Ersten Hundert gelehrter Kaufleute (1717) 35 Biicher aufzahlt, die er seit i6y8 herausgegeben, und noch 71 andere, zum Dnick bereite Schriften." {Vide Roscher, p. 301.)
Von Verbesserung Land und Leuten, und wie Macht und Ansehen erheben konne (1708).
CAMERALISTICS OF SCHRODER
raise the revenues of
173
How
mistaken
this idea is
may
easily be
shown by the
and only purpose of this study is to put the whole body of subjects in a permanent condition of wellbeing, and only from their surplus, and in a just manner, to increase the income of the lord of the land, and to raise his power and repute; .... I cannot deny that abuses which have entered into fiscal
fact that the chief
administration as a
common
evil
have been
good.
my
common
Accordingly, I have
inseparably
and
and
Moreover,
retain
my
is
to
money
and
to bring
will
made
And
if
made
can without
which
is
Then
the
The whole book is an amplification of these propositions. Whatever may have been the morale of the typical German government in this period, these theorists represent the standards which the governments were supposed to respect.
Finally,
we must
in this connection
If
of his
Lau was not personally a grievous ass, he went far out way to misrepresent himself, not only in his dedication,
The one
detail
Roscher
refers to
Cahinetsdirector."
him (p. 379) as " Der kurldndische Hofrath und His- book is entitled Aufrichtiger Vorschlag: von
bestdndiger Einrichtung der Intraden:
GlUcklicher:
vortheilhafftiger:
und Einkunfften; der Souverainen: und ihrer Unterlhanen; In welchen: Von Policey- und Cammer-Negocien und Steuer Sachen: gehandelt ivird. Entworffen Von dem HochfUrstlich-Curlandischem Hoff-Rath, und Cabinets-Djrecteur, Theodor Ludwig Lau .... 17 19.
174
THE CAMERALISTS
is
which
his
book
is
that
it
made more
That
is,
the Aufrichtiger
Cammer);
in
(3)
commerce {Entwurff
part
is
which the
first
entitled
and the second, "Von den Commercien;" (4) taxation {Entwurff Wohleingerichteter Steuren). This main part of the volume occupies 324 pages. There follows a monograph of 130 pages
treating in detail certain practical phases of the subject of the
The
community
of interest
between
subjects
and
rulers.^
still
of cameralistic literature
at this period
Gundling,3 and a
would include such writers as Gleichmann,' little later Schreber,^ and J. A. Hoffmann.
und
respective
Conder
tribution
Unlerthanen einzurichten
tribuablen
und Con-
Dingen
Nach
Anleitung der
Reichs-Ahschiede, gehalten, und kein Unterthan vor dem andern graviret werde, A uch, wie alle Unter schleiffe und viele Kosten vermieden, Und der
Steuer-
und
respective
Contributions-Stock
in
bestdndiger
Richtigkeit
befordert.
Ausfiihrlich projectirt
Im Jahr
1721.
loc. cit.
"Der
wlsscnschaft."
Hauptwerk:
Oekonomie, Polizei und CameralAbhandlung von Cammergiitern und vide Verpachtung und Administration (1743);
s Politische A nmerkungen iiber die wahre und falsche Staatskunst, worin aus den Geschichten alter Zeit bemerket wird, was einem Lande
German, 1725);
vide Roscher,
CHAPTER
Gerhard
pages.^
It
is
VII
influence of SeckendorfiF.
is
His book
is
schaft as a
synonym
title;
and
an enlargement
of
vision
political
theorists,
content.
The author
is
the
book
the learned.
He
and the
dorflf's
lectures based
on
it,
to lead
Teutscher
Fiirsten
Stoat.
lectures
on
it
member
listics
of the
academic
men
law faculty at Jena in 1713, and was among the who were smuggling the beginnings of camera-
six chapters,
If
it
with an a[)pcndix
on Seckendorff's by
its size, it
political writings.
set
were to be judged
would be
down
inteq)retation of cameralism.
There
whole sentence.'
In the
'
He was
first
more
D. Ephraim Gerhards " Einleitung zur Staats-Lehre," Nehst angehengten Discurs von des Herrn von Seckendorf Politischen Schrijten.
....
1713-
Op.
cit.,
p. 238.
176
to prepare the
THE CAMERALISTS
way
for admission of civics, as Justi understood
universities than that
that concept, to
writer imagined.'
his general
some
of the
Apparently
and outlook surveyed wider reaches of knowledge than he had the constructive power to control. He seems to have had the talents of a scout rather
than of a commissary-general.
he was a
man whose
He
Dropping the
Gerhard lacked the force or the equipment necessary for writing books which would have accredited his methodological perceptions. It would have
seems
likely that
filled
left
out
his
knowledge.
He has consequently
on record
he lacked the
energy to
direct influence
can be traced in
among
the
we must
give
him
attention
Vide below,
p. 296.
hard's influence by the remark that Stisser "sich nebst denen beriihmten
CAMERALISTICS OF GERHARD
The
tion,
first
177
The discussion turns upon the quesWhat is properly to be understood by the name "Politicus" ? The value of the chapter for us is in the light it throws
matters of terminology.
upon the state of mind at that time, both in the general public and among academic people, about subjects which have since
developed into the social sciences.
to
The
is
first
misunderstanding
is
that there
nothing
in
Politici,
room
interested.
error, he declares, is
which has come in with the practice of using the words Politicus and Staatsmann as S3monyms. People at court declare that politics can be understood by courtiers alone; the universities should therefore at most explain languages and the Institutianes iuris.
Gerhard's reply
is
substantially
the
familiar
academic
skill.
of knowledge
may
Gerhard distinguishes
first
and the rules of prudence." The latter are usually regarded as the domain of politics, the former, of natural and moral philosophy. Gerhard urges that this
righteousness
and
love,
moral philosophy
He
says further:
If I
may speak
to suit myself, I
may be
and
allowed to distinguish
civic
between
prudence [Staais-
M3,nnem, Herrmanns, Stoliens, Dithmars, Struvens, Kressens, WildVDgels und Schroders, sonderlich des Unterrichts-Hausses und Tisches des Herrn D. Gerhards .... bediente, unter dessen Vorsiz er auch, 17 1 1, eine Dissert, de crimine Lenocinii schrieb und vertheidigte."
78
THE CAMERALISTS
the
of scholars,
civic
science
is
afifair
same time I want to do justice to each. Civic and shows the fundamental principles
prudence
rests its observations.
Civic
grasp of
is
by appropriate reasoning.
The
latter
monopoly of the court as the former of the university, although the one is more prominent at courts and the other at
as
little
the
Gerhard goes on
mere matters
for
The main
thing
him
is
disciplines,
and
that
right-minded
statesman
must not
Advancing
in the
of civic science,
Gerhard proposes
most com-
viz.
"A
is
kept in a good state of welfare, and which have as their whole aim
is
human
moreover
purpose."
it
The courage
name
scholar
In the assertion:
"I conclude
more
that
no one has a
right to
claim the
who has
The
life
happiness of
men
is
and
of which
CAMERALISTICS OF GERHARD
reason
eternal.
itself
179
gives us hope.
In a word,
it
is
either temporal or
To
is
the latter
we
knowledge of God.
Temporal
and a
have
happiness, however,
may
and
competence;
subjects
become parts of
health,
medicine, but
the theory of justice or natural law, the theory of morals, the theory of the state, or of prudence.^
and
He
adds:
Prudence
is
man
life,
may
skilfully
and system-
atically
in his
common
And a
later
he further explains:
is chiefly
harm or
community [gemdnen and security of the same, may be properly maintained, promoted, and increased.
injustice to others, the welfare of the
is,
Wesens], that
the permanence
their
views approach
much
He
is
especially definite
and sagacious
in
showing (chap,
iii)
Adam
was
trained.
Fu^e Small,
passim.
l8o
THE CAMERALISTS
hardly too
much
like
Upon
on "Abuses of Civic Science," a similar judgment may be passed. Although less sophisticated, it is very much in the
Herbert Spencer's essay, The Sins of Legislators. V, *'0n the Purpose, Content, and Sub-Divisions of Civic Science,'" begins with a proposition which in tenns is
spirit of
Chap.
two centuries
that
in
advance of the
scientific
mediocrity of the
it
author's generation.
Although we
may
all
fail
to recognize
Gerhard says:
is
same out of sight. The duty of every Politicus is contained in the rule: "Whatsoever thou doest, so consider the end and the outcome of thy devising, that thou shalt nevermore do
harm"
meant
(p. 42).
From
the context
of Herbert
'What
But
this
"The
am
tending to produce
?'
reads:
all
state.*
in external
"The Coming
The
will
Man
*
Comments on
this
and
related phrase*
CAMERALISTICS OF GERHARD
means, without
the
first
i8i
It is
men who
If
subjected themselves to a
human
scepter surren-
now
and the eternal decrees [Rathschiage] of Almighty God, their counsels must also seek to maintain this intention. The greatest emperors and princes have most laudably recognized that
to the law of nature
subjects were not created for their benefit, but they for the subjects.
How much more must those who are appointed by them as servants and watchmen of the common well-being [gemeinen Wohlseyns] entertain no other thoughts?
In the next paragraph but one the author reduces these
generalities to
somewhat more
specific
form in
this
way:
and peace with pleasing security in the Republique and righteous ways, that must with all care and attention be undertaken and put in execution. It follows, however, that anything which is in any degree capable of hindering common Whore|X)se and peace must be omitted, prevented, and excluded. ever reasonably meditates these two rules, he may arrive in his own head, if he will only at the same time open his eyes and look into Indeed, means will the worid, at a reflection of all civic science.
repose
in permissible
common
often thereby be put in his hand, without his ^>ecial attention, for
Then
follow
still
more
ends of
by
Thus:
Since external assaults were probably the chief occasion for the
first
make
this
Hence
it
con-
of
all,
people and
money
cannot be
l82
THE CAMERALISTS
thereby quite visibly guaranteed
(p. 45).
After referring at
viz.,
some length
"where there
is
easiest to
do
civic
in terms of "population,
money, and
scientific
method, Gerhard
If one is right on these matters, then it will amount to one and the same thing whether one divides civic science into two or two and twenty parts There is no harm done if, for the sake of grasping the concepts more thoroughly, one subdivides the matter a little. One must however not imagine that the fate of the Holy Roman Empire hangs on such subdivisions; and quarrels about such arbitrary matters are ridiculous. Each is entitled to his own way of dealing with the subject, and although it is well to fall in with the prevailing fashion, yet there is no law to force such conformity upon us; if there were, the fashions could not change so often. In my judgment, there would be no harm in dividing civic science into a general and a special division, for there are rules of prudence which apply to all men alike. Each has on the contrary his own reasons of state, and the special portion of civic science may have as many
world
God
I
should grant
me
to develop in
which
my
I
students, I
would
with
first set in
would then
societies
occur in ordinary
life,
i.
e.,
of married people, of
and
<
subjects.
my
dearly beloved
in seinen vitr
Proben."
CAMERALISTICS OF GERHARD
183
As
sections.
to
Whoever understands the science of making the subjects numerous, rich, and moral, in accordance with what has preceded, will easily find out for himself an order for the means thereto necessary. I will at present say only this much: that to this end before all others the didactic method of the incomparable
von Seckendorff seems best adapted.
so
much
comment
that I believe
my
independent
deferred.
may
be long
Not only
in the breadth of
in
advance of
his time.
Justi
was most
about
In so
among
Gerhard
the cameralists in
making use
for
of this sug-
deserves
credit
perceptions
technique which
men
modem German
not too
much
ff.),
of intelligence,
Justi.
much broader
no clear evidence that his foundations were as strong as those on which Gerhard rests when he says:
latter.
Justi furnishes
Accordingly
it
is
where
sufficiently
Whoever does
this
84
THE CAMERALISTS
is still
is
God:
if
portion
To sum up
advantage,
the
let
whole
first
matter:
Whoever
him
Then
in
civic science
ways
which he
may
Gerhard may also be observed to advantage as an index of was at his time a recognized cameratradition in
academic
circles.
to pursue
the subject farther than our present limits permit, should read
the
Appendix
of Gerhard's syllabus.
fair
index both
in this
of the poverty
and
of the progress of
German thought
CHAPTER
VIII
and
chapter
among
specialists.
number
from
our account.
mention with
rank.
to this effect:
von Rohr.
He was bom
in 1688
and died
studied
At the
mathematics,
the
He
The death
of his father
He went
land;
in
to Halle to study
Hol-
member
of the Stijls-
und
Erblands-Regierung at Magdeburg;
similar
position
at
Niederlausitz;
Landkammerrath;
occupation.
siastical
in 1732
the fX)sition
He had
He became
memhis
till
such
185
l86
and
THE CAMERALISTS
also in 1720 acquired a landed estate between
Dresden and
married another
He
1739,
and wrote
his friends
an elaborate
Rohr
lished works,
and
an unfinished
state.'
to the Haushaliungsbibliotliek,
eudaemonism he advanced in many respects Under the same influence he escaped some of the poverty of the old Hausvdierlilieratur, and on the other hand his knowledge of natural science was a factor in promoting the development of cameralism. In particular, he was of service in preparing the way for academic cameralism, which Dithmar and Gasser were
influence of Wolf's
beyond
either."
Roscher
"chief"
'
(p.
tungshihliothek
there can be a
among
designation
can
hardly
In comparison with
this account,
it is
178):
"Er
als
unvermahlt, mit
vie!
Bijchcrn,
Domhcrr zu Merseberg."
this ap[X)intment.
For our
interests,
ended before
Zedlcr,
Universallexicon, in
loc.
Chief
16;
2.
among
Aufl.,
these wen":
3.
(i)
Ausg., 1726;
1754);
Ausg.,
pro-
2.
Rohr
jected a
by an inseparable }>ond;"
Einleilung zur Ceremonial-Wissenschaft der Privatpersonen (1728); (5) Einleitung zur Ceremonial-Wixsenschafl der grossen Herrn (1729); (6)
Ohersfichsisches
Haunrirthscha/lshuch
(1722);
(7)
Haushallungsrecht
(i732t 1734;
Bande;
2.
Aufl., 1738).
CAMERALISTICS OF ROHR
remain
in this case
187
it.
He
the
does not
seem
to
works.
The
Haushaltungsbibliothek,^
is
even in
"much
It
general
and by housekeepers, because they found them too instruction which you [Ew. Hochwohlgebornen] have
shows
how many
and how
little
one who
is
uninformed
is
reflection.'
The
9,
edition
by the public, and that certain scholars in the universities had done it the honor of lecturing upon it. The explanation of the
author's intention in citing books which could actually be used
and agricultural management has an important upon the myth which the critics of mercantilism have bearing propagated, that there was no attention to agriculture and no
in household
thought of
it.
At
this
many
writings
obtain,
on the subject, but they were not so very difficult to and Rohr's book refers to the most available of them.
Cammerraths
Bernhards von Rohr, Merseb. Domherrn und LanrJHaushallungs Bibliothek worinnen die vornehmsten Schriften, die zur Haushaltungskunst gehoren, angezeiget warden. I have not seen a copy of the Dritte und viel vermehrte .\uflage, 1755.
Julius
original
edition
of
17 16.
is
one of the clearest reflections of the meanings attached at this time to variations of the term Oeconomie. It meant plain vulgar thrift, and then the beginnings of systematic thinking about
This passage
thrift.
3
We
p.
in
Vide
256 below.
l88
THE CAMERALISTS
In the Vorrede of the third edition, 1755, the editor shows that in his mind the word Oeconomie still stands for a very
concrete type of technology, not for the sort of generalization
which
If
later
He
is
says:
practiced by the lowest
it
we think
is,
an
art
nature,
means
among
As a
tungsbiblioihek
As an index
of
known
highly instructive.
fix this
relation.
may be added
first
without
comment.
The opening
chapter declares:
managing the household [Haushaltungskunsf] is a which teaches how one in a proper way may acquire money and goods [Geld und Gut], may conserve and wisely expend what is acquired, for the promotion or maintenance of one's
art of
The
temporal happiness.
Sec. 2 of the
The
it is
art of
and those of
in
and
in maintaining the
The
may
and country management [Stadt- und Landwirthschajtskunst]. Under the former head I reckon knowledge of the coins, of transmoney,
skill
actions with
in
CAMERALISTICS OF ROHR
house,
189
to
and
rooms according
sym-
metry and
made without
possessing
to rural
them properly
management, which involves immovable landed property. Of this in general the so-called housekeeping books [Haushaltungsbiicher] treat, and the same consists in knowledge of agriculture, of cattle
raising,
of fisheries,
hunting,
forests,
gardening, vineyards,
etc.
This
for
latter is
the former,
carry on
management
On
from the
Both
city
skill (i) to
acquire
and country management embrace three parts, namely money and goods, (2) to retain what is acquired,
expend
it.'
and
(3) wisely to
As cumulative evidence on
order.
It is
in
and increase their means, but also to promote their and to order their management {Qeconomie).
Then
in this
form (chap,
best
4):
means of enriching a land is to take care that many people are drawn into the land, and also that all the subjects through diligent labor may have their support and means of gain [Nahrung und Erwerh].
The
These
citations
homely wisdom.
his notions of
show the general character of this book of Rohr had written this earlier book, his vocation seem to have become more ambitious.
After
' This last prop>osition is notable because, although it seems to be a platitude, it expresses the common-sense which became one of the working premises of nearly all the later cameralists.
igo
THE CAMERALISTS
"management"
in the
He
narrower
find
sense
programme.
We may
it
therefore
an
Though
not a
it
contains
recog-
won him
little
among
later cameralists.'
had neither academic nor governmental experience to be compared with that of most of the cameralists; and his forms
of expression are visibly apologetic
He
writes
Julij
Vorstellung
Wie
Christliche
und
iveise
Leipzig, 17 18.
Mil Kdnigl. Pohln. und Clurfl. Siichss. allergn. Privilegio. In his Vorrede, Rohr speaks of a previous book, Ein-
leitung zur Klugheit zu leben, darinnen ich jungen Leuten einige Regeln
The author
is
He
"up
to that
much
Rohr makes
what they
that
is,
in describing not
have done
in the
way
of wise
and
might well cease to do; and second, Rohr says that Seckendorff composed his Vxx)k more as a moral than as a
political treatise;
he
showed what a
to his country,
ruler
would do
in
pursuance of
accordance with his conscience and his duty to God, and his obligations
but he difl not show the means by which the tasks of government are to be carried out in detail. Rohr claims also that his lxx)k treats of many subjects which Seckendorff neglected. At the same time he concedes to Seckendorff's works a rank above his own. He explains also that he has had the Evangelical Lutheran states chiefly in mind, because in the Catholic states the doctrines of Staats-Klugheit are concerned with somewhat different objects, and rest upon quite
different principles.
Bcsirles Seckendorff,
I>eib,
Rohr says
Herr
particularly
S(hr6<lcr,
Marperger,
authors of
the
Unschuldigen
Nachrichten,"
Dohler,
Hr.
Horn.
CAMERALISTICS OF ROHR
rather as an essayist than as a technologist. the systematic
IQI
the one
On
is
hand
and
method
of the
academic thinker
be included
lacking,
man accustomed
among
to deal
He can
the cameral-
ism both of the bureaus and of the books had made up to his
date upon a university
man
Granting
there is no evidence that he exerted a distinct influence upon the development of the theory itself.' The Kinleitutig, however, would be an extremely valuable collection of material
for the student of the culture history of the period.
The book
of contents
is a compact volume of 1,474 pages, with a table and index filling thirty more pages. The plate
and
Justice, at
his left
reads:
are directed with reason and foresight toward the promotion of true
It
discovers
means by which, without prejudice and may most conveniently and easily attain
and preserve happiness. Because it aims at true happiness, it proposes first eternal and second temporal happiness as its chief and subordinate aim. It is otherwise called die Politic, and is
either a true or a false prudence.
The
'
may be
taken as
The copy of the Einleitung which I have studied was borrowed from the Royal Library at Berlin. While it is much discolored by age, it shows no signs of use. Indeed many of the leaves had evidently never
been separated since they
left
the bindery,
192
THE CAMERALISTS
of the book.
The ambiguity
that
is
temper" and
''Politic^' is
is
symptomatic
The author
He
uncritical
viz.:
demands nothing except that to which it may properly lay claim according to divine and natural law; it subordinates the will, as much as possible, when it would go to excess, and for the accomplishment of its purposes it uses permissible means. Its aim is the well-being of itself {sic) and of other men {sic)\ yet it recognizes, in case of collision between its own and its neighbor's
The
true prudence
[!
].
It
[Kluoheit] sees
from
ness,
its
own
and
all
temporal happiis
however
is
associated with
much
unrest,
fluid
and
its
fleeting,
that
possessors.
Thus
it
much
belongs
known
among
technological treatises.
Rohr
lo).
the
reigning
or civic
prudence [Staats-Klugheit]
is
described as:
the adaptability of the understanding, by
capa}>le of
means of which
all their
rulers are
subjects' true
happiness
'
Vide aVxjve,
igo.
Klugheit zu lehen.
CAMERALISTICS OF ROHR
The
division of civic prudence into general
first
193
and
special,
which we find
by Gerhard, is adopted by Rohr, but whether or not he was in any way indebted for the
clearly stated
His distinction,
is really
Rohr
prudence to a given
principles which
prudence," instead of
may
in their
way be
applicable to
is
all states.
a place for
upon which
must
rest.
Instead,
may be a
it
by
as his task:
is
prudence completely: so
it
is
well done
if
each
should pursue those parts for which he has inclination, talent, and
opportunity
(p. 33).
Rohr bases
of
a private
who
in
many
is
acts
to other private
to direct the
to be considered as a prince,
who has
(p.
34).
is illus-
combine
which
is
and
is
in striving
to prevent
The
prosperity of a
ruler
of no perma-
nence, as
modem
histories.
view in
194
THE CAMERALISTS
distinctly affirms the
Thus:
own
interest
of the subjects, from love for his land, in order to promote the
interest [gemeinschajjtlichc Interesse]
interest.
common own
He
appointed of God.
And
bound
anyone
in the world,
whom
at the great
day of
ruler
give
answer.
reiterates
when he
because
The
it
art of
government
sunken
is in fact
an
art
above
all arts;
doms, can
state to its
making a prince
really great
proves
itself
the
true statecraft.
(p.
37)
Duke
Ernst of Gotha,
No
mention
is
made
from
whom
it is
in
which he
and with
to
trifling
It
amounts
man who
is
furnished the
thoughts when at
18, his
name
used in connection
viz.,
CAMERALISTICS OF ROHR
Since Rohr was not a camcralist,
popularizer of cameralism,
Ijut
195
merely a contemporary
that he
is
we repeat
worth our
upon the impression which technical cameralism had made upon the thinking of men at one remove from the more technical writers.
notice merely as secondary evidence bearing
Rohr
first
remarks, "It
is
well
known
that those
who
ities resist
that a
by
his subjects.
recourse
is
Empire
calls for
judgment by imperial authorities upon a prince who Empire by not keeping faitli
Pushing the hypothesis to the extreme form,
make
the
life
of a virtuous subject
in
insecure,"
Rohr ventures
judgment that
such
case one
is
He
immediately adds:
God and
to natural
decency
bear the injustice with patience, than oppose the majesty of their
ruling sovereign with violence."
to
The whole
discussion of contracts
which a ruler
is
a party
is
logical
dogma,
status
modem
political
vernacular,
generality, and amateurish legalism. In amounts to a whitewashing rei^rt uf)on the quo, under the form of an imf)arlial inquiry into
ethical
it
alternatives.
The
fourth chapter
U'e.sen^')
is
As we
from
try to
make
into
translated
German
words which
were
196
THE CAMERALISTS
German
The one
study, did
by the English derivative from the same root in the In the whole usage of the "political economy." cameralists Oeconomie was primarily thrifty management, as
carried
phrase
of
household or public
Oeconomie
was
literally
housekeeping
{Hausclung
and
this conception
thrift in the
and deepened
into
consideration
of
problems underneath
rule-of-thumb wisdom.
With
this in
men
and philosophical
He
reasonable
....
first,
the
Oeconomica
of
private
persons
In
this
connection
they
securely invested
must take care that the sums which they lend [Capitalien] are and kept in good circulation [rotdiren]. They must administer their domains to good advantage, apportion the
and see that they are balanced by the income, and always take care that a margin remains. That which God has
outlays reasonably
CAMERALISTICS OF ROHR
given them they must conserve, in order that
it
197
not be imp)aired
may
or
lost, etc.
In
all this
private persons
must observe.
Beyond
this
only pay attention to increase and preservation of their private incomes, but also to enlargement and preservation of the happiness
and goods of
their subjects.
Then
tive
more
Rohr explains
two
the
Oeconomie-Wesen
of
rulers as
an
affair of
on the other
of
them.
He
uses
the
term
Cameralisten
for those
who have
body
of
Thus he
the
division,
by the way, not according precisely with the distribution of functions projK)sed by the author a few lines before the one,
called the
Cammer
proper, to collect
how
He claims that the usual union of these two collegia in a single Cammer is harmful and costly.' Rohr goes into detail about
cameralistic technique as though he were
an
did
the
men who
and dynastic
policy, are
made
the
While
At
und Renth-Cammtr.
iqS
the cameralists
modern social theorist, it affords the very evidence which makes book valuable to the historical interj)retcr. This paramount value of government, and of the prince as incarnating
the
government,
is
fundamental
in the
and theory.
It is
Came-
ralism as a technique
in the interest of
and as a theory was a means developed an end visualized first and foremost in the
if
person of the
i)rince,
and his interests. In respect to this one factor, the development of German civilization, not to carry the generalization at this point beyond Germany, was a progressive realization of other values in society besides those of rulers and governments, and progressive readjustment of ratios between the several
values.
and
fjolicies
of the
[)eriod
which
we
who may
or
may
In
and government as values in themselves, not as functionaries and functions to be appraised according to their service for other values, were foremost and
cither case, the ideas of prince
We
shall
have occa.sion to
extent had
wc
is
proceed.
To what
some
Germans?
to
It
not a
[)art
of the task
set
for this
volume
of the
We
shall
Rohr
adojils that
form of the
scnial
contract
theory which
presupi>oses
intolerable .social
To
escape
number
of individuals
make
Thereafter the
this
will oi the
CAMERALISTICS OF ROllR
single or multiple ruler,
I9V
The
and the subject has mj rij^htful alicrruler summarizes not only the
ff.).
By
a chain of reason-
ing which
that a Christian
we need not follow, Rohr concludes further {p. 258; monarch is bound by divine and human law
both the temporal and the eternal
furnisiies
the
better acquaintance
is
shown
toward "dreamers,
It
(pp. 322-65).
Rohr's ecclesiastical
own.
So
principle
it
may
good
citizens, while
we
are inclined
view the matter more from the side of the right of the indi-
vidual to education.
The
in
in subject-matter essential
and
in
accidental
than
variations
of
to
details.
a plea for
''ein Professor
is
Oeconomiae^^ at the
universities.
The
chapter
same terms
in
and
particularly
200
different
THE CAMERALISTS
from English versions of the terms.
in the chapter,
In the order in
note,
first,
we may
that
Rohr wishes such a professor to teach are once indicated by the phrase Stadt- und Landes-Wirthsecond, the principal reason alleged for failure to
scliaft;
was difficulty of finding men who had university training who at the same time possessed either knowledge of these subjects or fitness to teach them; third, slightly varying the second point, scholars had seldom given
managers {Haushaltungs
with ^^studiis" in the
difficult to find
much
ought not to be
here
and there men with experience in administrative offices who understand management {Wirthschaffl) from the bottom and couM teach it passably; fourth, in answer to the claim that Oeconomica, Politica und morale ought to be taught by the
Professori
number
of professorships
it is
true
do not
fully
fail to
introduce into
is
impossible that
they could
it
is
and
from peasants. 3
to Morhoff, "in dem 3. Buche des and to "der beruhmte Professor zu Franckfurt, Johann Christoph Beckmann, in dem |io. des X. Capitels
I
At
this point
appeal
is
III.
Tomi
seines Polyhistoris;"
'"Herrn Joh. George Dohler in seiner UnUrsuchung des keut-tuTage Uberhand nehmenden Geld- und ahrungs-M angels." 3 The author refers for further considerations on the subject to the
first
CAMERALISTICS OF ROHR
From
standing
these citations
it is
201
evident that by
foes of
common
under-
among
friends
and
"economic"
instruction,
It
was
was
manual
training
is
who
xvi,
or
its
maturer
and higher
schools.
Chap,
increase
it
"
Von
and
its ruler,
who has
the best of reasons for desiring that his subjects should be instructed
in all sorts of useful disciplines.
The more
they are, the more available are they, whether in peace or in war.
The
dwells
more on what should not be permitted to appear in print, than upon promotion
gation;
it
many
places far
made out
fear to
make
public anything
xvii,
equipment of
and
in a style addressed
As a
it
would be
to
of great value to
a culture
For our
purpose
reliable
I
yields nothing
which
form elsewhere.
Vide above,
P-43.
202
THE CAMERALISTS
exceptions to the foregoing must be noted.
Two
is
The
first
In the twenty-first
gives one of the
Rohr
was only
The
were
institution
felt
had yet
certain
to
be developed
to
before the
means of satisfying them were created. unnamed author, who has described
He
is
Because through observance of good Policey the divine blessing and the prosperity of a land are best insured, certain Policey-Rdlhe should be appointed. These should be efficient and learned men in Moralibus, Politicis und Oeconomicis, and they should be used for drawing up good police ordinances, and for zealously supervising Their oflSce demands requirement that agricultheir execution. tural land should everywhere be well cultivated and sowed with the necessary seed, that management [Wirthschaft] should be well and
thriftily [hausslich]
and infamous persons should nowhere be tolerated; that vagrants and idlers should be made to work, the roads and ways be kept good and secure, the streams be made navigable, cities and villages be provided with good inns, traffic by water and land carried on fairly and diligently, children and servants well trained and provided, the offices properly filled, the unworthy expelled from civic stations, law and and
justice administered, the
and righteous
life.
Rohr
class of
piorum desideriorum.
of
He
thinks that no
His opinion
is
no value
to us.
The important
the
CAMERALISTICS OF ROHR
203
by government seem to conform in spirit to the standard quoted, and he goes into a mass of details, but the particular machinery recommended by the anonymous author alone meets his disapproval. Rohr apparently felt jealous
to be enforced
for the prerogatives of the
matters.
The
occupied
The second
affords
little
Rohr
light
in chap, xxviii,
on the cameralistic problem proper is found on "The Riches of the Country." Recalling
bound
up with those
rich.
may be
this identity
and subjects in the affluence of the on the ground that if the subjects have money the sovereign always has means at his command to get it from them. "On the other hand, if the subjects are poor, he can no more
of interest between prince
latter
get
of a dry
sponge."*
After reciting some of the information which a prince must
command, about
I
the wealth
and sources
prince
of
income of
his
Rohr
cites
"a
in his chest,
and territories, is walking on stilts." Our review of Schroder, in which we have quoted the same words (above, p. 144), shows that the contradiction was not so direct as Rohr supposes. He had chiefly in mind one stage in the process, while Schroder put the emphasis at another point, relying however on the same ultimate resource.
but
relies
on the good
204
subjects, that he
THE CAMERALISTS
may know
the location
and capacity
of the
Rohr betrays
and
He
says:
may
increase in riches.
(sic)
A
as
are
brought into
either
from
its
own mines
money
of peoples gold
and silver same in all places in the world is estimated according worth of gold and silver, for which everything can be bought, to the one must estimate the riches of a land according to the quantity of the gold and silver in the same. Hence a prince must give his thought to means whereby the land may become richer, and he must remove everything through which it becomes poorer (p. 844).'
For inasmuch as by general consent are the universal price of all things, and
Rohr
is
not content to
it
let
He
repeats
in this
form
We find
is
much
as gold
and
silver
much has
' After Schroder's chap, xxx, no equally clear expression of this If opinion is to be found in the cameralistic writers previous to Rohr. the language is carefully considered it will be seen that even this brash
assertion of
Rohr cannot properly be construed as a generalization of the same logical order as Adam Smith's propositions about wealth. Rohr was evidently not probing beyond immediate practical utility. He was not seeking for a philosophy of wealth, but for a basis of prudence in dealing with the means necessary for practical wisdom. It would
be as preposterous to make such a statement, by a writer of Rohr's type, the clue to the economic basis of cameralism, as it would be to take the
enthusiastic declaration of
some
the only
way
to create
As we have seen, Rohr was not an authority upon any technical or philosophical subject. He is not to be taken as representing the cameralists, except in a relatively remote way. Yet it is from such sources that the extreme forms of statement came which were
Germany
for
most of the
CAMERALISTICS OF ROHR
Then
follows
205
an
balance of trade.
of its
as
fertile
as possible
back
upon Schroder.^
The theorem
all,
of the latter
is:
A
if
and
silver
mines to be worked,
a
profit, for that
whether with a
loss or
matters not to the country, since I have shown [chap, xxx] that this
is
The most
direct evidence
on
von Carlowitz'
and evidently from a larger range of direct observation than in any other portion of the book, unless it may be the ecclesiastical sections. The essay style and quality prevail in the remainder of the book, and it yields nothing farther that is notable for
our purpose.
Particularly
Rent-Cammer.
passage
on p. 278 of the first edition of Filrstl. Schatz- und In the edition of 1744, which I have compared, the
is
on
p. 181.
in
von Berg-Herren,
15, vortraget,
von alien
Except that
on the
if
first
of Schonberg's six
recommendations,
viz.,
gratitude to God,
with gold and silver deposits, Justi developed his mining policy along
the lines of this predecessor.
ff.
CHAPTER
We
ties.
IX
first officially
Whatever
men who
mark
>
Die Nationalokonomie als UniversittUswissenschaft, Within the period covered by the present study, the I^ipzig, 1906. cameralism even of the book-writers centered in the bureaus rather than
cameralism
Stieda,
The reverse became the case in the following period. Thomasius with having been the first to read a course on national economy in a German university. Such judgments do not impress me as at all reliable. In the first place, if we had syllabi of all the courses given at this period, it would be difficult to gain a consensus about the way of drawing the line between those that should be regarded as economic in the general sense of the time, and those that should not.
in the universities.
In the second place, judging from Thomasius' notes on Osse (vide above,
pp. 24
ff.), it
seems to
me
Gundling
masius
Hieronymus Tho-
in Naturrecht,
earlier
as he in the economic
down
that
38).
Again,
it
is
certain
Jena on economics, in the contemporary sense, as early as 1713 (vide above, p. 175). Gerhard's name does not appear in Stieda's index. As a sign of the difficulty of obtaining the
(ierhard
lecturing
at
was
literature of cameralism,
it
is
in spite of his
vantage
ground
einem
und Praxi, mil mehrerm Fleiss und Nutzen getrieben werden ktinne, Frankfurt und Leipzig, 1660; he failed also to find a copy of Zincke, Programm von practischen Collegiis juridico-poliiico-cameralibus, 174142;
in
Stadtbiblio-
thek) the
Kaiserl.
monograph of Justi (1754), Auf hdchsten BefeM an Sr. Rom. und zu Ungarn und Bdhmen Kdnigl. Majestiit erstaltetes aller206
CAMERALISTICS OF GASSER
According to Inama,'
207
hrandenhurgischer LandrentmeisUr.
The range
of ideas within
and limitations of the son. As Inama "he had a clear but extremely jejune intellect, with total absence of higher philosophical, ethical and historical conceptions." Gasser built upon Seckendorff, but was
part for the interests
further says,
far
wisdom.
of law,
fact that
and also a member of the Schbppenstuhl at Halle, before he was appointed to the newly created chair of cameralistics, is all
that
is
necessary by
first
way
to
new
duties,
as a waymark, even
untertdnigstes
if it
Gutachten von dem vernunftigen Zusammenhange und aller Oekonomischen u. Kameralwissenschaften; he found no copy of John Christian Fcirster, Einleilung in die CameralPolicey- und Finanz-Wissenschaft, 1779 (?); etc. .Mthough I have failed to get access to certain of the cameralistic books, my examination of previous accounts of them leads me to the belief that on the whole they have never been subjected to a more conscientious examination than in this study. At least, I have expressed no judgment as my own upon books which I have not carefully analyzed. There are good reasons for doubting whether even Roscher could have said as much. I venture to hope that this necessarily incomplete survey will provoke German scholars to attempt a completely objective restoration of the cameralistic writers.
praktischen
Vortrage
>
Politischen
Simon Peter Gassers, JCti, Einleilung zu den Oeconomiaclten und Cameral Wissenschaften, Worinnen filr dieses mal die Oeconomico-Cameralia Von den Domainen- oder Cammer- auch andern Giitern, deren Administration und Anschldgen, so wol des Ackerbaues als anderer Pertinentien halber, samt den Regalien angeuiget und erlautert werden. Nebst einem Vorbericht Von der Fiindation der neuen oeconomischen Profession, und der Allerdurchlauchligsten Sti/iers eigentlichen
aller gnddigsten
Absicht,
(pp.
Halle;
ff.)-
In
Verlegung
dea
Waysenhauses,
MDCCXXIX
347
2o8
THE CAMERALISTS
items in the book which
The
extremely perplexing.
I
prominence
is
^iven to the statement that the king had both excited the
many
scholars by taking
With
respect
own
account shows that our acceptance of the record must be carefully qualified.
show
in
far between.
probably due to
new "eco-
facts in the
own mind.
He
states,
some
of the elementary
With the
zeal of a
new convert
"juridical
He
many changes on
and, second, that
charge.
He
thereby
shows,
was
fighting for
its life,
men
of his type
in their
own minds,
if
some
law
CAMERALISTICS OF GASSER
The
next item which
209
we
on the defensive for delaying as long as two years before pubHis lishing this book on the subject of his professorship! explanation is, in brief, that his duties required him to teach "from morning till five or six in the evening,"^ that his official duties "auf der Kammer und Deputation" consumed his forenoons, that from six o'clock till late at night he had "enough duties connected with the bureau, the faculty and other official labors to occupy two or three men," and that consequently there remained to him for work on economic subjects "only the few morning hours up to eight o'clock!"
Furthermore, he contemptuously describes authorship in the
legal faculty as
On
the
brought to
few
if
any pioneers
collation."*
in this
must be
collected with
much
labor
and
reflection,
also
by
inquiries
and
Gasser
and
efficient
Hauswirthe and
Politici are
more
at
odds with one another than any other scholars can possibly be."^
Retiiming to the reasons
why economic
jurists
professorships had
first,
He
economic teaching
to
Inasmuch as he presently acknowledges Seckendorff as a pioneer is greatly indebted, it seems necessary to connect this remark particularly with the special sort of material to which Gasser' s book is devoted. This conclusion carries with it a judgment as to the sense in
*
whom he
all
For
Justi's
fF.
comments on the
period, vide
2IO
splitters
THE CAMERALISTS
and no longer edifying
instructors of candidates for
civic positions;
by professors especially charged with that subject; and third, on the reasons for omission to supply this need. Thomasius covers all the points on which we have already quoted Rohr in this connection,^ and he adds the
the universities
following
First,
reasons:
because Aristotle
first
left
founding of the
totle;
universities the
Aris-
second, the belief has prevailed that the scholar should concern
himself with something different from that which the drudge and
common man
understands; third,
it
Oeconomie;
to investi-
have
little fitness
and so make
light of
them
fifth,
the same,
and indeed
laziness,
for labor,
'
all
own
private affairs;
tolerate
monkish
destined
but
is
"man
is
and
p.
that he
who does
not work
not worthy
to eat."'
Vide
200 above.
from the
official
ment.
The most
"Es haben
Seine
....
resolviret auf
beyden Universi-
und
beybringen soUen."
Kunig,
viret,
und Regulirung der Stadte Further, in the final rescript: " Friederich Wilhelm,
hochst eigener
Bewegung
allergnadigst resol-
PoHcey-Sachen
docirct
ehe
werden sollen, .... damit die zu Bedienungen employret werden, einen guten Grund in obgedachten Wissenschaften erlangen mogen, etc., etc Berlin den
sic
24. Julii
1727."
CAMERALISTICS OF GASSER
The sense in which
211
and in which Gasser undertook to use it, appears in part, though by no means fully, in the further explanation by the author:
His majesty manifested
the bad Oeconomie which
in their
in the
own
affairs,
young people were in the habit of practicing so that when they come back from universities
and
such
tours, they are usually already so loaded with debts that they
are helpless,
thriftless
and especially those who have landed estates carry on management because of aforesaid debts, that they
at last gradually get
some
was zealous to change the proportion of lawyers, who filled the country and sucked it dry. He wanted young men to learn not merely the elements of jurisprudence, but to add the elements of poliiica, oeconomica and cameralia (p. 8).
Gasser explains that in order to meet
devotes the
Staai.
first
this
demand, he
Fiirsten-
half-year to lectures
on Seckendorff's
proper, yet
He
not contain
it
in general
and thus
right.
much
that
it
is specific
and
adoption
"there
is
of
fundamental
"Besides,"
adds
Gasser,
of the budgets."
This
latter
remark
is
212
THE CAMERALISTS
by comparison with
is
to be understood primarily
Seckendorflf,
interested in quite as
minute
by Rohr.
He
finds in Seckendorff,
upon which
specific rules of
management must
rest.
"von
meaning not that a prince should have no money, but that he should have both money and power. Consequently, Gasser urges that the two supporting pillars of the princely state are
"revenues from the country and well-to-do subjects in the
country, particularly in the towns."
for
This theorem
is
the text
The
make
Although
it is
given to this
promise,' viz.:
I proix>se also to set apart a designated hour on Saturdays in which the work of those who commendably choose to attempt practice at
guidance given.
of drawing
I shall assign to
up
belonging
schedules,
Others
will
be required
to
catastra, etc.,
on the lines indicated in the several chapters. and discussed on Saturdays, other students
When
will
be
FUrst. Schatt-
und RerU-Cammer.
CAMERALISTICS OF GASSER
them up
session.
213
it
further,
and they
will
thus be considered as
will
were
in full
in the line in
the
which he shows most inclination, while by listening work of all he may gain a general idea of the whole subject.
the
book
is,
in
chief significance
is
negative.
That
is,
it
management,
first
of the
was bounded by the rules of thrifty domains of the prince, and then of
the various gainful employments, sometimes viewed as lucrative for the individual citizens,
their
Even
this
modicum
of
meaning
to
The
in general,
and
especially
on the and
visible connection
with
all
that follows.
They have
and forced
extemporize.
ology,
They
are an
unkempt rabble
homespun
and common-
sense conclusion.
unintelligible.
To
the
modem
From
the definite
this
impotent
other
One
obvious inference
is
controversy to ignore
it,
his opinion
214
THE CAMERALISTS
in substance as
it
was as frank
was Hibernian
in form, viz.,
"If the French writers had not broken the ice of the theorems
of the spiritual
and secular
state, the
(p. 3).
minute
Chaps,
and
other
tributes.
Sixty-two
pages
are
assigned
to
itemized
e. g.,
tile
roof;
house;
of the cost of
mason work;
cost of wheelwright's
logic
work; cost
The
which
"To
prices."
The aim
and
in the author's
mind
iv,
made
"On
particularly of agri-
otherwise."
Thus:
his
As Columella observed of
own
own
guides and
The same
comes about that the minority themselves, but whoever lives in the counspecially
and what
wiser,
if
good manager
is
in the locality,
and
CAMERALISTICS OF GASSER
The
215
the good
really
because there
and to conform treatment to the varying Thereupon follows an attempt to analyze classes of soil and to show the processes of culture appropriate to each. The following one hundred and forty pages contain abundant evidence that technical and social administration of rural communities was at this time a highly developed and conventionalized art, but at the same time it was an art consisting of
of adjacent tracts,
conditions.
It
fundamental principles.
The
chief difference
between the
is
j&rst
not in the
but rather in the fact that the former deal with technique of
more strictly private management, while the latter belong to a larger degree in the realm of public management. In either
case the author's effort
practice.
is
He
tionary,
and he
up
to the prince,
would
All this
was Oeconomie, as Gasser interpreted the term. It had the same relation to pure economics, as we understand the term
today, which instruction in the technique of operating a gas
would have
to foundations of
economic theory.
cameralistic
a.
O.*
the writings of
to
As
we may merely
ff.
2l6
professor
of
THE CAMERALISTS
law
and
chancellor
of
the
University
of
HaUe.
On
ship
new
professor-
Ludewig wrote a quaint little book of i66 pages, explainThe tract is a document ing and praising the king's purpose. of firstrate importance as evidence sustaining our main thesis
about the center of interest in the whole cameralistic period.^
Indeed, excess of c)micism could not justly be charged
if
one
own
the writer
had
At
Friedrich Wilhehn
all events,
the
monograph
of cameralism as fiscalism.'
The
hundred and
thirty
The
dictum of the
Wirthschafft] of the
army and good management subjects^ are the two chief and surest means
and a land permanently happy." The reinforced by Xenophon, is inserted
"A
of
making a people
rich
authority of Socrates,
who
Vide above,
p. 6.
Die, von Sr. Koniglichen Majestdt, unserm allergnddigsten Konige, auf Dero Universitdt Halle, am 14 Juli 1 727, Neu angerichtete Profession, in Oeconomie, Policey, und Cammer-Sachen wird, nebst VorsUUung einiger Stiicke verbesserter Kdn. Preussl. Policey, bekannt gemachet von dem zeitigem Prorectore, Joh. Peter von Ludewig, Id. Universitdts-Cantt
lern
i It is
1727-
Ludewig
clearly
i.
chose between the subjective and the objective force of his genitive:
e.,
whether his thought was "on the part of the subjects" or "over the
subjects."
From
falls
it
aspects of the case were hardly differentiated in his mind, although the
emphasis
heavily on
management by the
ruler.
CAMERALISTICS OF GASSER
217
must somehow have obtained divine enlightenment," to susThen follows, largely as an interpretation tain this argument. of Columella, a justification of the dictum, chiefly on its economic side, from the experience of the Romans, including the Eastern emperors. As a transition to the immediate application of the theme, Ludewig remarks (9) that it is very difficult
to find in ancient or
modem
history a ruler
who
is
equally
war and in promotion of management (Wirtschaft) Possibly Henry IV of France is one of the few exceptions. After reciting at some length illustrations of that monarch's wisdom and prudence, Ludewig continues:
great in
But why should we pause so long upon a foreign and past exam Through a brave and wise king, God has placed this truth before the eyes of our own times and subjects (sic). Wherefore we
pie?
could and should daily admire, honor and thank the perfect [grundgUten]
God,
So long
to be
may
no region of the earth has seen an army compared with that of Prussia, etc., etc. (10).
specifies
Having continued this eulogy in some detail, Ludewig and partially describes in turn, as items in the excel-
the workhouses
and penal
the
homes
colonies (18);
the establishment of
many
settlement of
capable young
as subordinates in administrative offices (30) written ordinances and laws for all functionaries (31); revision and
men
and measures
(^33)
property (34);
introduction of
money commutation
for cavalry
(36);
2i8
THE CAMERALISTS
troller (38);
reforms of the currency (37); establishment of the office of compcareful signing of royal decrees (39); administration
;
of justice
and expediting of legal processes (40) consequent improvement of the royal finances (41); simplification of ceremonial (42).
to exhortation,
viz.:
That it would be well for the government to provide adminisand especially the Policey, bureaus with national and special maps and diagrams visualizing the conditions of the country at large, and, in more detail, of the respective administrative divisions (43); that certain feudal burdens should be removed (44); that the military and fiscal administration should in certain features be reortrative,
ganized (45)-
Ludewig turns
this
to the
graph in
But
way:
this
and
Policey,
And
as
we have rendered
will
ourselves liable to
easily
now
for the
For since
und Cammersachen, was, so far as I and since he most graciously decreed that the intention and use of the same should be made public; I have l^elieved that neither the new Oeconoknow, the
first in
than
ral,
if
Policey
und Oeconomie-Lehren,
to the
in error,
upon what I have said, and correct that in which I have been and especially if they should add the larger part which I
CAMERALISTICS OF GASSER
have been obliged to leave untouched.
Besides
this, I
219
must
call to
mind
that,
along with
my
Friedrichs-UniversitiU conferred
professor-
royal
historiographer, in which
for
a contri-
And
as a matter
The
latter either
if
use
they
own enjoyment
do any work, fall upon obsolete times and forget their founder This may be partly, indeed, because the archives are closed to them. .... Another extenuating item is that if the historian happens to
him
it is
at court.
Moreover,
if
anything
home
it
are
seldom mentioned.
there
land.
is
Finally,
is
no use in writing down what is known to everybody in the These do not consider that subsequent times consume and erase the preceding, and that what is now before our eyes and in our hands fifty years hence will have become a secret and forgotten, Such being the case, great lords are if not made a part of history. unfortunate to labor only to be forgotten, and the praiseworthy,
wise and tireless princes
so
much good
(Sec.
and
still
peoples,
and have
"Make
somewhat more
to the
new
Sec. 48 discusses
new
most
explicit
way
Oeconomie, as
officially
Expandbelongs
Oeconomie at
last
220
THE CAMERALISTS
it
Ludewig
sa3rs:
why
in
com on
father,
to
whom
streams,
how
how
to
brew grain and to sell the do and what to leave undone every
to
fire-proall
how
day
in the year;
these
Hence
This
is
the reason
when "commandments" which the children recite. why among the hundred philosophical books which
is
treat of
Oeconomia there
line,
and
thus this
name
With
purpose
new
pro-
fessorship
is
we have
concerned.
we
upon belated
Aristotelianism.
The
contemporary Cameralwissenschaft;
variations;
third,
second, that the term was equally contrasted with the nineteenth-
its
that the
etc.,
was
of less
immediate
cameral science
in general or for
men
directly interested,
and
even by
<
later writers.
The
Aristotle.
CAMERALISTICS OF GASSER
hensive sense
221
in
dawned on
Germans
a way
somewhat
sociological outlook
to certain remedial
of
The remainder
of the
essay repays careful analysis as an index of the author's knowledge about the bibliography of the subject.
He de[>ends chiefly upon Seckendorff and Rohr, both for general conceptions of the sciences with which the new professorship is to deal and for clues to other writers. He is sufficiently explicit that the
Wirthschaft, as distinguished
from the commentators upon Aristotle, have ignored controversies about mere words and names, and have written some good books about all kinds of practical management.
CHAPTER X
THE CAMERALISTICS OF DITHMAR
Justus Christoph Dithmar was
of his personality simply that he
bom March
1
13, 1677,
and
737.
We need to know
of history, then
was professor
a.
of
O.,
and was
desig-
of the latter.
Both began
their
new
Roscher remarks:
While Gasser took his point of departure from jurisprudence, Dithmar passed from history to cameral science. It may be due
to this circumstance that he
in practical
(Dithmar)
is
is
economic insight as he
431).
superior to
him
in general
culture*
(p.
their
the
Roscher
estimate
and Dithmar. Roscher is clearly in error, however, both when he says that the division into "Oeconomie, Polizei- und Cameralwissenschaft" originates with Dithmar, and when he credits him with the distinction between the *'land- und stadtwirthschaftliche Zweige der Volkswirthscha/t." Both divisions are discoverable in Gasser.' The latter is plainly formulated by Rohr.3 It is true that Dithmar is the first to use these distinctions as titles for subdivision of a cameralistic syllabus. Inama seems to have
of the relative merits of Gasser
This
is
p.
229)
them a
little
The former
is
is
ii,
the
latter
in
chap,
the subdivision of
rural
in building.
3
Vide al)ove,
p. 188.
4 All. d. Bib.,
in
loc.
CAMERALISTICS OF DITHMAR
repeated Roscher on these points,
evidence.
223
Land
and Stadt Wirthschaft.^ Although Gasser and Dithmar began the work
find
it
of their
in publishing
on
this
subject.
academic
lectures."
same account
fessorship
Ludewig with reference to Halle. Dithmar speaks in much more terse and confident terms. He takes it for granted that since "the welfare, power, and repute of a state rest on a wellordered economic, police, and cameral system," and since
people versed in statecraft have long wished that studious
Einleitung,
x.
Abth., 10.
f.
Hn.
Natur und
Vdlkerrechts, wie
offent-
und
Nebst
Verzeichniss eines
zu solchen Wissenschaften
Register.
Biichervorrathes
und ausfUhrlichem
dconomischer
Mit neuen
Anmerkungen
verbessert
um
Gebrauch
von D. Daniel Gottfried Schreber. FUnfte Ausgabe With bibliography and index, pp. 328. According to Inama {pp. cit.) editions of this book were published in 1731, 1740, 1745, 1748, The author's' preface to the first edition was dated 1755, and 1768.
1755.
whose preface
is
dated Halle, September 24, 1755. Of Schreber, the editor, Roscher says: " the Leipzig Professor of Oeconomie, Poliui- und Cameral. . .
.
was valued by Linand who showed historical sense in his chief work: Abhandlung von GammergiUern und EinkUnflen, deren Verpachtung und Administration (1743. II- Aufl., 1754)-"
224
THE CAMERALISTS
employment
of the state, the king's action in providing
settles the matter,
such instruction
more notable
that
Dithmar
This
is
says, "since
no introduction
of previous writers,
had shown
He
the
IV on Policey-Wissenschaft takes
civil
law of other
is
states.
more
and
instructive for
editor says that he has been careful merely to correct the text
to insert
of the
He
used Dithmar's
first
own
lectures,
probably
at Halle,
38).
p.
His
To
it
Of
the study
possible,
of
which
it
treats,
and
used in
various,
including Catholic
universities.
Schreber continues:
I do not deny that since the book first saw the light we have had more profound and elaborate introductions to the cameral sciences.
....
know
CAMERALISTICS OF DITHMAR
mann,'
Justi,
225
and
and I would not detract in the least from them or to the eminent merits of Herm Hofwho was the first to go deepest into these sciences,
others,
when
of
I nevertheless declare
all for
had
same
time.
The
method.
He
kept in
mind
He
advice:
"To
those
who
Kauf-
mannswissenschaft,
>
either
Of G.
A.
Hoffman,
Roscher says
all
436):
"His Klugheit
(IV,
It
Haus
vulgaris
Wirthschajlslehre.
p>olice
this
work, and
first
it
was
Of
Stisser I shall
aber die
ff.). I do not think it probable that Schreber Adolph Hoffman, whose book, Politische Anmerkungen wahre und falsche Staatskunst, was published in Latin in 1718,
the
author in
1725.
{Vide
Roscher,
on the subjects
After explaining that he put before his students all the writers in question, he adds: " Sodann lege ich bey denen Theilen
wo
Manuale und Rechnungen, Anschlage, Steuercatastra, Cammer-Etats, Stadt- und Landbeschreibungen, Commercientabellen, Kaufmannsbiicher und dergleichen Schemata vor die Augen, wobey
wie Tabellen ordentlich zu verfertigen sind, angefiihret
werden, wovon ich den Nutzen bey meinen ehemaligen Expeditionen
sie zugleich,
226
THE CAMERALISTS
is
recom-
mended."'
Of
the syllabus
itself little
by means
may be
was becoming both and more systematic. The scientific plane which author and editor had reached may be indicated by a
that analysis of the relations concerned
more
few
objective
citations.
The
first
Economic science {die Oeconomische Wissenschajt, oder Haussnvirlhschajts- und HausshcUtungskunst) teaches how, through proper rural and city occupations, support and riches may be gained for
the promotion of temporal happiness.
The
Economic science
not an art.'
The purpose
The
liC
and
special
shown.
It
on the side
of private interests.
The
public aspects
of Oeconomie appeared to
two divisions
Tvissenschaft,
It
of his subject.
Dithmar expresses
his
own view
in this form.
teaches
how
nature [fV^wgn] of a
[allge-
The
reference
But the
in
suffix
Dithmar
CAMERALISTICS OF DITHMAR
meinc ClUckseligkeit],
that the
227
in good condition and order, and accordingly supreme magistracy of the country must have a care that
Christian, honorable,
and healthy
that their
Hence Policeywissenschajt
its
a part of
Slaalsklugheit, but
and cameral
(viii, ix).
sciences,
on account of
how
the princely
domain and
may
revenues
of the
may be
raised,
community
[getneines Wesen].
The
The
editor adds:
difference between Finanz-
be explained (x).
Dithmar accounts
monks,
arguments that
all
Dithmar contends
may
be taught to advantage in the universities, while he recomof actual practice in the fields
mends observation
severally
which they
occupy
(xvi).
Having compressed
his
main propositions on
these general
Dithmar
ff.
228
THE CAMERALISTS
His emphasis
on the
side of
This
said to teach
and
riches
may
It
would be easy
to
marked
but
it
is
and the Policeywissenschaft of the same system, enough to remark that these pioneers were not yet
much
cities
chiefly
on
furnish
Nahrungen]
actual
i).
The
only,
situations
without
attempting
anything more
Dithmar
says:
is
The
it is
Policey
grounded
in civic society, in
consequence of which
conduct and affairs community [gemeinen
competent
Wesens] (v).
He
continues:
Policey
may
and
soul of a state,
and the
importance of Policeywissenschajl
the grievance that the the
therewith evident.
!
The more
same has been neglected In the Middle Ages Romish clergy were at fault for this. For their purposes good Policey was not desirable, and consequently Policeywissenschaft was suppressed by them along with other disciplines (vi). In modem
times there
is
is
no lack of
political
books, but
little
about Policey-
wissenschajl
CAMERALISTICS OF DITHMAR
and camera!
is
229
for
view of
its
circumstances;
experi-
in police affairs;
and by personal
we
Dithmar again
It teaches
how
may
be raised,
As a mere
Of course
is
impossible to compare
knowledge of
On
listic
the whole
in certain very
than Justi of
German camera-
He
weakness and
its strength.
The
for
stage of
German
social science
emancipa-
from
a-priori, deductive
ff.
"The
science has
its
names from the word Camera, by which, according to the idiom of the Middle Ages, the place was designated in which the revenues of the reigning prince were guarded."
He
ff.
refers to
"du
Fresne, glos.
v.
camera."
On
p. 241;
also
by Thorn
230
THE CAMERALISTS
way than
the
first
more conscientious
ging innovations.
in every
Dithmar was evidently much He was extremely Justi. He was cautious about encouraof the cameralists to present
He was
of writers scheduled,
ranging
immediate contemporaries,
literature, vividly reflect
was going forward between authority on the one hand and observation and analysis on the other. Dithmar has fortified the text of his little book with more references to sources than are to be found in all Justi's
writings.
his
Still
further, there
is
who
to drain
swamp
or work
On the
other hand,
of the
world as Justi.
with
affairs.
He
He was
and
c(nventional,
Justi
while
reason that
and progressive; was forceful and self-assertive, partly for the he had a much more restricted historical and
though evidently
than Dithmar.
literary outlook
The
less
The
in
form
im|)rcssing itself
"
upon the
universities.'
many confused
lists
of books.
*
final
editor
and
the
first
work as numbers of Oekonomische Fama, German cameralistic journal, 1739. As I have seen none of
estimate of Dithmar would have to consider his
largely as author of the ten
CAMERALISTICS OF DITHMAR
these numbers, I must be content to refer to Rosther's account of
(pp. 431, 432).
231
them
made
of several
whose relative merits as camcralistic writers I am not prepared These are, first, Johann Hermann Fijrstcnau, 1688-1756, "intrusted with the professorship Oeconomiae at the University of Rinteln {Griindliche Anleitung zu der Haushaltungskunst und denen gehorigen furnehmsten Schriften, Lemgo, 1736); second, Andreas Berch, 17 11-74, who was not in Germany, to be sure, but was professor of Oeconomie at Up>sala (an anonymous monograph, 1746, on Die Art durch die polilische Arithmetik die Haushaltung der Lander und Reiche zu erforschen, and, in 1747, Einleitung zur allgemeinen Haushaltung, Grundsdtze der PoliceyOekonomie- und Kameralwissenschaft, the latter translated into German, 1763, by the writer about to be named) third, Daniel Gottfried Schreber, 1709-77, "the first to hold a professorship of the economic sciences at Leipzig" {Abhandlung von Kammergiitern und Einkiinften, deren Verpachtung und Administration, 1743, II. Aufl., 1754; Zwo Schriften von
men
of
to judge.
der Geschichte
und Notkwendigkeit
zum
Akademie der okonomischen WissenI have been able to see none of the writings of these schaften, 1763). men. Stieda {vide Index) adds important information, particularly
Nutzen
about Schreber.
CHAPTER
No
is
XI
more
this are,
if
writer,
even
we take
publications alone.
is
much
less
than
hard to decide
many
elusive,
subdivisions,
elucidate.
and
cross-classifications mystify
It is also to
While
it is
necessary
he
is
From
the sketch by
bom
in
1692,
and died
in
1768.
His father was a preacher, and both father and mother seem
their best to induce the son to
to
have
calling.
The
boy twice interrupted his school career to enter the army. After he had become UnUrofficier he was captured and taken to France
as prisoner of war (1709), but escaped, and went to Jena, ostensibly
to study theology, but he gave quite as
sciences.
much
He was made Master in 1713, and was allowed to lecture "on German and I^tin style, morals and GdehrtengeschichU."
'
AU.
d. Bib., in loc.
333
CAMERALISTICS OF ZINCKE
233
and and a throat trouble," he went to Halle, where he both lectured on his old subjects and attended courses in the legal sciences by Ludewig, Bohmer,
tance, he
to Erfurt,
went
to preach.
Thomasius,
etc.
und Syndicus
bei
daselbst,
und
bei
later,
^'Fiscal der
Kriegs- und Domdnenkammer im Saalkreise und im Mansfeldischen, dann wirklicher Commissionsrath und Criminalrath." The latter position he retained till 1731, when he was called to Weimar with
the rank of Hofrath.
He
and exerted influence much beyond his proper sphere. Whether this actually injured the Herzog and the country, Zimmermann At all events, Zincke made such enemies that a declines to judge. judicial investigation followed, with the result that Zincke was Ill, and weakened by prison life, he imprisoned for three years.* was taken up by Herzog Christian in Saalfeld, and after his health was restored he was on his way to take a teacher's position in St. Petersburg when he was persuaded to change his plan and to remain in Leipzig, offering courses in the Rechts- und Catneralwissenschajten Thereupon Zincke developed very influential literary (1740). activities. His AUgemeines okonomishes Lexicon (1742) was reedited in a fifth edition by Volkmann (1780), a sixth by Leich The scientific (1800), and Roscher speaks of a seventh in 1820. reputation which he gained thereby is said by Zimmermann to have been the occasion of his removal to Braunschweig at the end of 1745, to accept an appointment as Hof- und Kammerrath und ordenllicher Professor der Rechte und Catneralwissenschajten am Collegium Carolinum, and soon as Mitcurator of that institution. In Braunschweig Zincke did not acquire great influence. He was charged with certain functions in the administrative bureaus, and he lectured on Cameral- und Policeywissenschaft. The control of the academic administration was entirely in the hands of the "Abt" Jerusalem. Zincke published a criticism of the management in
'
Roscher has
it
(p. 433).
234
THE CAMERALISTS
and was sustained by
For at
the highest author-
another decade,
an
author.
It is difficult to fix
upon an order
of treatment
which
will
To what has already been said about Roscher's work at this point, we must add that he really dodges the "Zincke problem."* He quotes only the earliest and least mature of Zincke's cameralistic books;' his reference to the most pretentious of his books is inaccurate, and provokes the
literature.
suspicion that he
knew
it
We must
is virtually
At the same
calls attention to
of cameralistic theory.
may
However
listics
may
development of cameraif
we should
ff.
>
X74a.
3
AnfangsgrAnde.
fiF.
The mere
publishers'
if it
been allowed to stand as a sufficient index of the proportions of the work, had been carefully examined. It is nominally in two parts, but each
part consists of two considerable volumes.
respectively pp. 806, 1318, 998,
The
62.
* Leiptiger Sammlungen von wirihschaftlichen, Policey- Cammerund Finant-Sachen, of which 184 numbers appeared, 1742-67. As I have seen none of these numbers, I am obliged to depend upon Roscher's
CAMERALISTICS OF ZINCKE
be read by every student
of
235
Letting
that
the
period.^
it is
worth,
we must
judgment.
Stieda has presented a
much more
sympathetic view of
a proper introduction
In spite of the fact that he did not reach his aim, for he was never
Professor der Oeconomie, although he read lectures on this subject
at the University of Leipzig from 1740 to 1745,
Georg Heinrich
had considerable
sities.
influence
practischen
juridico-politico-cameralibus,
the
purpose of
give.
them up,
in
Wissenschajten.
It consisted of
two
parts.
preliminary discus-
how young men should be instructed sciences, and how they might be introduced
Zincke had at
text,
first
and
plan
failed.
that
omitted too
many
neces-
ough knowledge,
longer,
etc. Probably the author himself, if he had lived would have improved the book in these respects. At all
made Zincke
feel
an outline of
his
own.
Op.
cit.,
pp. 433-41.
cit., pp. 35 f. I cite this passage, first, because I have been unable to obtain the two sources to which it refers; and, second, because it coincides with the judgment of Zincke which I had formed from study of his more mature works.
'
Stieda, op.
236
THE CAMERALISTS
few, declared Zincke,
who
principles as merely
minor considerations.
aim
the
common
weal
which
it
a country.
all
In
purpose of
management
Polizeiwissenschajt as a system of
really with reference to the
It
and of the prince. The total management is, however, arranged public and general weal.
to present these sciences in the uni-
manner.
In the
first
and second on
the latter
official all
it
special portions.
e.,
a practical course.
Excursions
In
Zincke had the plan of proposing a subject, of having same worked up, part by part, through assignments to individuals, and then of having it presented and discussed by the students as a group. In other words, these details shoW that Zincke was planning essentially the seminar method, and he hoped thereby to make the new subjects particularly attractive. He probably leaned upon Gross, Entwurj cines mil leickten Kosten zu errichtenden Seminarii
procedure.
the
ofconomico-politici. '
call
With
Braunschweig-LtJiK^rg he gave up the realization of the plans contained in the above-mentioned programme. Yet he considered his ideas so important that he hoped
they would be generally adopted.
'
Hence
in
cit., p.
13.
CAMERALISTICS OF ZINCKE
in the Leipziger
237
to publish in
1742,
He
einzurichtenden
Camerali.
He
in connection
He would
understood to
mean a
crafty
man
acting a
p)art to
man who
common
weal, to live
and
wisely.
No
one can
who is not
To
war or of finance. All these, however, find something which concerns them in the political sciences. Hence they must in the first place learn the whole in its general principles and rules. Every
political function,
its affairs
definite relation
and happiness of the state in general. The state, however, has no other purpose than to improve and perfect all that constitutes the temporal weal of its members. The Politicus must learn whatever sciences, talents, and preparation are necessary for
to die welfare
For
is it
this
end
it is
Rather
to
know,
a way that
is
applicable to practice,
to
progressively richer,
how
to
make a land
of the
the application
life
mem-
The most
But
much
more thoroughly,
theory.
in this general
This is done in the Kameralwissenschaften, which are composed of General- und Spedal-Oekonomie, of the PolizeiwissenI
3, 4.
238
schajiy
THE CAMERALISTS
which
is
tind
Kammerwesen
For further details Zincke refers to his Grundriss, in accordance with which he had lectured and intended to continue his lectures.
Since however not everybody has the patience in detail, but people
rather concent themselves with a historical concept
and
at the
same
urges,
affairs,
particularly to be desired.
He
another course
'*de notitia
who
do not purpose
speaks.
to
make a
He
to
cites
and wishes
this course,
add
In
treated,
and the
and the
financial system.
we must take
by
him were not necessary in order fairly to report Zincke. Stisser was a student of law and philosophy at Jena and Halle and might have gravitated into an academic career if he had not evinced notable administrative talent.
further reference to
Fricdrich
Ulrich
Stissers,
Ehemahligen
Fiirstl.
Braunschweig-
Liinehurgl.
Pr. Krieges-
und Domainen-
Zum
Cammer-Wesen
eingerichtet.
Nunmero aher von neuen iihersehen, an vielen Often verbessert, vermehret und hrauchharer auf Verlangen gemachet, wie auch mit noch mehr Historischen NachrictUen von denen Geschdflen und Schriften, auch mit einer neuen Vorrede versehen von D. Georg Heinrich Zincken, Hochfurstl. Braunschweigischen wurckl. Hof- und Cammer-Rath, Prof. Juris und Cameralium auf der Universitdt Helmstddt und des HochfUrstl.
CoUegii Carolini in Braunschweig Curatore
1746.
(First edilion,
^735)
Roscher
(p.
CAMERALISTICS OF ZINCKE
While
in practical
239
employment
at
and the
Forst-
Besides the book just mentioned, Stisser published in 1734 Ein Programma von der Moglichkeit, dass die oekonomischen
der
Unm'dglichkeit
dieses
Vornehmens eingenommen
is
hatte.
Die
Forst-
und Jagd-Historie
der
Teutschen.
It
marked
and hunting was dedicated to the king of Prussia, and that expert in management was so much impressed with the author's knowledge of afifairs, as evinced by both this and the Land-Wirthschaft, that he called him to Berlin, in order to test his information and judgment orally. As a consequence, Frederich VVilhelm I gave him an appointment at Stettin.^ It was Stisser's plan to write a second volume, Stadt-WirthIn explaining schaft, and a third, Wirthschaft grosser Herren.
forestry
his relation to Stisser's book,
The book on
Zincke says
As
began
to lecture
Herm
field,
but
and
in
many
Cammer
later,
zu
Stettin,
two years
240
THE CAMERALISTS
more according
to
my
it
taste.
It
treated only
and
it
still
me as an outline of all Cameral-WissenBeyond that, moreover, I valued highly the practical compact arrangement of this little book: yet I was told that
much on
the systematic side of pedagogy, that the sainted neither a good methodologist nor an adequate philosopher,
I
lacked
man was
was
told that
and
that various
and
Policey.
book two
for
my
purposes.
by all specialists For these reasons I could not use the Hence I decided to publish my well-known
in
and
1743.
In the
first
and
Germans, and of
eral Collegiorum,
I
by the sev-
and
Yet
Herm oder das Cammer- und was a mere sketch of a much larger woric and of a much more complete treatment which would be of no use for beginners Before coming to completion of this larger work I fell back upon Stisser's Einleiiung .... which I thought
presented die Wirthschafjt grosser
this
Finanz-Wesen.
could
make
...
Thomasius was
brief propositions, as
an accompaniment of
his lectures.
Then
many
others imitated
German,
some
CAMERALISTICS OF ZINCKE
Thomasius, and present the substance of
honest
his teaching
241
"in
German
garb."
tical
Germans may profit most by studying the accumulated pracwisdom of their own country, the ways and means of
first
industrial thrift
of
all.
He
why
this
impor-
had so little attention in the universities, and curiously enough he puts the chief blame on the students.
tant subject has
He
et
At
all
it
as disgraceful
and beneath
dignity
themselves with
"low-lived economic
sciences."
These sciences are parts of the greatest Staats-Wissenschaft, yes the soul in the civic body, and have the special use of showing how a great lord may bring his land and people to prosperity
his editorial work would be unsafe to pass judgment upon the author, without comparing the original edition. Nothing appears in evidence, however, to show that he was in any way in advance of Gasser in the particular respects with which
on
book,
it
we
are concerned.
We may
therefore dismiss
sideration,
directly to Zincke.
The
it
As he
states
Germans
is
Then Zincke
furnished
management
introduction
{Wirthschafftsregeln),
to
and
has
an
the
study
of
oeconomischen
Wissenschafft
242
itself,
THE CAMERALISTS
in a
form which
is
jects."
tant
Beyond these, the book is management. We should note, however, that Zincke has enriched the book with references to authorities to such an extent that the authors' index fills twenty-four and a half double-column pages. If we had found no evidence of a similar sort in the earlier writers of this group, Zincke's bibliography would alone be enough to demonstrate
devoted
entirely
way marks
rural
Mohl
repeats in the
The most
The
may
be epitomized as follows:
subject of the book
is
the rural
management
is
of the
Germans
This
management [Wirthschafjt] of this people in general, and this depends to a certain extent upon the whole. It also presupposes various general ideas of Wirthschafjl and Hausshaltung (i). The word Wirthschajjt is sometimes used in a very comprehensive,
sometimes
in
Geschdjte themselves;
for the
Thus, (a) for Wirlhschafftsways and means of managing considered as managing {die da
(e)
Land-Wirthschafft in particular;
for the
science
and
art of
understanding one's
for the
[Haushallung];
sung] which
(/)
own
lead
to
meaning which the word has in this book. In the same sense the words Hauss-Wirthschafft, Occonomie, and HaussThis
last is
the
haltungskunst arc in
Wirthschaffl
is
common
use (2).
almost
all
learned
(3).
Vide pp. 12
CAMERALISTICS OF ZINCKE
Accordingly Wirthschafjt in general
is
243
means
of subsistence,
but also prudently to hold, expend, and apply the same (4). Wirthschafjt is variously subdivided: especially into general
and
special theory;
this latter
schajjt
and Privat-Wirthschafft; or
special
and to promote for their several purposes, through good police laws and institutions, the Wirthschafjts-Geschdjte of a country, a city or of an office (5).
Privat-Wirthschafft
civic society
how
teaches
how each
individual
(6).
member
of
may
Privat-Wirthschafft
to the things
and persons that manage {wirthschafften), sometimes according which are the objects of management, sometimes accord-
and great
Hofiar
e.,
die
Staats-
und
stances.
These are consequently peculiar rules of Wirthschafft and lesser nobility: (2) soldiers; (3) travelers; citizens of high and low degrees; (5) scholars, at schools, univerchurch, school, and political offices; (6) rural populations
sities, in
of higher
(7) the
male
sex, e. g.,
(8)
married and single persons, boys, young men, adults, and aged;
the female sex, in parallel classes;
(11) the middle class;
It
would be an endless
the
each
stra-
tum only
considered.
Haushaltung und Wirthschafft of great lords will be In the theory of Cammer- Rent- und Finanz-Wesen,
And
precisely
which
common
244
good
is
THE CAMERALISTS
[das gemeine Beste]
and
who
first
the
schafft (9).
to the objects
and transactions
of Wirihschaffl, the
same
in
is
schafft,
first
made by
P. Fischer;
(2) in respect
earth, both
surface, especially
upon
estates
and and
and prudently that one may by appropriate means gain all sorts of profit and advantage, retain the same, and turn it to thrifty application [hauswirthlich anwenden]
(13)-
Die Wirthschafjt
are final rules.
It
con-
and
practical theorems,
which
from
These
Oeconomia
generali.^
The former
Anatomie, and Artzney-Kunst; (3) Mathematics, especially Rechenand Baukunst; (4) general Stoats-
and
and
to the Wirth-
and that sort of persons. Here we present the theorems about the principal and subsidiary phases of Land-Wirthschap and about the persons engaged in the same. This belongs under the head Specialia (15).
Hr. Lie.
is
Hofmann in his 6rst book, Klugheit Haus xu halten." This G. A. Hoffmann. The remainder of the title of the book is: odtr ^udetUia oeconomica vulgaris; 4 vols., 1730-49. Vide Roscher, p. 436.
CAMERALISTICS
Ol'
ZLNCKE
245
and
devices.
Wirlhschafjts-Termini or
(4) the
expla-
to nations or peojjles,
and
it
is
and
climate.
many
ments, purposes, and objects, from that of the Germans, and indeed
the latter varies not only by contrast l^tween the ancient
and the
i)eoples
modem, but
and
etc.
also
localities at present.
Thus
more information and cultivation of oeconomia harmonica.* Meanwhile it is the duty of Germans to pay special attention to the most common features of the Wirthschafjt of Germans, and to underplea for
The
is
notable:
"(i)
Niirnberg, 1746;
(2)
Das Cheminizische Oeconomische Lexicon, new ed., Chommel Diction. Oeconomique; (3) Das allgein
Leip-
herausgekommen, an. 1744, aber von mir dem jezgcn Editore dicser Einleitung, vermehret und verbesscrt herausgegebcn wordcn; (4) Savery, Lexic. de Commerce, ed. n.; (5) Das bey Heinsio in Leipzig edirlc Handels- Lexic. suh. Tit. AUgemeine Schatz-Cammer der Kaufmannschaff, in 4 Theilen und einem Supplem., ed. in foL, 1741; (6) Bciers, Allgemeines Handlungs- Kunst- Berg- und Handwercks- Lexic., von D. Slrubcn ed. in 4to, an. 1722; (7) Das in Berlin von einem Gliede der Societat der Wissenschaften herausgekommene Real-Lexicon der Wissenschaften; (8) Das bey Gleditschen herausgekommene Natur- Berg- Gewerck- und Handlungs-Lex.; (9) Minerophili Berg-Wercks- Lexicon; (10) Mein D. Zinckens Manufactur- und Handwercks-Lexic., so jctzt unlcr der Presse und von Fuchsen allhier ediret wird."
p. 129.
Vide
dilso
Hrn.
246
stand
it
THE CAMERALISTS
according to the manner, customs, usages, laws, and civic
organization of their
own
country.
This book
is
specially devoted
This passage
listic
is
at once
symptomatic
of the
it is
tionally clear
It is
of the conception.
argument:
They were
or civic relations, because universal relations of these orders had not roused their attention or interest in an appreciable degree.
They were virtually attempts to answer the question: "Situwe are, and being what wc are, individually and politically, how can we use our opportunities so as most to further
ated as
by
this
accepted just as
into
was.
if
We
myth and
fable
we
interpret
back
In
brief,
we must
as nineteenth-century economists.
We
do not
satisfy
this
That
way
of stating
covers
up and compromises
the crucial
distinction.
concerned about
teenth-century
same problems
for
tluU engaged
the
nine-
political economists.
cameralists
has
value
and
its
utilize
The
experience
CAMERALISTICS OF ZINCKK
tudc of mind toward economic relations.
continues:
2^7
introduction
The
Whoever would thoroughly Icam \Virthscha/jt in the special department of Po/tce>'- und Cammer-Wesens must gain iIk- knowledge through instruction and experience. The instruction must consist
in part of coherent oral discourse
wirthen,
and
in
Buclter (18).
Whoever
and
will thus
|)re-
and reckon
Chyntie;
und
llisloriain
naturalcm;
civilem,
(8)
die
(6)
die
Ccomrtriam, archilrcturam
(7) .something of
and
especially die
Mechanique;
Before
all
Mcdicin;
must
in the situation
first
general Wirthschafjls-
"Seek ye
on
first
the
Kingdom
of (iod
and and
and
all
( to).
Beyond
Geschdfte,
this, all
depends
and
especially
persons concerned:
through
upon understanding and choice of the all this, moreover, upon cautious deci-
sions in wirthschajjllichen
energetic,
Dingen; (2) upon a diligent, careful, and industrious carrying-out of the precepts and applica-
without greed.
means according to God's law and according to wirlhschajjUiclirn Klugheit, and especially upon so ordering outlays that an annual
surplus will remain (20).
We now
'
return to Zincke's
is,
own
books.
Most important
first,
the Cameraliskn-Bihliothek.^
und Cammcr-Raths,
348
THE CAMERALISTS
general description of these compact
little
volumes would
not be pos-
It will
an adequate outline
of Zincke's system,
because
author
that
to the
who may on
cameralism,
Justi's,
it
To
differentiate Zincke's
system from
details
would be necessary to go into comparison of technical in the two authors; and that would be foreign to our
Without attempting
to pass
upon the delicate question of the relative merits of the two men, we must confine ourselves here to certain specifications which show that Zincke was among the formative factors in the social science of his
purpose.
period.
series.
He
perceived, in
not
Whether Zincke
actually
saw deeper
all
At
events
plain
much more
extensively,
and
it is
problems
Anleitung die Cameral-Wissenschaft zu Uhren und zu lernen, tin voltsldndiges Verzeichniss der Bucher
der
Oeconomie, dem Policey- Finanz und Cammer-Wesen zu finden, so theils kurz beurtheilet, theils umstdndlich vorgestellet warden. Der erste Theil,
Cam-
und Letzter
alle vier
Theil.
1752"
Theile
pages of
errata.
CAMERALISTICS OF ZINCKE
as Smith afterward proposed.
tic
249
succession
may
best be indicated
by a few
characteristic
details.
first
German
writer, so far as I
have been
distinction
upon a sharp
Beginning in
and continuing through the classifications in the bibliographies, he tries to show the difference between the folk-lore of familiar occupations, and "learned" His impulse was respectably scientific in its conceptheory. tion. He had not gone very far in his analysis of the kinds of research which would be necessary before "learned" theory
could establish a relatively secure base.
valiantly, against the
Zincke maintained
his
cameralistics were
sciences as methodical
already
won academic
In supporting this
of doctrines accepted
thesis,
upon applications
by philosophical, mathematical, legal, and other sciences. "In so far as those theorems are truths established by other sciences, we may take them for granted in
cameral science."
impresses the
The
list
of such truths
which he
cites as
modem
but such as
it is
we may reduce
to this:
sufficient
means
[Mitiel] is
ground
is
That
is
an end which
all
we
which we
happiness
[GlUckseligkeit].
happiness,
Such things we
our goods.
250
THE CAMERALISTS
we
call
Transactions with these means, or the actual use of the same for
the above specified end,
sure, livelihood
It
we
call, in
[Nahrung].'
means
it
man and of whole societies, especially to whom the citizens have intrusted the
in order to insure
temporal happi-
in
every proper
way
of
all.
We
in all
management
same
consists of a physical or a
moral person,
for the
maintenance
and
his
own
exalted person,
partly the
common good
to gain, keep,
[bereitestes
[gem^inen Bestens] of his state, must strive and apply a proportional amount of ready means
Vermogen] (14).^
For reasons already alluded to (vtJ above, p. 76; cf. pp. 367 and 373) and which will appear more fully later, it is necessary to render Mittel and Vermogen by the same term. We shall have little to do with the former term in the technical sense which Zincke tries to impress upon it, while
'
It
is
necessary to protect
into
it
it
'
11).
is
One
The
idea of the
"readiest"
it
CAMERALISTICS OF ZINCKE
The keynote
paragraph
of cameralism
is
251
in the next
struck
by Zincke
his
The more a prince, by observance of this duty, is able to promote own and his country's welfare and more complete condition (sic),
For herein
is
to
The
more must he have ready means, and consequently the more must he endeavor to procure, to guard, and to apply the same (15). All ready means, and consequently those of a prince, consist
of income [Einkiinjten].
Hence there must be sources from which and indubitable truth is therefore: it is derived.' prince is bound [schuldig und verpflichtet] to recognize the That a first general and permanent source of his ready means, and to establish the same upon that source (16). Where then is this source to be found ? The source of the ready means of the whole human race is well known. Created animate and inanimate nature, especially however the earth with its creatures, its forces, all men themselves, and created things outside of them,
An
irrefutable
means [Vermogen].'
this source,
God
himself
is
indeed the
first
founder of
movement and
of the exer-
be included
in this source.
This control
exercised partly by
society, partly
Accordingly
with
in apposition
man words
in general;
The
sense
is
close
sometimes "fund" in a more special use, and sometimes a approach to the modern technical concept "capital." Without
will fairly translate the essential
term "source"
In this particular passage the author approaches as close as the conceptions of his time would permit to the plain formula, "Natiu-e is
the ultimate source of wealth."
2$^
THE CAMERALISTS
no one can bring the whole source under his property or ruler^'p, and it is therefore impossible and consequently foolish to make the
attempt (i8).
The
men must
made
it
then be the immediate source of their ready means (19). Since endeavor after secure and comfortable life has
necessary for such collections of
men
to
and and
ruler,
and
means
of a ruler in general
translated
means
in general.
is the immediate source of ready For since lands, and the people in the same, in
law of
is
God
respecting the
bound up, are in a certain interdependence, and hence each land and people can and must at the same time make use of the means of another land and people for the welfare of the former, and conversely can and must with its own means and powers help the other land; so one may say that to a certain extent, and in an indirect or distant way, by virtue of this interdependence of lands and peoples, the means and the powers of the same are and must be of assistance as a source of ready means for a ruler over land and people. Moreover one
of the most important portions of the cameralistic sciences
is
that
in
made
is
and
profits (21).
follows
and people, with all their and people placed in a conHence flourishing condition 0} their means of livelihood. the principle: A prince who would better establish, maintain.
to be found not merely in land
CAMERALISTICS OF ZINCKE
253
and preserve his ready means, must devote all his effort to put his land and people in a constantly more flourishing condition of gaining the means of livelihood, and must thus secure for them increasing Accordingly, the more services, things 0} money value, prosperity. money, and credit increase, the greater and richer is the source and ground of the ready means of a ruler (23). Using means of livelihood is called managing [wirthschafjten]. When the produce provides not merely the wants and conveniences
good management.
we call riches, we call it means of livelihood for a land and people are to be flourishing, good management must prevail among and over them. It follows that the ruler, or those who assist him in these important matters, must have the knowledge necessary to insure good management, and must exert the utmost endeavor
of physical
life,
(23).
This
is
ment
but
in the land,
and
way
of ready means,
it is
own
ready means (24). It follows that a prince needs genuine and skilful cameralists.
By
this
name we mean
all
those
who
possess fundamental
and
s|)ecial
knowledge about
may
maintaining
good management in the state (25). A land can be put in a flourishing condition of the means of livelihood only through good Policey-Gesetze und Anstalten. Whoever
must not only know the must understand how to invent and introduce such laws and institutions. For this purpose he must also understand the nature and structure of the means of livelihood, or Wirthschaft. For the Policey-Gesetze und Anstalten have the task of directing and improving the means of livelihood and the management of a people. Hence it follows that the science of making police laws and institutions can neither be learned nor applied without the science and knowledge of management, which is properly called die Oeconomie in distinction from der Oeconomic, which means the
would serve the prince well
at this point
254
actual application.*
THE CAMERALISTS
Whoever,
finally,
means
and with
sujier-
of Oeconomie
cannot be
left
must be reduced
to expert
knowledge
and
practice, Zincke
this proposition
first,
Catneral-Wissenschajt
and
institutions
drawn from
the nature
of livelihood of a land;
and and administering the necessity, comfort, and riches of a land, and at the same time and thereby the ready means needed by the ruler for the good of the state and its ruler (29).
ruler, of wisely, prudently, rightly,
and duties of a
increasing,
He
Cameral-Wissenschajt
science, having as
its
means
of livelihood
to the
and on
and
rulers in cameral
and
first part of Cameral-Wissenschaft: "Die Natur und Beschaffenheit aller Nahrungsgeschiifte insgemein, und besonders deutlich und griindlich zu analysiren und einzusehen. Und diesen Theil nenne ich die gelehrte Oeconomie."
CAMERALISTICS OF ZINCKE
In
255
my
made Cameral-Wissenschafi the first main und Finanzivissenschaft the second. I have
I
and Camfner-
reconsidered, however,
(i)
and
this
book
will
Die Oeconomic;
Wissenschaft (32).
From
the redundant
and perplexing
variations
upon
this
we
abstract
Oeconomic attempts
to teach the
means
rich.
to the
middle
class, the
each in
its
how to decrease the numhow to promote the interest of all other way may enjoy advancing prosperity (p. 60).
is
or everybody to be
made
rich.
This
is
quite as incorrect as
all,
who
teach that
especially
life.
It
means
way of
The
is
first
principle of a
aim
is,
That
nor
must be allowed
on the other
The work
listic interests.
To
it is
is
so conspicuous
and
At'
the
same time
of his
tinct
tic
academic contemporaries.
indis-
parts
aS6
entitles
THE CAMERALISTS
him
to
In one respect he
easily foremost
He
published the
bibliography which
literature,
He had
(i)
a code of
{b)
of (a) "learned,"
good
(2) very good, (3) moderately good, (4) bad, (5) very bad. Besides this gradation, there are numerous quasi-critical and
other notes.
The
bibliography of the
first
part of Cameralof
titles,
which 295
relate to other
I,
pp. 192-304);
Policey-Wissenschaft"
contains
which
164
refer to agricultural
und Finanz-Wissenschaft" has 570 titles (Part III, pp. 780-916); and in Part IV (pp. 1071-1134). There are 243 bibliographical notes as addenda to specified sections in the body of the work.
the third part, *'Camnter-
devout ascription,
The
problem, when
of Justi
contrast presented
by the books
it.
and Sonnenfels.
We
we
find another
Again attention must be called to the absurdity oi the tradition voiced by von Mohl (above, p. 13), in view of this large body of literature on the extractive industries.
schaft,
D. Georg Heinrich Zinckens An/angsgrilnde der Cameralwissgnworinne dessert Grundriss wetter ansgefUhret und verbessert vfird. Des Ersten Thetis, welcher so wohl die General als Special Land- und
CAMERALISTICS OF ZINCKE
257
author says
(I, p. 7),
amounts
to the
same thing as
the formulas
quoted above,
It is
viz.:
standing of
in
pursuance oF
livelihood of
The judgment
Grundriss.
of
why
it
would
The author
gives so
much
space to protestation
what the
different branches of
erly teach,
what
that
it is
easy to see
how
his
contem-
may have
lost their
actually did
any
of
all at this
books give ample evidence of profounder and more comprehensive views of the science than can be credited to Justi.
The
way
sort
much
of
too academic to
make a
field
strong impression
to
upon the
constituency
cameralism.
His
of cameralism in
a way which
Des
und
Policeywissenschaft
eigentliche
ahhandelt
Leipzig
fF.
i755-
258
THE CAMERALISTS
related to the interests of practical cameralists very
aflfect
was
much
the typical
modern
tain
legislator.
This
is
They con-
much, on the contrary, which is at the other extreme of commonplace; for example, the twenty-three fundamental rules for obtaining "means."' As a whole,
the tediously
make an
any division
be so well
fail to
among
his
treatment of his
to
interests
On
much of an
In the
and
it.'
He
declares that
he
is
pupil he
who want a
who imagine that these subjects are too trivial for their superior mine's. He believes that the book will be of use to the students who have listened to his lectures for twenty years, and he also expresses the hope that German rulers, /row whom ministers who disagree with the author do not contrive to keep
I,
pp. 172
(I,
ff.
one another
etc.
is
266);
On the other
and
266)
in spirit
standards of
the system.
'
Kspecially pp.
xiii
fT.
CAMERALISTICS OF ZINXKE
tlte
259
book
had definite expectations that work would be used as a text by tutors charged with the education of young princes. To sum up the case for Zincke, one can hardly study the
Lastly, he speaks as though he
his
cameralistic
that
this
writer
in
into such
an inconspicuous place
His merit
is
German
brilliant
social science.
far
above
plenty
His more
solid qualities
by the more
jealous
and audacious
books
Justi.
There
well
of
is
was both
to
and
afraid of Zincke.
He might
have been.
With
scholarship
was not
an order
gain by
critical
of his less
showy and
apparently
less successful
contemporary.
when he concludes
Under
all
(p. 31):
respectable thinker.
To
closely,
on the one
hand, to details of the particular gainful occupations, and as contrasted with the general principles of national
emphasizes Praxis.
Nevertheless, what he
economic
It
relations, and he wanted it to would surely have been to the advantage of the University of Leip-
zig, if instead of
it
a professor-
with
all zeal.
Whoever would
in order properly to
26o
THE CAMERALISTS
we must mention
briefly
of cameralism in general,
some
of
First in order,
The most
is
that
of a military
man,
to
is
Without
asking
whether
Kottencamp
understood
of the type
If
Machiavelli,
of
we
find in
we were confined
would
given;
erhabenen Geistes.
Worinnen
abgehandell, und mil den neuesten Exempeln der Europdischen Geschichte erldutert seyn. Nebst einigen Anmerkungen iiber die Lehrsdtze Machiavels von der Regierungskunst eines Fiirsten, ver/asset und erUworfen von Christian Friedrich Kotten-
Staatskunst in natiirlicher
Ordnung
camp,
Auditeur
bey
.
dem
.
.
Konigl.
1747.
Preussis.
hochldbl.
Wallravischen
Pionnier-Regitnenle.
His subtitles are: "I. Von den verschiedenen Gattungcn, und der
Von
Von
der Gerechtig-
auf welche weise, und wie weit souveraine Fiirsten solche gegen
Nachbaren und Unterthanen beobachten miissen;" "IV. Wie ein und gross werden konne;" "V. Von dem Staatsinteresse, und der Verbindlichkeit der Fiirsten in Betracht desselben;" "VI. Von dem Gliicke, und dem Einflusse desselben in die Handlungen, und Staatsgeschafte der Fursten;" "VII. Ursachen, wodurch die Reiche und Staaten verfallen, und die Fiirstenlichen Hauser
ihre
Fijrst seinen Staat erhalten
zu Grunde gehen."
CAMERALISTICS OF ZINCKE
writers with
261
whom we
Kottencamp
and from
theological ethics
on the
other.
Dismissing at once
and virtue in general must everywhere be bound together with sound politics," yet self-preservation, "which is the natural impulse of all men," is "the plumb-line to which all doctrines of statecraft must conform," and "the actual interests of the state must therefore be placed at the foundation of all civic maxims." "If the precepts of state adopted by cabinets often seem severe, and in outward appearance to insult virtue, they
are nevertheless justified
by grim
human
life."
It is
than a
graph
tion.
rests
In
fact,
and
classified
by
strictly
functional standards.^
this conflict
We
and Sonnenfels.
Men
at this time
still
They were
form
their
working estimates
Kot-
great
commandment
of statecraft
state,
first
"Seek
to maintain thyself
state."'
and thy
and
While the
clause
was
paramount both
19.
Still
in political policy
distinctly,
p.
and
in political
Staats-
'E.g., p.
more
44,
"Das wahre
dieser
interesse besteht in
den Nutzen,
....
aber
....
Nutze
....
" Suche dich und deinen Staat zu erhalten, und deines Staats Beste
(p.
cu beforden"
19).
262
I)hiloso[)hy,
THE CAMERALISTS
the great
dynamic
was the
regarded
it
supplant absolutism.
The
is
"To
tell
the
truth,
The
devouring them"
gresses justice
if
Therefore,
and
own
preservation in
undertakings
Turning
political
to principles of
wisdom on
three
"maxims":
own
A
how
genius and
Then
second
Therefore,
A
power,
and
may
be offset by
alliances
fear destruction
place, a prince
who would
must
own
his realm,
in his prosperity
in
moderate
a natural
his desires
manner
The
The
thesis of the
(iv),
on
the question,
How may
the fortune
? is:
and growth of
and welfare of
CAMERALISTICS OF ZINXKE
263
To modern
Their
historical
importance consists
in
their demonstration
when he
defines the
The
....
is
prosperity,
and welfare of a
To
fairly entered
upon
was
to
"prosperity,"
"welfare,"
and the
like.
may
easily
be exaggerated.
to
mean
all that
on
as the
to set
men were way toward abandoning the will of the prince last norm of political desirability. They were learning up more essential popular values as the valid ends of
argue from them here no more than that
their
We
civic action.
Loen.'
Roscher
The
adjusted
guardianship
may
be seen from
M.
v.
Locn's
Land machtig,
1751).
reich
und
glucklich zu
machen (1747,
first
Aufl.,
freedom as the
all
is
means of promoting population, "this essential ground of power of the prince and happiness of the state." Freedom
true happiness of a state, the
the
"the
part of his
justice
'
life.
He
cannot be robbed of
without violation of
to
and violence
I
Yet according
von Loen
As
this reference
is
264 much
for
THE CAMERALISTS
constraint Is tcinsistefit With
this
freedom.
Tradespeople,
ifiy foreign
wares into
and
useless,
The manufacture of too much liquor should be forbidden; likewise the founding of too many printing establishments, because "most books are good for nothing, but merely make the common
hand
drive
money out
of the country."
much
ff.).
mar-
Von Loen
died in 1776.
the novel,
Mann am
Hoje:
Its
improvement of
life
at courts.
The third
class
is
Philippi.*
same general
He adds
nothing to the
commonplaces which had become orthodox tradition in the quasi-absolutistic states of which cameralism was the theory. Philipjn's books contain not a little material which goes much
farther than he imagined in throwing light
political
upon
details of
opinion as held in
Germany
at this time.
Our
limits
The
fundamental proposition
Everyone
is
is:
hound
improvement
of his tem-
poral circumstances
and
dizement of their
slates.'
The
'
53.
(166 pp.
vergrosserte
This essay
Staal,
Der
Finckischen
von Johann Albrcrht Philippi, Konigl. Preussischen Auditeur Rf^siments i7.S9(.372 pp) Dedicated to the
Prince of Prussia.
'
Die wahren
Mittel, chap.
i.
CAMERALISTICS OF ZINCKE
ness of subjects depends prince than
265
more upon
upon any
otiier
therefore
first
"The
means
of blessing
and aggrandizing a
is
good prince."
It is also
no such guaran-
an
elective
monarchy.
(chap.
Next
Chap,
to
ment
of a state
ii).
iii
viz.:
The
justice:
who possesses many an owner of agricultural land would outrank a counselor of state, but on the contrary, we may say with certainty that he is the richest prince who has unlimited sovereignty
is
"He
If
he were,
Accordingly,
for
the
aggrandizement
legitimate
to maintain a constant
Next
in
is
the maintenance
means
pations {Handel
(chap,
vi),
und Wandel), except possibly to the Jews promotion of commerce through promotion of
The remaining
chapters on taxation
(chap,
viii),
xi),
and
The second
'
of the essays
merely a variation
Vide p. 14. Philippi quotes with approval a remark attributed to Pliny: " The more diversified crops a land has, the greater its happiness and
wealth."
266
of
THE CAMERALISTS
first.'
it
the
The
is
May
21,
1759.
Although, as
The second essay may be called an I-told-youthe first. The chapters are the same in number
"Gedanken
fiber die
same
now
the point of
view
is
no longer prospective,
it is
retrospective.
The recom-
had been used a halfdozen years longer by the great Frederick, and Prussia was
for aggrandizing a state
mended means
now
upon Fredearlier
At the same time, there is reason for the suspicion that this confident tone was merely a rhetorical device. The author wanted to do his part toward keeping up the courage
essay.
and stimulating the ardor of his fellow-Prussians. Whether the essay was merely a specimen of the " point- with-pride" type of campaign literature, in which the pride is often in
inverse ratio with
belief
its
real occasion, or a
genuine expression of
rule,
it
has the
same value for our purposes. It is the credo of a mediocre man, in which we find such a man's reflection of the doctrines taught by more eminent authorities.
'
first,
and a copy
later date
In the
apparently of a
much
CHAPTER
XII
by Frederick the
Great" Like
(p. 419).
many Germans
at this period
eminence in other spheres, Joachim Georg Darjes (17 14-91) devoted a considerable portion of his attention as a university
student to theology.
He
Turning, however, to
juris-
prudence he received the degree of Dr. der Rechte (1739), offered courses on the Institutes and Pandects, and in 1744
was made
the
title
Moral und
Politik, with
Ho/rath.
According
years at
was so great that in his twenty-seven Jena, he had more than ten thousand hearers. On
a.
Frankfurt
Here he founded the Konigliche Gelehrte He did not, however, acquire the same influence Gesellschaft. as a university lecturer which he had enjoyed at Jena. He became (1772) Direktor of the university, Ordinarius of the
Professor der Rechte.
Richter says:
to
the
cameral sciences by
(Richter
them
into
university
instruction."
numerous writings (scheduled in Meusel's Lexicon), we may name, in addition to the book to be discussed below: FJementa
Of
his
metaphysica,
1743;
Institutiones
juris prudenliae
universalis,
17^^',
i
Philosophische
N ehenstunden, 1749-52;
SiUenlehre, 1750;
Volkerrecht,
Grunde der philosophise he Via ad Veritatem, 1758; Discurs iiher Natur- uni'.
Erste
1762;
Bielefeld
Lehr-
von Bielfeld
{sic\
vide Roscher,
pp. 426
ff.).
267
268
THE CAMERALISTS
"As an author Darjes does
not
He
is
and
by no means
to
be accepted as
Indeed,
if
we
recall
less perspicuous,
we experience a deep sense of relief in passing from his much if more profound and comprehensive books,
to
Darjes'
clear
and
(p.
intelligent
outline
of
cameralistics.'
419):
who wanted
jurisprudence,
to
prevail
the majority of
his contemporaries in
Roscher
to Frankfurt.
He
die
Haupt-
Theile so wohl der Oeconomie als auch der Pblicey und besondern Cameral-
Sachsen- Weimar- und Eisenachischen Hof-Ralhe, der Philosophie und beyder Rechten Doctor, wie auch der Sitten-Lehre und Staats-Klugheit ordentlichen Professor zu Jena, des Senals der Churfurstl. Maynz. A ka-
Akademie
x.
d. Z.
....
3
1756.
54 pages.)
I
have not
CAMERALISTICS OF DARJES
Darjes'
269
own account
is
in the Vorrede,
substantially this:
He
how
made
to imitate nature
by
on other subjects, especially morals and politics, to introduce practical reflections upon rural and urban management. His hearers recognized the importance of such considerations, and at length a petition came from them for a separate course on the subject.
in the course of lectures
Dithmar's Einleitung.
it
aspects of
He pronounces the book admisomewhat too "remote" from the the subjects which he wants to treat. That is, he
as not sufficiently concrete.
in all
regards
it
which occur
departments of these
e.,
Wirth-
schqfi, Policey,
Then
followed "the
title,
herrschen."^
I I
He
says:
profit
upon
doubt
it
attentively without
useful.
It lacks
and
civic
management must
Schatz-
und
Rent-Cammer,'
and
Seckendorff's
his students
to print
own
>
its
author's merit.
p. 190.
3
ff.
2 70
THE CAMERALISTS
author's views of the instruction in cameralistic suba|)|)n)j)riate to universities,
The
jects
most
and consequently
details of
to
be
midway between
admin-
hand and
on the
other.
He
in
to describe in dftail
each of the
divisions of
separate
occur
the
different
management.
detailc'fl
He
is
declares that
henrled
would be undesirable if possible. He many managerial processes must be compreunder a common idea; that the important thing is to
description
.single tyf)ical case,
and
also
same
idea.
He
itself,
and he adds:
often incajaablc of compre-
to the operations.
They simply
do what they art* told, and their reasons for doing it do not extend beyond the fact that they are told. Those who have charge of of>eration.s, however, must necessarily understand the science of the
same.
.Accordingly,
will
make
us capable of
in
practice,
on their
real
The
science
of
Wirthschajl should
make us
making an orderly Wirthschajl possible where it has hitherto lx*en imfwssible, and of guiding the same to the advantage of human .society. If we add that wisdom has its purpose in promotion of the welfare of men, and second, that a great part of the welfare of the state is founded in an orderly Wirthschajl, we have
ca]>able of
first,
means
CAMERALISTICS OF DARJES
271
sible;
by which the establishment of an orderly Wirthschaft in it is possecond, to describe those means through which an orderly Wirthschaft will be capable of promoting the prosperity of the state.
first
The
part.
of these purposes
is
treated in the
first
and second
parts
of this book, the second in the third part, the third in the fourth
The
rience.
is
expe-
Hence
may
rightfully
demand
rules, the
As we have intimated
particularly in
may
be
and
means
of
With
phase
emphasis on
this
men whom we
recognize as cameralists
have exhibited
most outspoken in
this respect.
still
more
specifically.
The
marked
to
cases to
we were
make
out
from the type of evidence now under review the most exact
<
Vide
p.
et
passim.
272
THE CAMERALISTS
among
the cameralists, the most significant signs would by no means always be found in those writers to whom tradition, as we have it, has awarded the most conspicuous place, Darjes
is
In spite of the
not compare
who do
German
economic
insight.
My own
judgment
is
economic
conceived
approximately as in
Adam
casual read-
book would detect in it merely insignificant form and content from the analysis and
More
careful
scrutiny
Not only
furnishes
is
his style
more
direct
most of
and and
his
objective
thinking
a substantial content
language.
Nor
is
is
Darjes
is
notable.
cameralism
of the
No
reflects the
Although
pro[>ertics
may
it
is
ref)etition of ideas
among
the cameralists,
we should
we
own
words,
Vide
p. 267.
CAMERALISTICS OF DARJES
a digest of Darjes' introduction.
273
He
first
by
his
contempo-
useless to try to
make a
impossible, because
foreseen,
third,
it
and plain
citizens.
In answer to the
proposition (2):
first
of
if
men carry on for the advantage become at once, if not perfect, at least less imperfect, they are ordered and controlled by those who have a science and
"All works which
human
society
In support of the
much more
not
difficult to
Reason draws
a thing
is
when it is arranged according to its nature and its idea. If then we are not to expect that a work shall be perfected by blind chance, its completion must be governed by those who are skilled
enough
this
and idea of
This
is
this
Is not this
conclusive support
for the
thesis:
science
is
also profitable?"'
(4)
back on a prejudice created by those who have proposed untenable conclusions in the name of such
impossible
fall
'
cites,
who
men than by
reasons,
....
die
vortrefliche Streitschrift
de excolendo studio
oeconomico."
(By Rohr.
Vide Roscher,
p. 378.)
274
science.
THE CAMERALISTS
The answer must be given:
In the
place
true,
and
I can
from
my own
science [dconomischen
Wissenschaft]
many
circumstances emerge
which we could not have foreseen and which demand that we must, if not completely abandon, at least in certain particulars modify our
plan.
and capacities of men, by means of which our project must be carried out; the various sorts of soil, determined partly by their inner constitution, partly by their location; the various accidents due to
weather conditions,
etc.
it is
may be
scientific
treatment of Haushaltungskunst
and the camera! sciences is impossible. On the contrary, the following causes compel rejection of such a conclusion: first, no one who acts intelligently rests his judgement of a thing upon the mistakes of those who represent it. Second, mistakes made by the intelligent deserve special attention. They may show how to discover what has been concealed, and how to make that which was well known more useful and applicable. Who can make use of
such mistakes, however, but he
things ?
science
who
now
in question.
the science.
Third, he
They may rather extend and complete who possesses no science in the art of
management (sic)* must conform to old tradition, and it will be hard for him to adapt himself to unexpected and altered circumstances.
If things
go well
in
such a
crisis, it is his
good luck;
if
The
typical.
The
clearest
thinkers in the group did not get their objects of attention so definitely
related that such terms as these received a precise
and Invariable
Wissenschaft
content.
hesittet."
keine
of
men who
expressed them-
CAMERALISTICS OF DARJES
they go
ity.
275
ill, it is his misfortune, and the essence of it is his own stupidWhoever on the other hand has a philosophical understanding knows how these unexpected circumstances are to be considered, how one may compare them with the nature of the matter, and thus determine the general theory more exactly, and thereby make it more useful. What then is proved by this addition of special circumstances? That a philosophical science of Haushaltungskunst is impossible ? It rather confirms the contrary, and the necessity of
such a science.
This
may then
a philosophical science of
management
Wissen-
made
sufficiently definite
and
applicable."
that his
book
will
be composed accordingly.
is
To
people
substantially this:
The
who
dignity of the learned, appear to have a very great soul but a very
petty mind.
They
is
call
know what
learning [Gelehrsamkeit]
true learning
in
human
society,
and
this advantage.
To
put
it
a philoso-
pher constructs general concepts, he infers from these the qualities of things, and he consequently builds up a correlation of truths which
represents the essentials of all particulars which are to be treated in
this special division of learning.
practical
if
the natural
way
of build-
Thus one determines one's ideas of what is right and wrong through the customs of peoples and through the decisions of rulers,
precision,
and without
none
theory.
would connote in later, more critical, stages of social Richter {vide above, p. 267) meant to accuse Darjes of lack of precision in this sense, there is surely no reason for treating him as
which
their terms
If
exceptional.
It
of the time.
1
Is
276
and one becomes a
body
is
THE CAMERALISTS
jurist.
The
how
the
human
Another
is
taught by expe-
Beschaftigungen^']
and he becomes a manager.^ Why now is the dignity of the scholar more in question in the last case than in the others ? Is he who constructs a science of preserving and extending the riches of the state and of its inhabitants less useful to the state than he who makes himself skilled in preserving the health of people, or he who learns how to decide what is right and wrong in the
teaches him,
quarrels between people?
The
external welfare of
men
and
is
related
enjoyment of
rights,
to health.
it
Each who
useful in
in
is
may be
thereby zealous
Is
of confusion
and prejudice
is
if
That which
is
really
beneath
If that is their
meancourse
ing, I
it
is
their fault.
Of
we do
have these
in
practical
manipulations [wirthschafUiche
of a philosophical science.
Handthiernngen]
The word is Wirth. Shall we translate ft "economist"? If we we introduce an ambiguous middle term which falsi6es our whole subsequent interpretation of evolution in German theory. One of the
do,
is
to set forth
enough
selections
from the
mass
of
of evidence to
show
fact,
actual process.
relations
was much
later
than
difhculty differentiated
from the conception of the generalizer 0/ economic operations. Consequently the arts of economic management, and the science of economic
CAMERALISTICS OF DARJES
277
Wc
cameral science
of terms.
In the
first
place
The
chief theorem
is this:
certain
income
may
annual income, must look out for the source from which the The theorem is supported as follows: Our yearly flow.
incomes flow either from an established source, or they depend upon chance, and are thus beyond our control. Since it is self-evident
that in the latter case
we can make no
that
certain calculation
upon the
yearly revenues,
is
wisdom demands
we
word "certain" or "assured" in this connection in the general sense in which such terms are employed in the theory of morals and prudence; that is, not complete certhat he uses variations of the
tainty,
is
the meaning.
There are two possible sources of annual income (10): (a) skill in the application of our powers, or (6) an already secured "good" which is capable of producing a yearly profit. This latter
is
"I
am
Thus
has a capital
and
this 3rields
a yearly
profit of
500 Thaler.
skill
500 Thaler.
relations
were
(also
abstractness in
other.
much later than this, and never with quite the same Germany as in England) set distinctly over against each
in the
away from particular toward correspondences of many operaGerman tions, and formulas of relations between operations and results. experience before this process was matured has a value of its own, but
the center of attention
was
operations
and
details of results
we have assumed
it it
278
THE CAMERALISTS
the other
On
Our
if
hand
it
is
is
exposed
to various
vicissiluilcs.
skill
We may lose
by fraud,
fire,
flood,
on the contrary
is
'We can
in
l)e
we
it
depends
shall
the opinions
skill.
of other
men whether we
however,
It
is
power
may show
itself effective
"
and
skill
should be
the
of revenue,
and
for
these
reasons:
The
greater the
number
of
accidents which
the
may
annual revenues,
more
may
yearly income.
This uncertainty
is
greater in
than
r)f
capital.
word "cap-
narrower sense
in
which
it
is
applied to a
sum
of
money which we
general sense,
in the
to te
may
annually be
is
efficient for
all
our advantage.
usual in
is
writers on
Haushal-
whom
he has read.
"If there
I
no objection
to
to the term,
word Fond.
have no objection
any freedom
in this respect."'
The
(514).
known from
memfx;r of
such.*
'
civic s^iciety,
must be considered
he had
in
in his
in this
whom
mind
I
connection.
The
have found
This distinction seems to have been assumed by all the cameralists more or less consciously. The most definite previous formulation of it
is
pp. 143
f.
above.
CAMERALISTICS OF DARJES
relation to the state
279
for
and the
subjects.
dividing the yearly revenues of the prince into the personal and the
princely income.
The
capital or the
'*Fond"
and oj the subjects (15). Whoever attempts to increase his yearly revenues either draws upon his capital, or he seeks to increase his capital and make it more The former means is unreasonable, because it fruitful (16). either defeats the purpose or makes permanent attainment of the purpose impossible. Hence the theorem: The increase oj yearly
of the state
income
is
unreasonable
when
it is
brought
to
capital.^
may be
make
it
more
fruitful (17).
To
"the
their
we must determine
we understand
either
sum
yearly
accordingly,
is
that
the
revenues are taken either from the capital, which the subjects have
already acquired, or from the yearly revenues of the subjects.
If the
former method be ch6sen, the income of the prince each time impairs
the capital of the subjects.
This
is
unreasonable.
If
one
will
accordingly follow reason, one must assume in this case that the
capital or the
of the subjects.
0}
Fond of the princely revenues is the yearly income Hence the general rule (19): The first care
it
to discover
is
to
raise
the
princely revenues,
must be
skiljul
may
be increased.
Accordingly a prince
subjects.
In the Middle Ages the word Camera designated the place where
the princely revenues
Hence
it
occurred that
men
The importance
it is
cviii, in
We
must allow
man.
ff.
28o
THE CAMERALISTS
An
orderly Wirthschaft consists of three
and the adminshow why we understand by Cameralwissenschajt that science which shows us the reasonable way of preserving, raising, and applying the annual revenues of a prince. There may be some who disapprove the separation of these purposes, instead of combining them in one expression. To satisfy them we may define Cameralwissenschajt
chief points (sic) viz.: the maintenance, the raising,
istration of the yeariy revenues.
This
is
enough
to
A
more
(i)
cameralist
is
one
who understands
Cameralivissenschajt (22);
particularly, he
must be able
How may an established source of the yearly revenues of a prince (2) How may the yearly income of a prince be reasonably raised? (3) How is a reasonable application of the
be preserved?
yearly revenues of a prince possible ?
first: (a)
in finding
means
and
in
and consequently
{sic)
of
making
and more
skilful (34).
Our
which we have acquired by our eflForts These occupations either put nature in a condition to accomplish that which is possible for her, or out of natural products they produce other things which are useful for the human race. This
presuppose a certain
(25).
skill
it
is
must understand: (a) the true qualities of natural objects, and what can be brought to pass by means of them; (6) how nature can be made more skilful in bringing forth what is
possible for her;
(c)
how
men may be
And
human
race which
CAMERALISTICS OF DARJES
may
that
281
of welfare.
and the improvement we are now concerned demands we should attach such a meaning to the word."
bring about
its
preservation, happiness,
The
It is
we have
here a seed
which developed
later into
pure economcontinues:
nineteenth-century type.
The argument
(26).
By
these signs
we may
There arc
who
cilhcr through
wisdom
way
of the subjects.
They
of their office
if
These people increase the annual rcvcn ucs This increase is of no duration. The subjects and the state must eventually grow poorer. This is enough to show that such people do not deserve the name cameralist. They are the plague in the state, and for this reason
payments of the subjects.
of the prince by weakening the capital. are called despoilers of the country.
On
The
is
possible for
them
to
must lead them to the necessary occupation. This latter demands an awakening of their zeal for labor. The former demands, first, an understanding of the possible increase of revenues; second, possession of those means through
which the understanding
of
all
may be
skilfully applied;
third,
removal
purpose.
ralist
arranged
(b) to
(sic) in
enable the
incomes;
(c) to
means
and opportunity
(d) to
282
THE CAMERALISTS
The reason why a
cameralist concerns himself with these points
of
is
is to
raise the
annual revenues
a prince (29).
This
is
the principal
manager
[H^tr/A].
shall observe
But this peculiar occupation demands that he more than one rule. It follows immediately that he
(a)
must understand
how a
(b)
prince
may
may
We
o( the
come then
to the third
main
Whoever manages
wisely
dis-
and
He
for
tinguishes the necessary outlays from those that are less necessary.
He compares
cla.ss
and designates
(a)
each
Hence, in respect
how
to bring the
how
to determine the
how
to
and how these are to be divided in certain compare the annual outlays of a prince with his
may
be
first first
Darjes says:
in
Many who
treat of
Oeconomie interpret
it
we have
made a
'
Throughout
and
in the
same connection
I
in
other
ramcrallsls, there
have translated
The meaning
is
revenue," but
mr-an.
it
is
CAMERALISTICS OF DARJES
The cameralist presupposes this He investigates how these general
of nature.
283
For
this reason
the
He works
and
means
of
making
ings complete.
From
S[x.'cillc
case,
and hereby he
the the
becomes a philosophical Latid-Wirth, who is able to regulate Landwirthschajt in a country, and to make it more complete for
profit of the state.
The
of thought in
differently allotted
Germany at among
this time,
to the cameralists.
whole thought-movement
we may
Darjes accordingly
schajt in
Landwirth{a)
three divisions,
the
workings of nature
complete;
ih)
agriculture;
raising (32).
He
calls
things which
may be produced
V)y
artificial
control of the
workings of nature, Stadtwirthscha/t or Oeconomia urbaua (33), and its subdivisions deal with (a) Gewerken in which
the forces of nature are employed in producing certain goods,
{b)
Manufacturen uud
herself
could
and he explains:
the
word
284
state
THE CAMERALISTS
upon which
its
rest.'
The
if
state
is
well-being
is
assured,
its
subjects
to
This
is sufficient
show
why
the
schajt.
concerned with:
(0) the
popula{c)
incitement
of subjects to labor;
health of subjects;
security;
promotion of
The
This application
sub-
makes the
priated the
name Cameralwissenschajt
(6)
in
a peculiar sense.
Its
revenues;
sources;
devising of ways
and means
to
draw from
these
(c)
revenues of a prince.'
We
this general
Substantially the
same explanation
is
given
more
at length, with
in Justi's Grundfeste,
to
various subjects;
Bihliothek
of
3 If the sources had been accessible, I should have added an estimate Johann Jacob Moscr as an index of the spirit of cameralism. I have as yet no means of testing the reliability of Roscher's account (pp.
441
ff).
CHAPTER
Since
XIII
THE CAMERALISTICS OF
of cameralism,
JUSTI
we have referred to Seckendorff as the Adam Smith we may carry out the conceit by calling Jusli
In each case, however,
upon points
of resemblance
which would be
never-
It is true,
a pioneer
in reducing
an administrative pro-
gramme
the
much
same
development of cameralistic
true that Justi organized
up
to
different
much
The
led to
book proposed
to present Justi
Further reflection
intention had been
The
case
principal reason
it
was
that,
if
the
first
carried out,
"One
in
cannot
a generalization.
Nothing appears
is
removed
it
so inaccessible to Americans,
mere
assertion that
exists,'
fail
readers.
The
alternative chosen
was an attempt
to survey the
whole
cameralistic period
relative
and
286
THE CAMERALISTS
study of Justi has been
conclusions in reducing
our pur-
Johann Heinrich Gottlob von Justi, son of the Gerichthalter Georg Heinrich Justi, was baptized December 28, 171 7, in the evangelisch-lutherische Kirche at BrUcken an der Helme
{Regierungsbezirk Merseburg, Kreis Sanger hausen).
The
story
on Christmas eve of that year is thus not that improbable. Of his earlier years little is known. The traces The most reliable of his university career are rather dubious.
he was
of
bom
them are at Wittenberg. Partly within his student period he had some army experience. "Although Justi's military period was no longer than his academic career, it left traces
which
often
the
may be
made
of
He
363).
war
which
F. Frensdorff,
J.
nalokonotnen
"Ueber das Leben und die Schriften des NatioH. G. von Justi," Nachrichlen von der Konigl. GesellPhilologisch-historische Klasse,
It would be (Pp. 354-503.) an unfortunate misdirection of energy to enter upon examination of Justi's career under the guidance of the previous accounts of his life: e. g., the article in All. d. Bib.; Roscher's essay, in Archiv/ur die Sack-
aus
dem
Jahre 1903.
Gottingen, 1904.
ff.;
pp. 444
in
fl.,
etc.
My
first loss
matters of detail
Justi.
biography of
came from discovery of numerous inaccuracies in his These related to items on which the text of the author's
has not only discovered Roscher's mistakes
in
works
is final.
in this country.
He
cases
skeuhes of
Justi
An
earlier
monograph by the
CAMERALISTICS OF JUSTI
he belonged with turning the course of his
tific
287
life
to legal
and
scien-
pursuits.
first
Justi's
publication
was Die
Dichterinsel
(1745),
satire feebly
resembling Swift's
Ergetzungen der
seemed
In the course of the year 1747, Justi removed to Sangerhausen, where his name is known first as Advocat, then as
Rath
der
verwittweten
Herzogin
von
Sachsen-Eisenach.
title
was
any
title
made good
use of
it
The
subject
was proposed
for
a prize contest by
and the
prize
was
this
awarded
Of
The period of his stay here is the most important of his life. From this point dates the turning of his mind to the science which
was to give him his place
in history.
many
fields
with his
facile journalistic
economic sciences.
this transition.
His removal to
288
THE CAMERALISTS
when Maria Theresia
life
all
The system
were
of taxation
of civic
reconstructed,
so
the
government
was
and a
was
fxjssihle.
most
definite expressions
political
.... The
were also
Vx^neficial
same
period.
in
and the
more competent
stnants both
and
military.
initial
No
1
sufficient
explanation of Justi's
success at Vienna
events, he
Theresianum.
was instructed to ofler lectures entitled ^'collegium oeconomicoproi'infiale,'' which included '' Finanzen, Handel, Contributionale (Steuemesen)
und Afanu/arturwesen."
The immediate
Halle and
Frankfurt
a.
O.,
viz.,
the
The
d<x:ument
which marks
Justi's
entrance into
the
cameralistic series
was
in the nature of
At particular
missifined
'
command
of
was com-
to
deal
specifically
Auj hdchslen Bejehl an Sr. Rom. Kaiserl. und zu Ungarn und Bohmen Konigl. Majesldt erstaltetes alleruntertdnigstes Cutachten von dem vernunjtigen Zusammenhange und praktischen Vortrage aller Oeko-
CAMERALISTICS OF JUSTI
Thereupon he gave
to the actual
his attention not
289
may
to
At
all
explanations of his
For reasons which are as confused as the coming to Austria, among them friction
Stieda thinks (p. 33) that he did not even
Frensdorff, on
Germany
in 1753.
quite sure he
was the
first
(p. 389).
facts in less
he deliberately
to have
his
own
assertion,
overlooked, is decisive.^
is
Light
thrown on
Vienna by
at
and windows of his lecture-room.* He also says that the rector told him flatly, "There is no need of Cameralwissenschaft und Policei; Austria has been prosperous a long
the doors
sort.
If
and say
such
their
prayers,
God
will
bless
stufiF."3
.... von Herrn Hofrat u. ProH. G. edlen Herrn v. Justi. Herausgegeben von Dr. E. W., According to Stieda's description (p. 32) this docu1754. ment contains virtually the same progranime afterward proposed in the In the latter form it will be discussed Preface of Staatswirthschaft.
nomischen und Kameralwissenschaflen
fessor J. Leipzig,
below.
"It
is
p.
336, note.
Staatswirthschaft,
119.
It
me
that Frensdorff
p. 324.
290
Brief as
THE CAMERALISTS
was
his stay in Austria, the time
was not
lost for
Austria
As one
line leads
him with those who followed. Justi continued Each had at the work of Becher, Schroder, and Homick heart the question how Austria might be made more prosperous by means of Landesoekonomie or Volkswirthschajt. They solve the question according to the principles of the mercantilists; and the difference between them and Justi is his more abstract procedure.
He He
is
first
tries to lay
down
handle their material in a popular way, Justi puts his in the form of
On New
Year,
1754 at Mansfeld, he signed the prospectus of a new monthly journal;' he appears to have been for a short time in Leipzig,
but in 1755 he appears in Gottingen. The reasons which account for these movements remain unexplained. In Gottingen Justi combined the activities of PoUteidirector with the
In
Gottingen.
The
He
Denmark. This Danish episode lasted less than a year. He moved to Altona, then to Hamburg, where he made the acquaintance of the Prussian resident von Hecht. From this time to the end of the Seven Years' War,
the service of the king of
Justi did a great deal of political writing.
'
He
affected a
and
his predecessors.
note
my
comment.
Neue WahrheiUn
gesell-
Vide Frensdorff,
391.
CAMERALISTICS OF JUSTI
manner which purported
of a comprehensive
to set the issues of the
291
day
in the light
political philosophy.
remained in Hamburg
until
some
From
"Kgl. Gross-
uncertain up to 1765,
From
king,
this
who
of mines.
to
On
the other
hand Justi seems almost immediately These were partly personal creditors,
or influenced.
Presently
more
Ques-
The
his
outcome was judicial investigation which resulted in arrest and confinement at Kiistrin (February 9, 1768).*
At
on the legal fight for release. He maintained that the whole case was trumped up by enemies, and according to his daughter's
would result in his favor. Although and even probable, that in the whole matter Justi was "more sinned against than sinning," we must admit that the incident at best deepens the impression left by the most favorable version of his earlier life. With all his intellectual versatility, Justi never shows a sign of moral strength. Returning to our main interest, viz., the cameralists as
his death, that the process
is
it
possible,
we
(p.
of the Grundfeste
lin,
den
6.
is
April iy6i;"
Staaten
*
292
Justi's camcralistic
ings.
thp:
cameralists
writ-
many
of
them
in several
They
(2)
fall
(i) aesthetics
and
belles
philosophy;
natural
science;
(4)
history;
(5)
wide sense.
Most of
his
to tangible uses,
had a certain
self-defense,
became
itself vcPr-
plain one-sidedness
kill in
when,
own
is
life,
probably not
in
virtue,
(Roscher
Archiv
jiir
pp. 77
ff.).
One might
wf)rlh
had
f)reviously
treated.
rafts
Tardy and grudging references to other authors do not by any means give due credit for Justi's upon his predecessors. He succeeded in eclipsing
because he had rather unusually acute
this,
them
y)artly
political
instincts.
Besides
If
material.
he was not a
he was
f)ersistent
as his own.
irlealize Justi
While
this fact
to
indicates
Justi
his value as a
summarizer
I,
'
Staatswirlhscha/t,
xxiv.
ff.
CAMERALISTICS OF JUSTI
293
ground that such references merely serve to parade an author's learning.* He has a euphemistic substitute for frank confession in the following passage:'
I have never
through, and
my memory was
knew
notable
my
writings from
referring
to
memory
the
many
I
lines
book.
This extraordinary
and
am
learn-
Our plan
order.
We
We
for the
must give more than passing notice to the on the title-page, "which are
strategic
requisite
government of a country."
The phrase
at once puts
viz.:
E.
g.,
in the last
edition of
Johann Heinrich GoUlobs von Jusli Staatswirthschaft, oder systematische Abhandlung oiler Oekonomischen und Corneral-Wissenschaften,
3
Landes
erfodert
werden.
In zweien Theilen
und Vermehrung des Vermogens des Stools, und mithin die Staatskunst, die Policey- und Commercien-Wissenschoft nebst der Hausholtungskunst in sich begreifft. Zweyte stark vermehrte Auflage 1758The title-page of the second part of the book, bound in the same
Erster Theil, Welcher die Lehre von Erhaltung
volume,
liche
is
Vermogens des Stoates, und mithin die eigentCameral- oder Finanz-Wissenschqft in sich begreifft. Nebst einem
voUsldndigen Register iiber beyde Theile. I have seen Professor E. R. A. Seligman's copy of the same edition. It is bound in two volumes, but the binding is evidently much later than
that of the copy which I chiefly used.
294
first,
THE CAMERALISTS
the
paramount
state
whether
is
the
princelingdom
of
immaterial
a dominant
which
the
technique
We
must
set
it
down
is
an element
in the historical
development of German
social science,
and
of
and
practical tradition.
Germany
modem
Table
organization of science
learned
Rau (Lehrbuch
The
any
first
1826,
etc.),
the
of Contents should
be examined.
contents,
was intended
The
book and
on related subjects
problems pre-
civic administration.
petty slate
is
That is, the autonomous, patriarchal was the ever-present working assumption. Justi thus strictly in line with camcralistic tradition as we have
it
made
we
a recapitulation of cameralism,
own
review of
The
Preface to the
in this
first
ground
way:
The economic and cameral sciences are very old in the world. The api)lication of them occurred indeed the moment property was introduced among men, and a'publics came into existence.
CAMERALISTICS OF JUSTI
This delightfully unconstrainc<l
style
295
historical
free-
of
Yet
it
would be unfair
suflficicnt
to treat
him as exceptional
in
hearsay a
making Europe
was
still
It was half a century after the when Niebuhr's first volume on the Rome marked the dawn of the era of historical
vocabulary
not an anachronism.
It is
on
to say that:
and
rulers of republics
measures both
same.
the state
in the
and
for thrift
and order
in the
This
the essential
Then
Aristotle
as evidence
that
theoretical
have workers
little
in
superabundance.
if
To
these
thought, and
we had
pursuits,
but
little
Vide Index,
title
" Republic."
beginnings of civic society, apparently making the origins of the institution of property
Justi, as
and
of "republics" simultaneous,
if
not identical.
With
which
296
in excess
THE CAMERALISTS
have been provided for
all
From
the
of Gasser
is
same sources which we have quoted above (viz., the books and Dithmar, and possibly the tract of Ludewig); but his readers would find no hint of these means of verifying
his statements.
in addition to
own
He
was
thirty years
who appraised
learning
wholly according to
its
This occurred
Halle remains;
first
in fact in
Frankfurt
O. and
and
Gasser,
who
really
had much
so
he
did not think with enough order and system to develop them thoroughly.
much
subject stood
certificate
chance of promotion
lectures.
at last
drew the
atten-
well as in
some academies,
of this
still
"
movement.
In the
first
were
too rare.
when they
While
Justi
They were
treated
more or
cameralistic basis, by
many men
in
Germany:
Gerhard, as early
p.
as 17 13 at Jena.
306 above).
CAMERALISTICS OF JUSTI
"only
Haushaltungskunst
297
emphasis had been placed on the operative rather than on the managerial side of gainful occupations. He supported this
judgment by referring
to the textbooks which Gasser and Dithmar had published in connection with their lectures.* These are the only text-writers whom Justi mentions here by name, although the vague reference to "others" shows that he knew more than he cared to tell or was willing to make
that
it
is
mere
patchwork
and
no orderly
impor-
system of theory
is
possible,
and
this
my
face.
On
that
is
do mostly with
if
they
They
therefore look
upon these
sciences very
and conclude
Justi
is
They
not trained for university careers, and taken from the administrative service.
'
They accordingly
He
mar again
tion
it
where he also
ralist" (vide p.
309 below). On p. viii of the Preface to the second ediappears that some reviewers had compared the first edition
Unless the
latter writer
was the
"new
man
intended.
up
298
ors (p. xiv).
THE CAMERALISTS
On
the other hand, the trained scholars of the
in detail to
make
their instruc-
He
At the same time Justi finds a brighter tint for the picture. thinks there is no doubt of the superiority of the Prussian bureaus to those of other states, and some of this excellence is due to the teachings of Gasser and his colleagues. The establishment of cameralistic chairs had also been accompanied by more publication on the subject, and in most parts of Germany there had been an evident increase of interest in camerascience.
listic
to
in
Germany
able
if
He draws
in these respects
and
devoted to expansion of
this proposition.
Justi goes
cameralistic science in a
way
At
that
first
is
glance
Adam
Smith.
It is
upon Smith. In the case of the former, it has rather the effect of an argumentum ad hominem addressed to people whose conventional views were inhospitable toward his subject. It attempts to show ment
sits
more
lightly
upon
Justi than
on
their
own grounds
He
xvi).
knowledge appropriate
If
(p.
we
just as
though we had
(p.
to
CAMERALISTICS OF JUSTI
299
and the
first class.
"attractive,"
"They give
and
The
no
mode
of
of
life
which could
his
argument,
Justi
be enough
if
we
This,
no other
in the
lower schools
adequate instruction
in all intelligence
and science which will be they may some time, as servants of the
useful services to the
wealth,'
common-
It follows
teach
the economic
and cameral
into detail in
expand-
and good
performed
(p. xxii).
by finding that
it
was necessary
I give under protest this rendering to the phrase, "dem gemeinen Wesen." It has no exact equivalent in our idiom, and must certainly not be understood to carry the associations which we attach to the
300
THE CAMERALISTS
was necessary in law and medicine, civil servants could pick up casually all that they needed to know about economics and cameralistics.
While we have a precise
ditions against
parallel with this situation in
many
academic con-
which Justi argued have been transferred, in England and America more than in Germany, to business and
government.
That
is,
now
eager to teach
men
life.'
Roman
The
was the
us.
it
law in
German
civilization,
and as
substitute for
more
He
recovery of the
first
Roman
law,
and provision
We
therefore
owe deep
to
gratitude to
Roman
it
legal learning,
and
is
was believed
that all
in the
body of Roman
laws.
To
was
chiefly
intelligent
Today's fortunate
old.
is
by no means
Germany, and
at that time
men
and methods. Consequently nothing was known of The most eminent magistrates [J uslizbcdicnlen] of the cameralists. prince at the same time managed his revenues; or the matter was
principles
in
The Study of
Sociology.
This
is
would not
fairly
CAMERALISTICS OF JUSTI
301
held to be of such slight account that the consort of the prince took
charge of
it,
manages
his household.
The good arrangements in the police and we now find in most states, came only gradually
more through accidental suggestions than
is itself
in
The
organization of states
fection,
and perhaps
it is
century that
we
economic, police, and cameral instituupon coherent principles, which are derived from the nature of republics, and incidentally are veritable sciences.
Justi at once reiterates the
now worked
quently
it
would be a
xxvii).
One
an all-around expert
complex science
Thus he
We may
if
From
steps.
will
waver and
seize
upon
he thinks he has introduced important improvements in this part of the administrative organization, he
questionable decisions.
will at last
come
this great
all
circumstances of the
302
THE CAMERALISTS
Most lands appear
be seriously lacking.'
human
under-
standing"
(p.
He
trary opinion of
some
would not
on the contrary, "the more we discharge and respect our duties to the state, the more shall
we be
But
is
own mind
that
it
carries
his premises.
kindled
demands
still
wider scope
his
He
concludes the
first
branch of
arugment
my
it
is
necessary to
for
such
and
new academic
citizen'
the sciences
and the duties which they at some time, and inhabitants of the state, and as fathers of families,
In the case of institutions of this
it is
have
to observe.
class,
we
seem never
to
and
good Christians.
(p. xxxii)
The
rest of the
paragraph
reads like a
memorandum
for
Spencer's
* I. e., 3
The Sins of
Legislators.
Without trying to make too much of the art rather than the science concept.
we may
CAMERALISTICS OF JUSTI
303
organization
of
cameraiistic
instruction.
ff .)
His
pnjposal
is
man
as
in univer-
At
le^st
whom
the one
should deal chiefly with police and commercial science, the other
with economics and finance.
if
Ix;
taught
each
may have
opportunity to
make
Some
in the
will
want
to
make a
career in the
some
and
all
The
be so
filled
profitably
The
would be prepared
These six professors, to whom we and military engineering [burgerlichen und Kriegsbaukunst], if talented, experienced, and expert men were chosen, would compose a faculty that would ix? uncommonly salutary for civic life. It would amount to an oracle which could with great advantage be called upon in many affairs of state for
of ores
and of
fossils in general.
civil
which
it
is
now
of
all
in
which
all
304
THE CAMERALISTS
This
is
may
get
all
may
ai^ may be
with correct
they have
When
in
a ground they
will
any part of
This
because
will
all
may be
their intention to
civic administration.
under
all
circumstances accrue to
their advantage,
affairs of state
have an
inseparable influence
member
we
live ?
who does
value.
The many-colored naivete of this passage gives it a high The cross-lights upon the state of knowledge in general,
line of
worthy of
pertinent
is
attention.
that,
The
observation
most
immediately
an obstinately
We
now
all
a mediate process,
until
we have a survey
human purposes
In other words,
in the
we have
been generalized in
The
of
perception that
we need
which there
and
effect in
human
lives.
CAMERALISTICS OF JUSTI
Our primary
interest
305
is
in
mere
engineering.
on
Staatswirthschaft
Fundamentale.
It contains in
all
eco-
nomic
which
sciences.
Then
explained,
These
teaches
book.
involved the grounds of financial science, and then follow the general
rules of
agricultural science.
generic
terms
^^Staatskunst"
^*
^^Haus-
haltungskunst," etc.
title
"Oekonomie'':
not only the general rules of
It includes
management [Haus-
The
rendering "statecraft" does not quite correspond with Justi's idea, yet would be more unfair to use the modern term "political science." In the rough, Staatskunst as Justi knew it, was the methods of keeping
it
means on which
into
3o6
THE CAMERALISTS
It
is
of agricultural management.
as Justi
knew
it,
On
of
the second
order,
not only affords adequate ideas of the subject-matter conin all these specific sciences,
all
cerned
but
its
theorems are
at the
same
time an epitome of
management of the state. The great management of the state rests virtually upon the same rules which other management must observe.'
'
Vide Small,
FrensflorfTs generalization.
.1
This passage contains a part of the reply which Vide above, p. 290.
would make to
While this proposition suggests the remark which Herbert Sf>encer somewhere makes, to the effect that "the problems of the state are merely the prf)l)lcms of the household enlarged and extended," the inferences drawn by the two men from the same generalization were quite contradictory.
CAMERALISTICS OF JUSTI
In both establishments the ultimate purrx)ses are to aaiuire
307
"means"
merely of
The housekeeping
to
of the state
is
who wants
might therefore hear the Ockonomie while also hearing the Collegium Fundameniale, yet
the
it
he would begin
general.
more
Next
more
Justi]
The
course on Oekonomie
to the
may
should follow
first
in
also the
it
part of
the great
Oekonomie
All the
(sic)
measures intended
the republic.
to preserve
may
con-
be increased,
government
police.'
The
science of police
is
in police
science
must sow, as
it
may
it
reap.
will
demand a whole
if
and completeness.
as
it
of a republic, since
the state,
also
is
means
of
and the
This science
in less
so inclusive that
to
demanded become a
if
if
one
is
to attain thorough
universal cameralist.
But
if
For
who purposes
is
comcircle.
The "consequently"
call attention to
But why
cup and
?
platter,
3o8
mercial system
THE CAMERALISTS
may omit
the
and
Justi's perceptions
were
direction prophetic.
it
He adds
(p. xl):
if
one
would begin
however,
is
police,
sort of history,
worked
is
text-
book
Thus
in
may
and
fall
of countries
and
cities;
in
may
shipping and trade, and similarly in the case of the other sciences.
The
more
technological
of Justi's ideas
is
under which instruction in these must proceed. His first proposition may be rendered in modem academic jargon, "It is of course impossible to conduct these courses by the laboratory method" (p. xli).
to discuss the limitations
sciences
And
he continues:
in these sciences practice
For
in
to
much
if it
consisted in
cameral
That
is
there are
If one were to give specially would be drawn into repetition of exposition and explanation which would amount to a review of the whole body of science, and a series of years would not suffice for such a course. Consequently every course on a special economic science must be
numerous
side applications.
planned in a practical way, especially the courses on police, commerce, and finance, and so soon as the instruction has reached the end of a main division the instructor must exhibit pieces of work of the sort
CAMERALISTICS OF JUSTI
that apply
309
He must require the students to and he must pass judgment on them publicly. This should be the practice at least with the more diligent students, who have an interest in getting thorough mastery of the subject. It would be impossible to treat in this way all the exercises that
what has been explained.
imitate these samples,
might be submitted.'
again refers to
Gasser and Dithmar, and expresses the hope that his work
be found superior to
theirs.
He
Then
"a new
plete.
is measurably comwould not be in accordance with the truth if one should attribute to his work an organization firmly based
extent of material
"But
it
of the subject."
less
was exhausted
He
changes
will
not be necessary
in later editions.
He
them with
it.
must be made
of the syllabus
which
* As an item of evidence bearing on the growth of the seminar method in German universities, sec. xlii is worth consulting.
about the author's attitude toward other writers, and about the sort of Ubeity which a commentator on political subjects might at that time
MMime.
310
preceded
it.
THE CAMERALISTS
The main
and the
outline is identical with that of Slaats-
wirthscha/t,
latter
The
of this outline
is
the
prompt and
after
definite
fundamental
the
thesis:
viz.,
declaring
and
cameral sciences
is
common
happiness [gemeinschafUiche
Hence
of
follows the
first
and universal
state
principle, namely:
all
the
governmental
activities of a state
may
be promoted.
Our
must be deferred.^
It
The
status of
may be
is
in
which Whiston's estimate of the population of the antecited as proof that navigation
diluvian world
a population
Vide
p.
319.
The
syllabus
is
entitled:
Kurier
systemaiischer
It
is 2,
Crutulriss
oiler
Oeconomischen
in Vol. II,
und
2,
Cameralwissenschaften.
I,
Abth.
and
Abth.
pp. 303-77.
note to 2 says:
"I used
\tc
my
it
lectures at Vienna,
and
it
had to
Graf von
settle
that he caused
it
to be circulated
among
all
This seems to
Vide
Both
(p.
above
(p.
286)
and
in the
Ceschichte
Thcrcsia.
My
copy seems to
assumes that such was the fact. I have first edition, but have used the second be in the original binding, but it contains no
CAMERALISTICS OF JUSTI
The
The
sea;
311
is
seen in the
following samples:
Phoenicians carried on extensive trade both on land and
....
....
the
first
the
Romans, as the
Ptolemies] in Egypt 33,339 flourishing cities (p. 7); ... rest of their constitution was wise and excellent,
had
also a well -ordered constitution of the financial system (p. 7), etc.
The
but add
author's assertion.
although the
Roman Empire
had a considerable trade, yet this declined proportion as the realm was weakened by the Arabians or Sara-
dedication whatever.
The same
is
same
edition
on which
As the
i-
Preface to the
edition
11 April, 1755,"
e.,
in
Vienna,
it
cir-
cumstances of his departure, so far as theyare understood, to suppose that he would have been in a state of mind to waste any veneration on the empress.
sible
in error
It is
pos-
dedicated to Maria
following from the
Theresia, and that Roscher confused the syllabus with the expanded work.
was written
dedicated to
?) is
Museum: "The
is
(1755)
is
in B.
M. and
Maria
Teresia.
His Kurzer
sysle-
not in B.
M."
right;
in the
but
it
also
second editionv
312
cens.
THE CAMERALISTS
On the other hand
in a note
all
these peoples,
Then
Not
believe,
upon
of
this
many
writers on history
caused the
fall
Rome,
We
must seek
fall
of the throne
and
generalities are
modem
"finishing school."
a book ostensibly
They arc mere space-fillers introducing young men to practical governhard to believe that they could have been
mental careers.
It is
Coming
information
and
colonization, the
concerning
the
They
land
(sic)
New
England, Scot-
and
The more
serious
and
book might
Germany.
at the
He
_,^
hundred
years.
Only
century were
French refugees, and the former king of Prussia, who was himself
a very great administrator [Haushalter],
increased his revenues by one-half,
by good management, and he gave equal attention to manufactures. The present great and wise Prussian monarch has not only retained the former management, but by forming great maritime trading societies he has laid the foundations for sea commerce,
etc.
when almost
all
German
little
CAMERALISTICS OF JUSTI
313
In modem times, and even within 200 and finance, neither of which bulked very large, were dealt with by one and the same body of officials. Landgrave Philipp of Hesse, as appears from his will, had for all his administration two dignified officials, each of whom received fifty florins Elector August of Saxony (1526-86) is, so far as I know, salary.
help of bureau employees.
years, questions of justice
the
first
of the
German
system.
supposed
as
it is
So far as a serious scientific or practical purpose may be to have stimulated this "historical" survey, so far
to
It
mind
it
on the subject
may
be cited
was
almost impossible to
make anyone
academic or of the
was regarded as a matter that would take not, it was no concern of people whose chief interest was in taking care of themselves. Justi's public was mind about national revenues. in a somewhat similar state of Evidently there was a reason for this in the fact that public revenues were not in the same sense "public" that they are today. They were the revenues of the prince and of his
preservation.
It
care of
itself,
or
if
While there had been great changes in the technique of administration, and while the problems of productiveness of different sources of revenue had been systemgovernment.
atically calculated
it
was about
3M
THE CAMERALISTS
is
let
for it;"
we now
"What
Let
Accordingly,
to knowledge, for
it
was merely a
scrappy hearsay,
to the
was a
suggestibility of hearers,
into a
were to follow.
CHAPTER XIV
ARGUMENT OF
It is
JUSTI'S "
STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT "
Justi's
now
in order to
summarize
its
epitome of cameral
of purposes
science,
scheme
which
In
these details,
this
either
by
The argument
(p. 29), as
down fundamental
principles
programmes of teaching merely through examples, or practice, or memory. The importance of basing a system of teaching on principles is
peculiarly evident in cameralistics
(p.
30).
The
forethought of
one lacks
one
will
affairs,
the
body
Again
single
Justi
implies,
it,
book as
details
His note on
this proposition
more
situation as he
saw
If
it.
He
We
we may
along these
we
a
consider both
home and
foreign countries,
collect quite
library.
Yet we cannot
find a
book among
them all which attempts to teach one or more of these sciences on Even the the basis of their correlations with the whole subject.
exceptions.
royal revenues.
ample, there
fragmentary fashion
3'5
3i6
THE CAMERALISTS
and disorderly arrangement in which they accidentally occurred to the author. I am by no means inclined to blame others, and I therefore refrain from mentioning names. The facts however are open to the eyes of everyone. Without doubt the reason of it is that, through some ordering of destiny which I do not understand, philosophical minds have paid no attention to these sciences which
so intimately concern the welfare of social
life.'
We
economic and
for
aim
to teach
how
preserved,
increased,
means of private persons {sic) are to be and reasonably applied. What economics
usually called
Cammern
or Cammercollegia
(p. 32).
all rulers
Our
are eager to
and
I
do not venture
to say
is,
from love
happy.
Self-love
and from paternal impulse to make them here and there the chief motive. Yet there is and powerful
if
is
first
edition.
fear he
was a cad
later.
Smith and Modern Sociology, pp. 189 and 210, I have which led von Mohl to declare that political science had nothing to do with political economy. This antithesis must be looked into later.
'
In
Adam
The
mind
is
evident.
JUSTI'S
our business to
sciences,
set in
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
317
truth, and sound reason demand. These principles must be derived from the ultimate purpose of the
state.
What
is
state,
and
in
what does
its
ultimate purpose
is to
actually accepted
by the ruling
principles.
It is
and abstract
and only
secondarily,
if
of practice.
human
society, in general, or
state, in particular, in
accordance with
reconstructive impulse.
The problems
and.
What
of the discrepancy ?
Justi answers his
own
question in this
way
(p. 33)
of incursions.
more probable that they grew out of the governing skill of families; that is, the patriarch must necessarily have had a certain prestige and power over his children and servants, which
It is
descended at his death to his eldest son, until in the course of time
amounted to a real rulership. We have many evidences that this was the fact, but of course they do not account for great empires, which have always been formed by force of arms.
it
With no further
fact
republic or state
is
a supreme power,
we may
who
are
3i8
THE CAMERALISTS
and certain fixed institutions, in order, with their united energies, and under a superimposed supreme power, to promote their common
happiness.
and
in
sometimes happiness in general, as their aim, but have never subordinated themselves to a supreme power.
is
was
minds.
Hamlet's
reflection,
"What a
as
piece of
work
is
man!"
point of departure,
fool themselves
of,
states of
mind do men
still
theorist could
suppose he was
derived from
is
is
most
striking
when
had absolute rights as sovereigns, for generations after men of thought had discovered that the powers of sovereigns come from the people. The wonder is not so great as it seems, because the anomaly does not by any means last so long after
the discovery as appearances seem to indicate.
It is alto-
"The power
what
it
of sovereigns is derived
to us.
it is
means
sense,
Nor did
a truism.
it
cal sense in
which
mixed
made up
in
The thought-medium
was a strong
of these
which
this idea
powers over
their fellow-men;
and accordingly
it
JUSTI'S
carried
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
319
an energetic presumption that the well-being of these multitudes was to be thought of in terms of the pleasure of the
Yet
Justi
seems
to
be very
much
in
advance of
his
time
when he continues
The
tionably the
(p. 35)
is
therefore unques-
common
ruler.
happiness
It is
unnecessary to enlarge
upon the
do not
sake of the
But
it
was
which was
Justi
to
be the bone
of contention
hundred years.
pret,
and
for
which he wanted
to train recruits,
principle.
As previously in the Grundriss,^ Justi formulates as "the and universal principle of all economic and cameralistic
that
shall
must ]ye so ordered by means of them the happiness of the same (i. e., of the state)
be promoted.'
extent
To what
we have
in Justi's mind,
and
would be
is
much
positiveness.
The
confusion
and
ogy of
it is
of the fact.
ment of scientific consciousness out of this situation. Merely as a symptom of the situation, as a sign of the lack of precision and consistency of view, we may note that in the previous paragraph Justi had been talking about the well-being of
subjects, as the
I
end
"the
common
Above,
p. 310.
Vide below,
p. 327.
320
happiness."
THE CAMERALISTS
In the formula which he
is
now
constructs
to
No
long argument
is
room
used
and inconsistency
in theory
and
as
"subjects,"
Conceptions of civic
relations
As Hegel might have put it: Experience was only partially self-conscious. Theory was accordingly in many ways in contradiction with itself and with practice. Both theory and practice were unsystematically feeling their way toward precision and consistency. Justi
were
fluid
and
shifting.
bravely declares that the sequel will prove the theorem just
all
and
of
government
may be
Then Justi classifies all "republics or forms ment" (sic) into the three types:
(i)
The monarchy
(3) the
one alone;
[Vornekm];
common
people.
Then
there are
mixed forms.
analysis, not yet
and does not press back to the psychological or even the sociological meaning of the form. Commenting on the analysis,
Justi adds:
It is easy to
is
which
it
state,
and becauM
It
many
JUSTI'S
is
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
321
with
and
territories
which belong
monarchy
(pp. 39-43).
The
most elementary
and obvious
principal test of
and dynastic convenience is throughout the value. Thus Justi sa3rs that there are ample
women
are not
fit
to govern
incompetent or ignorant
saying
it
man
Without
directly,
is
male
line
ment:
A
might
realm
fall
is
in
its
into the
hands of an
is
The
discussion
so general in
character that
deciding
it is
futility of
a monarchy, limited or unlimited, an aristocracy, racy is the best government, proves to be a question quite co-ordinate with the problem whether a saw or a hat or a loaf There is no universal oif bread is the best piece of property.
"best" in either case.
that
is
is,
The
historical
judgment in both
cases,
the judgment not of types but of workings. The academic method thus illustrated by Justi must always sooner or later
>
before, this
is
monarchy.
322
give
scale
THE CAMERALISTS
way
to the
by British history. At the same time it mufit be admitted that there was much more pragmatism in fact than in form in Justi's theories; and
almost universally the case with social philosophers.
this is
That
is,
problems of German
states, and more than he was aware he was really asking: "Which of the possible alternatives will work best in this situation ?" Questions of checks upon the ruler, of succession to the throne, of relations between terri-
tories
politically
common
ruler,
were everyday
affairs.
The judgments
just
now:
ergo^ so
is
and so
is
long-lived.
In
economy.
in
Adam
Smith knew, yet he did not know, that the which he lived was merely a stage
in
historical
evolution
the
same
series
with community
He
and
proletarian,
worked
is
historical factor
and concluded
proletarian,
and
draw
all
further conclusions
The judgments which much more elementary way, based on a presupposition of a much more The corollaries which he immediately draws
finality.
The
fixed
form of succession
is
of a state, because otherwise the state can expect nothing but unrest,
wars,
and disruption;
of those classes that are not harmful to the welfare of the state
JUSTI'S
be preserved;
(3)
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
liberties
323
no new
and
privileges
must be conceded
means of happiness of a state (pp. 43, 44); (4) various realms and lands belonging to a monarch must be combined in a union and a general organization,
interfere with facile control of the
which
full
powers of the
state,
to antipathy
different
ism that
is
judgments
(p. 46).
Further light
on the standpoint
of the
whole system
of
Thus
some
(2),
i.
states
seem
to
e., liberties
are suppressed as
much
as possible.
There-
upon he remarks
this policy:
making
no good
to the state,
The two
and "individual," here brought into comparison, were relatively unanalyzed concepts; and judgments between them were necessarily rough. The leaning in favor
of the state as contrasted with private persons
is,
however,
plain
and
characteristic.
When
Justi
puts
into
German
the familiar
Roman
not what a Roman tribune would mean, nor what an American democrat would mean. He meant: "The successful carrying-out of the policy which the ruling power in the typical German state sets up as its aim is the paramount
mean
consideration."
It
is
how
much
The
Vide below,
324
rests
THE CAMERALISTS
appears further in his analysis of the monarchical factor
in the state.
monarch or
state,
or of the republic,
highest
power
in order that
community
happi-
means
for
promoting the
common
fitted
and as a rule the patriarchalism was of a which inverted the personal relations actually concerned.
That is, state policy was incarnated in the ruler, whose success was identified with "the happiness of the state;" while the
individuals subject to the ruler were in the last analysis not
This
clear either
way.
They
They
can be interpreted
rules,
by mere
linguistic
applied.
e.g.:
Such
partially
ambiguous
propositions
follow,
The
But
viz.:
monarch
ship of the happiness of the subjects. in the next sentence the other conception reappears,
We
if
we
power and of the affairs of the community. In this way we should make of the monarch merely the servant of the state, and place the republic over him, so that he could not be distinguished from a StaatkalUr. This is the false notion held by the Monarchomachif
from which so many harmful and dangerous conclusions
follow.
JUSTI'S
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
is
325
still
made
plainer,
The enemies
whom we
above the
ruler,
either call
him
may resist him. From such damnable came the unhappy tragedy of the unfortunate Charles I of England, and from the same cause Henry III came to his death in France. Nothing is more detestable than these ideas which arc evidently contrary to the nature of a republic and open the doors to all sorts of uproar and disorder (p. 47).
welfare of the community, or
Here then we are dealing with the familiar fallacy of passing first on fragments of situations, and then promoting those judgments to the rank of principles with universal validity. With such beginnings, modem social science is still
judgments
not too far along in the juvenile grades of
its
is
education.
[die hochste
Gewalt]
next defined as
of the
of the same,
common
happiness"
(p. 48).'
Again we must not take these eighteenth-century words as Every shade of meaning
is
de-
The
and the
the
community
of ruler or chief
simply a
name
relations.
If this latter
way command
present
326
assent.
THE CAMERALISTS
But the other idea has to be understood in connection with the words, and they then describe what actually was in
German
(p. 48):
Thus
Justi says
We
should
much
too narrowly
if
we
make
it
To
the
all
sorts of
goods, both fixed and movable, within the boundaries of the country,
but also
country.
the talents
and
is
abilities of the
all
persons
who
reside in the
The
reasonable use of
and
the
therefore the
supreme power.
Justi's generalization of
be paralleled
if
government (pp.
the
49-51)-
Following
The
two great
divisions, to wit:
and expansion of the means of the state; (2) the wise application of these means, both in use and in thrift.* Hence all the sciences concerned with the government of a state
(i) the preservation
fall
The
first
and commercial science, along with economy (Oeconomie), all of which aim either to preserve or to increase the means of the state. The
second comprises the cameral sciences proper, which teach
how
to
is
to preserve
and extend
this
I translate the phrase " gebrauchet und damil gewirthsckaftet" in clumsy way, to avoid premature use of the technical concepts "consumption" and "production."
JUSTI'S
its
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
this
327
means [Vermdgen],
(p. 53)
responsibility of rulers,
and
theorems
1.
state
may be
and
his subjects
2.
may be made
must
[Fleiss].
happy.
The
subjects
facilitate these
From these principles another follows, viz. 3. The welfare of the ruler and the happiness
permanently
exist.
of the subjects
can never be separated, and the one without the other can never
There
is
same sense
and
in
true;
it is
false.
the truth.
sarily
The
well-being of subjects
is
by no means
rulers,
neces-
when
the
rulers have
interests of
power
to determine both;
when
power
to
Justi's note
(p. 54).
on Machiavelli
He
cannot understand
how
and
theory that
heavily
point of view
precisely
the
same grounds.
of
his
ment.
an
328
THE CAMERALISTS
That Justi mixed much sentiment and idealism with his programme of objective analysis, may be illustrated by citation
of the next paragraph (p. 55) viz.:
From
and
and the
For neither the well-filled treasury and the army of the ruler, nor a land living in riches and abundance makes this strength. Such a condition, however happy it appears to be, is by no means sufficient against all accidents. History is not empty of examples of the most powerful and flourishing realms which unexpectedly came to destruction. A monarch has accordingly met with a great loss if he no longer enjoys the love and
resources of the state.
formidable
own
tediously repetitious
We
We
come now
brief.
may
reproduce in
Of
The
for the
is
The immediate reason for this purpose the common welfare, and weaken the
state.
resources
of the state.
Policeymssenschaft
is
and its great and correlation that the and in a position easily to
applied to two distinct
support themselves.
science"
is
JUSTI'S
sciences.
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
329
The one
The
commercial enterprises
may be
established
and made
to flourish,
not dependent
(the latter)
is
government of the
tion
state.
Accordingly
from
the
first,
civic-conunercial-science
it is
wissenschaft].
Fundamentally
and
it is
that this science, too, ends with extending the resources of the state.
Management [Haushaltungskunst]
increased,
is
devoted
to
and
well
used:
and
is
of great imall
ways and means of cultivation. The more thrifty the private persons, the greater and securer the resources of the state. Again there can be no doubt that the science of management is tributary to the preservation and
and
and subjects
is
ends, the subject-matter of these sciences involves two chief considerations, viz.:
1.
to preserve
and thus
to
What
sibilities
of the ruler ?
The
As a
civics,
treatment
is
"happiness"
[GlUckseligkeit],
which
is
33
THE CAMERALISTS
ff.).
He
distinguishes
it
in the
consequent
felicity
of
the soul."
is
On
the other
hand, the
some
which
More
means by
the happiness of
may
his
may
be able to
make
much more
than material
inserts
goods
distinguish
now
suggest
them from the concepts which the same terms to us. For instance, he explains that "the
is
in principle
and
in detail to
definition of relations
which
We
must emphasize our previous observation that the essence of the situation of which Justi was a symptom must be formulated as an effort to express, in theory and in practice, the purposes
involved in the situation in terms of the paramount governing
factor of
logic
is
the situation.
This
is
a social solecism.
Social
The
and
subject,
is
ual initiative,
moment
accordingly had in
mind a
and he
virtually at-
JUSTI'S
tempted
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
331
a universal
condition,
and
to lay
down
the laws of
its
equilibrium as
this
When we
have pointed
out, we have really closed the rational verdict upon the system, and upon all others of which it is a type. But we are at work upon something more than the mere appraisal of a piece of archaic philosophy and technology. Our main interest in it
is
as
it
With this purpose in view, we must continue the must try to discover how the fallacies of attributing a static character to the evolving, and a universal
in general.
analysis.
We
validity
to
the particular,
progressively
discredited
partial
science
and
flourishing
and
These
specifica-
which
modem
democracies
of, for,
list, viz.,
government
affairs
by the
of the social
discovered civic
life
had
embarrass ment of
practice.
was on a long time under the the provisional absolutistic theory and
the
artificiality
the distinction
to struggle
this
all
violence
head than the condition of the and fear, they may peacep. 65, Justi
stituents of happiness,
33*
fully
itself
THE CAMERALISTS
enjoy their goods and pursue their vocations.
The
state
must be
it
in
means and measures which it finds and for the happiness of the subjects. The fact that such danger to the state itself may come from either external or internal assault, makes it necessary to develop the theory of state action with reference to each type of contingency. This
power,
necessary for
its
may make
prosperity
two
come then to the specific teachings of the book. Since much more significant as an epitomizer of the whole cameralistic movement than as an original contributor to the
Justi is
We
theory,
it
is
We
have
volume
when
it is
fortified against
Interest
is
the
moving spring of
all
actions of states,
interests
and when
the con-
two peoples
sequence
insist
on their irreconcilable
war
is
first, discreet conduct 3. Hence two things are necessary: ward other free powers; and, second, a sufficient army (p. 73).
4.
first,
knowl-
edge of
the
home
5.
state
and personal make-up Cp- 74)must perfectly understand the nature of its
relations
to other states, the previous history of those relations, etc. (p. 76).
6.
The
so-called "balance of
If there
it
power"
in
Europe
is
an academic
less
invention.
cause to conform to
7.
A state
A
must
social duties
'
78).'
JUSTI'S
8.
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
to discover the
333
intentions
state
must seek
movements and
11.
No
state
When
state discovers
often
whose
is
known.
This
usually leads to
13^
(p. 82).
When
the
law, or to fidelity
(p. 82).
and
faith, it
may
14. Discretion
demands
that the
ministers,
state
must be particularly on
is
state in
was
dropped.
16.
likely to
hatch another
(p. 82).
Measures
in
advan-
its
own
whose
18.
interests
and
Guarantees,
and other
treaties,
by which
free
powers
particularly
Then
a wise monarch
is
Justi has a long note on this subject in which he takes decidedly advanced ground against war except for the most important reasons. Vide 156, p. 88, last sentence.
334
THE CAMERALISTS
21. Such measures vary according to circumstances, but they must not include treachery (pp- 88-90). 22. Discreet conduct toward the other free powers is not a
The
chief of these
is
an adequate army
(p. 92).
24. Recruits
war
(p. 95).
to
invincible:
By honors and
after the
by granting
license to plunder
(3)
and
to
Tamerlain,
Attila, etc.;
by mainis
The
third only
recommended
(p. 97).
27. In
29.
means
ti,
war must be
must be had
in
and
33. It
allies
make
separate
It is
and commerce
(p. 106).
36.
hostile
monarch or
his ministers;
37.
ON THE DOMESTIC SECURITY OF A STATE The domestic security of a state consists in such a
all
well-
body are
JUSTFS "STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
335
and violence
its
(p.
108).
38.
class
in
the state
must be
state,
required to keep
39.
The
relation
wise government therefore will have a care for the religious failh
(p.
109).
The The
state
must care for the administration of justice (p. 1 10) state must protect the subjects against frauds and vio-
ON THE ATTENTION OF THE RULER TO THE EXTERNAL CONDITION OF CLASSES AND THEIR RELATION TO THE STATE AND TO ONE ANOTHER
42.
No
wealth that he might be dangerous to the state or to his fellowcitizens (p. 112).
43.
if it is
The
44.
The
ruler
must
first
of
all
the best talent for the high offices of state and of the
45.
army
(p. 114).
No
officer
114).
lettres
Hence no
officer
de cachet
be hereditary
(p. 114).
No
to gain so
much power
supreme power
fortifications
would be
$0.
No
or
356
52.
THE CAMERALISTS
No
privileges should be permitted to subjects
(p. 117).
which arc
No
The The
class should
ruler
120).
ruler
must use
all
the
wisdom
conduct
ON THE ATTENTION OF THE RULER TO THE MORAL CONDITION OF SUBJECTS, PARTICULARLY THEIR RELIGION AND CONDUCT
56.
The moral
accord with the welfare of the state (Wohlfahrt des Staais), and pro-
mote
57.
The
ruler
his
own
religious opinions to be
by the
The among
59.
On
The
the other
hand
must be preferred
ruler
The The
ruler
must
try to stimulate
the
intelligence of his
means which
are at his
disposal to put
'
premiums on personal
Again a note
and intimates
grata.
The
qualifications
mind
JUSTI'S
64.
life
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
337
The
ruler
(P- 131)-
adjust strife
between subjects
morals
67.
The
administration of justice
It
is
to
be distinguished from
68.
The
laws
community, with the character of the various groupings of the subjects, and with the particular purposes which a wise government
proposes
69.
70. 71.
(p. 133).
The laws must be plain and intelligible (p. 134). The laws must be brief and simple (p. 135). Good laws will be in vain unless the government selects men
Even then the judges cannot be
trusted without careful
must be non-
The
judicial procedure
75. It
would promote
justice
ON THE MEASURES OF THE RULER FOR SECURING THE PERSONS AND GOODS OF SUBJECTS
76.
|)ersons
and goods
ment
of influence
upon the
judicial department.
He apparently had no suspicion of the verdict which the Revolution was about to pass upon that same Parliament.
*
Justi speaks
on
this point as
utterly impractical.
338
77.
THE CAMERALISTS
This safety must be assured both against domestic and
The
is
nocturnal robbery
streets of cities, or in
we seek
and
in the
consequent
(p. 145).
not have
much
difficulty in
(p.
adopting
146).
civic
officials
must be required
to
(p. 146).'
forests,
appointed time, and sharp watch of them after that hour, while
the
ments,
86.
to security
than
zealously traced
sorts
88.
'
at the
Again
utopianism
is
they failed
six
months
of the crime.
JUSTI'S
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
to reix)rt the
339
who
(p. 149).
Jews.
They
much harm by
their usury
and sharp
practices.
Yet
is
also a question
forced to these
all
means
of
gaining a livelihood they would be as useful to a land as other subjects (p. 150).
90.
wise government
must
finally
all
and
all
out justice
91.
To
prevent these
evils,
is
By
we understand a
sufficient
supply
and conveniences of life, and by means of which the subjects by diligence and labor may find adequate
of goods to satisfy the needs
lands,
we might
Because
call
it
rich,
even though
it
contained no trace of
(p. 152).
of
international
to
transactions
we need a ware
[PFoare]
is
which
is rare,
which
all
ment
96.
Gold and
Consequently
possesses a sufficient
153).
!s
(p.
It is
an unanalyzed
compound which
had
to
34
97.
THE CAMERALISTS
Token currency
it
is in
wealth, although
may
he could
term
We
must distinguish
(c)
(a) the
(b) the
and costly ornaments stored in the treasuremonarch are of no use to the country and would not
case
if
country
(p. 155)-
there are
many
it
rich persons in a
in foreign
their wealth, or
keep
banks
that
103.
is
it
consists of
subjects,
employed
156).
may
not only to support themselves but to supply the needs of the state,
the ruler must see (a) that
all
necessary
means
of increasing wealth;
necessary
means
it
from hand
to
hand
(p. 156).
State
cannot increase
its
already possesses.
The
all
first
rule of a wise
government therefore
should be to prevent by
of
possible
money from
106.
purchases of
to take
foreign goods
the
money
<
is the custom of and the antidote which he proposes is such a firmly established domestic bank system that a premium will be put on keeping the funds at home.
The
JUSTI'S
107.
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
rule of a wise
341
government must
be that there should be constant effort to increase the wealth of the state, for a land cannot be too rich (p. 158).
108.
On
the other
hand
riches
at the cost
demoralize those
Persian and
who
so obtain
it.
The
of the
Roman
monarchies
is
109.
land:
There are three chief ways of increasing the wealth of a (2) foreign commerce; (3)
mining.
of the
population
increases
the
means
of
country both because the newcomers bring goods into the country,
circulation of
money
(p. 160).
certain
its
makes a
state
prosperous provided
constitution is beneficent.'
The
talents of
among
The
larger the
number
ruler to
of people
power of the
republic.
promote
some
happiness of the
rest.
Nothing
ment
in general,
and
there
is
no good reason why the population Holland and China are evidence
There
is
no reason to fear that population could overtax Europe could feed six times its present popula-
The
expression
is
"seitte Beschaffenkeit
und Regierungsver/assuug."
books of use
Vide above,
sense.
in the cameralistic
modem
342
114. If
THE CAMERALISTS
we had wise police and economic administration, there no need of allowing emigration to America (p. 163).' To encourage increase of population the government in
and mild
(p. 164).
would
the
Ije
115.
first
1
16.
As a
must be permitted
T17.
The growth
of population
is
freedom of religious
The
latter is to
approved conditions.
to the state (p. 165).
iig.
The
wise ruler will not leave the food supply and employto take care of themselves,
ment of subjects
but
arc systematically
made abundant
(p.
167).
tion of rich
government must encourage the immigraand talented people of all kinds, and may resort to titles, honors, ix)sitions, and privileges as premiums to them (p. 168). 121. So far as possible, the government should relieve new120. Still further, the
taxes, building-permit fees, etc.
(p. 168).
122. Special
to skilled foreigners
The
pious reflection
is
subjoined:
" Nevertheless
it is
men
payment
government
JUSTI'S
125.
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
343
He
will especially
encourage
(p. 17,^).
means
126.
of diminishing sickness
moralizing vices
127.
(p. 174).
The
art of medicine
must be brought
for the
same reason
(p. 175).
must be made
The
cleanliness of cities
this requires
131.
Commerce
the goods
conveniences of
human
life
are satisfied.
prehension of
132.
(p. 178).
it
(p. 177).
Only
foreign
commerce can
133.
The
first
principle of
in
commerce must be
it
that
more gold
and
silver shall
be brought
(p. 178).
at
(p. 179).
When commerce
is
commerce may
for
if
and untrans-
formed condition, or are drawn from foreign nations, the land loses considerably from the earnings and support of subjects which might
have been enjoyed from the same
(p.
180).'
This paragraph
the original.
is
is in
344
136.
THE CAMERALISTS
When commerce
is
this is either
The
and
has
sort of
commerce
is
and the
tariff
may
it
temporarily
profit, the
land as a
if it
On
the contrary,
must gradually
last
and
and
this
means
of
payment
137.
(p. 180).
The second
There
is
sort of foreign
trade
is
incomparably more
The
trader must
know
profit
all
them from
be sold.
The
far
what
most advantageous
may most
easily carry
in
on
Another difference
That
they
may
be rough or
fine, useful
Of all
must be
fully
informed.
intelligent
of the wares,
140.
and properly
and
differences with
i.e.,
and
accidental condition;
packed or unpacked:
time of
be counted,
weighed, or measured;
latter only temporarily
salable or unsalable
and
in
141.
e. g.,
These various
sorts of
(i) Cloth;
(2) Silk;
(3) Spices;
(4) Groceries
[M aterialien]\
Gold,
silver,
(5)
handel\\
(6)
or jewels;
Books.
This however
is
JUSTI'S
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
classification,
345
be as
merely an approximate
for there
may
many
it
Indeed
is
many
more
wares.
If he dares to
effectively
master the
Small traders
who have
and sale may carry a miscellaneous stock (p. 183). Trade comprises two chief types of transactions: (a) obtaining the wares; (b) marketing them (p. 184). 143. All domestic goods come either from cultivating the earth,
142.
or
As
it,
to
agriculture, a wise
merchant
engage
in
or by
As
to products of stock-raising, he
may,
attentions [eine
and other
The
wares, however,
which come from the trades, are procured best through the establishment of manufactures and factories.
Sometimes advances
that
all
to the
wise
these
will
always see to
it
may
be retained
144.
As
come
either
by wagon
own,
For that purpose the merchant must if commerce is free to all, or he must
he must
buy shares
145.
By "shares"
[Actien]
we understand
those participating
its
organization
must be used
after
there-
may
be resold,
or
fall in price,
many
346
chant
at
will
THE CAMERALISTS
never risk his whole resources, or a large portion of them,
Consequently
it is
for
many merchants
many forms
of
of these
is
insurance;
that
is,
another party
3, 5, 10, 20,
more per hundred, according to the degree feared, and in case of loss to make it good (p. 186).
147.
of danger to be
The second
upon good correspondents, who protect the merchant by giving him timely notice of rise and fall of prices and other circumstances which affect his trade. A good merchant must be able to
cipally
who can be
is
relied
upon
to serve
own
advantages.
The
much
e. g.,
payment,
on
credit,
[a Vaventure
instructed about these different sorts of trade, together with the cost
of transportation, tariffs, probable dangers,
and the
prices to be
another he
may be
reasonably assured of
profits.
He must
also
assure himself about the reliability of the persons intrusted with the
transportation, also concerning the warehouses
and other circumand roads through which the goods must pass
is
149.
It is
To
keep
all
necessary.
the manual, or memorial, or chief book; the journal; the debt book; the credit book; the secret book;
the stock
must be kept
in the greatest
is
To
those
who imagine
of recent
JUSTI'S
order,
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
347
For
( I)
appointed
150.
The
ultimate purpose of
all
these transactions
is,
on the
produced
in the country,
and
not needed,
and therefrom
all
human
On
In view
and of the labors which he undertakes, we should not begrudge They consist in the increase of his goods and of his means. The amount of his goods def)ends entirely on the value which they have in terms of gold and silver. Consequently the single aim of the merchant is to increase his resources in gold and silver, or in goods which in comparison with these metals have a great value
incurs,
his gains.
(p. 188).'
151. Gold and silver is also in fact the ground commerce' carried on in the world or at least among
(sic)
of all
civilized or
somewhat
152.
189).
and
silver to
Thus
credits,
same advantage
to the
The
essence
sum
payment
is
This simple and natural way then by the laws, by the different moneys, and other
a certain place.
circumstances,
special details,
In such propositions as
this,
Grund
is
immature character
connection.
348
THE CAMERALISTS
science of commerce, not only for the merchant, but also for the
A bank
in
is
may at will securely deposit sums they may withdraw the same any hour,
means
Banks of
this sort are called deposit
or
may
exchange banks,
It
in distinction
(p. 190).
153A.
is
silver,
means
of
payment
it,
Money, so
bring
concerned with
is
nothing but a ware worth just what the gold and silver in
(p. 191).'
will
154.
Those
rulers
who
coin depreciated
money miss
their calit
by
it.
only
true value,
therefore
he has in
it. It is paid back by the subjects and he deceives himself if he supposes This the treasury more than the actual gold and silver.
is
made
to purchase
abroad.
Meanwhile the subjects who have received the money from the ruler at the imaginary value, and who must make foreign
155.
The
ordinates, or auxiliaries.
The
must
dis-
(p. 192).
The fundamental
principles of
merchants must be
at gain,
and
is
wise government, on the contrary, must give the chief attention to this
Hence the merchants may be much dissatisDomestic manufacture and trade to them on this account than the wclfa*^ of the
does not state in the same
It
is
connection that gold and silver are themselves essentially "wares" like
any
other.
JUSTI'S
state
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
349
demands.
It is not to
is
Even
merchants
may
by
interesting
No
European country
is
commerce,
but some of
it is
The
it
will
commerce is not a mere matter of apand markets (p. 195). 160. If at these markets more foreign than domestic goods are sold, then they are only a great vortex from which more gold flows out than comes in, and the town where the fair is held is the only gainer, and it consequently holds on to its advantage as long as
159.
The founding
of
pointing
and encouraging
fairs
money does
not secure
profitable
commerce.
it
In the
first
place
it
cannot be
effective, in the
second place
would deprive the subjects of many things v.'hich and in the third place it
itself in
commerce
162.
(p. 196).
first
principle of advantageous commerce with foreign more gold and silver shall come into the country as a result than goes out, and on this principle must all measures for estiLblishing useful commerce be founded (p. 198). 163. Since commerce must be carried on either with domestic or foreign goods, and since the mere importation of foreign goods cannot possibly constitute an advantageous trade, there follows
The
nations
is,
that
The
35
THE CAMERALISTS
The
all
the measures
commerce
(p. 198).
The
be diminished;
in
order to
For
this
These facts must be exhibited in tables drawn from the and excise registers, so that they can be reviewed at a glance. For greater exactness the contents of the tariff and excise registers may be tabulated separately and compared with each other. To be still more certain, all merchants, artists, manufacturers, and artisans may be required to report what kinds of wares they imported during the previous year, and what domestic products they sent
values.
tariff
abroad.
By
may be somebalance.
199).
We
call
this
is
casting
the
general
trade
The
Ixitwecn the
home and a
wise govern-
ment
will
168.
A
at
discover whether
among
produced
must be made a
home
shall
be imported.
The
wares
(p. 200).
life.
Wool may be
it
mixed with
(p. 201).
may be had
Hence
'
JUSTI'S
170.
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
in
351
such fabrics
is
not to be expected.
Our
But
it
will
be advantage enough
if
we check
The
The same
home.
made
wares which
are
sums
now
first,
in
the
203).
at
home
(p.
(p. 204).
On
which
will
is
spirit
among
No
monopolies
in
In such propositions
its
it
not even that of the type of state then regarded as permanent, but of the
author's particular state.
Justi's note
on
this section
is
ment
3
of inventors.
considerable
list
follows of
German
The
picture of unthrift
and
an im-
The
make
against protective
tariffs,
and all the consequences which Justi suggests have been an enormous scale in recent years. JustI adds that this
illustrated
on
last principle
352
178.
tion,
THE CAMERALISTS
Assuming such measures
for
its
to
measures for
Two
must be assured:
satisfactory.
The wares must have the desired quality; (2) the price must be It may be added that the beauty of the wares is also
(p.
a factor
an).
government
must not merely promulgate certain ordinances and rules, but it must also appoint certain inspectors who will examine the completed wares, and will mark with a distinguishing sign those which conform
to the standards
not.
In case, as
is
certainly
satisfy this
by
cer-
tain
prizes
or
skill is
must be made
from a foreign
everything
may be had
for
money
(p. 212).'
181. If the
must the
articles requisite
be
The
ruler
possible care
that not only agriculture but all the industries that supply the
neccessities of life shall be in
shall
all things,
must
He also
remarks that
"such privileges can have no validity in themselves," for it is presumed that they are to be allowed only in so far as they make for the welfare of the state, and the successor to the throne can in no way be bound to
continue them.
He recommends
company
be prescribed.
JUSrrS "STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
be held under
prices
strict supervision, in
353
not raise
may
by charging excessive profits, or by buying up the supply, and other underhanded means (p. 214).*
i8a.
When
so
production,
and great markets (p. 214). 183. But flourishing commerce must be described as something more than enough to sustain fairs and markets established under
it is
time to establish
The
is
expression
is
when
on with
it
all
is
This
184.
Assuming
is
at the
command of the country to its mouth, may be made by the formation of a great
a certain number of shares
(p. 216).
trading society, which can collect the guarantee or the capital for
its
transactions
185.
by the
sale of
to the society,
company
upon
material support.
186.
The
success of such a
its affairs.
company depends
principally
good management of
its
The
whose insight, talent, and integrity are grounds for confidence; and the minister of commerce and marine, who should possess all these qualities in the highest degree, must know how to lead these directors in accordbest to insure the election of directors
diligence,
(p. 217).
Such a company must be guarded against dangerous enterand needless outlay. A few unfortunate investments will
it
will
state
prestige of the
than any
354
THE CAMERALISTS
Other nations that carry on foreign
trade look with jealous eyes on such a company, and try in every
way
it
it.
The power of
restrains
limits, that
(p. 217).
number
of shares
a company.
It is
hedge election of
directors, because
is
not at
all
enough
to
own
shares
for such
an
190. It is a
191. It
must be
predominant
in
effort
of such
If
companies should be to
domestic goods
foreign lands.
they only bring in goods directly from foreign lands which have
previously been bought from middle-men, a saving of middle-men's
profits
foreign ships
first
is
made, to be
money
to defray the
(p. 219).
Such a trading
e.,
society
lishments in distant lands at once, but must plan to gain them gradually;
i.
not until they can pay good dividends to the shareuntil there is
holders,
and
may be
(p. 221).
If
193.
When
it
company becomes
It is preferable,
flourishing
in the
is
same
weaker people.
JUSTI'S
however, to
sell
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
355
single
company.
manifold
jealousies, cross-purposes,
and
to
194. After
all,
Even if they have been used to establish trade, the time may come when expansion of trade will be best assured by opening it freely to all mariners and merchants
the promotion of foreign commerce.
(p. 223).'
ON THE AUXILIARIES
195. First of all
[HulfsPtiUel]
TO COMMERCE
the conditions of pro-
engaged
nities,
in foreign trade
must
immu-
and excise system means by which a wise government can guide foreign
to its purposes.
commerce according
than that of the
state,
own
interest in
view more
and
it
would be ruinous
to leave the
ways and
in
means of commerce
a way that
is
to their enterprise,
not in this
way
For purposes of
tariflf
and
excise,
classes:
for export;
Wares
of the
or dispensable.
Accordingly the
account of
five classes
and excise laws must take of wares, and this makes five primary rules
tariff
Rule
1.
All
exports
of
tnanufactured
goods
must
be
by citing the opposition in England to and he expresses the judgment that they
had become more harmful than useful to the British Empire. On the other hand he thinks it is not time for Holland to abolish the Dutch
East India
Company
(p. 225).
Vide
356
THE CAMERALISTS
The one
profitable kind of trade ruler
commerce
of this class,
and a wise
take care that the goods themselves are of high quality, but he must
see that foreigners are stimulated to take them.
It is
agement to foreign buyers to lay a tax on such goods. tion is of itself such an advantage to the state, that it
to
The
is
exporta-
unnecessary
burden
it
make
The
is
in case the
home products
so cheap
and
can undersell competing products of foreign countries. Even in this case, export taxes should not be imposed on articles the home
production of which
to give the
is
It is better
home merchants
make
the profit, so
to the
volume of trade
utmost
(p. 228).
200.
low imposts
should be placed on raw materials when they are moved from one
part of the country to another for the purpose of being manufactured
(p. 229).
201.
Rule
2.
Export
All
of
is
a home product
Rule
3.
must carry
heavy imposts;
harm by
money
203.
Rule
4.
light imposts.
Tariff
Imports of indispensable wares should bear only and imposts should not be the ordinary way
They
are justified as a
Their main
purpose should be
to direct the
wisdom
of countries
Justi's illustration of
harm
to the
of
p>aper
3
The
"
JUSTI'S
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
raw material needed
357
for chief or
subordinate purposes in
duties (p. 232).
205.
free of
import
Rule
The
5.
free of imposts,
when
the carriage of an
in
strict
discipline,
Commerdal
Next
in order are
(p. 236).
and canals
210.
is
and land
carriers
a further desideratum
211.
The
coinage
is
an
essential
(p. 238).*
212. Unpartisan
litigation greatly
promotes business
213.
I
To
its
this
end
and
For
this point is
worth translating in
that
a low
ing:
settle
rate of
exchange
is
chief circumstances
(i)
when
it
which put the exchange of a country on a bad footmust annually pay a large sum to other nations to
(a)
when
its
coinage
is
depreciated.
land
which finds itself in these bad conditions is in a sorry plight. Bad will go toward worse through the workings of exchange. All in all the coinage today is in an unspeakably bad condition. Under it twenty million people suffer extreme disadvantage, and only in the neighborhood of fifty dealers in coin [MilHtlieferanteH] and fifty money-changers enrich themselves as leeches by sucking the blood of their neighbors. In such a situation it would be a thousand times better that we had no coinage at all, but simply settled our balances in gold and silver by weight
(P- a39)-
358
THE CAMERALISTS
They should be composed
in part
The most
flourishing
commerce
is
This must be composed of members who, along with proved integrity, fidelity, and wisdom, possess complete knowledge of trade, and especially of civic-commerctal science; and it is particularly advisable that no
the ruler organizes a special bureau of commerce.
may be
may
be useful.
and
and manufacturing relations at that point under the provisions of the two bodies (p. 240). 215. Finally, a wise government must take care to remove all These may come obstacles which may embarrass commerce.
either
head,
commerce;
may be named: Scarcity and other production; lack of capital in the country; existing privileges of certain lands and towns in the matter of imports and exports of staples; the envy and jealousy of certain lands and towns toward one another, etc. (p. 241).
traders, etc'
Among
domestic hindrances
The
make
JUSTI'S
trative,
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
details.
359
with the
or operative
We
are concerned
main problems which cameralism proposed, and the relation of the formulas and solutions which cameralism offered to the
development of
social
science in general.
In order to
fix
meaning
we must
is
The importance
of these
minor applications
from
this point, as
we have
At the same time, we have seen in these characteristic theories some of the presumptions, both theoretical and practical, which have retained, and in some ways have gathered force in later German thinking. These views have encouraged tendencies in German policy
which, for better or for worse, have produced evident con-
between the civic and economic systems of Germany on the one hand and of England and America on the other.
trasts
It will
full
The redundancy
style.
fair
He
says
(pp. 243
ff.):
We
country
come now
means by which
mining,
the riches of a
may be
increased,
viz.,
by no means
Few
way
in
may be
Germany
navigation.
In this respect,
36o
of us, that
these
THE CAMERALISTS
we should be very foolish if we reckoned on more through means than merely retaining our money at home. Since, moreover, the neighboring countries are giving more and more
home, our mining
riches in
means by which
Germany may be
increased.
government of
the country.
is
European
money from
years
it
may
easily
amount of goods that a nation may annually The same foresight will be used with reference to the other ways by which money is drawn from the country. Therewill set limits to the
upon the mines will be the only means of increasing the wealth of the country. This resource alone is completely in our power, and
no counter-enterprises of
the same, or can
foreign peoples can restrict us in exploiting
valueless.
make
it
The mines
respect to the
may
expect
establish
advantageous
commerce.
and
living in the
have further an important influence upon the i^ane of whole population. Especially will the mountainous
and exploited to the benefit of the revenues and of the whole state, while the same districts, without mines, would usually have a barren and empty appearance. All this, it seems to me, furnishes more than superfluous proof of
regions be populated
of their districts
Who then
in
of a wise government
tion is at
hand
there,
ruler
good of
make
JUSTI'S
it
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
361
To
a principal rule to establish mining and to develop it to the utmost. that end he must seize upon all useful and efficient measures.
I shall
now do my
best to
be.
Propositions
series
more summary
in
the
up
discussion, viz.
2i6. Precious metals should be
of govern-
ments even at a
217.
This
is
expended remain
that
is
many
people.
(p. 246).
By
silver.
219.
The measures
fall
to
be adopted by rulers
promoting
mining
engage
(3) for
in
mining;
(2)
220.
Although
his
all
to
the
ruler,
yet
he
cannot woric them, because that would too greatly enlarge his budget,
and make
income uncertain.
The
first requisite,
then,
is
proc-
ment
(p. 247).
221.
The The
in
many ways
that those
who
(p. 249).
to Schroder, loc.
cit.,
chap. Ixv.
if
The
be assisted until
a loss, but that mines at first unprofitable should they can be made to pay.
to be
362
224.
THE CAMERALISTS
Many
changes
in the
225.
An
the operations of a
226.
This plan
is
and base
societies
metals
(p. 253).
227.
For
salts,
coloring matter,
clays,
commercial
man-
is
made
for
THE TRADES
constantly active
and
that
it
upon
this.
In this
way
the subjects
to provide
and labor
need and comfort, but also bear their share toward supIn fact
it is
human
We
means
promoted
231.
The
chief
of promoting circulation of
money
in the
(i) that the sources of subsistence shall be (2) that the land shall
good correlation;
keep
its
credit high;
Justi
rcrommends
hundred
pro< ccfls
'
in dividing the
not clear.
is
This paragraph
it
is
a characteristic
that the theory
cxpres.sion of mercantilism,
and contains
its
own evidence
was not so
made
it.
JUSTI'S
(3)
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
and artisanship
shall shall
363
that manufacture
be kept prosperous;
and beggary
One
or two incidental
money
"A
by which the
necessities of
are gained
is,
however,
and health
of the state."
This perception
He would also have the government weed out the student ranks by examinations difficult enough to reduce the numbers of would-be scholars (p. 274). After discussing at length the desirability and means of
itself to
of the prc-
He
and
of prohibiting extravagance
principles
it is
and luxury.
rests, if
rational
whose
among
and
is
Moreover,
if
gance
is
harmful to the
state.
On
money and
are promoted by
it.
needs to care
>
for, is
in
exclusively
of rule-of-thumb
essentially
the major
premise of cameralism.
their efficiency in
The
depend on
state.
364
THE CAMERALISTS
composed wholly of misers, or frugal people, and in which existed, would necessarily be the poorest, weakest, and most miserable state under the sun. It would not be able to employ and sup()ort a fourth j)art of the population of present states. How many occupations would remain if we should restrict ourselves Luxury in the use of domestic products, if strictly to necessities? it is conjoined with industry, is the natural heat and fire in the civic
state
no luxury
it
activity
and
vitality.
is
will
be
found
in
GrundscUzen
OF THE DUTIES OF SUBJECTS IN ORDER TO ASSIST THE RULER IN PRESERVING AND INCREASING THE RICHES OF THE STATE
232.
The
common
it
and harmonious
tliemselves a
shall
promote
to those arrangements
which that
them
in
bound to conform supreme power adopts for their every way, otherwise they would
all
own
By
subjects
we understand
This
those
who
those
demand
that all
be jxjrmanently
the estates to
an unlimited monarch only This situation may never have occurred, because even the greatest tyrants had apparent excuses, and it is consequently never quite clear that an
235. Subjects
owe
their duties to
when he docs
not act as an
enemy
of the people.
autocrat
'
is
acting as the
Italics are
(p. 345).
is
The
quoted for
its
bearing
JUSTI'S
336.
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
of government the subjects
365
owe
duties
not to the monarch alone, but also to the whole state, and to the
(P- 347)-
two
classes:
(a)
state, springing
of the relation of subjects; {h) mediate duties toward ruler and state,
i.
e.,
arily to ruler
and
state.
AND STATE
338.
The immediate
and
state
are those which are necessarily connected with the ultimate purposes
of the republic and with the relation of subjects, and which owe to the supreme power in the state alone (p. 349).
339.
(a) exact
subjects
These immediate duties fall into three chief classes: obedience to the laws, commands, and ordinances of the
(6)
supreme power;
state (p. 349).
(c)
con-
and
and reverence toward the supreme power, with careful endeavor to avoid, and so far as possible to assist in preventing everything which might be harmful to the external and internal security of the state and of the person of the ruler (p. 376)."
341. Subjects are released
(i)
through
when
>
following sections are a diversified homily on the fundamental virtue of obedience, with extreme claims for the arbitrary
rights of rulers (pp. 351-73).
*
The immediately
is
The
discussed in variations
commonplaces adapted to the particular conception of the state on which cameralism was based (pp. 402-28). The following division, "On the Indirect Duties of the Subject," exploits the homely virtues of
of
366
THE CAMERALISTS
we must
elaborate
the whole
can be
fulfilled in
rules
which
this
Haushaltungskunst teaches.
of the sciences which
in the
system
we have undertaken
expound, because
through the exercise of the same the resources of the state are main-
more evident that all the sciences pertaining to government and to the large management [Wirthschaft] of the state hang together most exactly in a single system. Attempting therefore to treat of Haushaltungskunst completely and thoroughly, so far as the limits of the present work
tained
and
increased.
On
that account
it
is
the
permit,
we
same, then we shall treat particularly the two chief topics of Oekonomie,
viz.,
or Oekonomie
may
really
management [Wirthschaft] of the state, we treat in this book. When we talk of Oekonomie or Haushaltungskunst simply, we mean that science which we are now about to explain, and which is concerned with the goods and with the gainful occupations of private persons.
the sciences are involved which
Haushaltungskunst
will thereby
is,
occupations and the thrift in town and country that means [Vermdgen\
'
term.
Apparently used in this paragraph as a synonym for the former In the following paragraph this is certainly the case, i. e.. Prop. 243.
Of
Adam
work from chemistry, we may say that it contains nothing beyond commonplace material which genius and humor like Benjamin Franklin's might have coined into pithy Poor Richard's proverbs. It should Sufficient samples are given to show the quality.
from
it
as kitchen
JUSTI'S
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
367
**
means"
to the pro-
"means" [Vermdgen] signifies everything we are able to bring to pass. In ordinary thinking "means" signifies all goods and aptitudes which we possess and which we may employ in order to provide for ourselves the necessities and conveniences of this life. In the narrower sense we understand by "means" the possession of a
sense of
that
One
sufficiency of
in
our hands,
all
and advantages of life. When we here use the term "means," it is in the two last senses, principally in the third
(P- 438)-'
accident,
By "goods" we understand
in
Hatishaltungskunst only
and use
for the
need and
convenience of
human
life,
and which
i.
e.,
money value
goods,
247. Credit
for
it
is
among
(p. 440).
248.
By
and
skills
and
to ourselves in
or by trades [Gewerbe].
latter require
"means" must be gained either by services [Dienste], The former require only "aptitudes;" the
"aptitudes" and goods together
(p.
441)
the servant,
by which the
latter, in
This paragraph
instead of a
vague
terni'
"means"
for Vermdgen.
We
we smuggled a
later precise
and
368
THE CAMERALISTS
These
services are
251.
The two
that procure livelihood in the town; (2) those that procure livelihood
in the
country
(p. 443).
252.
From
services
or
trades
come "earnings"
[Geunnnst].
This
is
and
effort.
The
justification of earnings
have at
its
we
demand
that the
(p. 444).
"means," one must first of all make a fAzn of his mode of life, and of the ways by which he is to acquire earnings. In this {^an account must be taken of his aptitudes and goorls. Most men make the mistake of making no i^an, and of
seeking their fortune in a merely haphazard way.
Still
others
fail
(p. 453).
253A. Before
all
things
it is
necessary to
know
all
This knowledge
will
means
our plan
256. It
further necessary to
in
skilful
way
(p. 458).
257.
that one
By this skilful combination of "means" it is often possible may at the same time accomplish several sorts of purpose,
in several
and cam
trade,
if
ways
(p. 458).
thing
and outlay
260.
(p. 464).
(p. 461).
The
"means"
JUSTI'S
361. After
all,
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
369
the increase of "means" will be a tedious process some reasonable chances, and occasionally exposes
a part of his "means" to the hazards of fortune (p. 465). 363. Those who make such ventures should first possess considerable "means," so that they could lose what they risk without being reduced to want (p. 466).
363.
Then
exposed
(p. 467).
The
reasonable use of
"means"
little
is
acquisition
365.
and of Haushaltungskunst.
contribute not a
life.
"Means"
One
is
thereby
much more
qualified for
life
fulfil
(p. 471).
rules:
The reasonable use of means depends upon three The "means" must be so used that the substance
will not
chief
(sic)
of the
same
be impaired
(p. 471);
life
(s)
"means"
and
to the
and as the condition of one's "means" permits our "means" for our own needs and the convenience of our life, we must devote them also to the use of (mr needy neighbor, and to the advantage of the refmblic (p. 485).
of each demand,
(p. 481);
ON MANAGEMENT IN TOWNS
367.
The
life
and with the constitution of the republic. The towns both form the bond of connecti(m between the rural sustaining S3rstem and the whole sustaining system of the country, and in them quite unique occupations are pursued, which have immediate influence on the weal of the state. The fundamental rules of management can
human
society
it
be applied here therefore only in a general way, because otherwise would be necessary to discuss each particular occupation. In the
specific
town
is
peiaons,
who
live in
a combination of societies, families, and stn^ a guarded [veru/akrten] locality, under the over-
37
sight
THE CAMERALISTS
and
direction of a police bureau, or other persons charged with
which are immediately demanded both for the needs and conveniences
of the country
system.
and
for
the
unification
is
The
protection [Verwahrung]
mark
it
may
be
(p. 490).*
The
essential difference
on the
fact that
by walls
only at
and and
ditches, another
by oceans,
seas, rivers,
may be had
purpose.
Towns must
salt
Into (a)
commercial towns;
manufacturing towns;
(e)
(c)
mining and
market
(b)
e.,
of the court);
etc.;
uni-
(c) fortified
or (3) into
(jb)
large;
(b)
medium;
small;
for
towns;
sorts of
wares and
all
and en-
we
economy
we have
to
say about
tions;
in the
(2)
(i) What the general rules of management have to management and organization of the sustaining occupahow management itself, without reference to occupations
town,
may
It is
needless to
comment on
of essence
'
and
accident.
results only in slight variations
This programme
ities
JUSTI'S
273. Rural
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
371
management is a complex of sustaining occupations' end that through agriculture and stock-raising the resources of the soil may be best used, and that all sorts of raw wares and
to the
materials
may
convenience.
differ
The
rural
sustaining
occupations
in this:
former the
are chiefly
effort is to
in the latter
men
engaged
latter
in
While
this
with police
scattered at considerable
(P- 523)-
intervals,
or living
in village groups"'
THE
THEORY
[Vermogen]
OF THE REASONABLE USE OF THE " MEANS" of the state, including cameral or FINANCIAL SCIENCE PROPER Use
of State
On
the Reasonable
Revenues in General
On
the clause
treated."
inserted,
It is
insufficiency of his
and
police
his system.'
We
how cameralism
as a so-called science
of the type of state to a portion of the
and prejudices
in
which
it
was developed.
We
come now
In so far as such a
truck-garden-
and milling
'
(pp. 505-17).
version of the
wisdom
supposed to acquire (pp. 526-606). This then is as deep as Justi goes into the theory of economics on the side of production proper.
boy
is
Vide
II, 63,
and Prop.
219.
372
THE CAMERALISTS
the most important part of Justi's
it is
We
must
problem of cam-
was not
is
yet
consciously
the
problem of
modem
economics, and
viz.
:
still
less the
problem of
modem
sociology,
What
line
The
problem of cameralism was merely the ways and means problem of the quasi-absolutistic governments of that period, viz.
the quasi-absolutistic type of state being given, in which, in
efifect,
the
state
is
the government,
is
the prince,
how may
its
managed
that
274.
To
recapitulate:
The common
purpose of all republics, for attaining and realizing which the supreme
power
viz.:
exists in states,
demands
sovereign power
first,
with
The "means"
all
sorts
but rather in
persons
who belong
to the republic.
all talents and skill of the Even the persons themselves and the general use of these
means
All ordinances
power have for their object therefore the wise use of the means and forces of the state for the realization of the conunon
of the supreme
happiness
(II, s).
I,
Vide
19,
and
This proposition
cameralistic ideas.
The
"AUe Anordnungen
der chtr-
JUSTI'S
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
373
"means"
of the
all
down
in Part
I.
In the special
sense
we tmderstand by
of the state
"means"
measures of the
resources,
"means"
and
in
may be made
and
constantly available
may
GewaU kommen also darauf an, dass sie von dem Vermdgen umd den Krdften des Staates tu der Bewirkung der gemeinscht^Uichen GlUckseligkeit einen weisen Gebrauch machet." I attribute the thoroughly noncommittal force in this connection of the phrase
to
an unreconciled antithesis of ideas. As it stands, the proposition distinctly means neither, "The objective goodness or badness of the acts cl a government is to be decided by its use, etc.," nor, "The itUention of the government is to use, etc." The former meaning would lead to a corolwhich is abhorrent to Justi {vide I, 47, above, pp. 335 ff.). The meaning is always the reserve presumption on which to rest the claim of the government to unquestioning submission. Yet, so long as the latter claim maintained its orthodoxy, it was by smuggling into its assets s(Hne of the credit which the former proposition would establish,
lary
latter
In other words,
was a dodging between afl^mative and negative answers to the question. Are govenunents absolute, and so unimpeachable, or are they fallible, and consequently to stand or fall on the merits of their acts as determined by some objective standard ? The quasi-absolutism which Justi represented resorted, when hard pushed, to the affirmative. Cromwellism and the French Revolution, and the American Declaration of Independence vindicated the negative. We shall miss the full meaning of this treatise and of cameralism in general, if we fail to keep in mind that they were straddles on this fundamental problem, with the working balance toward the arbitrary side
(P-
S13)
I
It
is in
terms of Ver-
mdgen, not
Rtichthmm.
One
economics
will to
a large extent
When Adam
Smith founded systematic study of problems of tceaUh, he carefully ddunited the omcept The subsequent confusions in English thinking
374
297.
THE CAMERALISTS
The
is
first
"means"
of
the state
298.
The
the subjects
and of the
and he has a
of the
German
theory,
I
and one
am
not prepared to
I
have
much
of the confusion in
English economic theories came from taking over arguments expressed in unwarranted translations of German terms. I am convinced, however,
enough at present to point out that it would if we should render Justi's word Vermdgen by the primarily legal term "property," still more if we should use the more restricted economic term "wealth." The work of reducing this and similar ambiguous terms to constant values has been a considerable
that this
is
the case.
It is
The
We
illus-
its
in the case of
Schroder (above,
Thus
"The
has ap[>ointed him to the government of the people put under him as
subjects will hold a ruler to strict accounting, etc."
It
was
literal interpretation,
and
it
carried the corollary that the Almighty alone, not the people of a
Justi employs formulas which would mean to a twentieth-century man almost all that we should assert about the responsibility of chief magistrates (e. g., II, 10); but we must always construe these proposistate,
had the
These
a twentieth-century
'
man would
development of the pro]X>sition in subsequent sections has already appeared in substance in our citations from Justi's Preface and Introduction, and need not be repeated. For instance, a section
of the
(II,
Much
13-15)
is
"means"
moral:
amounts only
more
pjedantic
way
of reading the
New
Testament
" What king going to make war against down first and consulteth whether he be able, etc."
JUSTI'S
correct
(II, 15;
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
relative proportions of the different
375
needs
judgment of the
vide
I,
66-69).'
299.
The
"means" enough
state, great
purpose to insure
300.
its
in the
The
their
301.
in the
The "means"
so obtained must be at
call it
all
times available
means"
of the state
is
and
for their
aim
same or wise application or administration. Otherwise expressed, is an adequate knowledge and facility [Erkenntniss und Geschicklichkeit] in those transactions whereby
Cameral or finance science
I
is
place generalities,
unimportance of the
learned class.
i.
in
a special sense,
Whether this it would be fruitless to inquire. It is a typical case of fallacious transition from a concept defined to include both goods and persons, to a concept symbolized by the same term, Vermogen, but defined to mean gold and silver
e.,
idea
is
more cause or
coin.
376
THE CAMERALISTS
state, for
promotion of the
We
easily see
cameral science
is
closely connected
with
It
all
how
to use wisely
and
for the
good of the
state
those
"means"
and und
it
conducts, so
management,
"means"
of the state
it
Hence
has
its
the
common fundamental
which pertain
and general management of the state.' It is particularly based however on die Staatskunst und Policeywissenschaft, since it must derive its chief working principles from them. Moreover it must make use of Haushaltungskunst and jurisprudence
to the government
as principal auxiliaries.
rules of
The former
elementary
latter will
procedure
304.
The fundamental
the
all transactions
state, the
he
to
seek
common happiness
of the ruler
and
the subjects**
(II, 24).^
305.
The
harm
The
to the
As we have
is
we may
ofiFer
cial science,
and economy.
ff.
this
contains
much
saving grace of
JUSTI'S
subjects,
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
earnings,
377
must
be favored at
The
may
chief parts.
We
On
state; (3)
of cameral business.
is
lacking which
science,
and
in general
of the state
(II, 39).
A state often
is
finds itself in
supplied by the rules already given for raising the "readiest means."
This book
308.
chief
requirements involve
accordingly
fall
into three
of the "readiest
means"
cameralist;
which
income of the
that are
common
emergency
funds
(II, 42).'
means"
in this connection
admits that he is repeating rules down, but he solemnly adds, " But in those
Since
it
passages
we were
is
now
science,
we must not be
in the
former case we were talking of the use of the general "means" of the state, while now we are speaking of the administration of the revenues " of the Nevertheless, everything that could be called a " principle
state.
is
the same, even in Justi's version, and he was close to the perception
that cameralistics
at
all,
a peculiar
scientific content.
From
To what
extent
was
378
first
THE CAMERALISTS
upon developing a populous land, with the maximum amount
is
necessary,
either
the
proprietorship of which
ruler,
belongs
of
to
of these rights
the regalia
311.
first,
The
is
laid then,
in
is
common "means"
ruler
(II, 46).'
313.
in
The
is
general,
immovable
assistants
"means" and
employed
in
and
and
the industry,
and the freedom of the subjects would not suffer the number of the persons employed could
possible for the state to raise so
little
revenue by
"means"
fall
far
below the
normal
level,
will
be harmfully
contemporary standards,
it
fall
my
province to decide.
to the
The
technical
Adam Smith's purely economic chapters Adam Smith and Modern Sociology), merely call attention
symptoms.
details of fiscal tech-
nology,
the
rule-of-thumb conclusions scheduled by Justi are by no means unworthy of consideration. For example, Justi's rules are quite close approaches to the doctrines of free trade afterward promulgated by Adam Smith (e. g., II, 48, 49).
JUSTI'S
315.
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
379
The
of the state
and the convenience of the subjects would remain the first consideration, and the revenues the second (II, 54). 316. A reasonable cameralist will accordingly follow two rules: (i) Direct management by the administration of complicated economic processes must be avoided by arranging with competent
Entrepreneurs
(sic)
to carry
on the enterprises
at their
own
risk,
on the proceeds;
(II,
61-63).
318.
The
from
best
and
comes
(11, 63).
encouraging
the
laboring
class
[Nahrungsstand]
319.
same time be a
police expert
and an economist
320.
The
first
ment and
(II, 64).
cultivation of
unimproved and
321.
the
when
they
had previously not been enforced. Hence the intelligent cameralist must be on the watch for such undeveloped sources of revenue (II, 75); (2) through improvements
of public works affected by the Regalia (II, 76) ; (3) through increase
and
324.
The problem
form of contributions,
taxation.
might easily
rea4ize
such an
380
THE CAMERALISTS
(II, 81),
The
only exception
evil,
or cure a police
class.'
when a new impost may restrain or may evidently benefit and enlarge the laboring
is
336.
The second
cameralist
is
the
By
the ordinary
revenues
we understand
327. Following
the
Roman
law,
it
Germany to
Regalia.
and Aerarium.
Under
the
former are classed the revenues of the cameral estates and of the
to
idea that the cameralists were to deal especially with these revenues,
and they are accordingly known as cameral revenues. The revenues of the Aerarium are supposed to be especially for the protection and security of the country, and for promoting the general
welfare of the state (II, 89).
328. This distinction 329.
is
groundless
distinction
(II, 90).
is
Knowledge of the
necessary, however, in
(3)
Those from the crown estates, named) those from payments by the subwhich indirectly accrue
(II, 95).^
(4) those
in the
>
Justi's
examples would
fall in
The
nothing pertinent to
(II,
our purpose.
They
are strictly
technological
97-305)-
JUSTI'S
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
381
is
our purpose.
we
present a digest
more general
opinions.
The
state are:
paid
by the
subjects.
to cover the expenses necessary for the welfare of the state, especially in the present
armed condition
of Europe.
The
magnificence of
To
must contribute from their private means (II, 306). 33a. There can be no doubt that the subjects owe
tribution to the great expenses of the state.
this con-
In so far as
all subjects,
in respect to their
common
another,
and represent a single body, or moral person, their private means are at the same time the general, although mediate "means"
I,
a fundamental rule to seek such ways and means of levying the taxes now in mind, that the subjects will pay them with
willing
and happy
hearts,
and
if
at their
is
wise use
is
of
the subjects;
e. g., if
who pay a
certain
minimum
example
in*
334.
is
must not
third rule is that 335. subjects with righteous equality, since all are equally under obliga-
and shall in general not be commerce (II, 311). the taxes must be levied upon all
382
THE CAMERALISTS
and
all
different species of
fourth rule
fixed,
have a sure,
Ije
and
unfalsified ground,
levied
and
upon objects not only upon which they may be promptly which fraud and connot easy for the subjects, nor peculation for the officials
cealment
(11, 313)-
337.
number
of collectors' offices,
and
The
sixth
and
last
fundamental
rule is
made payable
339. It
all
these
requirements.
desirable qualities.
Tested by above
rules,
The
third, the
>
Vvle
Adam
ii,
Book V,
cap.
ii,
part
Bax
229
p. 351.
Vide Small,
first
Sociology,
third rule;
pp.
Smith's
maxim
approximately Justi's
the third
the second
maxim
is
maxim
])C
is
maxim may
one class of
and
Justi's
Rule
is
nebulous;
Rule
many
4.
much wider
Maxim
JUSTI'S
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
383
The
first,
it
revenues from
Nor
is
Lands of the different kinds, e. g., meadows, vineyards, must be divided into three classes, good, medium, and bad; and houses must also be classified as large, medium, and small. Again, the regions in which the lands lie must also be classified, and in like manner the towns which contain the houses. A calculus of
342.
forests, etc.,
these different factors will give the rate of taxation (II, 324).
343.
The
The
amount of levy upon them; and it should correspond with the just rate upon the interest which would be derived from the selling value of the same (II, 325).
345.
An
346. It
is
OF PERSONAL TAXATION
347.
The second
is
jects themselves.
Not all subjects possess immovable goods. are however members of the community, and enjoy its benefits; consequently owe something in return. Personal payments to
even by those
the
if
state
who
also
(II, 340).
The
personal tax
The
details
by 343-
384
summing up all
349.
THE CAMERALISTS
the fonns of income tax, or
it
may
be an accessory of
There
is
no
(11, 343)-
may
would be wholly or
of personal tax.
partially
(II, 344).
Jews are
left to
They
same
rate
upon
rich
and
poor
alike,
among themselves.
Usually the whole Jewish community is held responsible for payment of an aggregate sum reckoned in proportion to the numbers.
Since
us,
it is
among
and exact
352. In some countries protection-money [Schutzgdd] is paid by those subjects, or aliens, who possess no immovable goods. In either It is sometimes reckoned by families, sometimes by polls. This is an undesirable case it is to be reckoned as a personal tax. levy in addition to a poll tax (II, 347).* 353. Various other taxes have been levied as personal, .which
same way,
salt
levied
The
same
of the state,
this respect
and duly
In
and
wisdom.
services.*
'
Justi
makes the
The ground for this concession should be must the cameralists take care that personal Schuttgeld appear as a species of the genus now
known
as "police graft."
Justi broadly hints that "the benefit of clergy" had German forms which amounted to serious abuses, e. g., in freeing from personal taxation as "GeUhrte," men who had made no good use of their time in
the university.
JUSTI'S
and other taxes are
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
by the same
officials,
385
collected
358.
359.
universal in
(II, 353).
Europe
(II, 353).
360. Various
to
the
vogue of excises
in
by the laws of the Empire gave occasion for excises as the most convenient and productive substitute. Again (&) it was observed that large industries were
Germany: thus
growing up
treasury;
in the
(c)
make
the
upon other
subjects, because
customary
gives the
price defeats this shifting of the incidence of the tax (II, 355).
362.
ruler a
is
that
it
much
hand
363. Excise
either universal
falling
upon upon
all articles
without
into the
life
or
come
falling
selected articles of
consumption or wares
taxation;
(II, 358);
(II, 356).
conform
to
the
rules
is
(3) (4)
it
it
many
viz.:
officials
and
a
365.
The
(i) It puts
386
share of the
tures each
THE CAMERALISTS
common burdens upon may ease the burden
little
it
all;
(2)
by limiting
(3)
it
his expendi-
at will;
(4)
calls for
only a
fraction of earnings a
at a time;
means"
of the
it;
no
sheriffs'
process (execution)
(7)
it is
required to enforce
(6) aliens
must bear
their share;
the rules
employment must be
stated, viz.:
down
and
must
an
article
on
(7) excise
transactions are
367. Occupation-taxes
in
[Gewerbe-Steuer] might
be introduced,
harmony with
368.
and
to the
The
adjustment
may
Justi. elaborates
detail,
and seems
to regard
JUSTI'S
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
387
of those subjects
who
and
Such occasional
aggregate
always,
their
revenues
consequently
an
appreciable
370.
sum
(II, 400).
in five classes,
and we
may
revenue, viz.:
state over
war-making power, including subsidies (II, 422-25); (5) revenues from sovereignty over the ecclesiastical system (II, 426-29).'
demands
for
money
arise.
whether the
the ruler has
occasion actually
so decided
it is
demands
(i)
if
These are
jects;
chiefly two:
372.
viz.:
(i)
and of the country (II, 430-33). There are two ways of levying extraordinary contributions, By increasing the rates of ordinary contributions and taxes;
sort of contribution.
(2)
by levying a new
The
state.
preference
If the
is
to
be
sums
to be
there
is
the ruler can assure the subjects that the increase will be only
is
such contributions
is
already in operation.
The
existing
taxes must, however, be at such rates that they do not absorb onethird of earnings, or the other form must be adopted (II, 435).
I These items as treated by Justi are so largely reflections of temporary conditions, that the details yield nothing for our purpose that
388
373.
THE CAMERALISTS
The
best form of extraordinary levy
is,
is
tax
on
social
all
subjects, lay
and
clerical, are to
be arranged
levy
in classes
social
Thus
the
One
first
preserve
actions;
its credit,
and
on
375.
The
establishment of a bank
is
also a useful
means of
(II, 455).
Another means
falls to
is
the
of which
377. So-called
invented
in
France, and
(II,
named
be considered
456)
378. Lotteries
may
about
also
needed
(II, 458).
379. Scruples
tontines,
the
and lotteries are not sufficiently valid to estop the state from them (II, 459). Hsing 380. Although it is impossible to exclude aliens from investment in annuities, tontines, and other forms of state debts, yet so far
as
borrowed abroad
is
makes borrowing
to
common
devices
is
and
to obtain
whom
they are
farmed
382.
(II, 461).
similar device
is
to
make over
(II, 462).
is
certain
domains or other
A A
still
the
pawning of domains
or even provinces
384.
463).
cameralist will
alienation of territories
I
and people
money
(II, 465).
445-49).
JUSTI'S
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
389
The second
is
with
and
this is quite as
important as
expended
for the
(2)
common
happiness, the
means of the
niggardliness;
(4) unsystematically
administered
(II, 471).
down
in the
(i)
means" of
388.
first
the state
must be used
for
(II, 473).
From
we
derive the
No
likely to accrue
389.
The second
For
all
outlays the
"readiest
start
means" must
in
no case should a
be made with a
All expenditures of
made
392. Ride
five.
No outlay should
"means"
of
So
be so ordered
will get into
money
and
little
faith that
and assigns as one of the reasons that rulers would pay attention to cameralistic
purpose of instructing
it
on the
subject.
390
394. Rule seven.
THE CAMERALISTS
The
importance of every
proposed outlay
likely to return
it is
Outlays
common good
396.
The
great
management
much
similarity
changed
details, to the
use
of the
"means"
all
The
(i)
e.,
which the
(II, 488).
maximum
397.
first
Only
when
all
the
necessary
expenses
are
provided for can the means of the state be appropriated to conveniencies (II, 490).
399. Rule eleven.
After
all
outlay
is
is
may
(II, 491).*
The
aim should be
to
country in such condition that not merely the necessities and con'
Justi adds:
"I have no
hesitation
in
outlays for the display of the court: for since the chief purpose of these
outlays
state,
is
and power
of the
no
at the court
of the
Still,
monarch, where
that which
is
most
not consistent
if
the residence charms the eye of foreigners, while the rest of the country
JUSTI'S
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
391
If
the
government
all kinds,
it
to be in a situation
in all its outlays
make
fair
appropriations of
must
(II, 493).
402. Rule fourteen. Care must be taken that economy be not turned into greed, especially through contempt of the ruler for certain needs of his subjects, while his passions lead him to favor
The
finance bureau
the funds
upon
strict
account
405. Rule
be
made
used
except
be
in
all
employment of a
large
minor outlays
(II, 501).
Nothing
The
money
of the
make additional
Everything must
when
kept.
it is
profitable
and advantage, and by cash payments; and stocks of goods needed by the state should be
Strict
accounts, in
perfect order,
must
budget
(II,
527-57), and
budget
(II,
may be
Moneys
and dowries
'
admin-
Division
Two,
"
more
We may
note
one important precept, viz., // a European state wants to have influence, it must devote at least two-thirds of its revenues to the military budget
(11, 533).
392
istrative
THE CAMERALISTS
expenses
(II,
589)
(3) the
ing the revenues, and of maintaining the sources from which they are
and pensions of all civil servants and justice bureaus (II, 597); (5) the expenses of bringing land under cultivation (II, 602) (6) the expenses
derived
(II,
592) ;
of buildings for the use of the state (II, 607); (7) the support of the
ecclesiastical
(II,
609);
(8)
(II, 613).'
The
and the
government of a
state.
upon it, and to a certain extent its whole internal upon it. The administrative police institutions of the state are a part of the cameral system. At all events the two arc inseparable, because the former constitute the ground of the "readiest means" of the state and must in turn be supported by the
of a
community
rests
constitution rests
same.
it
police institutions
management
There remain
may
and which
is
government of the
cameral system
then in
especially so
on account of the
made
it
a part
The remainder
is
entirely devoted
makes the
topic of cor-
"means"
of the
The
we
in the book,
an abstract from
Justi's introductioa
JUSTI'S
of their
"STAATSWIRTHSCHAFT"
393
programme
to encourage
which the
rulers
finances to their
Those states two or three hundred years ago either left the consorts, or intrusted them as a minor duty to a
increased
five, six,
and
book contains (i) a general sketch of the European states (II, 666-84); (2) a brief discussion of propositions looking to improvement of the cameral organization (II, 684-88) (3) Justi's own programme of reorganization (II, 688-702) (4) the fundamental ordinances and technical
of the
;
The remainder
book a conspicuous trait of Justi's method is particularly prominent, viz., an appearance of studied effort to avoid giving credit to previous writers. This peculiarity cannot be overlooked as a symptom of the literary
practice of his time, as the usage of previous cameralists sufficiently
shows.
Justi was exceptionally unwilling to give other writers their due unless they were safely dead. Montesquieu is the only author whom he frequently mentions by name. Only three or four others are mentioned at all in this volume, and never with precise reference to passages by which the correctness of the judgment passed upon them might be decided. When Justi refers to "other cameralists" who have proposed
In this for their propositions might be examined. methods are as crude as his manners. I regret that I have been unable to secure a copy of the work in which Justi expanded his views of fiscal science; viz., Das System des
their
own grounds
respect his
Finanzwesens, 1766.
CHAPTER XV
TUSTI'S
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
As we have seen from various points of approach, cameralism was not primarily a philosophy, nor was it an economic theory It was a technique and a technology. in the modern sense.
In so far as
it
rested
on a basis
of principles, they
were prima-
rily political
That
is,
political
promote those
would be easy
democrat.
books sentences
last analysis,
The
plain fact
is
had, so to
as
many
Occupying
"The Happiness
of Ruler
and Subjects."
was a ringing
of
Save!"
In the apartments reserved for plans and programmes
was an undertone, always audible, droning variations of the constant theme: "The clue to life is a good king, with well-trained civil servants and docile subjects." Now, it would be folly to class a house as "disorderly"
of
political
life
simply because
its
JUSTI'S
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
for the lodgers to decide
395
moment
a
ceptions
it
becomes necessary
imminent.
It
life
upon
their
common
is
by no means follows
it is
that
different outlooks
upon
In
and contents and implications of each will from time to time and that one of the main conceptions will dominate
the others.
Men
will
What
is
happiness
composed? What does it involve? Is it one and the same thing for everybody, or does it vary from man to man, from time to time, from place to place ? To what extent is it simply our own affair, and to what extent does it depend on other people ? Again, they will ask, How many ways are there to earn and save ? What do these ways have to do with one another ? How do they depend on one
is
it
How
another?
far
over another?
How
present methods?
and saving be developed beyond extent may we discover more fundamental and inclusive principles of earning and saving and of guaranteeing to each all that he earns and saves? Still further, men will ask, What proof have we that kings
may
To what
are essentials to
life,
fish-hooks?
Why may
like
grown, just
flint
and
steel ?
are they
kingcraft
bad
not kings and paternalism be outwooden plows, and bows and arrows, and W^hen are kings and kingcraft good and when What recourse have men when kings and
fail ?
Men
all
these questions
by any means,
however useful for its purpose, was very far from a conclusive science of the things with which it was concerned. It contained rudimentary moral and economic and political philosophies but neither of these philosophies had been thought through, and the relations between them
30
had been subjected
it
THE CAMERALISTS
In to no critical analysis whatsoever. was plans and specifications of the best paternalistic government that could be devised, with the reservation that no questions were to be asked about the finality of that paternalistic government as an irreducible minimum. It was
effect
and foremost, so
that
it
could maintain
itself
in
thrift,
without
of the
so far
it
postponed
for
all
and substituted
them a catechism
if
and of the attitude which the subject should maintain in any event toward ruler and administration. Otherwise expressed, all the social science there was within the sphere of cameralism was first, as we shall see presently, a more or
Justi's,
less explicit
pcjlitical
to the
problems of society
to statesmanship.'
I
on
tactics
would have
do not mean
to assert that
it
was
On
number
were emi-
the comparison
an exaggeration,
If
cs|>e( iaily
is
the volume,
Naiur und
Wtsen der
exact.
Staaten.
JUSTI'S
nently reasonable.
to the
state.
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
The
ritualism
397
its
came from
relation
major premise,
viz.,
As items
moral economy
these
human
experience,
ritualistic
This appraisal of
It
Justi's
system
may be
varied as follows:
of judgments about
means and
ends.
viz.,
such means as the type of state, and ruler, and bureaucracy which we now take for granted, and which are at present assumed to be indispensable for
the t)rpes of ends which
we
them for granted as approximate ends ? would also have challenged the authority of Justi's system, but it had not appeared above his horizon; viz.. How may we
know when
we
and consequently impeach the means on which we have relied for the conduct of life ? That is, the autocratic state and ruler and bureaucracy had so imposed themselves on the thoughts and feelings of the time that they were virtually valued as both means and end of
to satisfy the conditions of
human
purposes,
and
criticism of
them
to discover
how
far
they were merely provisional means to mediate ends was marking time in the cameralistic technology. Meanwhile, such larger social philosophy as ventured to show signs of
life
its
primary charac-
teristics
We
tlie
shall
first,
and second,
of
Grundmeir
riss einer
Guten Regierung.
Of
we may
first
observe
398
in
THE CAMERALISTS
that they merely elaborate themes which were
general,
contained in Staatswirthschaft.
The
later
We
fore be able to
do
We
If
rather than an economic theory, it could hardly have been more unequivocal.' For our purposes the Preface is most important, because the body of the book merely enlarged upon principles which are sufficiently prominent in our account
of
Staatswirthschaft.
,.,<*
The
in
many
respects an exemplary
on the
"After
essence and nature of states, and have pointed out the errors of
Montesquieu
in
this connection, I
come to the essence [H^Mn] means through which states must attain
common
happiness \gemein-
than from the essence and nature of states as their chief source."
Die Natur und das Wesen der Staaten, als die Grundwissenschaft und alter Regierungswissenschaften, desgleicken als die Quelle alter Gesetze, abgchandelt von Johann Heinrich Gottlob von Justi, Berlin, Stettin und Leipzig 1760 (488 pages
der Staatskunst, der Policey,
+ index
of 32 pages).
It
this
my
interpreta-
tion.
Long before
discovered
had reached
my
conclusion from
JUSTI'S
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
399
"It will easily be seen that this book contains the fundamental
science of all the economic
stitutes, so to
and cameral
sciences,
and
all
that
it
con-
the govern-
mental sciences.
must be based upon the essence and nature of a (sic) state, and therefrom alone, as from their fountain-head [Hauptqiielle], must be
derived."
We
Justi's paragraphs, so as
more general propositions first, without affecting his thought. The more specific reason which he assigns for writing the book is in the earlier paragraphs of the Preface, viz.
to place his
I
made
work
in
five
years ago.'
Meanwhile
it
has
reshaped
itself in
my
mind,
The
necessity of such
a work was evident to me* from the time that I began to write upon
and cameral sciences. and all those which are required for the government of a state, must in a word be derived from the general nature and essence of states, and nothing can be securely established in them if one does not constantly look back to the nature of civic institutions [bUrgerlichen Verfassungen]. If accordingly I would
the economic
All these sciences,
justify this or that principle or rule in Staatskunst, in Policey, in
[weitlUuftig]
from the
emerged
of the
in
civic institutions.
judged accordstates
would serve
my own
as well as
my
necessity, in all
literally, it
my
subsequent works,
If
we
would
Justi's thinking
and
e.,
Staatswirthschaft.
volume
book before
us.
400
repeatedly to
THE CAMERALISTS
show the correspondence of
a
state.
my
fundamental
pro()osi-
embraced
cameralism
p>olitical
philosophy.
Moreover,
all
activities
in civic
society
were
in Justi's
this type
of
thinking and
of (>enetration
modem
by the
more general
in content
than civic
activities.
The resultant perception that states many variations of means by which men
'
'
essence
and nature
civic
activities,
and
and nature of
sliding
associating persons,
scale
The argument
of
free-
dom"
Tchap.
freedom"
at a plau-
and freedom of groups, within which there was no is enough in the idea for a major premise, and he pixKeeds to build upon it. Second, the derivation of social life from an inborn "social
freedom, he satisfies himself that there
is
impulse"
denied (I5).
i.
On
e.,
fmm
is
social reciprocity,
reason [Vemimft\,
life
(|6).
stances,
of
JUSTI'S POLITICAL
PHILOSOPHY
401
Fear
tributary motives.
Some more
intelligent
men
own
them
to their laws,
serve their
Thus
Hence come
more
Mutual aid
lived
still
[Beystaftd\
is
In these
Each was subject to his own will and laws in so far as he was not constrained by others. Since they had not yet merged their will, the will of each was entirely free. It was within the free choice of each to make use of the advantage of reciprocal support, or to forego the same and
in the state of natural freedom.
men
at will
common
to all societies
live
supreme power
their purposes
When
members
to
conform to
and to the social compacts, this occurs according to and the condition of war, not however according to the nature of a supreme power (9).
the laws
It
men
could have
freedom in such
is
societies,
without
creating republics.
my
opinion that
is is
which
that
(5io).
is
asked whether
....
Rather
disturbed the internal peace of these societies, was the immediate cause
and reasonable must naturally have set themHves up as arbiters, in order to abate the evils and to restore peace.
Justi rejects
402
THE CAMERALISTS
This was a way
to laws,
....
or a beginning of them.
closer
. .
The
people
approach
to civic institutions
became
it.
.
and
closer, while
(ii)-
was probably not after one fashion, but (i) through the growth of patriarchal power into actual overlordship (12); (2) through the respect and eminence
actual institution of rcpuVilics
Thc
in
their societies
(13);
(3)
through
by
skilled
in the
ways
human
new
The
these
earliest states
natural
transition
All
little
from
The
people
in their
in their
assem-
hands
time of
The
war
kings and princes had only the right to propose and to convince
xi).
Only
in
and death.
if
demanded by
states
case,
a commander were to
first
From
this slight
follows in
my
opinion
men
form of government.
in the
is
also founded
Men would
fools
if
would
lics,
l>e slaves. The will of the peoples, upon entrance into repubwas thus doubtless this: that they would surrender their natural freedom and subject themselves to the government and laws of another
Who
must not be
the impulse
Besides
this,
force
makes a puzzle
Vx;
cannot
JUSTI'S POLITICAI.
to
PHILOSOPHY
human
nature
40^
It
is
is
not "grounded in
Men undoubt-
This advantage,
this quality,
God
rights,
from
all this
it is
the duty
its
and obligation
subjects, only
the best
government
is
dom.
I
no doubt
of the
cogency
and conclusiveness of this patchwork of guesses and cies and non-sequiturs. In contrast with Schroder,
exchanged the theological
premise.
for
irrelevanJusti
had
a pseudo-rationalistic major
in
There
is
no change
the tinality,
for
practical
The
twentieth-century
mind
finds
extreme
difficulty in believ-
We
psy-
ourselves,
however,
The
and
of Justi,
was
first
state;
with this
faithfully
datum
the
reflects
the ambiguity.
<lieser
The
original
rca<ls:
"Wer
I
uolltc
Wille
c|er
Regierungen nicht
in Betraclit
government would
404
minds
THE CAMERALISTS
of the authors themselves
The
purpose was evidently derived, not from logic but from suggestion.
from Schroder's or
from Atlas.
state
plausible
for
the
cameralistic
was
set up,
not so
much
its
presumption that
was supematurally
Throughout
unquestionably contains
by the inveterate assumption that was actually conforming to its destiny of preternatural wisdom and righteousness in the interest of
these democratic elements
the government
all
to the contrary.
political
Thus
philosophy was,
the state as it
is
must be accepted
the
as the ultimate
human
conception
third,
must be
relied
upon
which
temporal happiness.
In a later paragraph (23) Justi emphasizes the crucial conception in this philosophy, viz., the merging of the wills
This may be inferred from the very significant fact that Jtisti sometimes uses the still more democratic phrase, GlUckseligkeit der
'
(e.
g^
The whole
JUSTI'S
of
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
a single
will.
405
ct)nceit
many
This
was
of
members
of the state.
It
was a notion
him
do but accept
is
the arrangement.
The
put
is
The merging
condition.
If
all
of
many
wills into
a single
moral
many wills are to be consolidated in a single will, have one and the same paramount purpose, and this
must include
all their
special
and
incidental
all
purposes.
In short, those
who merge
their wills
must
have a
common paramount purpose which leads all their transactions. The question then is, Wherein does this paramount purpose consist
which produces the merging of the
of republics ?
wills in the
Gluckseligkcil] of
At
this point
a single comment
will
be
sufficient.
If Justi's
make
it
the
critique of the
comThis
petence of
the ultimatum in
to its
and
comes
it
own
only as
itself
a secondary consideration,
in so far as
can subordinate
to the actually paramount interests of the quasi-absolutistic governments which pwDsed as embodiments of the welfare of
4o6
their
THE CAMERALISTS
peoples.
The
striking
peculiarity
of
the
transitional
its
insistence
It
upon
rather
was
ernments were more inerrant in their pursuit of this end than any other available civic system could possibly be. Herewith
we have
of this
in principle the
it,
whole of
His elaboration of
volume
is
remainder
sections in
Slaatswirthschaft.
We
itself,
shall
more
explicit
it,
as Justi conceived
in
on
political philosophy.*
A
is
elements in his
if
half-conscious,
even so
much,
On
the one
hand he was
spirit
On
the other
and
details of
him without
phy.
The
reservation
mind one might reach utterly modcmness of his philosomust always be remembered that his
last resort of peoples.
government, as the
final
moral
arbiter, against
whose
the working condition, but the philosophical theory supported the conditions.
practice,
a body
At the same time, parallel with this theory and of ethical judgments was taking shape which
Der Grundriss einer Cuten Regierung. In Fiinf Biichem verfasset, von Johann Heinrich Gottlob von Justi, Koniglichem Grossbritannischen
'
Bcrgrath.
JUSTI'S
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
407
evolved justice.
justice
and technique
The dilemma
been
it
not
first
yet
frankly
The French
In a word
it
Revolution
:
brought
much
inferior;
to
men
to leave
moral standards
at the
mercy
?
of
governments, or have
men a
The two
anti-
laries
reconciled,
of
and their corolby side, but they had not been a reconciliation was not yet dis-
tinctly formulated.
mentioned begins with a version of the same argument which was presented in Natur und Wesen. Avoiding repetition as much as possible, we may draw from
the present volume certain details in completion of the account
of Justi's system.
The book
we should be inclined to believe we had stumbled upon a prophet of modern democracy when we read (1):
Without the proviso
just urged,
The
nature, essence,
and ultimate purpose [Endzweck] of states by which to decide what is a good government.
we read
(4)
[Krajt] of his own.
If
many
human beings combine in a society, there results a composite energy, which is in proportion to the number of persons. Every person
4o8
in society
THE CAMERALISTS
has a share in this composite great energy.
He
is
thus
much
energy of society
The
will of
each
When
to this
therefore
human being is to promote his own happiness. many human beings combine their wills, and resign
will the
combined
i.
e.,
when they
set
over
is
form of expression seems to imply in the first place that the is merely the arithmetical sum of the energies of the individuals. This being the case, one wonders just how he pictured the process of getting out of that total more than was put in. He
"great energy" of societies
evidently
in society,
desired.
The
not in the description of the central fact of a state, but in the absence of
analysis of the sources of the "general will" or
"supreme power."
of a
The
state,
non sequitur
is
at
once
in
monarch
European
came
its day and generation, and has gone out monarch virtually absolute. I find no direct consciously borrowed anything from Hobbes, but
the assumptions of the former are quite in accord with the philosophy
Justi feels at liberty to tell
when
rulers
ought to be ashamed
God
if
they
do not mend
their
ff.).
this point the fallacy of confounding means and ends is conon duty. The particular mode of uniting the associated wills is assumed to be identical with, if not paramount to, the concept "common
From
stantly
happiness."
mode of controlling association, paramount purpose, for a developing idea of "common happiness" which would hold any mtans of its own realization, e. g., any form of civic constitution, as constantly liable to answer for its results, and to modification as the actual paramount purpose from
Consequently
is
this particular
substituted as
JUSTI'S
Hence
Wesen].^
arises
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
a republic, a
409
state,
"common
if
being" [f;emeines
These three concepts are identical, republic in the most general sense, as its chief
significance
demands.
A state
or republic, however,
in
is
a society of
human
beings
many
families, that
with
one another
combine the happiness of each particular family with the common good (6).
in order to
Such a
is
society of
human
beings
is
called a people
[Fo/ife],
and
it
which
is
and which we
energy and
call the
country
When
establishes
its
its will,
and
is,
intrusts
that
when
it
power
it
rests
in
the beginning
originates
through the
and
wills.
power themselves
that exercise, or
it
AH power
is
always
by virtue of which the people makes ordinances about the exercise of the supreme
the source of the same.
The power
is
is
distinguished from
supreme power, which originates only through the ordinaThis fundamental power of the people is a part of the essence of the state, and is always present, even with the most unlimited supreme power. It can be overthrown only by destruction of the state, either through total subjugation by an alien enemy,
or through internal tyranny (9).*
'
No
precise English equivalent for the content which Justi put into
this phrase
can be found.
is perhaps the most distinct formulation of fundamental democracy to be found in Justi's books. It would be misrepresentation It is simply a partially assimilated if I should try to explain it away.
This
4IO
THE CAMERALISTS
a people, by virtue of
its
When
how
the active
supreme power
shall
ordains funda-
supreme power are called the government, and the external ways and means in which the supreme powef is exercised are called the form of government. The form of government of a state can therefore be estabmental laws.
These
'
But when
this
and form
it
of government,
makes over
the supreme
to
power
i.
to others,
makes a contract [Vertrag] with the assumers of upon themselves and exercise the supreme power according to the standards of the fundamental law. The fundamental power of the people can thus not be a judge over the active supreme power, but all affairs and controversies between them must be adjudicated according to the
a contract,
e., it
the
supreme power,
then amounts
may be
human
process.
What happened,
in
political
Thus
Justi identifies
ernment (Regierung).
racy of 9.
Here Hobbesism comes into the open in contrast with the democHow and by whom adjudicated, if njt l?y the fundamental
Justi avoids that question here, but
in the passage already
power ?
answer
"The
when
king can do no wrong," which any other power in the state has a right
to resist.
The
unconscious
humor
is
appealing
JUSTI'S
to the
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
activities, viz.,
411
execution of law.
Hence
the supreme
The
various
ment
(14).
The body
of activity.
it must have a peculiar ground of This can be none other than love of the fatherland or of the form of government. The ground of all moral actions
To
be really active,
movement or activity.
of
men
is self-love,
and the
state, as
ground of
This
love,
all
which
is
so natural in
itself,
must
all
fill
rulers
and
ruled,
and
thereby
Although
ground of
human
and
Just
Man
its
must be
if
virtuous,
if
he wishes to be happy.
happiness
to attain
this end.
The mov-
we
reflect that
is
on the
side of this
new
am
of course not
Blame and
praise
The
point
and
The
rent
object
is
in criticism of cur-
must observe, then, in connection with this paragraph, that it is a long leap to a conclusion which is not contained Between self-love and the love of in the previously adduced premises.
methods of thinking.
the state the minor premise
that the orUy
is
We
means by which
self-love
can attain
its
ends
is
is
through the
the vicious
love of the
is still
and
state
unanalyzed.
This
latter is
incomplete.
412
ing spring of virtue
is
THE CAMERALISTS
necessary,
and this virtue consists in fulfilment and fellow-citizens (i6). The form of government is the special nature of each civic body. Each body can move only in accordance with its special nature. Each form of government requires its special spring of action, e. g.,
democracy, love for
well -organized
mixed
forms of government are preferable (19). Good organization of the mixed governmental forms depends
on a just balance between the different branches of the sovereign power (20). Despotism is not a special form of government, but merely an
abuse (21). Every state consists of rulers and ruled.
essentia],
is
and
is
peculiar to
all states.
accidental.
subjects.
The
in
'
people,
which
in
the democracy
is
shrinks
importance
in the
archs.
diFered
in
which
from the Stuart view of divine right. Such passages as p. 159, legislation by a representative body is treated as best, do not
of his system,
played about the edges of his theory but were not actually assimilated
with
it.
Justi's views of
Douma
declaration that he
Justi
was no longer an autocrat. The boundaries which draws between the executive and the legislative powers leave the former still in possession of a different type of sovereignty from that which today goes with genuine representative government {vide op. cit., p. 16/).
JUSTI'S
racy and the monarchy
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
it is
413
Finally,
only a very
trifling
something.
through abuse of monarchy in tyranny the people and its fundamental powers are reduced to nothing. The people consists of thinking beings.
happiness to another.
The
people therefore
should in
all states
be something (27).'
the people are parts of a whole because the presence of the other,
demands
is
harms
itself
(29)'
The
substance of
all
is
accordingly to
make
and subjects may be ways and means adopted by the ruler for their happiness by their obedience, fidelity, and diligence
with the general good.
All duties of people
to
promote
all the
(30).
The
internal strength,
(31).
political
two concepts,
and
The
free
when
it
is
independent,
i.
e.,
state.
neither
is
free
citizen has
and
this
combined
can express
is free
when
The
ful
citi7.en is
restrained
by nothing
except rules for his happiness, rules to which every free and thought-
a plagiarism ? and "people," "employer" and "employee," and we have the familiar dictum of the classical economics on the absurdity of supposed conflict of interests between wage payer and
Sieybs'
Was
famous mot
after all
wage
3
taker.
The other Justi omits his apologies to the spider and the fly. elements of happiness are described in terms that have already been specified. Vide above, pp. 330, 331.
414
THE CAMERALISTS
ruler
it
A
in his
nor allow
must not impair the reasonable freedom of his to be impaired by his favorites and servants.
which the laws, made
subjects,
No
to
one
do or
The
Hence
the ruler
may
regard
it
if
subjects refuse to
The
ruler
make over their property to him. That is always mark of the goodness of a government (40).' and his ministers should neither directly nor indirectly
due process of law
(41).
Never, except in the most extraordinary need, should the contributions of the subjects be increased (42).
No war
makes
it
unavoidable (43).
text
is
The
I.
five
books,
viz.:
On On
and conse-
On
On
own moderation.
IV.
the
V.
The
errors
It is
From
these generalizations
would be easy
to anticipate the
The
state
which
of people whose conceded do not include a voice in making the laws which they must obey, and they do not include legal or
an organization
and moral
rights
moral right to
account
if
the laws
their administration of
them
is
oppressive.
g.,
The few
E.
JUSTI'S POLITICAL
PHILOSOPHY
415
In general the
good
state
was
in the
main
intelligent,
if
no account
is
made
of the stulti-
ideal
rate
means by which the was to be attained. But in such a case we cannot sepathe end thus abruptly from the means. Freedom to do
is
their
own way to something that may be thought of as an ultimate freedom is a more importunate aim than the conceivable ultimate freenot suppressed; and this freedom to find our
dom,
if it
Justi lays
down
"No
(p. 33).
Of
That
is,
it
was a
With so much granted, all the rest Once given an absolute existence justified, and no logic can depose him.
unanswerable.'
of course this
The
first
step
no evidence that there was intentional or conscious sophisHe was apparently a convinced advocate, at least to the extent that he had not clearly thought out a feasible alternative; and he was not aware of weakness in his method of proof {vide op. Whether his occasional praise of the English system im"^> P- 35)f peaches his sincerity as an absolutist, or merely punctuates the incoherence of his political philosophy, is, to be sure, an open question, but
I find
on the whole, I incline to the view that these his thinking show that he had not faced the
incompatible doctrines.
irreconcilable elements in
necessity of adjusting the
41
in
THE CAMERALISTS
abolishing absolutism everywhere.
Rulers being
human
and morally so
fallible that
Then another
functionary and
a proposition
which
reflects the
fundamental
political
conception of which
is to
viz.,
"To
govern
guide the
The
which Justi was engaged, both as advocate and as bureau official, was the operation of a legislative and execuaffair in
tive organization
had been thought and it was for them out and realized, it was not by the people, only so far as the persons who wielded the power of the organization were sufficient centers of light and leading to use it
of
for the people.
and
So
The
and
typical idea
to
power
itself,
and the
Those who govern other men in the unobserved way, if they and honorable, will always have as their
whom
they rule
spirit,
If the ruled
no matter how
Invisible
fetters.
same
thing,
it
must
its
good
'
is
We
Absichten Icnken"
JUSTI'S POLITICAL
PHILOSOPHY
417
must be the ultimate aims of those who openly govern other men
(PP- 35, 36).
tive lines;
Thereupon Justi constructs an argument along these speculanot an induction of the actual character of states
as they are, not a frank idealization of kinds of government as he thought they ought to be, not even a modest inference as
to the requirements to
conform.
upon considerations partly of the second, partly of the third, t)rpes, and then, as though such considerations were pertinent
evidence, he derives the basic inference that governments as
and long-
entitle
In short, his
the
men
in
wise.'
]:)eliefs
and
actions.
No
emerge here: first, Whether the policy was the one best adapted to the stage of evolution then in progress; second, Whether the philosophy expressed by the doctrine was a valid generalization; third, What were the actual effects of the doctrine upon the theories and practices of the period ?
Three
distinct questions
which
am
we might most confidently answer the second and we might find that there were most unforfurther reference to the
first
of tliese
uitli
We
the
That
is,
we are
attempting to get
it
was the
setting in
a clear view of Justi's political philosophy, because which his cameralism has to be interpreted; and
we
it
was a
type,
of
at large.
4i8
THE CAMERALISTS
and instinctive perception that this was argumentum ad hominem which would meet with
It is
the type of
upon the claim that goodness will in the long run be successful, and badness unsuccessful. Upon this ground he urges that no ruler would be so unwise as to rule simply in his own selfish interest. Even Machiavelli, he thinks, did not teach that (p. 36 et passimy and the worst tyrants were
that he relies
had done
and
This
is all
a-priori reasoning,
monarchy must be the is no trace, even in the last book of the volume, which at hasty glance might seem to furnish the exception, of a genuine attempt to measure the strength of this probability by induction. In a word, as Justi expresses it, the outcome of this a-priori reasoning is, that because it is stupid and wrong for a ruler to govern with selfish aims, therefore, "His final purpose can
aim
of
made
in
a word, to
make
them happy."
The
by
When
That
is
a ruler
manner makes
his subjects
is
before
his
all
and at the same him in their eyes. ways and the glory
beautiful,
How
how
how
glorious,
how commendable
to govern
men, when
Vide
p.
Justi thinks
veiled satire.
327.
JUSTI'S POLITICAL
one makes them happy!
all
PHILOSOPHY
419
That
is
human activities, to which a reasoning being can attain, and other kinds of human honor and glory are not to be compared with it
(P- so).
The method
of
proving that
men
equally speculative,
is
once formed.
Justi's philosophy
to
meant
promote
the last
more than
that, they
must
in
good intentions
of the
is
and
all
to
be valued in
This
is
and especially in the conflict in between tradition and a valid estimate of social
of absolutism,
mind
His
values.
judgment
of
political
like
is
fundamental
democracy.
The
found in
his
cally developed
means
of attaining
human ends
must, in the
long run,
command
function, or be repudiated.
He
the
dogma
must be accepted
in creating
by the
to
it
pfeople as
That
is,
men
since
it
Throughout
governmental action
420
THE CAMERALISTS
The
crucial matter for his
is
it
people to
d'^sire,
not as rights
but
enforce."
Then
strength,
common
happi-
and
security."
Then
quite
expanded
in a
The
means
in
same subject
all
made
in later
economic theory,
political
is
recognized in the
viz.,
first,
means,
the
means must correspond with the nature of the thing to be attained; second, of the possible means they must be the best; third, they must be the easiest, "for it is a law of nature and reason that we do not accomplish a thing by means of a greater force, which might be adequately brought about by a lesser" (p. 67); fourth, they must also be just, "for reason, justice, and virtue command us not to apply bad means for good ends." "Those arc to be regarded as so many fundamental principles
of a
fall
will
always
nowhere contemplates
is
'
He
says, to
be sure
(p. 64),
"Whatever
ultimate end and nature of a society can without doubt not be binding
upon the
society."
this
imply that
He
can at
last
JUSTI'S POLITICAL
PHILOSOPHY
421
any more
there
is
eflfective
he
is
not so minded,
no appeal except
of
Providence.
Another betrayal
of freedom posited in Justi's philosophy occurs in his elaboration of the concept in 85.
He
says:
"Freedom
consists in
who
a single
This single
other
manner than through the laws." Thus freedom is defined only in the same breath to be denied. In the state
which
Justi contemplated,
It
freedom had only an imaginary was a fi'ction of the philosophy of consolation applied as a balm to the fefelings of subjects whenever they were wounded. The reality which occupied the place of freedom was just as much tether for the individual will as the will of the monarch, expressed through laws which he made, saw fit to allow. The light in which the factor of population was contemplated in Justi's philosophy appears in the same context. It was primarily a military consideration, and only secondarily industrial. That is, in facing the prime problem of the strength
existence.
and
security of the state against foreign aggression, the necesfirst, well situated and fortified and enough of it; second, a sufficient population such close community that they can act effectively
living in
together.
Few
Thus
they have
much
less
same number of people who live closer together in a smaller country. It is easy to show mathematically how much weaker a million people are who live scattered over a thousand square miles than another million occupying two hundred and fifty square
422
THE CAMERALISTS
It is
consequently essen-
its territory
must be peopled
its territory, its
greatness.
number
of
its
inhabitants,
situation of
the goods at
disposal,
upon and
upon the
talents
and moral
of these
Two
The
tive
would seem
have had
much
a distinc-
dogma than
the commentators
upon the
history of eco-
was
less
Thus
The
all sorts
life Just as it is beyond doubt that those states have a much more permanent ground for their welfare whose soil is by nature
life,
so
may we
also
assert that, other things being equal, that state is always the strongest
and happiest which has to satisfy the fewest needs from other states. Such a state is in no way dependent upon other peoples, and it will have within itself all the means which arc demanded for strength. A good government must therefore give its weightiest attention to the production of such riches and abundance of goods within the country.
Justi continues (p. 88):
I
upon
riches in gold
and
in
silver,
that lead to such wealth, namely, commerce, mining, etc., but entirely
upon wealth
in goods.
This wealth
is
goods
is
The
JUSTI'S
Spaniards,
world,
if
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
that they
423
who imagined
all
they had
and
error.
With
all
nation in Europe,
they
and
is sufficiently
it
can
have
all
is
compatible with
its
natural situa-
and its form of government Riches and silver is only a relative wealth of the state, which relates entirely to commerce and the interconnection with other peoples, and is necessary merely on that account. It belongs to the external strength of the state, and to aggressive power [Angriff], but not to internal strength and defensive power, to which alone I now refer,
in gold
because aggression
If to
its
is
a state finds
it
in accordance with
much
state
its
as possible of
riches in gold
and
silver.
Under
the strongest
surplus.*
following section.
Having
depends,
first,
of obedience in the
The moral
The
quality of rulers,
is
demanded
may
wisdom.
relation
between cameralism and mercantilism is reviewed in It is enough to say here that intimate ff.).
acquaintance with the cameralists punctures the myth (h&t their concep-
424
But
THE CAMERALISTS
this concept contains very
much.
is
everything necessary to
make
and
their people
happy.
means
measure
soon as wisdom
lacking in rulers
is
The
power and
previously
perfection
means and
it
gives to
them
The
wisdom and
the genuine
perfection
fundamental
rules:
own
insight, not
and the concentration of all affairs in his strong hand; in his wise choice of ministers and servants, and assignment of each to a post
of duty in accordance with his qualities
all
and
capabilities; in holding
business and affairs in the most precise order and coherence and
and
discipline;
and
finally in putting
and accidents which must be anticipated. If a in this way, and if it possesses at che same time the before-mentioned means and qualities for internal strength, it is certainly the most perfect machine for exerting an uns()eakable
the misfortunes
is
state
governed
energy
government
it is
always an indubitable
truth that, of
which are otherwise completely equal, always overcome the other, the government of which
states
two
is characteristic of the whole conan epitome. It involves the two factors pointed out above: first, absolutistic government as the final term in civic relations; second, homiletical moralizing upon the character that rulers would have if they knew their best interests, with the implica-
The
to
rulers are enough like this ideal to make obedience them the ultimate duty and recourse of citizens. This remark applies also to the chapter (pp. 109-28) on "General Idea of a Good Government"
JUSTI'S
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
425
"The Funda-
mental Constitution of States, by Means of Which Governments Are by Nature Good," Justi promises to sketch "a sort
which to be sure never will be realized. Meanwhile it is never useless to know how far human provision can go in a probable way in the direction of the goodness and excellence of the government " (p. 132). Before fulfilling the promise Justi estimates in some detail the merits and defects of different types of government (pp. 132-82). If this passage were read without checking it up by the rest of his political philosophy, the conclusion would be necessary that he was in favor of a form of government more like that of England
of Platonic republic,
in the Victorian period than that of the Stuarts (p. 175).
It
would
this
falsify the
record to explain
are
plainly
chapter.
They
democratic in the
retained as
If the
modem
an
offset to
sand years
this
The
actual explanation
in
harmony with
traits
He
flights of
working technology.
easy to infer
Inasmuch as he opened the discussion it with a castle in the that his feet left the ground much earlier
himself to rhapsodize.
than he proposed.
He simply permitted
The chapter is half -conscious Wahrheit und Dichtung throughout. It is of a piece with the ideal ethics which the author
had previously held up to rulers as a righteous standard, with, no thought of winning for it available political sanctions. He meant it, in the unofficial, irresponsible compartments of his mind which were open to the play of imagination. He was
426
sincere about
THE CAMERALISTS
these unassimilated conceits,
with a sort of
Even
when he
different
is
branches of government,
The
In his
summary
Justi says:
and
judicial
powers
in the funda-
we may declare that the government is good in The king has all power which is requisite for execution, and on reasonable grounds he can demand no more. In all external
as above pictured,
its
nature.
affairs of state
he has completely
the resolves
free hands, and nothing hinders and measures which he regards as neces-
efficiency,
and
is
his
own
secret.
In short he has
evil (p. 173).
power
to
to
do
Coming
Is then
to the
his
discussion,
he begins as follows
in
which by
to
If the question
were to be taken
we should be obliged
All their actions
in the negative.
and weaknesses.
and
all
JUSTI'S
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
427
men hither and thither like much chaff. How is it to be expected, then, that people can erect a mode of government which in the strict sense would be completely perfect ? It is people who erect governments, and who are governed. They are the stuff for the whole work. How can a highly perfect
storm which drives the wisest and best
so
work be composed
of such
meager and
feeble material ?
If,
however,
is
we understand by
possible which
is
form of government
failures
in civic institutions,
which by
means of their weak nature they can ever attain, and which at the same time possesses all the strength and permanence against contingencies within and without of which a state is capable, then we must answer. Yes. We said above that we would construct a sort of Platonic republic, which it would be ridiculous to expect to realize in the present condition of realms and states. Nevertheless, we hope
to give
it
faults
Reducing
it is
as follows
(pp. 184-207):
I.
We
and
it
passions.
people, living
to choose a constitucion,
must base
its
and durable.
human
passions
is
for
honor and
glory.'
Nothing
is
so natural to
man
The impulse which the wise Originator of nature implanted in every man, to hold his own being most precious, in order that he might
'
is
of
significance merely
as presenting a Utopia.
It is
mental theorem that Just! had not focalized the economic interest proper. " the economic man." His fundamental assumption
428
THE CAMERALISTS
fulfilling
the designs of
Consequently this is the passion of which chief use will be made in a wise design for a civic constitution (p. 184). 2. Yet we must seek to establish and maintain virtue. All
passions
may
be
evil as well as
are guided
and governed; and when they are left to themselves they always tend rather to bad than to good. The desire for prestige needs therefore another moving spring, whereby it is guided and,
it
as
it
may
and
partly of democracy,
mixed form of govenment, composed partly of aristocracy would serve best in employing these two
motive springs in all their strength. I see no probability that virtue would be preserved in a form composed of king and democracy. I would therefore forego the efficiency of a monarchy for the virtue
of a republic.
fectly
To
maintained there.
different
from those
we could
subjecting the king to the judicial judgment of che people, and his
state.
Our
times
glitter,
stock of
his neighbors.
if it
It will,
if
and
to the institutions of the state for the maintenance of virtue (p. 187).*
4.
It is non-essential
what marks of
distinction a
government
skill
To
this
What
"our times," it would be cruel to ask. He was evidently not aware that he was trying to stand with one foot in the clouds and one on the earth. This attempt at a free flight of fancy only brings out more clearly his conviction that for mundane purposes the
either of Spartan times or of
JUSTI'S
must be adopted:
(2) they
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
429
(i) the
must be given
made
too
common.
Under
is
as
effective as
The
reason
why
that our
marks of
distinction
only
6.
will
(p. 190).
identical, and there must be a moral censorship [Siltenrichter]. This college must consist of the most eminent, virtuous, and honor-
able
men
in the state,
right of veto
upon an
election
by the people
to
vacancy
know anything
They must be
state, the
the
These
censors must not have the slightest connection with the government.
the protectors of the fundamental constitution of the
In all skill, of the arts, and of science. must have a quite unlimited power subject to the fundamental laws, a power which should extend indeed over all
morals, the promoters of
the administrative colleges of the state,
represent-
They must have power to suspend or depose and imprison any member of the government who is guilty of treasonThere must be
in front of the place
informed
7.
(p. 191),
a peculiar
whole people.
It is therefore
not necessary that the people should possess law -giving power.
of the people
is
faults.
[7o/*], however,
which has
(sic) little
excellently
I
is
endowed
with governing.
As our plan
examine
its
psychological presuppositions,
needless to
comment on
this naive
mental philosophy.
430
THE CAMERALISTS
and that the people should have no part
officials (p. 194).
in'
The common
raVjble
elections.
upon the
rates paid to
he
be one vote.
payment of the
The
of their self-interest.
tion
must
9.
Ik-
adopted
The number
hundred and
fifty
in
'n
medium
states,
and
six
hundred
Each of
hundred Reichsthaler
place into three
200).
10.
The
officials
first
chief colleges:
functions.
retiring
11.
Mcml)ers should
office
from
each year
l>e in
(p. 200).
There should
addition as
many
at present
shall
be
The
latter
must
col-
then
summon
the whole
Unly of
the
difficulty
leges
The contending
although
it
power should
does
not exercise
it
Even then
it
must sometimes
should unite
in his
own numl^>er a dictator, who for a short own jxjrson all might and power, in order
(p. 202).
JUSTI'S
13.
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
43
Universal
would be necessary
It is
readers that
it is
Even
phy.
the
specifications
literal
Utopia,
however, serve to
emphasize the
It
was
a presumption of
static
order
in the state;
lute;
second, a reliance
upon some
of
life.
institutional absocivic
third,
an overestimate
of the relative
importance of
economy
Passing to
Book
III,
"On
Government
Due
that
to Its
if
Own
the self-enforced
exist,
"for every
is
by
its
and
arbitrarily
No
other interpretation
first,
can be put on
we must
unlimited power in
its
|li'as,'s,
moderates
this
is
power by
is
its
own
fundamenexpresses
c'est
political
conception which
known by
This
ihe proverbial
phrase
"benevolent
despotism."
formula
moi,-
a necessity.
what it is, an absolutism embodied in a king Yet many things go to make up that other
432
THE CAMERALISTS
This philosophy does not
is
thereupon
necessary.
reconsider
It
leaves
"happiness"
mercy dof absolutism, with the hope that the absolute monarch actually will be merciful. The present section then is virtually a series of memoranda from the side of "happiness," calling the attention of absolute monarchs
which they
will
to points
observe
if
tinction
it is
not a
Then it proceeded along the cautious path of specifyhow an absolutism would conduct itself if it were good. If we were immediately engaged in tracing the course of political evolution, we should have here an important clue to
the process.
Even
had a cumulative
force.
Sj)ecifications
The
an absolute government
This
is
intolerable because
we
shall
The
terrible
first
chapter of
Book
III
is
in its nature
and dangerous." It takes as its point of departure the theorem: "Every man is inclined to misuse his power" The moralizings and mental philosophizings which (p. 212).
form the medium of the discussion need not be called to account.
it
is
enough
to set
down
the specifications
which Justi discovered. In the first place, he concluded that even virtuous men who are able to extend their
JUSTI'S
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
way
433
power
fall
into the
power is good in itself, regardless of consequences to others. As Montesquieu says, "Even virtue needs limitations" (p. 213). Great power tends to become arbitrary power (p. 214). Hence
such power
is
always to be feared
(p. 215),
The outcome
of
arbitrary exercise of
power
of
is
law
hands
one person
is in itself
be feared,
apart from
its
resting
upon
on exhibit
more
The same
chapter
bathos
is
"On the Moderation and Fixing of the Will Whereby an Unlimited Government Becomes Good." It consists of such "copy-book commonplaces" as these:
The
misuse of unlimited power which
is
consists in the exercise of the will of the ruler according to his pleas-
ure and caprice (p. 222); hence a good unlimited government must
must be moderated,
must be constant
(p. 223); the proper moderation of the will of an unlimited government is through the guidance of reason, which has
no other aim than the best good of the state (p 223); a good must clearly distinguish his personal will from his will as a
(p. 224);
ruler
ruler
even
if
is
a good
e. g.,
will,
make
is
it
his
governmental
will;
he
will
not try to impose his religion upon his subjects (p. 226);
of will in the government
constancy
among
iii,
to
government."
to be:
The
(a) Since
first
and
the
chief principle of a
make
the
434
people happy, one of
rich
(p.
THE CAMERALISTS
its
chief principles
must be
to
make
239)
the people
its
237);'
(3)
be promoted
(p.
(4)
Fraud
and treachery as devices of statecraft are to be rejected on grounds both of morals and of utility (p. 241);' (5) Cunning not involving treachery may \)e used fp. 242); (6) "A good government will
observe
five
fundamental
(b)
rules:
(a)
To
sonable freedom,
To
To
withhold
its
the imposts,
Except
in actual necessity
not to
For
its
worth
translating, viz.,
"We
in all sorts of
goods which
and without the same no people can properly be thought of as happy. .... Today there is no doubt about this principle. If a corrupted statecraft once believed that the wealth of the subjects must be hindered
in
supreme power, we have today gone beyond that petty principle. We have found that an impoverished f>eople, which has nothing to lose, is much more inclined to disorder than well-to-do citizens, and the credit [A nsehen] of the supreme power is today so well established by reasonable rules of government, and by standing armies, that there is little to fear There can be no doubt that the from subjects in this resj)ect riches and welfare of the subjects should be the main purpose, and the consequent power and strength of princes the subsidiary purpose, and
not the reverse."
(This
last
proposition
is
a plain negation of
justification
I ref>eat
my
funis
damental theorem aVxtut cameralism. My appeal to the whole system against its parts.
force
throughout
that
we must
not
upon inconsistent elements a coherent unity which did not exist. Judged by the rest of the system as contained in Justi's books and in the workings of the typ>e of government which they formulated, the proposition quoted
idealistic elements, as
a symptom of partially assimilated insight, which would presently give both to social science and to governmental pxjlicy a changed perspective.)
*
Justi
compares
literally,
his
own
which, taken
The
latter is
demonstrated by
(p. 242).
makes
paragraph
JUSTI'S
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
435
The
good government should exercise in the matter of expense, is merely a variation of commonplaces which governments
of the type that he
to the
had
the
in
mind observed or
of
not, according
temper of
their rulers.
Book IV,
wirthschaft.
"On
It
Wisdom
a Good Government,"
is
a very slight variation upon corresponding passages in Staatscontains nothing which in principle modifies
political philosophy.
As we intimated above,*
Justi's confessed
knowledge
of abuses
him
to the conclusion
which
viz.,
the
eighteenth
last
In the
of
inferences
to condemn it without remorse, but his expressed amount only to the impotent reflection that rulers who permit such abuses ought to be ashamed of themselves, and God probably has in reserve for them such averted glances
government
It
would be
which
to
rehearse
specifications
of
delinquencies
for
human programmes.
E.
g.,
pp. 406
f.
et passvni.
CHAPTER XVI
JUSTI'S " POLICE YWISSENSCHAFT"
We now
political
come
to the
of cameralistic
philosophy,
contains most
is
antithetic
with
In order to repre-
most vividly we
own
words.
This
will involve
not a
repetition.
We
cannot
however,
deal
first
We
is
The
gen,
Preface to the
ii,
first
edition of this
book
dated, Gottin-
May
1756.
1759.
Beckmann
teachers
as
lectures
on
the
subject.
The
and promises
In his
do
own
Preface to the
show
the state of
theorists his
remarks
must be
I
cited.
und Ober-Policey-Commissarii, wie auch Mitgliedes der Konigl. Society der Wissensckaften in GdUingen, Grundsdtxe der Policeywissenschaft, in einen verniinftigen, auf den Endtweck der Policey gegriindeten, Zusammtnhange, und sum Gebrauche academischer Vorlesungen abgefasset. Dritte Ausgabe, mit Verbesserungen und Anmerkungen von Johann Beckmann, ordentlichem Professor der Oekonomie in GdUingen .... 178a.
All references are to this third edition.
*
Vide above,
p.
292
e/
passim.
436
JUSTI'S
This book
is
"POLICEYWISSENSCHAFT"
first
437
the
It is the first
complete treatment
The common
We
its
and
its
must be given
to
is
to the conduct of
state in
other states.
states.
Policeyvdssenschaft,
on the contrary,
is
"means" [Vermogen]
for the republic:
with creating
e. g.,
all sorts
and strength
(a)
class;
In the
security.
thou^
is
Policey
is
the ground
(sic)
and the
police expert
must sow
if
the
boundaries.
The one
harm
e. g.,
formen
is
Oekommie;
Policey,
and
and then of
first
and
This leads
have not observed an instance in which Justi follows his contemptxmiy's spelling of the name.
I
438
repetitions.
THE CAMERALISTS
Moreover, Policey cannot be completely treated
it
in this
way, because
has a
much wider
is
many important
late
The
and
as,
large
number of books,'
of all sciences,
was
to be expected that
But the
ences.
social life of
human
fit
beings
mixed them
with so
many
many
Of
years,
until late
no adequate idea of Policey, as is proved by such examples as Boter, Griindlicher Bericht von Anordnung guter Policey, Strassburg,
1696;
Schrammer,
Politia
historica,
Leipzig,
1605;
Reinking,
Others in
but are not at
teten Policey.
this century
all
complete:
Law, Entwurf
einer wohleingerich-
With
book contains little that can be used. Again a pseudonyB. von L." published (1739) Ohnverfdngliche Vorschidge zu Einrichtung guter Policey. It is not a system, and contains much that is chimerical and not pertinent to the science. Lucas Friedrich I.,angemack published Abbildung einer voUkommenen Policey, Berlin,
states, the
mous "C.
In this brief work the fundamental principles are very well 1747. and philosophically presented, but on the whole it is not specific
>
The
pot
is
'
trifle
strong for
critical treatise.
JUbTI'S
enough
"POLICEYWISSENSCHAFT"
439
for a system. The Mecklenburg Hojrath Velter published monographs on Policey: e. g., Unvorgreiflicften Gedanken von Einrichtung und Verbesserung der Policey, 1736; more important was UnUrricht von der zur Stoats und Regierungswissensdtajt
several
The author
is
the
admit
this.
The book
included,
is
much
that should be
wisdom from
the ancients,
The
De
la
is
more
available as a text,
because
and applies
On
We
should rather require of a textbook on the oconomischen Wissenschaften only the general principles, without this or that concrete
application.
"In
authors.
this
my usual
and if he does this he does not need the authority of earlier writers. Such citations smack of pedantry, unless they contain historical facts, or unless some special circumstances call for them."'
Passing to the body of the book, our task is to abstract the more general conceptions, within which the technology had its setting, from the applications, which of course make up the
The material
so abstracted
is
cumulative
Reducing
Justi's
word thus
'
rendered.
Justi tell their
These observations by
own
superfluous.
440
{i.
THE CAMERALISTS
The name
Policey comes from the Greek
the good ordering of dties
|2, 3.
Two
common
today:
first,
and most
[KrSfU] of the state better used, and in general the happiness of the
community [gemeints Wesen] promoted. In this sense we must indude in Policey die Commercienwissenschaften, die Stadt- und LanddcoHomie, das Forstwesen, and similar subjects, in so far as the government extends its care over them for the purpose of securing
general correlation of the welfare of the state.
Some
are accustomed
This name
it is
a particular sdence.
J3.
which
among
of
life
We
the subjects, and promotion of all measures for the comfort and the growth of the sustaining system [Nahrungsstand]. shall treat here the general prindples and rules of Policey accord-
we
shall
we
which we find in getting a distinct conception of due to the fact that his own ideas were not clear. His classifications have largely been abandoned, even by bureaucratic theorists. The change begins to be visible with Rau, Lehrbuch der politischen Oekonomie, 1826, etc. In England and America the distribution of activities, and consequently the theory of them, left no place for Policey
I
The
difficulty
is
Justi's
meaning
in Justi's sense.
The editor of the third edition adds as his own definition of " Policey," "The science of governing the various occupations [Gewerbe] according to the purpose of the state." Of coxirse " Smithism "
the following (p. 26):
was fundamentally a protest against the thing itself, but the thing itself was the very genius of the cameralistic state. There consequently had
JUSTI'S
4.
"POLICEYWISSENSCHAFT"
44
The purpose and consequently the essence of all republics upon promotion of the common happiness. The general "means" of each republic is the resource which it must use for promoting its happiness. Hence the general "means" must be assured, increased, and reasonably used, i. e., applied for the promotion of
rests
the
common
happiness.
This
is
all
the
increase
is
"means"
the
affair of Staatskunst.
"means"
"means"
their purposes.
the
The purpose of Policey is therefore to preserve and increase general "means" of the state; and since these "means" include
skill
of
all
persons
all
these different
to the
and
to
make each
of
them contribute
in
common
happiness.
7. Policeywissenschaft
consists accordingly
understanding
may be
and
to
make
the same,
to be a technology of
it.
The
editor continues:
"The
occupations are
services.
and personal
The
The second
and
I
part of Policey
urban,
i.
e.,
trade, as the
two occupaetc.
tions peculiar to
towns
all
The
or unfortunate persons
tioned,
who
will not
live
and hence
will or
must
upon the
e.,
and workhouses.
442
both in
its
THE CAMERALISTS
correlation
and
in its parts,
more
efficient
and
useful for
promotion of the
keii\.
common
More
briefly,
for
for so using
8.
atate, and them that they will better promote the common happiness.
The
is
accordingly:
The
and
"means"
of
community mtist be so arranged that the state wiU he preserved and increased
viz.:
Before
all
and improved.'
The development
(a)
tion,
of the territories
(b)
may
The
Through
way.
to
securing
discipline
among
and
ties
and
and such
order, as are
demanded by
common
happiness.
Book
of
I is
e.,
to all
measures conducive to
(i)
removal
(3) pro-
impediments
(2) utilization of
means
of obtaining shelter
Chap,
treats of the
p.
improvement
ei
Vide below,
450
passim.
I
*
if
Vide Grund/este,
I, 31.
JUSTI'S
"POLICEYWISSENSCHAFT"
Under
these heads,
443
means
dis-
ponds and swamps, protecting against flooding from seas or rivers, bringing barren land under cultivation, construction
of
harbors,
exploiting mineral
making streams navigable and digging canals, and rock deposits, utilization of land formed
of the sea, or of islands, distribution of land,
by recent action
villages
of
and small estates, establishment of and attached arable areas [Fluhre], etc. Chap, ii deals with the improvement [i4n6a] and growth cities, and does not vary in substance from the corresponding
passage in Staatswirthschaft.
to be to
The purpose
to carry
of cities is said
merce.
on foreign commust end in these two purposes. Sites should be chosen which are favorable, the general plans should conform to the needs, the dwellings should
All other institutions of cities
not be
left entirely to
and
who furnish material and labor must be looked after, means must be taken to secure circulation of sufficient money, wealthy and talented foreigners and artisans must be attracted, the immediately neighboring land must
must be passed,
must
Innungen must be discouraged in new factories so far as possible, and in old hand-trades kept in close bounds. Chap, iii deals with the convenience and ornamentation of country and city, and discusses such subjects as roads,
444
THE CAMERALISTS
fountains, reservoirs, water-
marking
of time
by
bells,
Chap,
iv begins
At the beginning of
this
Mohl
external improvement of a land would be of little avail, if same were not satisfactorily settled and populated. This populating is the internal culdvation which must give to external cultivation its soul and life. Hence increase of population is the second main aim in the cultivation of coxmtries, and just as the sustaining system will always be more flourishing, the more people there are in the country, so we must regard it as a fundamental theorem in
AU
the
too
many
inhabitants.
It is
all objections.
and we do not do him justice if we charge him, as von Mohl and many others have done, with teaching the opposite of Malthusian conclusions. The fact
disagree with Justi's presuppositions
However we may
is
all.
He
for
The
states
which he spoke needed more population for their purposes, and it was those purposes for which Justi was the spokesman. He would have put the case precisely as he meant it if he had
said:
may be
Although
it
him
Vid4 below,
p. 477.
JUSTI'S
"POLICEYWISSENSCHAFT"
445
be increased
indefinitely.
86-96 develop devices for attracting immigrants.' 97-108 develop a programme, first, for increasing population, second, for
checking emigradon.*
It
begins
(p. 109):
The promotion
gained.
demands
number
end the rural Policey must constantly pay great which rural products are derived. Here then the rural Orconomica come first to attention, as the chief means through which the raw materials for the products of the country are brought into existence. These^ are: agriculture, the exploiting of natural and cultivated forests, the mines, and the thereto appertaining smelting and refining works. In this subthat attention to those sources through
division
To
we
deal
first
with agriculture.
Justi's
Perhaps no part of
We
must again
main
question, viz.,
knows
best
interfere, so long as
neighbors alone."
We
have
and have
fictions
tried in every
way
and
factor
* 3
The
446
THE CAMERALISTS
to scientific use of our agricultural resources,
some approach
stations,
and systematic
The
thing that
we have
in the
It is
German
efficiency of the
Two
in point:
first,
German
more
less
more
intelli-
more from
it,
if
it on its own grounds, and had been damn "paternalism" and all its works; second, whether on a paternalistic or an individualistic theory, much
prone to
worked
is
forms in
for a
modem Germany,
evidently enlightened
wisdom
ive
them needs
to
be
adopted.
may
it
ought at
of results
we
are at a disadvantage,
vindicated until
technical results
German
system.
officials
We
presiding
staff
conducts
modem
army.
The
Landes-Policey
on these
taxation so as best to stimulate agriculture (126), the protection of cultivators against the interests of hunting or forestry
JUSTI'S
"POLICEYWISSENSCHAFT"
447
soil (128),
raw materials which would not be raised without special stimulus (130), improvement of the quality of products (131), employment of "economic inspectors" to supervise all these
things (132), adoption of uniform systems of measuring land
(133), adoption of rules of rotation of crops
tions, like the
wages
enactment of ordinances
to protect
growing crops
from
and
to horticulture (139).
In chap,
viii
and minor
turing
industries are
analyzed (140-49).
"Manufac-
and
ix (150-80),
relation in chap.
stantly before
eyes, viz.:
(i)
produced as far as
that,
to leave the
country
in a
To
this
tariff, excise,
and
license sheets,
on
goods,
of
tools,
is
discussed (153-
448
55),
THE CAMERALISTS
and then the programme
for developing
manufactures
(156-80).
The whole
is
Chap. X treats very briefly the hand industries (181-90), and chap, xi claims to offer only fundamental principles of
commercial administration, with the intention of devoting
a separate volume to the subject.
the
Justi divides
commerce
name
trades [Gewerben],
if
and repeating
conceivably be happy
even
if
there
were no commerce.
favorable balance
is
Then
mercial administration.
The
Chap,
xii,
on the circulation
of
money, contains
of gold
little,
for
and
silver
money
and
fineness of
repeated (321-23).
The
last of these
If money and goods are to retain a constant ratio to each other, no change should occur in either; and if such change could be totally avoided, it would be a matter of entire indifference whether there were much or little money in a country. A state which had no relations whatever with other peoples, and whose inhabitants consiuned
would have a constantly imbroken circulation would have all the power and strength of which it was capable, and it would be as fortunate as another state of like population with ten times as much gold and silver. But since no
all
of money.
state in
is
in
the value of
money and
occur.
amount of money
wares
will increase,
JUSTI'S
"POLICEYWISSENSCHAFT"
all.
449
extending gradually to
increases, the
If the quantity of
will
money
in circulation
upon all wares. Money more wares are produced. Gradually wares will again become cheaper, and thereby exportation is promoted, whereby the quantity of money in circulation is more and more increased and the diligence of laborers more stimuthe activity of laborers
less
and has
its
influence
becomes
desirable,
interest
falls,
lated.
Accordingly
it
must be a
first
amount
of
money
in
circulation
(226).
is
the
most
Chap,
purpose.
xiii,
on
The same
III,
and xv on means
of
on the moral condition of the subjects, and maintenance of good discipline and order, has value for our
Book
lem which
Justi formulated
was
essentially patriarchal.
The
state,
means of the
be used
promotion of the
common
and
can contribute
this
be consid-
of a
religion
incom-
as citizens;
it
and a
if
all
is
capable
are
not
The more
this cultus
essence of men,
45
more
excellent will
it
THE CAMERALISTS
be,
and
the
more capable
will
it
make
the
work
for the
conmion welfare.
in considering the
morals
^^'^
^-Iso
in
treating science
and
education (295
ff.).
Whether
as primarily
fered with
religion, morals,
afiFairs of
the individual,
is
and education are to be regarded and thus not to be intera question to which Germany
by government,
has always assumed one answer, while the United States has
tried to
Our
business in the
present connection
The
a
state
and
its
power
to
maintain
itself
against
all
assault
it
was
the
an
effect
on the strength
of the state
dilemma between the individual and the state was purely fictitious in the abstract, and that neither horn of the dilemma could be taken as the symbol of a concrete prothat the old
gramme
we choose
between
We
run a
region of absurdity
we attempt
and
to
boundary
line
their individual
The
real
to
is not whether they are the what extent and in what ways either
The
arbitrary
and practice. The German presumption at once runs counter to individual aspects
which dictate a thus-far-and-no-farther
to
of each,
government,
itself
curious
JUSTI'S
"POLICEYWISSENSCHAFT"
45
scientific needs,
but
it
almost
The chapters on administration of and preserving the peace and checking the
which cameralism assigned
ture.
justice
(339-59),
lesser nuisances
and
The
last
book
is
operated by the branches of government concerned with applying the foregoing principles of police science.
in a certain sense the subject-matter of this
The
state (382)
The law-giving power in police affairs, since the internal arrangement of the state chiefly rests upon it, can unquestionably be exercised by no one but the sovereign power, the destiny of which is to
administer the affairs of the state for promotion of the
happiness.
common
is
lodged,
he has also to enact the police laws which are to bind the state as a
power rests not alone in the hands same time also with the estates of the realm, or with representatives of the people, obligatory police laws must be agreed up>on and promulgated by these conjointly. On the same
whole.
If
now
the sovereign
principle, the police laws which should affect the whole German Empire should be enacted by the Kaiser and the estates assembed
in the Reichstag.
Again,
384:
German
Empire possess
that
its
is
coherence and
common welfare of the Empire; the estates of the German Empire accordingly possess the law-giving power in Policey
affairs;
and
452
THE CAMERALISTS
ing such Policey institutions and ordinances as will senc the advan-
and prosperity of their respective lands; even if this advantage and prosperity might not harmonize with the interest of other German states. Thus they could ordain that no wares should be
tage
German
states for
consumption within
because
own
territories.
On
the
German
common
body would be
utterly destroyed.
f!.)
The
is
explain
how
this
power
name
of the sovereign.
To
turn to the work in which the author has expanded the outline just reviewed.
With the
We
The system
far,
by almost unanimous consent, refused to reflect upon judicially. They have dismissed it without a hearing, as "unamerican."
Nevertheless,
it is
come when
methods of control which the purposes prebe organized somehow into the most highly
to rest
must
in principle
life.
civilized
It
is
fair
title
und RerU-Cammer;
above,
p. 167.
JUSTFS "POLICEYWISSENSCHAFT"
far
453
made
We may
add merely
a few notes from the Grundfeste. In the Preface to the first volume Justi says:
I
have often noticed that there are very few people who have a
That which
in the
is
narrowest sense
is
called
namely
Policey the
ground for calling the main defense of states. Both the Grundsdtze and the present work should make it plain that the scope of the science is
were the whole, I should have
insufficient
much
wider.
Justi
the
same time discussed Policey with Commerund Finanz-Wissenschaft. This is the case, for example, with latest writer on StcMtskunst.' If our conception of Slaatskunst
or Politik
made
it
all
knowledge necessary
for the
government of a
state,
but also
all
who
the other
Vide above,
p. 328.
Bielfeld, born 17 16, Hamburg, of an aristocratic merchant family, died 1770. He was a friend of Frederick the Great when the latter was crown prince. Was for a while guest of the latter
"Baron von
in Rheinsberg,
service.
later
After"
and immediately upon his accession entered his diplomatic 1741 he was Legationsrath in the foreign department,
of the Prussian universities, but without the least loss of the king's favor
retired presently to his estates.
by
their
French
by
Fred-
introduced
(Roscher,
p.
426.)
454
economic
sj>ecial
THE CAMERALISTS
sciences.'
all.
science at
all
almost
other sciences.
Wissenschajten, die
sciences
would be nothing but a general name for Die Rechtsgelehrsamkeit, die BergwerksMathemctik, die Mechanik, and almost all other
It
would belong to Staatskunst. For all these furnish knowledge which is applicable in the government of a state, and necessary In a word, they for the institutions and practices of civic society. the state may be made all contain knowledge of means whereby powerful, and the citizens happy. That is the explanation which
Baron von Bielfeld gives of
Justi
Politik.
He
for
contends that
has been at
all
all
name
self-
many and
almost
sciences, but
a special and
which has
maintain
an accurate correspondence and proportion with the best common good.^^ This definition is supported by the comment: "The best common good {das gemeinschaftliche
Beste]
is
the ultimate
gine no best
aim of all civic institutions. But, we can imacommon good without the welfare of the separate faniilies.
is
To make
chiefly
of labor
We
his principal
In this case
it
is
"economic sciences," had a meaning which would be more exactly represented to our minds by the
amplified on
e/
This definition
Vide above,
p.
is
p. 4, also
pp. 6-9.
328
passim.
JUSTI'S
"POLICEYWISSENSCHAFT"
455
may be
pages
found in the
chosen for
others,
this
less disinterested
ing
was beneath
discourse.
Incidentally he betrays a
in
our Policey.
It is
without doubt
the duty of the Policey to look out for the quality of wares
and work,
from
it.
and
I
shall
be regarded as entirely
suffers injury
unfit,
and
to
who
doubt, however,
there
is
is
quality in printing
enforced.
(sic)
publishing system
the
state either
Having discussed the evils of putting the emphasis in the on the interests of the government, or on those of
following "general fundamental principle"
of
wissenschaft, viz.:
In
made
to
put the
common
whole
state.*
Justi's
most
explicit
on p. 5, Part I. He quotes from Xenophon's Athenian Republic to show that the word UoXlTela meant "not only the internal institutions of a state, but the whole governmental system of a community: and even what we now express by the word republic."
Policey occurs
'
The author
in
{8, p. 7.
He
456
THE CAMERALISTS
is
the single
and that
all
the
major and
general,
is
the
viz.:
main theorem which the first part of the 'TAe strength and the permanent happiprincipally upon the goodness of the climate
Justi is not
of the country."
is
among
the writers
whose
evi-
attention
He
dently
knew comparatively
Of
which he professed
for applying to
to write as
an expert.
traditional
him the label "mercantilist," if it carries the meaning "believer in trade as the sole source of
wealth."
that
Instead of accepting this doctrine, Justi urges (27) is, the trade
like
of a nation of
eighteenth centuries,
perity
and wealth.
He
Fconomic trade is always based on the stupidity and laziness of So soon as a people perceives that it does better when other peoples. it gets its wares from the first hand, it is all over with this economic trade. Upon quite as uncertain ground rest the manufactures of such a country. A wise and industrious people will always seek to manufacture its own raw materials. Hence this source of riches rests on the stupidity and laziness of other peoples, and so soon as these peoples get their eyes open, they will no longer furnish to
the trading nation a source of riches
virtue of
its
nation which, by
soil,
of domestic products
and course of commerce, to draw to itself much easier and to retain even the economic trade, than another nation which has few domestic
products.
457
From
my
and that a people and many domestic goods is incomparably more powerful and happy than a nation which must obtain its necessities and wares for consumption from other peoples, and thus is in a certain sense dependent upon them. These considerations lead us to two theorems which will be of
upon the good character
which
itself
of
its soil
and
climate,
produces
all its
needs
(sic)
First,
a prudent
it
to
put
itself
its
nisse]
must seek
in every possible
way
to cultivate the
area which
it
occupies
and
to
improve
its climate.
This proposition
is
body of the book expands and Justi's whole philosophy presupposes it. Along with this fundamental principle, Justi next reiterates his second main theorem (30), viz.:
Since there can never be complete cultivation of the soil without
is,
way promote
population.
insufficient
without a third,
viz.:
//
state
to cultivation of the
Consequently
we have
and
the
that government
and growth
viz.
villages
fourth theorem
must be added,
The
itself to
Each
of the four
books of the
first
He
says:
"The
attentive reader
458
will
THE CAMERALISTS
be able to judge
how
great pains
thereby to strengthen
my
discussion."
The
start the
of other people's
time had
to a con-
fession that he
gator.
The
Preface
criticism of
that Justi
too
much
in Foliceywissenschaft.
The passage
it.
so character-
istic of
the time
no independent student
Probably there
porary
tyf>e of
is
j)icture
of
the
as
it
was
minds
766).
ks
the evidence
already presented
contention,
is
we must pass
CHAPTER
JUSTI'S
XVII
CAMERALISTIC MISCELLANIES
this
To
book
his
permits us to
make
of Justi's views,
collected miscellanies.
Without attempting
to organize these
we
shall present
in the
This chapter
is
therefore in
efifect
an appendix, consisting
principally of notes
which serve
to
The
Preface to Vol.
Sept. 3, 1760.
It refers to
(i. e.,
the Seven
Austrian publishers,
who wanted
a new edition of
in
some
of
these
papers
previously
published
Teutschen
Memoires.
The
Preface to Vol.
in this form:
Money
is
{sic)
of
all
the activity
and the
greatest bravery of
little
success
if it is
We
must go
excel-
we must indeed
wholesome and
will
have
little
success
state.
we
still
peculiarly useful.
The
historical
books of
Justi,
all
Finanzschriften
und Finanzwesens
459
46o
THE CAMERALISTS
almost entirely with extraordinary and unfortunate occurrences with wars and slaughters which peoples have waged against one
and villanies, and the succession of rulers. In my opinion this is of least value and least instructive in history. We should have a history from the earliest times in which the chief attention would be given to the origin of realms and states, to the efiForts to found them and to bring them
another, with narration of extraordinary rascalities
into a flourishing condition, to
political, financial,
the
principles
of government in
and
and people the lands, to the causes of the growth and decay of realms and states, and' especially to the governmental mistakes which rulers and ministers have committed. On the other hand, the wars and
other matters which heretofore have
filled
had a greater or
If
of civic societies.
is
we could
a mirror of
human
transactions.
little
As
histories are
now
have very
I have
title:
the
my
if it satisfied its
largely rests,
my
efforts in the
thus far received the indulgent favor of the world, I do not credit
this to
my own skill.
I believe I
owe
it
entirely to
my efforts to estaball
states,
namely the happiness of the peoples. These are also the principles on which I base the financial treatises in this collection.
In
fact,
in finance.
A cameralist
who
the state,
and
himself.
in turn,
and
selecting items
which
The book
never appeared.
JUSTI'S
CAMERALISTIC MISCELLANIES
we have
461
the following
common
Germany
in the
illustrated in
I, i,
em-
to "science."
p. 17:
The main
That which
ties
point of
is
I, 2, is
in the
paragraph on
human
affairs is
"the allwise
activi-
human
the
outcome of
all
things according to
its
great
wisdom,"
side-light
is
on the application
I,
conditions
in
6:
in the interest of the
happi-
when
it is
desirable to encourage
com-
Of
What
tion.
is
a ques-
not at
all
For
money were hoarded by the subject, to that extent the sources of means would dry up. The good of the state demands that money should circulate. If the outlays for display and luxury
If
available
Neither the power of the sovereign nor the total means of the state
anything by
it.
89).
Yet
e. g.,
those that
permanently
in these trades.
The
treasure.
silver plate
owned by
so
much dead
4^2
of the
THE CAMERALISTS
community
[j^etneincs
Wesen], and
it
is
to \x
I
Vet
special tax
of a state to a machine,
and
makes
psychology
The
first
all
human
actions.
we were
state
neither
republics
weakness of a
government consists
which the
capable.
If ever there
chiefly in
state
may
was a people
prejudices,
we poor Germans
and
all
for
two hun-
neighbboring
Our
full
sion of our
we
are
wanting
in
We
will
Is
(p.
a nobility
151)?
general
consistent with
furnish a grrat
Ju.sti
numlxr
seems
170, et
passim) whether
German nobility was based power and hapj)iness by conquest. The chief irlea would then be not to have a sufficient army to
repel
attacks,
This
JUSTI'S
CAMERALISTIC MISCELLANIES
a robber
463
nations.
would be
among
Moreover,
sacrifice of
in our day war is extremely costly. unmeasured sums of money than of blood.
It is
more a
its
If therefore
chief
would come to a very ridiculous resolve. A people that today wants to be militant must accordingly also seek to be rich. There
is
through commerce. be
a people had
in its
Those
foreign peoples
who
get
power the richest gold it would not thereby control of its commerce
Spain furnishes
have
its
make conquests
commerce
as an equally impor-
all
But let us suppose that a militant folk has brought Europe under its yoke. Would it therefore be happy ? By no means. It would without doubt acquire vast plunder, but these
tant affair
its
its ruin.
by way of commerce,
all
parts
which
will presently
draw
after them the corruption and total destruction of the state. Not the German peoples were the real destroyers of Rome, but the treasures of Attalus (sic) and other riches which came to Rome
many peoples This destruction would have been even more rapid if the Romans, after their conquests, had not become merchants. But even this medicine could not restore the humors once totally corrupted. They were only a strength ening by which the wholly emasculated body was able to endure
through the plundering of so
for a period All this
amply proves,
its
it
seems
to
make conquest
It
chief aim,
happiness.
'
464
THE CAMERALISTS
power would be very foolish if it dreamed of conquests, that the othe* European powers would soon enough make it repent of its silly
idea;
yet,
it
proves that
it
if
all
probability,
had desired, still without commerce it would be happy, nor would it be able to retain the advantages it
all this is
had gained.
If,
accordingly,
established,
it
devoting
itself
it
originated.
13 (p. 198), Justi again explains his doctrine of the importance of the factor of density of population as a compoI,
In
is
that,
much
fifty
square miles,
He
continues
(p.
199):
and
trades,
all
money, because
state, the more prosperous will be its food and the more active will be the circulation of men have need of reciprocal aid and of a thousand
If
will constantly
number
of
This increased
The whole
foregoing passage
(I,
175-79),
it
must be remembered,
is
is
What
and commerce ? The main point in Justi's mind was to establish the position that on the principle, noblesse oblige, a nobility
nobility to the state
should justify
state, that
itself by the sort of service which the state most needed. His argument was that war was not the most radical employment of the
that,
commerce went much nearer to the roots of happiness, and when promotion of commerce was needed, the nobility ought to
The
in its
context
bearings
upon mercantilism.
in
it,
We
find the
JUSTI'S
CAMERALISTIC MISCELLANIES
465
wealth will always set the industrious hands of ihe iK)pulation into
more
active motion,
will
more
folk
increase.
This wealth
the
same time
attract
life:
much
from the
wealth
and thus
this
power of the state. The superiority of a people depends today as much and more upon its wealth than upon its numbers. A land which is wisely ruled, and has a flourishing sustaining system, can accordingly never have too
many
its
inhabitants.
A
tion.
How
marriage laws
(p. 200).
I,
19, is
W.
I.
Thomas
has done so
The paper
it
glorifies the
type that
we now
"promoters," while
the type.
varieties of
I,
Of
questions,
that
(i)
Catnmergiiter
(4)
und
Aeniter
directly;
adds
details
on wise forms
pation tax;
ist
a cameral-
and
(8)
forestry;
(7) elaborates a
detail
(9)
means means
of
promoting commerce;
of developing
Passing to Vol.
and managing the sustaining system. II, the first paper deals with division and
state.
Justi
makes
two primary
466
utive
THE CAMERALISTS
power.
main
the
and
also the
into
purposes.
slides
over,
however,
a main proposition
of
is
two
of these branches
power should be
is
combination
that of
same hands. The most tolerable legislative and executive powers (p. lo).
is
If the executive
power
power,
if
be suppressed
will
(p.
12).
Either
it
will not
be convened at
all,
or
it
be permitted to concern
itself
merely
"In
all
German
nations legis-
The paragraph
continues:
way
power
was
that in Spain
and France nothing remains of the legislative power of the Volk, and in most of the German states only a bare shadow. If on the
other hand the legislative power
is
entirely unlimited,
and not
at all
will presently
abuse
Some
ads
It
own
That
metaphysical theory.
mean
is
the "people" in an
The
in the
The whole
JUSTI'S
CAMERALISTIC MISCELLANIES
is it
467
The
indubitable conclusion
seems to
will
me
that a well-ordered
will
on their having
when
and
fundamental constitution.'
The
would be
repre-
viz., first, if
so clear and distinct that the decisions would be rather the decisions
of the laws than of the judge;
second,
if
own
judges, or at least to
to
many
of
them
would seem
be of his
own
choosing.*
II, p. 26) in
is
which a leaning
expressed.
More
is
which we find
in II,
I, 9,
As
on to speak of
details
which would
principle
enable the ruler to commit the nation to policies that would constrain
the legislative power to acquiesce
on the
"my country
right or
wrong."
It is
demands
Yet
which would make an absolute sovereign from indicating limitations that would remove the
to practical absolutism.
XIV
I of
was an attempt to alter the constituand beyond the proper rights of the unlimited monarch. That is, Justi argued in most cases for limitation of the monarch by the constitution, not otherwise, and the constitution which he had in mind must not be thought of as going into any such details as the written or unwritten constitutions of modern states.
* I. e.,
Justi
had
468
THE CAMERALISTS
It
contains
among
and the dependence of each upon the labors more minutely worked out by Adam Smith.
of
all,
so
much
The
must perform
is
in order to insure
its
happiness, a
so full
of
it
the
time-temperament
It
we
are unwilling to
weaken
by
translation.
reads
(P- 135):
Ohne
Zweifel,
hochgehiethend^
geheimde
Conferenzminisler,
und wirkliche geJieimde Rathe, gnddige Herren, wie auch hochst und hvchgeehrlesle Anwesendel hat Ihnen alien dieser geringe Abriss nur
Gclcgcnheit gegel>en, sich unterdessen an der geheiligten Person
unserer allerdurchlauchtesten Monarchin, eine welt wiirdigere
erhalK^ne Vorstellung von der Sache zu machen.
und
dass
sic
unterdessen in ihren
Gedanken
diejenigen weisen
und uner-
miidetcn
vor
(lie
Bemiihungen welche diese wahrhaftig grosse Regentin Wohlfahrt ihrer anvertrauten Volker anwendet, an die Stelle
nicht dadurch gerathen? Die osterreichischen Staaten haben zwar aliemal das Gliick genossen, das ihre Monarchen den anver-
zartlichsten
die
Licbe
des
gcgcn
ihre
Unterthanen gefuhret
AUein
Hand
Wuth der Verwuster des ErdVK)dcns, die sich die Schwache ihrer Nachbam zu Nutzc machen, EinhaJt gethan, und die Ruhe des
menschlichcn Gcschlechts dargestellet werden
in
soil, bildet
manchmal
dcm
^69
dcr
hohem Grad
GlUckseligkeit zu setzen.
Wenn
Lander ihren Zepter jemals in weiscn Handen die besten und wirksamstcn Mittel ihre GlUckseligkeit zu befordem, angewendet worden sind; wenn sie sich jemals dem wahren Punkte ihrer Grosse, Macht und GlUckseligkeit genahert haben: so ist es itzo, und die gegenwartigen Zeiten werden das GlUck geniessen, dass unsere spa ten Enkel den Zeitlauf
lichen osterreichischen
wenn jemals
fulsomeness was largely a matter and perfunctory form. It would be absurd to draw the conclusions from it which literal interpretation of the language would suggest to modem democrats. At the same time the fact remains that Justi was a pliant servant of a regime
Of course
this impossible
of prescribed
sort of conventionality.
Discount what-
demands
of
and betrayed frequently in his books; he remains the spokesman of the type of state of which Maria Theresia is a symbol. In the remainder of the address from which the passage is taken he employs rhetoric
the reservations in Justi's mind,
of almost equal extravagance to express his pride in the vocation
of preparing
Habsburg state (p. 137). When a little later he found himself no longer persona grata in Vienna, he went from state to state of the same essential type, and left behind no credible evidence
of ever in his responsible
moments having
of Justi to the
entertained the
thought
that' in
was
feasible.
modem
type of
political theory
may be
in
Suppose that
moved
moved
Sup-
pose that a historian at that date should take John Stuart Mill's
470
rccorrl in
THE CAMERALISTS
connection with the lAind Tenure Reform Association
as proof that he
but a iwcnty-first
wider
(jf
the
mark than an
(p. 142), in
which enable a
Justi puts
"adequate riches"
Wc
state
must
not, however,
Not
all
riches
[ein
Reichlhum]
Not
money
houses of private
and oppression,
all
Gold and
silver,
seem
worth
and
all
to trifling parts of
the glol)e,
versal
if
means
and
of men.
Only
that wealth
is
which
is
With changes
was not
itself
now
sociology finds
when
it
presents
its
sciences.
assumed
worth considering,
viz.,
(i)
mining;
(2)
commerce;
47
essay,
Make
Human Race"
Justi
(II, I, 17),
was
that
first
it is
acknowledges
no assurance
a succession of
fit
monarchs.
it,
It
amounts
He meant
however, as a
means
which could
He
took
the round-about
way
of arguing that
it
was not
necessarily a
prevail.
some hundred and twenty ruling princes was regarded by the princes themselves as synonymous with the happiness of Europe; but he
the present status quo of
of relatively
little
moment
(II, 246).
was hiuch
more
manhood about
it
the prevailing
expedient to remain.
He
Germany
is its
multi-
(II, 257),
to
(i. e., 406-572) are deyoted a technically very important monograph on causes of the
The
last
debasement
of the currency,
The view
427
flf.)
of gold
and
is
essentially
and means of removing the evil. money which Justi expresses (II, sound. The heading of 16 is: "The
silver
supreme power cannot arbitrarily fix the price of gold and silver." Again (22), he says: "The conditions of European
states
make
gold
and
silver necessary
as the
material of
money."
There were,
cam-
paigns" in Germany.
was claimed
472
THE CAMERALISTS
to silver, while
An
act of the
ratio in
Empire in 1737 fixed the ratio at 151^^ to i. The England and most other countries at the same time
I
was 14^
Justi
to
(II,
468; vide
II,
544
ff.).
makes
(II,
over mines
ing:
First,
472-86).
From
Vol. Ill
we gather
(p. 23):
the follow-
To
be rich
possess in abundance
life,
all
that
is
demanded
for
the needs
just as he
who can
procure
man.
[Wohlhabender].
the one which has within itself superabundant provision for all
or opulent state
and comforts of life for a dense population. A well-to-do b one which produces an adequate quantity of the goods which a dense population requires for its needs and comforts
the needs
(III, 26).
money
it is itself
a "ware."
"Gold and
viz.,
the needs
and comforts are to be supplied by exchange for it to such an extent that the gold and silver country will be properly called rich. Of
course in such case the price of gold and silver in the country would
be very low
in
The
foreign nations
exchange
metab
would go
remain
in their place to
make
Thb
is
Spanbh America
land
(III, 34).
that such a
All
thb
sufficiently proves, in
my
silver,
473
On
the other
and comforts of life, can never be called hand a state is always to be regarded as rich
in
which which
itself
abundance.
It possesses the
which are much superior to those fanciful riches from the silent conventions of men. It possesses the
itself,
essential
to trouble itself
about
It is quite
and need fear no unfortunate consequences if its commerce with them is cut off. Indeed, if it pleases such a state, it can terminate all trade with other peoples, and enjoy by itself all happiness which a wise government can procure. We may even assert that such a state would be truly rich, if not a pound of gold and silver were to be found in it; and such a statewould be able to continue all its connection and trade with neighboring nations.
This appears
to
on account of foreign
states has
trade,
and
always been
certainly be
many
in
in the
and comforts of life, there will number which the neighboring nations
such a
state,
do not have
which
itself
from other peoples, and hence must have the balance of trade
its
favor, so that
it
has to pay
little
to other nations.
Now
let
us
state
can be exchanged,
It is so
will
be eagerly sought
untrue that
this
paper
will pass
pated a premium will be paid for the paper above the value of the
gold that
it
represents.
Thb
bills
is
with
all
ment and
and subjects
474
flo
THE CAMERALISTS
same and more with
their
the
paper than
if
and
36
ff.).
The
in 1672,
letter alleged to
XIV
and
first
has a scheme
of reasf^s
why
Netherlands.
On
The
powerful because
ff.);
alone (pp. 60
ff.);
nor because of
flF.);
plus population,
Then
The true strength and ixjwcr of a state rests entirely upon the wisdom and completeness \V ollkommcnheit] of the government This ihcorcm involves very much. It means not only (p. 74V ihat 'he whole correlation and fundamental constitution of the state K'K)d; but the wisdom of the government must display itself in all parts of the civic body; and it must neglect no kind of affairs
i.^
state W\\\ always be powerful in the degree in which its government is completely organized [eingerichkt] and wisely exercised; and of two states, equal to each other in population and riches, that one will always overcome the other the government of which is the
wi.ser
(p.
74).
The development or justification of the theorem, which Justi says will be new to many, is virtually a glorification of
cameralism as the technique of a wise and complete govern-
all
same volume,
may
least
and
is
to increase
the population.
efficient
(p.
pronounced
may promote
diligence
and
JUSTI'S
skill (p. 151);
CAMERALISTIC MISCELLANIES
it
475
(3)
may promote
civic virtues
and stimulate
ff.),
is
entirely
withdrawn from
life.
temporal
life,
to
the future
to the earthly
among
170).
first
The
is
It
scientific classification
The
of our duties
external
condition or
our duties;
our
immortal soul
(p. 222).
means
us in possession of the
may be
preserved, increased,
to
One
tion to
tion of
still
point of view,
which the paper makes, from our was beginning to increase his attenthe economic emphasis, and second, that the presumpthe prime and necessary first claim of the stale was
of the impressions
is
that Justi
decisive.
first
He
calls attention to
476
the lively
THE CAMERALISTS
movement
at the time in favor of getting these sub-
and he repeats
his
chiefly
of doing
discussion
problems of
stances of states
and forms
of
government.
In the seventh
is
confessed in
The
distribution
and
direction of the
means of
private persons
belong, to be sure,
among
the subjects
If the
about
it
become
entirely inpoverished,
this.
Modem
almost completely.
It
has
was
they
is
The
contrary
and peculiar measures are demanded of the government movable and immovable wealth respectively. Movable goods are fruits of diligence and skill (p. 343). It is wisdom for the state to add its encouragement in every way to stimulate diligence and skill. Immovable goods, on the other hand, belong to the total means of the state, and the means of a state is the chief ground of its energies, its strength, and its power [Krafle, Starke und Macht].
in the case of
I
An
p.
"Sr.
iti
diesem
JUSTI'S
It
CAMERALISTIC MISCELLANIES
477
portion of
is
means, which
is in
the
in
is
well or
ill
employed.
and the good condition of private estates, however, rests to a great extent upon the direction of a wise government over the same, and upon the proper proportion and distribution of private estates in the country If the movable goods belong, so to speak, to the whole world, and circulate from one country into another, the immovable goods are the real fixed and assured property [Eigenthum] of the state. They are the terra firma [Grund und
Boden] of the Volk, because they belong to the country which peculiarly pertains to the total
.... The
Volk
(p. 358).'
As a primary
be
principle,
shall
in the possession of
(p. 359).
those
who
This
will
live
them
will
population
(p. 366).
tries to
make
says
He
me whether the
to
and
could be expressed with a single word and concept, I would without a moment's hesitation cry out the word POPULATION. Yes! Truly!
of his eye, as
compared with
all
other
The form
e.,
on the modern
a more
artificial collective
Von Mohl
quotes
have referred to the corresponding passage in the third. It is very evident that von Mohl had practically no knowledge In fact, of the setting of the doctrine of population in Justi's system.
478
THE CAMERALISTS
camcralists
Many
who
will certainly
for
such a
leading concept, they would certainly have called out in the loudest
voice:
monkyI
of
is
revenues!
to
Most
them are so
whole reason
for
all
their existence
them otherwise.
point attempt
am
not
now
I will at this
also a
fail
of both population
and
revenues
(p. 379).
Someone
far.
will
my
It
might be possible
while
goods required
human
which
life,
still
and con-
would be exposed
We
and
silver, if
not more
population, are
still
reply:
If
all sorts
of goods,
it
The signs automatically follow the thing which they represent. The surplus of goods in this country will stimulate other nations to exchange the same among us for the representative signs, l>ecause the goods will be cheap among us, and the quantity of gold in
and
silver.
he qualified
it
sufficiently to
criticism gratuitous.
He
no more believed that population could be fed in unlimited numbers than Malthus did. For the practical purposes of the states in whose interest he was elaborating a technique, population was tlie first consideration, until, as he indicated
in Staatswirthschaft,
population should
time.
reach three,
number
at
his
He
never
The
last
word
is
JUSTI'S
CAMERALISTIC MISCELLANIES
479
We
which was
On
we have
and gold
in the
and
still
in the
goods of
life,
and thus
true riches.
The
they entered the country which had the surplus of the goods of
in spite of its
men
of straw
He
of
mind
men
who wanted
policies to
be shaped
an adequate proportion of the "representative This would be a very slight disadvantage. In the country itself it would have not the slightest harmful effect.
of goods, has not
silver.
land
is
and has a surplus of goods, exchange will be as lively with little money as with much. Indeed, it may be dispensed with entirely. Such a country could, without money, have all the happiness and strength
of which
it is
capable.'
Then Justi goes on to say (p. 386) that of course the quanmoney becomes imi)ortant so soon as we consider relations with other states. That is, it is important chiefly when
tity of
state
is
in
its
policy
is to
'
harm them.
This passage
is
The
about the relative importance of a circulating medium is to be noted, but it does not immediately concern our purpose, except that it was a very
natural incident of his predominantly administrative conception of the
state.
48q
The
upon
the cameralists
true relative defensive strength of a country depends always
although the
in gold
relative aggressive
tilver;
efifect.
and
flf.)
Justi
resumes
his
main
line of argument on population, and elaborates rules for encouraging a high birth rate. These are: (i) Means of earn-
made abundant;
(2)
the government
must not be oppressive; (3) the laws must encourage marriage; (4) the chief means of promotion is that the rights of the pater famUias and of the husband, namely the lordship over his house and his wife, which so undoubtedly belongs to him
according to the law of nature and of civic society, should be
restored (p. 393
;
vide
the education of
Natur und Wesen der Staaten, 8. Hauptmust exercise great care over poor children, and the training of children
(5) the state
add nothing
fundamental reasoning.
<
It is
more than
first
Frau
Justi
mind
of her
house of
own at this point, and that the domestic Justi may have turned on this issue.
CHAPTER
XVIII
must be reserved
More conby
is
possible only
three
great
periods:
First,
the
theologico-humanistk,
from the early humanists to the end of the Thirty Years' War; second, the " polizeUich-cameralisHsche" to which no date of
expiration
tinct
is
assigned;
is
which no
that
it
dis-
birthday
is
begins
many, that
is,
during the
last
As
mere
uncritical superficialities at
after pointing out
best,
They magnify
which
to the purposes
procedure.
If
his subdivisions,
we compare Roscher's main analysis with we find that he falls back upon a
the
titles of
collection of
treats
For example, he
of the
482
THE CAMERALISTS
He makes
thrown
in
eighteenth century.**^
*'
a subdivision
under
the
of trifling consequence
keep up appearances,
This
all
amounts
to the veriest
parody of analysis.
Roscher gravely
eclecticism,
of the
Kant
all
and
at the
Seven Years'
War
to the
was predominantly eclectic. We should say rather that "national economy" was still what it had been for two hundred years, an increasingly circumstantial and subdivided technology of management of the state, considered as the patriarchate of the prince, and that it was no more eclectic in principle than it had been from the beginning. It is always uncertain whether Roscher's term ^' Nationalokonomik" amounts to anything more than a synonym for Justi's "Staatswirthscfiaft.'' If Roscher meant to imply that there was in Germany, at the period designated, an economic science of any sort differentiated from the general system of civic management, in which the power of the government was the decisive aim, no evidence appears that the wish was not father to the thought. In this period, and notably in Sonnenfels, a new spirit is evident. The more obvious and extreme corollaries of quasi-absolutism are challenged, indirectly at any rate, by sentimental rather
than formulated variants consisting of higher valuations of
the claims of citizens as such, in contrast with the older pre-
Yet Roscher
mental ideas.
is
correct in a
is
way when he
continues:
far
Op.
cit.,
pp. 533
ff.
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
reconciling petty contradictions;
that
is,
it
483
is
essentially eclectic.
all
the
German
teachers
and the
new spirit
excepted,
may be
absolutistic and
German
petty states of
North Germany, parHanse cities. For more than two generations Austrian national economy was
medium and
dominated by Joseph von Sonnenfels (1733-1817). He undertook his professorship of Finanz- und PoliceituissenscJiaft at Vienna in
1763.
little
His significant
literary influence
began
still
earlier,
The
it
latter constantly
Joseph
encoun-
maintained
itself
so long that
the tradition of
own handbook in 1845 Kudler followed making Sonnenfels' works the basis of his lectures.
and the
fact is that the country
states.
This, to be sure, does not speak well for the intellectual productivity of Austria,
had
to rely largely
His father
moved
some
to Austria,
name
and
Sonnenfels.
He was
German
culture in Austria,
of his experiences
Adam
Smith found
Of Sonnenfels
His general
political
view
is
graph dedicated
to
entitled
"On
Love
much
to say about
monarchy, aristocracy,
to the
words of Pope,
fools contest,
The best
*
administered
is
the best.
Op.
cit.,
p. 534, n.
484
THE CAMERALISTS
all
He
mottoes of
Rousseau.'
of
to
men
is
human
body.
Meanwhile, because
"irresistibility is the
most
essential trait
by the aggregate
Religion
ruler.
itself is
by no means a
It is
guiding thread in the hand of the ruler, which the latter should never
neglect,
people.
is
no ground
attachment
harm
books
and
morality.
He
by the
state:
favorite idea
of Sonnenfels
guilt
was
the judges;
In practice
this proposition
would
in
On
by the publication of a
tract
This
is
fifth edition,
which
have used.
is from and on the page opposite the beginning of the General Introduction, is a paragraph from Richard Hey, Observations OH the Nature of Civil Liberty. The motto of the third volume is from Horace; while only the second takes its motto from Rousseau.
Roscher
The motto
Cicero,
De
divin.
i-iii,
Among
same
the
more
is
his adhesion
to the
view.
{Vide Roscher,
384, n. a.)
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
485
same being occasioned by his publications on the death penalty and torture. Sonnenfels also opposed treatment of the pensions of
civic servants as charity.
lete
Again
his curt
demand
maximum of
and
That
much more
it is
than by
Justi.
At the same
to
time,
of governmental power.
Thus
human
rights, in contrast
The
its
tary
on Roscher's use
of the
term
eclectic.
word as he employed it. This usage is to be distinguished from another which to some minds at least is more appropriate. That is, we understand by eclecticism an attempt to construct a system of thought by combination of two or more systems which are held by their extreme
furnish a content for the
mental.
called
It is in the latter It is
an eclectic.
and a
rival
title
" Eclectic."
4^6
THE CAMERALISTS
this dis-
in the
making.
The
The
reconstruction,
men
like Sonnenfels,
To
put
an
as a democrat.
statement.
It
more
The
is
from Roscher
reflecting, so to speak,
phase of cameralism,
is
Handlung
is
und Finanz.^
a
to
distinct unit,
The volumes
to Policey, Vol. II
what we
should
sity at
now
This description
A
viz.:
One
The
feels in
"Z
is
politischen Studiutns."
The center of
in 1765.
I
the page
occupied by a vignette
The
1787.
edition
was published
fifth edition,
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
of another territory.
487
fact that
Speaking
literally,
the
mere
Sonnenfels makes the conscious attempt at modernism involved in adopting a corrected orthography makes the reader
aware of a
publications.
spirit.
transition.
The
later writer
world.
If
one were
more virile, he seems by the comparison of moral values. Justi's personality betrays some of the signs of quasi-absolutism at its worst. Sonnenfels shows affinities for
seems to have been
intellectually
open
to persuasion
its best.
In spite of
we should go
astray
if
we
of
Roscher
in affixing
We
cannot
make such men fit into any schematic classification. They show that a new type was in the process of evolution. They do not quite correspond with any general description or definition. They are not entirely consistent with themselves. They are partly of one tendency and partly of another. They
show
survivals of traits
which are
His-
in reporting
them
symptoms rather favorably contrasted with those observed in Justi. Sonnenfels begins by explaining why he finds himself obliged to add a textbook to those already in
488
existence.
THE CAMERALISTS
them he thinks are too comi)rehensive, At the same time he names these works at this point, and wc are obliged to search
of
of the
Some
none of
the
body
book
The
good
Preface to the
fifth
been overlooked
Sonncnfels
good government.
He
best
way
make
distinction
premiums
to
worthy
in return for
such payments.
He
contends that
civil
not receive
premiums as means
of
by
citing
Hume
first is
This
each,
sections
words
and
is
As a
one of these
refers,
The
point of
The
But he
'
isolated
human
l>cing
is
not the
human
would
))e
He
feels that
he
is
includes
It
introduction
which
to
Policey,
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
lack, of
489
from the
him
to perceive the
This means
The
natural condi-
man
is
many
steps
all others,
minor groupings
human
being
perhaps merely a
in his
literary abstraction.
Man
is
always
in society,
and as Ferguson,
Essays on the History of CivU Society, acutely somewhere in a forest, no more proves that
man by
nature lives alone, than a sheep straying in a forest would prove "
In the Preface to the third volume (sth ed.) the author says: " I have
books that I have read, and of which I can give assurThe books which he pay to consult or read them." He seldom locates the pasexplicitly mentions will be carefully noted. sages to which he refers, and I am unable to decide whether the remark quoted applies to all three volumes, or whether he intended it to include
cited only those
it
ance that
will
He
Wealth of
Although a German translation of the Wealth of Nations bears the date 1776, the same year in which the original was published, I am not sure that the version appeared as early as the date would seem to indicate; and I have no conclusive reason for believing that at the time of making his
first
it
except by
title.
If
he had actually read Smith and Ferguson in 1787, the leaven was working in Germany rather earlier than is usually supposed. Even
Ricardo did not discover the Wealth of Nations till long after that date. The phrase "so many steps, etc.," might be turned into evidence
that Sonennfels repudiated the "social contract" idea,
human
society.
A monograph
Adam
Smith and
Sociale
Adam
und
Hermann Huth,
individualistische Auffassung
im
18. Jahrhundert,
vornehnUich bei
Adam
Smith und
If
Adam
Ferguson.
Sociologie.
490
Sec. 3 continues:
THE CAMERALISTS
The
same
The
ships.
great society
is
the state.
has given the members a new name, has put them into new relation-
members
moral body.
The
will,
eflFect
of this unification
is
unity of force.
The
Unity
concepts in the
Thus
which now
is
Beste]
member, that
is,
private advantage,
remains constantly subordinated to the former, and cannot be otherwise brought into the account than in so far as
of the
it
constitutes a part
could
common best of the whole body. In case their private advantage not be reconciled with "the common best," the former must
Fortunately, however, in
the true
For
is
upon
closer examination
will
works
limitation of the
common
is
weal
is
The
same time
of the parts.'
applied our
logic,
some
of his phrases
Darwin than
to Rousseau.
But
!!
The
sible.
impos-
we might credit the eighteenth century with the associawe should say that here was a profession of the most modem democratic political philosophy. What we actually find
'
Again,
if
here
is
evidence that
valuations
logically
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
Sonnenfels continues (4)
Unity of the will, which, in case something extend to community interests, suspends
principle that
is
49
involved whose
contradiction,
effects
all
upon the
will
and not
will,
devoted.
Whoever withdraws
case the
common
and
philosophy,
more
arbitrary philosophy.
The
of private
different
decided for the people what was for the people's good.
they were disinterested judges.
presuppxjsed that the rulers were not only superior in wisdom, but that
were to a considerable extent competitors with the citizens for things desired by both. That the former should be perpetual arbiters about relations in
rulers
The
parties,
was the
essential fallacy
was aware
of this
weakness
in quasi-absolutism.
pointed out.
statement.
tions
The alleged
It
it.
proves to be
which clung to
was thoroughly modern in its abstract when interpreted by the implicaThe crucial matter was to get a technique which
principle
still
archaic
could properly ascertain the social will in contrast with the individual
will.
The
make
larger
number
of
The
492
THE CAMERALISTS
but
if
thereby nullified.
member
common
if
ends,
members
is
necessary
this decision is to
a law.
In the seventh section, however, doubt
is
cast
upon the
mind.
It
seems to be more a
historical
hypothesis in the
by which to test the technique of existing societies. By means of this generalization Sonnenfels accounts for the transition "from the multitude to society, from anarchy to the simplest
democracy." He goes on to say, however, that confusion must soon have appeared in council, universal agreement must have been impossible. Decisions of some sort were
necessary.
Out
grew the
different
forms of government.
Then
follows
(8)
enumeration of
is
common
will expresses
e.,
the autocrat
Thus,
were binding
upon each
of those
individual, the
same must be
all.
who
and irresistibility, and thus the relations between rulers and ruled, between subjects and the supreme power, were more specifically determined. Originally (io) the use of the combined forces was determined by the will of all the citizens. Since now the supreme power combines in itself the community will, its prerogative is likewise to determine how the community energies shall best be used for the common welfare.
implies on the other side the right of compulsion,
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
Gratitude
to such
is
493
due
is
evident.
We
hard to understand
why
was merely an
political rights,
a generalization about
about
and proceeding
to inquire
how
make
the best of
it.
If
each
member
of society has
monarch
must be accepted as vicariously exercising that right for all the citizens, and must be obeyed because his will is virtually the will of all. Thus, in spite of sentiments which make for reconstruction of ideas, Sonnenfeis' major premise was the
same old impotent makeshift of absolutism, the presumption that royal power summarizes all the fundamental rights of citizens, and that it is a political datum back of which our theories of social technique must not pry.
In 11 Sonnenfeis further elaborates his concept "welfare,"
and it is in this direction that we find evidences of a force that was generating as a variant both of the theory and the practice of quasi-absolutism.
While criticism
of the social
logic
summed up
more
in benevolent despotism
into
intensive
modification of theory
continues:
and was thus looming up as a factor in the and indirectly of action. The syllabus
The
men
enter society
is
which
in itself considered
to
best of each
member.
sought
494
by each
best.
THE CAMERALISTS
al the
same
time,
is
called
the
community
the ultimate
The
ultimate
purpose of
men
men
as the general
best.
a condition in which
we have nothing
is
to fear.
The
condition in
which the
in
state
When
is
its
which no dtizen has anything Jo fear is called private security. the state is safe against attacks from without, the condition
and
if
own
citizens,
the state, from within nor without, nor the citizens have anything
to fear, this fortunate condition
is
Tha
convenience of
life
the facility
its
The
diversification
The
without cost
The
all
ruler
which must be
for the best
good of
in
the citizens.
all
should be
way
that will
definition (15)
it
From
is
possible to
may be
is,
governing
We
and occurrences
to
which the
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
principles are to be applied.
495
politics is
The mere
empiricist in
therefore as
lictle
to
is to
When
when he
man who
is
trained
and and
dealing
He
did not go to
it
as
set
Then
his
problem was
that
to
the governmental
processes by which
standard
might be reached.
was no inquiry
it
into the
belonged
dominant regime
of quasi-absolutism.
His humani-
earlier cameralists.
Sonnenfels replies (17) to the possible objection that politics is too inclusive to be the subject-matter of a science
The
must
may be
subdivisions,
join
be sure, and
stops, however,
internal security;
and raising
otherwise
The second
is
49^
calls
THE CAMERALISTS
Handlungswissensfhaft (20).
The
fourth
is
Finanz-
wissenschaft (21).
varies from Justi's
this classification
flF.
may be
above. ^
There
is
a surprisingly
modem
reads:
mathematical
and Finanz.
But the
man
must
know
states,
and
to participate with
advantage
in law-giving,
he
We
we should
not
jump
had
really
advanced beyond
him
and
relations of govern-
mental technology.
'
The
note to 17
is
be for
an important literary landmark, viz.: "It may. numerous as are the writers upon special parts
to
is
if
we add
to Justi's Staatswirth-
and
and and
if
we honor
the Aristotelian and also the Hanoverian edition of the Wolffian political
James
and there
is
the
term
Staatswirthscha/t
Inquiry into
fully
Economy.
aware
of analysis which
lines of
had not
Germany, and
that
its
demarkation ran
wirthschaft.
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
The second
chapter of Vol.
I,
497
Polizey,
is entitled,
Funda-
its
Branches.^
The
spirit of its
time, upon the importance of a principle to serve as an a priori, and the qualifications which such a fundamental principle must possess. In 24 Sonnenfels adds: "The only one who has referred Staatswissenschaft with all its branches to a universal principle is, so far as I know, Justi." If Roscher discovered the bearings of this remark and of the context, he certainly failed to make them plain to his readers.* The passage is really one of the most compact illustrations to be found, in any literature, of the crossings of judgments in a period of scientific reconstruction. If the passage had been made to order it could hardly have reflected more typicallv the confusion introduced into theory by attention to new valuations:
On
upon the
is its
principle of
"general
happiness" [aUgemeine
Gliickseligkeit].^
On
on
Justi's part to
depend on such a
In spite
more evident sympathetic leanings than previous cameralists had shown in the direction toward which Justi's principle points, Sonnenfels rejects it as a major premise for civic science. As we have seen, of the two men, Sonnenfels was far and away more inclined than Justi to decide, in the concrete, in favor of the alternative which promised most in the way of
of
from the
>
absolutistic, sense.
Op.
cit,,
p. 444.
commended
3
The
precise contrary
was the
fact.
The sense
et
above, p. 323
which Justi interpreted the concept has been discussed passim. Cf. Index, "Welfare."
498
THE CAMERALISTS
blames him. His contention
made
more ultimate
test
must be found.
which
Thus
which subordinates
cal perspective
in the histori-
makes him most conspicuous: and he reproves Justi for an element in his formal reasoning which had much less effect on his concrete technology than it had on that of Sonnenfels himself. As a literary landmark the passage must be cited in full. We must remember that it occurs as a part of the argument on the necessity of an adequate logical principle
as the basis of a science.
It
reads:
its
The
only one
who has
He
assumed as such a principle the promotion of general happiness. That is a true, but not a conclusive principle. The promotion of
general happiness
is
however,
general
it
To
we must
In his
when a law
is
to
it
be given, or
is
which
doubtful
is,
would be advantageous
Here-
upon it must be tested by that principle, as the moral touchstone, and when the judgment of benefit or injury is reached, the ground for the judgment is given through that principle (i.e., "general
happiness").
is
assumed as the chief fundamental principle, the decision will amount to this: "It promotes the general happiness l)ecause it promotes the general happiness."
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFFXS
This passage, by the way,
above expressed of the
499
may
and Sonnenfels.
all
would
yield.
The
latter tried to
be more
shall
less
We
moment
The
values.
chief
meaning
of faith in a deductive
social
The
how
far Sonnenfels
was capable
of going
toward a
test
in essence.
as follows:
how
civic societies
more
surely guide to
at the
The
isolated
man was
mercy
than the forces with which he could defend himself against the
attack.
Two men
own were
felt
He
by combination with
life,
others.
The
isolated
man
wants
his
sufficiency to satisfy
compass neither of
time.
his strength of
He
whom
he received as
The
he
felt,
would make
more complete.
He
sought
the
The
he was merged, the greater was the quantity of the resistance which
The
society, the
more frequent
its
500
THE CAMERALISTS
The more numerous
and the
its
the
its
products,
for
him
to supply
aim of
and comfort of life. aim remains ever the same. The same means
remain
effective.
nate special
welfare.
The enlargement of the society thus contains in itself means which in the aggregate promote
So soon then as
it
it is
all
subordi-
the general
[Anstalt], or
proved of an institution
of a law that
makes
viz.,
for the
does not hinder the same; this proof at the same time carries the
higher conclusion,
that the measure promotes, or at least does
common fundamental
and the
adopted
tend to
it
included parts:
is
is
this:
Does
is
unneces-
ter of Sonnenfels'
to
beyond discovery
of their actual
ways
of thinking.
It is
on
this
to give value
let
simply
him
eighteenth century,
may
is
system, Sonnenfels
Germany."
Roscher, op.
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
supposed
because
501
ultimatum
is
at
proposition "Promoting
it
population
the
main
principle
promotes population."
We
His system
" the general
now of
happiness,"
now
of
had shown
valuations of
all
more
it
gratifying kind.
It
adds
to the evidence
and
that of Malthus.
The
population contains
the
fahrt]
its limits,
or a so-called
maximum: and
the political
drawn by the nature of states, by and physical situation, and by the circumstances.
Genoa
will
The
bare
fertile
many
inhabitants as
Mark Brandenburg
never so
many
as Bohemia.
This, however, should not, on the other hand, prevent the Senate
of Genoa, the Order of St. John, the king of Prussia, from using
all
means
which
man
with
all
it
S02
of morals that
tics,
THE CAMERALISTS
man must
if
In poli-
as in morals,
to its
highest
that
is,
possible.
This explanation
come then
branches
of Staatswissenschaft.
Thus
(28-31):
is
the greater
the quantity
upon which
note
adds:
"The
with others, so that with the same, in respect to the ultimate purpose
of defense,
they
may
constitute a
is
affected
command
"Hence
Then
clusions:
(i) (2)
"The
greater the
number
of the people,
assistance one
may
"The
greater the
number
of people, the
more
the needs,
hence the more various the gainful occupations within the society.
The more
exchange.
Hence
more
the funda-
"The
greater the
the
are" there to
is
therefore
the share
amount
principle
of the public
of
Consequentiy
fundamental
Finanz-
tvissenschafty
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
"The knowledge
whole and
of population
is
503
administration, indispensable.
in its parts,
The means
of surveying
it,
as a
ttdssenschaft exclusively.
They belong
as introductory knowledge
to
all.''
If
we were
relying
a foregone conclusion,
it
away
as above
passim).
We
of his writings.
and have
'
welfare "
and
* '
a particular type of
Chap,
tion.'^
It
iii bears the title "Means of Computing the Populadoes not profess to contain a contribution by the author
to the statistical
method, and
is
significant
merely an as index
of the extent to
which
statistical
men
of
Sonnenfels'
t)rpe.
that,
from
was
taken as fundamental principle or not, states have been interested for practical purposes in ascertaining the size of the
population, the author distinguishes two methods of computation, viz., "political calculation,"
estimates
based
of
the
number
authors
of
deaths,
of
(b)
the
number
need
births,
the
the
consumption
to
grain.
We
notice
merely
that
whom
504
about
THE CAMERALISTS
statistics are the following:
agri-
e del
comercio,
Sussmilch,^ Kerseboom,*
Vide Roscher,
p. 426,
Bielfeld."
These two writers are referred to as having furnished a brief history of political computation, tracing it back to the middle of the seventeenth
*
century.
3
GdtUiche
Ordnung
in den
VerSnderungen
des
menschlichen
derselben
Geschlechts aus
dem
Geburt,
cit., p.
421.
Abhandlung zu eincm Versuche der wahrscheinlichen Menge des Volkes von Holland und Weslfriesland, etc.; vide Roscher, op. cit., p. 421, " Kersseboom."
5
le
CHAPTER XIX
THE CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS ("POLIZEY")
The special introduction to the first volume bears the title: "The Simplest Concepts of Polizey and Consequently an
Outline in Accordance with
Assuming
that political
makes
When
these measures
of the state;
The
author's
own comment
He
says:
By this formula I
meaning.
all
To
my
reason
is
because the
me
some
them too
My
intention
is
my owh to draw the proper boundaries my own views, and to exhaust the concept.
demand
that after the
work
itself
has been
ance with
tion
is
my
intention."
to treat the internal constitution of a state in its interdependin all parts of the public administration,
ence,
and
and
at the
same
Consequently I shall
He
refers to
506
THE CAMERALISTS
method
of treatment will
his outlook with
most
direct
means
of
comparing
that of Justi.
The author
pointing out,
first
second,
third,
from
this
The
law-abiding
man
form harmful
inal
acts,
The imprisoned
is
crim-
has
the will to
perform harmful
but he
deprived of
ability.
Hence Polizey
which
is
falls into
two
parts,
first,
that
no one
shall
second,
make
it
if
The
and the more certainly and effectively the oftener the impulses toward or against an action occur, or the greater the weight of the single impulse which operates upon the actor. This is the invariable principle of will, in
knows how
may be
assured that he
may
lead
them
The
ladend\\
first,
attractive [ein-
and
actions.
giving.
and special. The general impulses include all actors For that reason they deserve the first rank in lawThere is another reason, viz., there are actions in connection
it is
with which
'
difficult
The
author's
own fomis
now
epitomized.
>
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
or preventive impulse.
giver only the motive
507
power of
which may be
grouped
in
two
classes:
morals,
and
of the laws.
Morals, in the relation in which they are regarded by the lawgiving authorities, are devotion to the general order.
As Toussaint
is
well says, "they very well supply the place of laws, but nothing
the effect of
combined
institutions,
may
pass correct
which
guides the inclinations, which controls the passions and directs them
worthy actions.
to
moral condition.
Next
in importance
that
to raise
among
all
command
is
good;
that
is,
and with respect to each individual, profitable. Whenever the supreme power succeeds in establishing this presupf)osition, it is the
most
reliable
violation of
which each
But given the willingness to obey the laws, insight into the special actions that would conform to the laws is not thereby assured.
The
what
ruler
is
this lack
to
undone.
This
what
Hume
had
in
mind when he
is
The
and
As previously
in
a condition
whatever
which the
state, that
(sicl),
Volun-
security,
is
brought about
through
the
devotion
above
Compulsory obedience
resistance.
What
Montesquieu
in
So8
ciple of
THE CAMERALISTS
a
civic structure [Staatsverfassung]
viz., "it is essential,"
may
be applied here
the
must always be smaller than the quantity of the powers of coercion on the side of the state. Hence the chief attention of the Polizey
and law-givers
from attaining
is
demanded to prevent any stratum or single citizen to such power that the public authorities may be
successfully opposed.
and he proceeds:
to the citizen, all bad,
whereby
his
happiness
may be
may
and
his goods.'
understand
As we have
plausible explanation
method
of magnifying the
obvious.
The
Part
II,
chap.
iv.
"Auf seine Handlungen, Personen, auf seine Ehre, und seine GUter." The ambiguity of the term Handlungen might be used as one The same of the stigmata of the untenable analysis in which it figures.
is
primarily from Handlungen, and secondarily from the other two concepts.
The
the confusion which corresponds with the superficial analysis does not
much
pass
it
may
"The
English
Eigenthum].
sonen,
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
divisions of the book.
of
509
Except in details of
classification
of
affords
cameralists.*
The most
is
the
Polizey,
instead of treating subjects falling under the former as subdivisions of the latter.
I
In respect to the
treatment
am
able to
slight
modi-
fication.'
"For
the
development
of
German
national
economy,
Sonnenfels
may be
his standpoint
reminds us essentially of
which was conventional in his day; and he was more systematic in developing the consequences of the ideas. "At the same time the demands of the ought-to-be play with him a much more significant role than explanation
of reasoning
rather
of the existing.
is
in bulk,
much more
notable
than the
sion of
all
Although we shall be led into somewhat extended discusnumerous details, we have thus covered in principle
that our main purpose calls for in the case of Sonnenfels, and what follows amounts merely to illustrative specifications under previous propositions. The first section in the chapter on "Attention to the Moral
Condition"
is
ethical preconceptions.
He
says (61):
religion, of ethics,
its
and
own
purpose;
Op.
cU., pp.
The
cit., p.
536.
5IO
the
first
THE CAMERALISTS
two as an end, the
last
if
corre-
spondence of conduct with the laws can be procured not by the most
lofty motives,
of punishment.
diflfers
Hence
which
and
religion.
whereby
this
correspondence
is
within the
is
not
Meanwhile there
if
is
no ground
may
that
and
religious virtue
were
in antithesis
but this
is
by no means the
first
is
case.
enough;
it
is
presupposed by the
upon moral
virtue, yet
from
command
upon moral
virtue.
He must
to the
Of course Sonnenfels
the ethical
is
symptom
of
and theological dichotomy which still succeeds in keeping most of the population of the world under the impression that virtue is an affair of separate circuits, which may be operated independently or be brought into communication with one another. It was no peculiar demerit of his that he
religious virtue.
It
conflict with
we should
enter
of the analysis.
We may
simply
in his
own
between
other.
social virtue
and
religious virtue
on the
In 63 he says:
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
The
chief
511
and most
education,
first
effective
are religion,
deserves the
place.
means for the building-up of morals and the sciences. Among these religion Religion is the gentlest bond of society.
which she
improvement of the
itself
vicious.
inadequate,
come
to its aid.
of the law-giver,
fails to
and consequently
the sole
is
God, as witness and judge of all, even the most secret evildoers, is means of arresting evil undertakings. The whole world
consequently in agreement with Warburton, that the doctrine of
life of
a future
The
ruler
may
men] given into his hand, and he must take care that every citizen
in the state
has religion.
From
this point of
robs the
means
of guiding
its
citizens
most completely.
The
except those
latter:
who have an interest in there being no God;"' the "From the opinion that there is no God comes our independAccordingly to them the atheist becomes
and happiness of the state depend on intolerance of the declared freethinkers; and circumstances might often make it necessary for
the public authorities to
religion
demand
XXXIV,
chap.
ii.
who absented
512
THE CAMERALISTS
continues (65):
The argument
From
of the citizens,
and
The
religion
must
time
it is
the only
of thinking.
The
first
be given
in this respect
On
is
The
citizen is also to
be educated.
of
its
common
and cannot be
by the
state to private
whim.
may be
edu-
and orphan asylums are necessary (72). It is desirable that public schools should be attended by children of the upper as well as of the lower classes, for the sake of making
cated, academies, foundling
these
into
ling
classes
Sees.
74-79 go
some detail about alternatives in the administration of foundand orphan asylums, with respect to influence upon public
month from public worship."
himself for a
The
ment
is
given as,
this
"Hume,
Tome V."
Evi-
and like kinds, in spite of occasional appearances to the contrary, makes it probable that, whenever English sources were cited, they were usually known to Sonnenfels by name only, or through transladence of
tions, usually French.
The
last
proposition,
and
specify problems
and
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
morals, and 80-82 attempt to answer the question whether
513
it
is
Son-
and he argues
hints,
may be
increased.
Then
dis-
rather than
availability of
various minor
tinctions for
ship,
means
for
exemplary
In
Hume
is
talent may without any hin"But," answers Sonnenfels, "this author himself admits that this same means allows the spirit of resistance, of revolt, and other harmful influences to be spread abroad.
mind and
He
of
government,
especially
for
the
ecclesiastical
state.
Perhaps
we
of a constitution which
economic or
special
political theory.
In 100 he begins
idleness
and
previous 99 lays down, as a major premise for this dictum, the proposition that idleness produces immoralin general.
The
Whether we should agree or not with the inference that the government must prevent idleness, there is little doubt among social theorists today that an occcupation is one of the
ity.
The
special
prevention of
begging;
Political
EssaySfVol
II,
Part
I,
514
is
THE CAMERALISTS
checking of
all
earning a liNing;
to vagrancy;
in Austria they
were said to be
;
men) good discipline of the servant class and as a means of making all these efforts efficient (107-14), well-ordered workhouses and penal institutions (119-21).
Everything, of the nature of free soup, and indiscriminate
is
protested
modern
scientific charity
relies
(ioi-
The
on constraint, as
compared with
at every step.
unjust employers,
is
treated
in 115, 116;
the
number
of the
and the third phase, provision for reducing unemployed servant class, in 117, 118.
to
all toler-
programme
demanded
not that
its
its
numbers
severity
toward weaknesses it shall give occasion for greater and more dangerous crimes, but that the Polizey shall restrict itself to preventing public indecency, and outbreaking offenses, and that it
married people,
who make
domestic order.
of the
Beyond
it
that,
number of
an
evil
tion of
which
and reduction do the most toward the restricbe possible for no foresight entirely to
religion, education,
uproot.
omnibus paragraph
all
(123):
The
occasions
may be
increased.
Here belong,
and the
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
evils that flow
5^5
from
it,
number
of
be sold in such shops, and at no time to intoxicated persons; exemplary punishments for confirmed drunkards; prohibition of lodging
strangers except in recognized inns;
and
further,
measures approved
by monarchs of insight, and readily granted by a head of the church worthy of immortality, viz., for decrease of the number of feast
days.
For
it is
The
spirit of
chap,
ii,
"On
that:
the
Means
of
Awakening a
briefly.
High Idea
of the
The
less
is,
fundamental proposition
" on the average
in
a
of
result of persuasion
a favorable prejudice" (124). This prejudice must be aroused The means and strengthened. It may be weakened or destroyed.
in either case are in the
lics,
hands of those who give the laws. In repubwhere laws are examined by representations of the people before
of the constitution.
if its
they are enacted, the presumption of the goodness of the laws springs
That
is, it is
in
two ways
first,
the reasons
ficial for
why
it
was necessary
and beneitself
the individual.
"A
its
the rule of
accompanying
in its
shows confidence
people
itself
appears
command
less the
than to persuade.
its
The
imagines that
obeys
law than
own
insight."
Again (128) it is added: "Even if the law bears only some such legend as 'moved by the public good,' the people will be inclined to
believe it."
5i6
of lan-s
is
THE CAMERALISTS
the condition of their attaining great age (129).
Con-
more than a
distinction
in
absence of obligation
Chaj).
iii,
"On
may
is
very briefly.
The main
proposition
l>e
sifle
of the state
(136).
is
the state
pre-democratic
political philosophy.
"The
its
forces or
and of
"While
erty
is
viduals or families
may
in
all
may
set precise
"This
"In
necessity has
I
recognized
Kdward
ca.se
set the
example with
in
the laws
indirect
measures may
l>e
among
lx;en
If
would have
The
f)ermission
was
regarded as lx;neficent.
to limit the
is
may
\)c
taken
many
sorts
which tend
to acquire excessive
power (142 fT.). Sees. 149 ff. of more or less violent sort breaks
p. 181.
Hume
is
Illustration
von England, T.
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
out,
517
power, to reflections on the government by public speakers, preachers, teachers, actors, writers, etc.;
and
different kinds
and degrees
The
Chap,
it
iv,
"
On
is
notable,
first,
because
some
of the concepts of
an innovating
one
more conservative universities of the German countries. Sonnenfels begins by saying that "security of action" and "freedom of action" are. identical ideas. "They refer to the
condition in which
actions."
we have nothing
our
of the dis-
tinctions to
and "independence" [Unabhdngigkeit], The presuppositions of his argument are, first, "the laws of nature;" second, "the social compact." These make "freedom" a limited, not an absolute condition, and per contra they estop licentiousness and independence. Regardless of the method
[ZiigellosigkeU],
which he
who obeys
reason
is
free."
He may be
endangered,
judge; e.g.,
power, or
first, by the ruler, considered as law-giver and when he transgresses the limits of the law-giving when he falsely accuses, or unfairly conducts a pro-
cess in court;
The
judicial
power
is literary
it
marks
which
citizens feel to
be reasonable.
In this connection (165-69), Sonnenfels presents his famous objections to torture as a judicial measure. The infringements
upon
security of action
by
under
5i8
the heads,
THE CAMERALISTS
"servitude,"
"chattel
slavery,"
"constraint
by
Chap.
V,
"On
a greater
number
the
of
book.
Although in
many
technological,
of
value could be
made
subjects of which
falls directly
it
treats.
should be
said,
however, that
is
German
discusses
a surprising
is affected.
number
of relations
methods
promoting public
air.
hygiene,
It
should be
argument against
and
methods
of
procuring
abortions.
Chap,
treat of
vi,
"Security of
to
[Rec/il-
schaffenheit] of
The
viewpoint
is
indicated by
the propositions:
therefore, robs
and the
legal
"Whatever deprives the citizen of honor, of actual advantages, harms him seriously: authority is bound to defend every citizen against
him
such injuries."
following
supposed
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
519
loss of
honor through
insult
loss of
recommended
samples was
and
civic
much more
German
modall
ern democracies.
particulars
We
upon the
Chap,
vii,
"On
Security of
Goods"
(305-51), contains
it
groups with
Under the latter head, Sonnenfels discusses protection against damage by fire, including building-ordinances, fire-departments,
fire-insurance,
and
devices.
Chap,
contains
viii,
"On
Penalties"
(352-88),
strictly pertinent to
it
symptoms
details
term
"eclectic."'^
"Punishment
action."
is
an
evil
malice
of
The author
has given a
viewpoint
comments:
This aphorism, handed down from writer to
writer,
The
it,
and
that
quite different.
The
first
punishes
The second
threatens a penalty
may
not be disobeyed.
S20
penalty
is
is
is
THE CAMERALTSTS
a consequence of the conduct.
With
first
With the
it
is
stimulus.
Penalty therefore,
actors,
is
an
evil
law as a means
to be paid,
to the quantity;
viz.,
or
its
motives;
and
of
it
"The
be
general
means
measuring punishment
deduced:
therefore, to
The
following
"(i)
The
The
The
strongest deterring
made
of these
principles, Sonnenfels
his
classification
of evils to be
As
of
"loss
loss of rights of
the family;
legal rights;
cases,
locality;
infamy;
of
the
goods;
death-
fines; corporal
to
penalty."
He
repeats
'
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
Death penalties are contrary
incessant public labor promises
at the
to the purpose of penalties.
521
Hard,
much more
and
profitable
One paragraph
is
bearings.
Whether
its
we have
some
of their hold.
On
The
first
is
without doubt
?
Has
If questions have
was because
writers
this right
and
The
is
to be sought
nowhere except
in the individual
Man, thought
wise be
warded
oflf,
In
civil society
made over
whole, that
to the sovereign
power that represents the whole; that is, not a right over his own life, which no one possesses, but the right of each over the life of every other who might become an assailant. In that way the sovereign power acquired the right over all.
Our concern
Reference
is
Beccari:
522
for himself
THE CAMERALISTS
about certain parts of the traditional philosophy
of chap, ix,
is
of the state.
The purpose
(389), viz.:
"On
Internal Security,"
Under
the
name
institutions
we
and devices
do
in
As a survey
which
all
the cameralists
detail,
the following
paragraph (390)
is
useful, viz.:
As
of
its
power
lies
The supreme
it
exists.
This
is
the directing
Execution, however,
committed to subordinate
usually
administration
subdivides
and
retains
for
itself
it
civil
the operations of Polizey in the narrower sense to maintenance of the public peace, good order,
and
discipline, to superintendence
cities,
institutions
made
remains
The
chief difference
this
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
523
specifica-
Chap.
X,
furnishes a sort of
for activities
of the
and no
refer-
The
ence
is to
occurrences which
may be
by human power. The sort of foresight to be exercised is suggested by the questions, What sort of accidents are probable
in
a given
locality ?
How
bility of
such accidents?
What
?
Among
Then
may be
advance by
sort
As an
illus-
tration, Sonnenfels
Dan-
ube
at Vienna,
and
and
sketch
is
With reference
is
to the
fact
to
any paragraph
is
of the
book
which
it is
From
that point
it
disappears,
and no use
I
made
of
it
whatsoever.
student of Justi
who
Vide above,
p. 500.
524
omitted the
first
THE CAMERALISTS
forty-two sections of the present volume,
and carefully studied the remaining three hundred and ninety, would probably find no occasion for doubling that Sonnenfels was completely in accord with his predecessor in making **the
general happiness"
the criterion
of
civic
procedure.
The
will
close here, to
a use for
We
shall return to
the subject,
and
instructive
it
was a symptom.
CHAPTER XX
THE CAMERALISM OF SONNENFELS ("HANDLUNG")
The
is
title-page of
represents "Fortbonnais."^
If
book would
more
German
'^Industrie."
Although
term
all
will
If
To what
to others
is
name proper
to
some
of
cause or
efifect
without attempting to
oflfer
an answer.
This second part
is
The
intro-
The
I
men
in business,
whose
4 of the Preface the edition of Forbonnais* book which Sonnenfels used is referred to as " Elimens du Commerce, zweyte Leydner
p.
On
Auflage."
Umriss der politischen Handlungswissenscha/i. I have not found It seems to me to be in itself a sign that there was increasing instability in the notions of classification
525
526
THE CAMERALISTS
by long experience, and have
if
become complete.
it is
If I I
may
be corrected by them
any errors
have escaped
my
knowledge."
The
Preface continues:
me
as a guide.
If I
have
in
way
to their duty, if I
calling easier, I
have accomplished
my
purpose.
As an index
There
no
which
instructive, viz.
lack, to
of commerce.
The
may be
it is
means of subsistence
in all
The
greatest
men
philosophers, have
made
merce.
to the
of the infinite.
appears that
men
of such
been unable
their writings.
no comprehension. The latter cannot grasp conclusions from principles which they do not understand.
and methodology. Although Sonnenfels is far from generalizing economic problems in the spirit of an abstract science, the prominence and
relative
problems,
independence of business questions, as distinguished from fiscal is a still more meaning sign that general economic problems
Perhaps it is mere fancy, but in Sonnenfels' usage this expression seems to me to connote a less governmental and more popular center of gravity for the concept " welfare " than was indicated by the corresponding terms of the earlier cameralists.
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
The profound author
of the Elements of
527
declares at
Commerce
who
If
thinking readers, did he reflect that his excellent book would remain
almost unread
is
my
intention
who
This book
them to it.
Sonnenfels
presently
Austrian
literature
The
as a
all
national possession
may
be read at a glance.
credited to
comprises in
mostly
Homeck, but
k. k.
partly to
a book
which only arouses the wish that such a work might be undertaken by
a more competent and better informed man; and an
anomymous
florissanteren
book
entitled,
kdnigreiche
Wahre und vortrefliche Mittel, wodurch und Ldnder in einen glUcklicheren und
werden
kdnnten,
die k. k. Erb-
Zustand
gesetzt
under which
much-promising
would be likely to expect more than five pieces* which are shoved together without connection as without choice,
inscription everyone
and of which,
ing
title
to
sheets salable.
I
f.
above.
'
ff.
above.
4 Sonnenfels' note:
Konsumme
III.
Churbrandenburg.
II.
gung
Kirchenrechnungen.
IV. Ganser's
Abhandlung von
Tor/erde.
V. Vor-
in 1769.
"This Preface Since that time several works have been written
adds:
The author
528
Four books, or
Deutschlands
kunst,'
THE CAMERALISTS
eight,
if
Wohlstand,
of
be able
all
These are
up
The
Germany
is
parts of
the
Not
explanation
of Austria's
backwardness in
its
which
to
The
public registers
desire to
known in detail, either from made known to those who inform themselves about these matters. Competent men
is
in other states
it is
and
it
tables, or
readily
and
its
their advice.
In this way, as
it
not
patriots.
With us such
'
facts are
still
There
am
ff.
Vide above,
3 It is
Justi's Staatswirth-
was a product of the author's work in that country. It was not devoted particularly to Handlung, to be sure, but covered the subject to such an extent that the omission is surprising.
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
may be many important grounds
to me.
for this reticence,
529
Meanwhile
can
cite this
number
My
merit
may perhaps be
very
If,
slight, if
my
labor.
however, judgment
my
post, I
least
to
me more
symptomatic than
interests of quasi-absolutistic
to
a technology
would be assigned
of popular welfare in a
more
this
modem
reason,
was
For
title
the
entire
introduction
this survey.
is:
volume
Handlung
The
alternative
Elements of the Science of Commerce, and the particular subject of the introduction is
Simplest Concepts of
Com-
merce, and
its
Branches."*
From one
which
is
all
work in a pure science upon the subsequent details and applications are based,
point of view, the
have to be thought.
is
The methodology
of a positive science
a'
and generalization
From any
through pro-
way
to
an advanced stage
in
is
530
THE CAMERALISTS
manner
in the categories in use.
generalized in a valid
Logically antecedent
static
Whatever other merits or demerits may be attributed to the Smithian type of economic theory, it was the most potent factor
in nineteenth-century thinking in stimulating analysis of the
In other words, a
to
first
step in passing
from every
less critical
a more
critical stage of
dis-
more adequately
From our
exhibit
of such
economic categories in a
Their crudity
is
evolution.
of our
if
we
interpret
them as economists
term.
They were
political scientists in
whose minds
thinking.
distinct
became a variant
is
of
German
effective
Sonnenfels'
this
owa
thesis
language
the
most
cited.
commentary on
his
which could be
We
translate
introduction
in full:
commerce upon general happiness was long overlooked by political philosophy [Staatsklugheit]. No attention, no care, no promotion was supposed to be due to this subject. Not as though Alexander, even in the irresistible course of his victories, had not cast a glance upon commerce, and after the destruction of Tyre had not built Alexandria as the emporium of eastern and northern wares: but ministers and monarchs recognized in the son of Philip only the conqueror, and
beneficent influence of
[allgemeine Gliickseligkeit]
The
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
only in that character did he seem worthy of imitation.
Sully, Elizabeth, Colbert first enlightened, cabinets
531
Charles V,
advantages of commerce.
World-wisdom
the happiness
number
of its citizens^
people
began to
to this happiness.
cabinets.
tfie
largest
means of support, contributes such a large portion Thereupon commerce became an affair of the Attention was given to the principles by whose application number of people may be supplied with occupation. The
science
is
merce*
distinguished
from
this subject,
own
Yet the political is endangered. commerce by no means works against private advantage. The former seeks to use the latter as a tool to subordinate it as a means to the general end: that is, to combine the advantage of the state
whether the general advantage
with that of the individual citizen.
This
is
the
first
recurrence of the
proposition.
Die
politische Handlungswissenschaft.
among
concepts.
was,
yet
What
shall the
There was
state
not
apart from
policy.
3
it
is
must be quoted
in
deciding about the precise stage in the process of critical analysis which
the author represents.
wissenschaft,
The note
is
on the phrase,
and
it
reads as follows:
"The
multiplication of
Handlungsmeans
Erdreich]
and
diligence produce,
is
taught by HamUungswissenschaft,"
With
reference
532
THE CAMERALISTS
occupation [Bcschajiigung] of
in their
The
human
its
They
something as compensation
occupation.*
their
business of
Thus barter comes into existence, and commerce in the most proper sense (2).
it.
is
the
Want [Bediirfen]
means to gratify this desire, the ability to find pleasure in possession and enjoyment of the same, are not without a purpose in the plan of nature. They are, to the same extent,
not without a
below).
Want
of
the the
which
meanwhile desired;
wants,
whether they are real wants, without which human beings could
not exist, or imaginary wants, which the customary
mode
of
life,
made
and to the paragraph just quoted, the work proceeds "This explanation appears to vary from the ordinary one; e., the most advantageous exchange of products. In fact, however, it leads to the same. For precisely this more advantageous exchange occurs in order to keep a great number of f>eople employed. Moreover, exchange itself is the business of commerce, and in this fact is to be found the explanation of the science which guides this business. Commerce will also be regarded as the means of increasing the resources [Vermogen]
to this definition,
(Vol. II, p. 3):
i.
of the state. of
The increased wealth of the slate is a constant consequence commerce, but not the ultimate purpose in the estimate of the state to which riches without citizens would be useless."
'
is
likely to
have the
effect of
an anachro-
this period.
The
word
case
is
" hervorbringen."
below, pp. 534, 551, and 558), "verdienen," "gewinnen," and similar synonyms, with their derivatives, occur without the precise technical
force of the English "produce," "production," etc.
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
desirable, are equally
533
which
is
a sort that
would have
no exchange
therefore,
The
something which
he desires.
he, with
whom
the exchange
is
does not possess, or at any rate does not possess in the quantity which
That
is, it
must be
its
relatively rare.
may
offer to
ware
he
it precisely the ware which the other party wants at the moment, or in the quantity in which it is offered, and the offered ware is either entirely incapable of division, or the division diminishes its worth. In such a case one must seek to secure what one wants
Then
it
terioration,
may
These difficulties presently led men to look around for a means by which the difficulties might be avoided, and exchange be made easy.
Something was sought which might, as
same.
it
all
equivalent.
Not any stuff whatever could be adopted arbitrarily as such Each of the qualities which was sought in the same
difficulties
of
(5).
therefore, as the
although the subjective and objective phases of the words cannot always
be
the original.
534
THE CAMERALISTS
com-
and imperishability were demanded, both in order that itself, or in going from hand to hand, it might not be used up, and also in order that, without danger of deterioration,
durability
in the
exchange
it
difficult
it
must be
rare.
But
it is
many
unsuc-
And
ment
and silver, which now are regarded and are called money (6).
After the introduction of money, to be sure, the turn-over [Umsaiz] was no longer called barter,' but purchase. But this change in the words (sic!) did not essentially change the "commerce." The money did not thereby come otherwise into consideration than in so
far as
it
The
"com-
merce"
is still
is
labor.
The
the
itself
to
obtaining
[Erzielung]
It
former
rural
management [Landmakes
the
wirthschajt].
grazing,
and
of
The
is
occupation which
natural
products
usable
through
imparting an
artificial
form,
called
Manujaktur.'
of "exchange."
strictly correct.
The manuThis
is
In the previous sections Sonnenfels had several limes used the same
word
first
Tausch
in the
the
(I
his
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
factures are dependent
535
attention
The
called
first
of the state
to this latter.
What
land
raw materials
The
earth
original
commerce
and
and
as both
come
to the
assistance of wants;
who
produce,
wants.
who
It is
own
com-
This enables us
equal to the
merce.
sum
of the wants of
all
consumers [Ver-
zehrefiden].*
if
The wants of human beings, as already observed, are very limited, we attach to the word the strictest concept of real wants. But
be kept within the
The
introduction of comforts
and
make
are not
much against
fulness
commerce speak
fire
Manu/aklur CoHonmanuis
On
called
is
more
We
hear daily
Tuchfabrik, CoUonfabrik"
'
An
"The word
in this
order to indicate
obviously
class of
Manufacluranten."
We may
translate
inaj^propriate
term, "suppliers," as a
offends
modern usage
attribute to
and "producers" which would Sonnenfels a generalization that he had not made. "The
if
it
includes farmers;
word
The
"The
total of
commerce
is
thus the
sum
of
536
as
it
THE CAMERALISTS
increases the wants of citizens,
it
thus
it
incidentally
makes
gainful occupations
that
is,
And
by
if
know
how
and ruins
place,
no
because they merely pass out of one hand into the other, or are
transferred to
many
persons;
may
perclass
With
objections to luxury
may
be answered (io).
harmful luxury
sort of luxury
At the same time, however, the boundaries between useful and may be determined. For without doubt there is a
which
is
harmful.
is
harmful,
which the
state should
but diminishes
articles of
in the
This occurs
in the case of
unnecessary foreign
made
country
of a national ware,
occupations.
viz.,
and crowd
sum
of national
One
when
come
in,
not by purchase
In this instance
to all
done
in
demands
in
of the foreigners
who wanted
to acquire
it is
it
by purchase or
The
The
ucts,
outlay that
is
The
resources of those
who
and their number, constitute their necessary limits. Commerce would thus not be greater than the possible national consumption.
side,
There remains, however, the extension of the same on another through increase of consumption. Takers of the wares will
The
effort is
made
to
supply other
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
increase the
itself into
is
537
thus divides
sum
of national occupation.
Commerce
Domestic commerce
state (12).
is
that
which
carried
Foreign commerce
sarily
carried
on with
foreigners.
it
when it has first satisfied the national wants. Thus commerce is carried on only with the surplus; that is, with
that which the national consumption can spare. On the other hand a nation will take either only such wares as it really needs, or those to the taking of which it is drawn by powerful stimuli. These two grounds determine takers in general, but a state will be moved to take from precisely this nation, inasmuch as the same wares may actually be had from several sides, only through the most advantageous, or the least disadvantageous conditions under which a ware is offered. These conditions aflFect the price of wares, or
their qualities (13).
Scarcely any state or nation, at least under present circumstances, and with the once introduced mode of life, will be sufficient unto itself. What it does not possess, it must try to get from abroad under the least oppressive conditions. To this end external commerce furnishes its aid, and in accordance with the division of its occupation it is divided into two branches, viz., export and import.
It carries out,
it
itself,
This
last
makes a
third branch of
and
It
a part of the
is
always a na-
if it
may
"A
merchant buys
10.
diminished by
The
538
THE CAMERALISTS
less
The
its
own
wants,
and the more sales it can make to other nations, the more advantageous is its commerce. But the situation in dififerent regions does
not always afford to countries either the requisite quantity or the
variety of wares necessary for their
for export.
The commercial
the same,
toward the
and to secure possession through settlers transplanted thither, whence they have the name colonies, or settlements [PflanzThence they may now draw a part of their wants, independorter]. ent of other states and under self-imposed conditions, and they may
increase without limit the stuff to be exported thither (i6).
and
that which
sent abroad,
must be transported
is
This trans-
portation,
which
The
nation receives
its
and
by their own carriage; or the nation brings in by its own carriage what it receives from others, and returns by its own carriage what other nations buy. In the former case the nation loses the whole advantage of the occupation, which reciprocal carriage was capable of
creating;
and
its
commerce
is
In
and
its
com-
merce becomes more active. Every nation must therefore seek to receive its wants through its own carriage and to deliver exports to
other nations with
its
own
carriage (17).
Carriage
is
by land or by water.
Land
carriage depends on
good commercial roads and a well-conducted carrying system (18). Water carriage is on rivers or on the sea. River navigation is
promoted by making and keeping rivers navigable, and by uniting These arrangements cannot rivers by means of canals and locks.
be extended beyond the boundaries of a
merchant pays for freight cloth stands the merchant
ship,
i,
state.
but because the ship was a national and the other outlays were within the country, or paid to citizens, the national capital has not lost these 4. The merchant sells the cloth
at 14;
for 18.
The
nation gains
8,
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
contrary,
is
539
It
depends upon a
(19).
itself frighten
especially at sea,
would of
from undertakings, because only few have enough courage whole resources, or a considerable portion of them,
is
to risk
for
a gain
which
loss.*
no proportion to the possible and often very probable The costs of carriage would also mount very high on account
in
of this consideration, because the carrier would take into account the
risk
which he undertook.
The danger
of carriage
may
be
and ships may be made secure for a proportional compensation. this making secure the business has the name insurance or assurance, whereby the courage for commercial undertakings is produced and increased (20). In the most favorable situation of a state, it is not possible greatly to extend commerce, or to maintain already extensive commerce, without a corresponding sum of money. The presence of money is necessary from two points of view: the state must in general not lack money as a promoter of national exertion; in particular commerce must not lack an adequate fund for its undertakings (21).
From
The
physical presence of
money
shall
in
to enter-
money
do
to
its
among
state to
the
members
of society.
circulation,
It is therefore
promote the
and
remove
hindrances which
might obstruct the same (22). In case, however, for whatever cause, the circulating sum of
money
is
The work
[Verrichtung] of
wares,
which
If
it is
possible for a
same confidence,
is
that, as
money represented
Justi,
the wares,
these signs represent the money, these arbitrary signs will then accom
This
S40
plish the
THE CAMERALISTS
work of money, and
will temporarily
make up completely
No
may
If
credit,
Only a few individual citizens in a state and those who have both have not
much in
Where
may
means
of individuals
formed, each
member
in
of which
any event
The commercial
commerce (24). Through export to foreigners and import from foreigners the commercial nations become reciprocal debtors. The discharge of these debts with ready money would be expensive, through the carriage of the money to the place of payment, and also dangerous; the money in carriage would be a considerable time unused, and the business of commerce would be plunged into tedious straggling [Weitto the extension of
Idufigkeit].
It is possible to
avoid these
difficulties in
whole or in
it
p&n,
if
a state
its
exchanges
its
dis-
charges
rise
which to be sure
is
only a
is
commerce, and
in addition fur-
same
(25).
all
cabinets
commerce
must expect
commerce
is
whose
territory the
commerce
whenever
it
runs
It is
and
at favorable opportunities,
by means of negotiation, to
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
rivals.
541
Commercial
treaties
itself
and
relatively
affairs
conduces to
to others
plumb line in the hands of the state to show where and in what parts commerce requires special aid (27). From the foregoing merely general concepts we see how numerous and far reaching are the knowledge, purposes, combinations, and plans which must be made the basis of advantageous commerce; and the necessity of controlling this important business through the
combined
for the
is
insight of capable
The name
in itself is
a matter of indifference,
its
activity every-
commerce
(28).
features of the
main argument
in this
CHAPTER XXI
THE CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS ("HANDLUNG UND FINANZ")
In two or three particulars more direct light
is
focused
on factors of
i
firstrate
and ii of Sonnenfels' second volume, than by an equal portion any of the works thus far reviewed. In the first place a relatively minor matter of methodology deserves passing remark. Chap, i, on rural management, occupies ii6 pages, and chap, ii, on manufactures, 157 pages: a total of 273 out of the 564 pages in the body of the book. Attention is called to this division as a commentary on the lack of precision in the title Handlung which for reasons stated
of
It
must be
ii
of chap,
domestic, so that
commerce
Nor
is
the
mere proportion
It
remains
true,
classification of material
tremely uncritical.
it
from a book of
To what
German
set
sorts
Vide above,
542
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
$43
volume.
We
to
do merely
in the
appeared
With these qualifications, we may state positively, third, that one must be disqualified by invincible prejudice if candid study of this book did not arouse a certain degree of admiration for the comprehensiveness, and prudent attention to details,
involved in the ideals of cameralism.
By comparison
outlined,
with
democracy and
best
its
Withthe
''government," "people,"
these
etc.,
was an assumption of a community pictured as a great landed estate, 'which was such a unity that every part and member had to be considered as having an importance for the whole, and the task of the administration of the whole was to see that nothing was neglected
working resultant of
all
other things
which we judge
to
of competition
more highly
Suppose a
modem
544
THE CAMERALISTS
political
philosophy of cameralism.
He
He
has
drawn
a wonderfully farsighted
and
that people
must learn
to provide for, in
life.
some way or
other,
make
the most of
It is difficult to
show
way
employed
in the argument.
science did
much
of the
schoolmen
in
tallied
with any
of
knowledge
recognized
modem
classifications.
Especially must
we
and problems
of
pure eco-
The
latter
we
we construe them
as theorems
The
to
in
last
proposition
is
in
examine the concept Landwirthschaft (chap. i). Neither England nor in America does anything exist today which
Let us render
as
it
we have
in previous cases,
"rural management."
The term
it
for
is
Americans
to to
keep
in
mind.
The whole
the right
national territory
presumed
and
it
is
and duty
of the
government
to see
is thriftily
cultivated.
The
occu-
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
pants of the
is
545
it
soil
the right
and duty
the government
to dispose of their
it
labor-ability so as to
make
is
modern
factory to organize
company.
That
is,
"rural
management" connoted
to
way
virtually
unknown
Our Department
of Agriculture, our
Geological
and experiment
rest
and
partial approxi-
upon a
and
unlike
much
management"
included.
On
the other hand, this phrase did not include the special
Both
following r^sum^.
Sec. 30 begins with betrayal of the complexity of the classification
He
says:
Rural management
provides means of
life;
added
is
kingdom."
and "only
which
it
is
The
stand-
546
THE CAMERALISTS
is
further indicated
(30 by ^^6
management
commerce."
is
specifications:
state, the perfection of rural
demands
of subsistence [Unterhalis]
and of
it
note adds:
"From
the best combination of the largest yield with the least expenditure"
[Vorauslage].
This
I,
result will
have to be sought:
II,
by
by
use of
and the
The many
in furtherance.
seems
to start
it
upon
is
done
tion.
distinc-
The
first
is
sentence reads:
either private property, or the
The
earth
of the state.'
The dictum
In order to
follows that:
full
make
have
first
and second
The word is Erdreich. We might of course render it "land," but this would immediately force upon it an interpretation as equivalent
to that term in
its later
technical sense.
Our
version
is
chosen to avoid
that anachronism
and
"
Das Erdreich
Staates."
the fact
ist entweder Privateigenthum oder Vermogen des This juxtaposition of Eigenihum and Vermdgen brings out previously noted, that the two terms are sometimes used inter-
changeably, and sometimes with an approach to respect for their etymological distinctions.
usage.
is
The
result
is
uncritical
and
fallacious
German
It
two words.
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
Lack of means
sides (^ss)
;
547
for rural
or of the
particular
The former
first,
condition
unavoidable circumstances as
tempo-
rary embarrassment.
Each of
lic
is
attention.
Means
not scattered over the land, and the garden plots are to be located
bams
to
be separated
etc., in
may
fire
be the
minimum danit.
with the
maximum
facility of controlling
Districts
insurance;
proprietors
should be
made
must be
assisted either
is
by the
customary,
e.,
lumber, building
gratuitously,
must be furnished
state.
a position to do
this, it
soil,
The
alternative
is sterilization
of the
To remedy
these conditions
is
more
conse-
public
To
(36),
price of salt,
it
and the causes of the diseases should be investigated.' The and provision that farmers shall have easy access to
and should be
carefully looked
fire
to
by the
state.
or war,
the cultivator
to raise his
must be helped either by the proprietor or the state crops the following year. The state must take measures
terms in case of loans by individ-
Vienna
At
first
attention
was
later
extended to
548
uals (37).
THE CAMERALISTS
In case an individual proprietor
is
danger of suffering
of
its
dues.
There
is
therefore no reason
why
have the right to require th^t the proprietor should permit others
to cultivate the land
on shares, or
to
purchase
it.
The
very circum-
may make such purchaser or farmer hard to find. The flocking of persons of means to the cities leaves the cultivation of the soil to an
stances which have caused the embarrassment of the proprietor
inferior class of people.
is
may
not be comj)elled to
uncultivated, not
make
Land
is
often
nent but the temporary poverty of the possessor (39). It is an unpardonable mistake of the law-making power to aggravate this
helplessness by exaction of the usual dues.
The
proprietor
who
have
fall
amount.
seek to prevent excessive debt by setting a limit to
Laws should
the
amount which may be borrowed (40). An exception should be made in case the loan is necessary for actual cultivation of the land, and the conditions of loans for that purpose should be made especially favorable, and should be under the oversight of the proper
officials.
whom
A
arable
it
is
afforded
by the dues
land
That
is,
every piece of
should
if
be
would
yield
properly cultivated.
Thus
the
occupant
will
him no crop, while the industrious cultivator receives as it The word Oekonomieau/seher is used later in the section apparently
management.
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNExNFELS
were a reward
rate of yield.
If these
549
on a medium
cultivation,
sufficient to secure
it is
good
third remains.
(43), viz.
:
not
if
three years, unless the proprietor can offer to the supervisors an ade-
quate excuse,
it
one who
will cultivate
which the
state has
upon the
proportional
contribution
The
forfeiture here
The
security of property
viz., in
The
(44).
its
ground
the
and
its fruits
The
and
prince
and of the private owners, may be regarded as the chief causes and the multitude of idle days may be added.
its
will
always
evil (45).'
made
against
own advantage,
right
The
which
is
and imprescriptible
rights
Where
1
literal and parThat is, the concept in the author's mind seems to have been a blur of the two notions, land tenure and constitution in something approaching the modern sense.
effect of
tially
a derived meaning.
This
is
"It
is
more
liberal at the
Vide above,
p. 485.
550
THE CAMERALISTS
do wisely when they
Instead
negligent
is
The
is
refuses to
transfer.
The thrifty one is discouraged and make improvements which would give occasion for another
Since this right has such great influence upon the condition
in general,
of rural
management
to the peasants
at least,
and
The
evictions [Abstijtungen]
to
which the
officials are
sometimes
emiwwercd
make must
one-sided procedure.
their
Even
the
hands bound
in this respect;
the private
owners.
The
life, if all
tiller
work only hard enough to maintain is taken from him by landlord and
proves
government (47).
there
is
Experience
how
is
little
statesmanship
in the proposition,
"The
peasant
he
is
miserable."
Sees.
inflict
48 and 49
recite
some
on cultivators of the
soil,
effect
of these hardships
upon
cultivation in general.
that the restrictions which the laws ostensibly put on these rights arc
always ineffective
ers are
in practice.
The
awarded by the parties who inflict the losses, and consequently do not compensate the loser, while it is impossible to repair
'
The
note continues:
'Is
it
note (p. 55) sf>caks of "Die okon. Gesellschafl zu Petersburg." "The organization in 1765 offered a prize on this
to the
subject:
Docs this question do credit to a government ? to our century ? to mankind ? The better solutions are the monograph which received the prize, under the title, La FelicilS puhlique and another by Ucardc de i'Abbayc. Meritorious also were those of Woclnor, Mark, Ocdcr, and Merkel."
jxjssess property ?
'
CAMERALISTICS
the
01-
SONNKNFELS
551
damage done
The game
An
ordinance of
Joseph
II,
is
many
The
depressing influence of
is
fast
agriculture
and complaint
is
made
that
a day, after protracted rain, to make sure of the crop for which they
no such
Justi.
bitterness
is
frequently exhibited by
Thus he
is
says:
"The more
incentives to labor
The
tribute [Entrichtung] to
to lay
which he
is
bound;
by something
in case of
The
products of the
all
soil
must not
fall
below
three motives
may
be satisfied.
a certain extent opposed to those of other kinds of business [HandIf the price of agricultural products is high, the
rise,
lungsgeschUfte].
price of every
is lost.
is
to his
advantage
produce'
less,
because from
half the crop He can then receive a like time, seed, etc.
where
or merely numerically."
continued in 51:
"In
its
medium
is
namely, which
and
534.
552
THE CAMERALISTS
management may
it is
This sharing
advan-
also necessary.
The
state is
under obliga-
tions to observe
Where
and the
real
may
in the
degree
which the wants either rise in price, or otherwise, as through the prosperity of commerce, the prosperity of the working class, and
with the same the number of their wants increases
find
enough
priced or the
or, in the other case, his condition would be more unfortunate than that of the other working The peasant class would consequently be abandoned, classes. because it would be eager to improve its lot by going over to the other Those that would remain in the class would be without classes. means, or would avenge themselves by indolence for the unrighteous-
at least relatively
ness of society."
The
conclusion
is
drawn
in 52:
"It
is
consequently necessary
the
to assure to land
management through
medium price its share of the gains of commerce. of the medium price cannot occur through the
the reciprocal agreements of purchasers
place,
if
and
sellers in the
market
no hindrances are otherwise placed in the way of the freedom of these compacts.' If the varying market price of several ordinary years is compared, and the average reckoned, this will be
'
The word
is
in J 50
it
taken to market.
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
taken as the numerical mean, which
stances."
Still further, in
is
553
an elementary statement of
demand side of price, with the corollary that "the state must see that the number of sellers is not too great, and also that a proportional number of customers for agricultural products may be assured." In 54 natural variations of demand and supply are further discussed
the
in contrast with forced variations,
e. g.,
peasants to pay
is
The
The
"The
The
several reasons.
In the
first
over against
component elements
of the nation.
they consistently presume that the state can and must regulate
prices.
show the
make an
impression.
much
in
is
Sec. 55 analyzes demand into that of national and that of foreign consumers. As to the former^ it is not enough that there should be.
e.,
a large population;
note
it is
at the
that
by
names Michaelmas (September 29) as the time shown payment of agricultural taxes.
554
this
THE CAMERALISTS
population shall be distributed so that local
shall at
be balanced.
control prices
sellers at another.
The former
situation tends to
Hence disproportionate flocking of people to main cause of the decline of agriculture (56). Those states therefore are most prosperous in this respect which have numerous provincial cities in which the landed gentry reside. Here manufactures will also spring up, and become middle points
ruin
chief cities
the
money
will circulate
uniformly in
by forbidding the
to leave
government permanently
almsthe
number
of cloisters,
etc.
From
is
the inference
that both
and
if artificial
of the market.
at the present
(58).'
Hope
all
farmer to cultivate
and
give
him courage
for
better cultivation.
This hope
will
and about
writers
among
times, states,
and
On
and
places.
the effect of
must be
to assure a
remunerative
sumption.
This combination
is
which
'
is
The number
(German)
Siiss-
is
comparison with
and Vauban's
of 2,361.
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
an accepted mean.
sion:
555
such and
rests
on the prin-
mean
price
is
(60).
infallibly
and immediately
informed of
by the advancing
price.
mean
Theredpon the price falls. The and therewith freedom of export are restored. "England began in 1689 to furnish the other nations an illusprice
tration that
All the
more must
assist the
the law-giver
merchants by
premiums on
These
and
technological,
for
the
is
following
half-century.
The
of
of
minor importance
analyzed
affords
cumulative evidence,
however,
the
minuteness
with
which cameralism
elements of
national prudence.
The immediately
uncultivated.
Sees.
lems of utilizing lands that for various reasons arc wholly or partially
in
connection
and other classes; discouragement of luxury; numbers of the servant class; the loss of labor
"Die Oekonomisten,
occurs in a note to 56i.
ein
*A
Zweig
556
THE CAMERALISTS
settlements prosperous;
new
swamps, the construction of dykes and protection of the same. Sees. 80-107 elaborate the following proposition: "In order that the earth may be used to the best purclearing of forests, the draining of
it
is
necessary:
and
of agricul-
11, that
which
clause
is devoted to other
The
first
is
the introduction
and means
among
the
The second clause deals chiefly with hardships that come from the methods of concentrating or dividing the land, from
the taxing system, or from survivals of feudal
liabilities.
On
the
first
subject
it is
on a large
scale,
and assume
In this part of the book the following are referred to: "Wiegand,
is
given;
"Arthur says: ". in j-jj 4 his Political Arithmetic, .... was soon Other references are: translated into several foreign languages." Nickols, Avant el DefavatU, de la France, etc., ^dit nouvelle d'Amst.; Principes de la legislation universelle, author not named, but cited as representing "die franzosischen Oekonomisten;" Arbulhnot, Sur ViUiliti des grandes Fermes el des riches Fermiers, traduit par Freville; Trait6 politiqtte et oeconomique sur les communes, ou observation sur I' agriculture, sur I'origiru, la destination et Vital actuel des biens et communes, etc.; Getting, Prcisschrift in dem hanoverischen Magazin, p. 764; Peningthon, Rffiexions sur les avantages qui resultent du portage des communes pour Hre diifraichis et mis en clos; Schlettwein in dem hanov. Magazin, 704.
Politische Arithmetik;"
.
.
"Young, Young,"
Ingram,
in
Enc.
Brit., title
For instance,
"An
common
These
societies
among
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
as certain that
it
557
is
is
same
effect.
The
third clause
is
meadows, common pastures, is the loser: and tracts reserved for beauty. Chap, ii, on manufactures, begins with the definition: "Manufactures, in the most extended and literal sense, are all occupations which give a new form to any stuff whatsoever." Millers, bakers, and all similar workers are expressly included in the class of manufaturers. More specifically, manufacwhich agriculture
turers are those species of artisans
who make a
all
stock, or so-
Manufacture
are
it
is
the correlation of
which
demanded
in
order to
make a ware
is
complete, that
to
marketable.
The manufacturer
make who
The purpose
vidual manufacturer,
to provide support
and
management does
continues:
not employ.
The paragraph
From
mean
to
and of
The
amount advanced
'
manufactures
is
The
it
was
It
and
did
later,
"one who
is
to wealth."
about
SS^
THE CAMERALISTS
the class of manufacturers, "the
The
essential thing
from within,
is
This
They themselves
really originate
[erzielen]
nothing;
would have
little
or no use.
Worked
an extent that
text continues:
The
of
life,
culti-
They
arti-
even occasion a
product
For, although,
into products of the soil [Erdreich], yet in the case of wares disposed
head, but
is
Hen] or
More than that, when the Genevan clock-maker constructs of brass and steel worth perhaps two gulden a clock which he sells abroad for thirty gulden, and then
in
in
is
exchange
gulden imports
fifteen
measures of grain,
a farmer
who has
On
the other
is
"A
He
sells
it
for 2,000.
The
gain
of 500
is
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
surrounded by states that are devoted to agriculture,
will find
its
559
surplus
and because there is no prospect of disposing of it no surplus will be raised. But a silk factory is established. The laborers engaged in it consume the produce of the field. The silks
no
sale,
are
it
exported.
The
state
receives
in
it
Is
original
and so a growth
Sec.
economy
In
is
enlarged and
tion,
made more permanent. The general mass of occupahowever, gains only when artisan labor is a means of multiplyThose manufactures accordingly
is
deserve the
in
first
either actually
this
trouble.
Without observing
and conse-
it
raw
stuff.
by favor
[bittweise], that
only so long
come
affirmative or
it
negative.
sesses:
if,
The
affirmative
is
pos-
one thousand of the citizens emigrate, or a halfmillion capital flows out without compensation. The negative is failure to realize the growth which is within the power of the nation: if, for example, the foreign trade is conducted with foreign carriage, whereby
for example,
In the calcula-
That
is,
commerce, gains not made are entered on the debit side. what might have been gained and was not is reckoned as a loss."
560
THE CAMERALISTS
is
work
it
up
itself,
or
it
is
by another nation, or
for
makes
some reason or other the supplying nation more difficult, or finally for political
that
In the former case, to be sure, the state will enjoy only a moderate
it
will
its
itself
on that
level.
In
In such circumstances
is,
That
many people lose their occupation. sum of money which they preit
Since
is
the laborers
who have
in
lost their
employment
will
be reduced
to the
find themselves
living.
compelled to emigrate
will not follow
number
The
would he
difficult to
and a very general description must suffice. It must be said with emphasis that this chapter would repay study today. The men who arc engaged in callings which apply this sort of knowledge usually prefer to get their information by doing
ter,
the thing
itself,
demands
into
in this
legislation.
The programmes
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
of
561
to impress
them as
likely to
life.
The
fact is that
effectively
how
to co-operate as
on the basis
fundamental conceptions, as
of the eighteenth century
American democracy
of their interests
These benevolent
much
comof
end enabled
states to
On
and
we
security of
much
that the
German
any
paternalistic
system
secured.
Without
surrendering
principle
may
German
it
quasi-absolutistic adminis-
from
of individualism has
caused us to
and
greatly to our
own
hurt.
The remainder
these
lines:
an analysis along
in proportion to the
it
amount
handles becomes
its
in
use (iia).
means
at
of the great
to the
would be
bottom
good
and
variety.
Shortsighted
would not
in the
end make
562
foreign purchases
THE CAMERALISTS
more
desirable,
the
amount of
home
occupation (114).
In order to be able to
wares of a poor
a position to
must be
in
and
it
The
conjunction of the above conditions alone can insure to manufactured articles those qualities which will multiply their sale (115).
profits,
it
is
attractive
enough
for
named, not only affirmative means are necessary, but also negative, i. e., removal of all hindrances to industry and zeal, e. g., monopolies,
exclusive societies, special privileges, manufactures supported by
and disproportionate
in
levies
upon a
call
manufacture.
order will
may
manufactures (116-32).'
word Zusammenfluss defies translation. Collating all the passages in which it occurs one would decide that the concept which the author generally associated with it was "concurrence of all the conditions necessary to insure the four qualities of manufactured goods enumerated above." In certain cases it is plainly used in the
Throughout
this discussion the
sellers,
or laborers,
it
may
he.
In other passages
in
means
others
itself;
it
apparently
While containing no distinctly new view, these sections show decided advance in maturity over Becher's treatment of Monopolium and Propolium.
ff.
discussion
that the
maximum powers
very
" Sur
les
compagnics
et
les
maitrises
de I'Anglois.
Chinki
histoire
Chochin
chinoise, p. Coyer."
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
chief reference seems to be to the idea of a confluence of
563
manu-
facturing enterprise into channels that would provide a sufficient supply of goods.
is
If the hindrances
and
its
perfection of manufactures.
Each
we have
will not
from a multitude
is
necessary,
and
it
commerce
(133).
still
Thereupon
more
intensive analysis
is
undertaken of
set apart
and
of the conditions
Sees.
134-68 might be
169-82
under the
title,
Manufactured
might
be
entitled,
the Quality of
Manufactured
Goods." Under the corresponding title, "The Elements Which Enter into the Beauty of Manufactured Goods," we should mark ofif a briefer passage, 183, 184. In a general way an appropriate designation for the remainder of the chapter
(185-202)
would
be,
Variety of Goods."
The
on the
side, of
as the case
may
its
principal significance.
conduct
will
conduce
to the largest
consuming
number of people, and so to the strength of the The passage cannot be dismissed without
state ?"
certain
minor
564
observations.
THE CAMERALISTS
Thus, the discussion of the terms "cheap"
[wohlfeil], "price,"
and "value"
reflects
Adam
Smith.'
The
The
his
wares
comprises the
sum
made up
is
The
elements of price
emphasis are:
buildings, lumber,
and
all
other
common
purchase of
and export
on the
wares requiring
foreign purchases,
and
The
trated
The
spirit of the
whole
may
be
illus-
Not even
province
is it
in the
to another province.
For
this
origin
who
to give the
manufacturer
only can the
Then
it
As evidence we may quote the note to 135, viz.: "Die OekonoDas Maass des Bodens welches in dor
Diescr Begriff,
ist
eben so undcutlich,
als
tragt
seyn.
mehr: also wiirde die namliche Sache von verschiedenem Werthe Der Vcrfasser des Worts (Works ?) Essai sur U commerce en
I,
giniral, Part
bei,
chap,
i,
setzl
dem Maasse
sisch ausdriickt."
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
same time for raw material,
. .
565
constraint
production,
(141)-
suffers
The effect upon cost of raw material of duties on imports and exports is discussed at considerable length. Again, the effect of numerous holidays upon the price of manufactured goods is analyzed, and on the ground of the advantage of the state, the term in this case meaning the necessary material prosperity of all classes, the advisability of reducing the number
is
situations in
which scarcity
the classical
it
Adam
borrows
manufacture.
Smith
is
and no indication appears that Sonnenfels had discovered in him any radical importance. The inventiveness of manufacturers, turned to construction of machinery which saves labor
and diminishes
this
is
In
illus-
connection a qualification
in
mind and
For the
state,
is
merely a sec-
paramount pur-
Everywhere, therefore,
to
Book
I,
chap.
i.
566
THE CAMERALISTS
whose place would be
taken by machines could not be utilized for other labor, the introduction of
commerce
of
any con-
sequence.
of
The same consideration is to be kept in view in the case agriculture. The introduction of agricultural machinery would
is
diminish the class of rural folk, and for the state nothing
able as to see this class as
so desir-
numerous as
possible.
appears (157). Referring to "the almost universal assumption that customs dues are to be
tion to the
effect
same
of
the public
revenues,"
mount purpose of commerce it is necessary to criticize this theorem. As certain as it is that the revenues of the state must cover the expenditures, so certain is it also that inappropriate means may be selected for raising these revenues. Those objects then will be inappropriate
in
is
which the
first
purpose of the
state, viz., to
in
which case what may be gained on the one side may be more than
on the other, and
in
lost
which,
of the
money revenues
if
is
sums are
is
collected the
main purpose
not promoted; or
to
this
purpose
have
may
be
proved
customs [Miiuthe].^
is
The argument
to diminish the
continued in 158-65.
The claim
is
They
The author
refers to his
in the tenth
volume of
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
effect.
567
An
and so
at
price,
whose
through the loss of land management demand, and through the harm to industry
in the
same degree
lessened.
On
commerce noted
Speaking of the
above, a passage
242)
is
a commentary.
if it
which
it,
more than
foreign
trade extends
Sonnenfels says:
in the last analysis possesses
state
which
only an economic
its
is
mode
of
life
whose trade
based upon
own
of the state.
qualities of
goods to
The custom
of
of requiring of
young
artisans a certain
number
own
locality
had been
author,
to vagrancy.
The
Only
the
most
and
According
to their
branch
to the
way
the emigrations
would be
In continuing the subject of the effect of the quality of products Sonnenfels cites (note to 176) Savary, Dictionaire du Commerce, " Rfeglement," and Justi, Abhandlung von Manu/acturen,
on
price,
T. IV,
art.
Fabriken Reglements.
568
THE CAMERALISTS
little
to Meisterrecht,
and particularly
title
to Manufacliirregletnent, die
Meisterschaften.
The
autlior's
name
is
not
The
named.
The
may
be
answered
later,
of skilled laborers
Tudor, T. Ill,
is
Henry VH,
sans,
instigated
mostly
French,
still
England with
'
chapter are as follows: "In den Briefen memory, p. 273; in a note on p. 279 the author remarks: "Die Errichtung der Manufacturhauser ist vor Justi schon von Bodcn in seiner fUrstUchen Machlkunst, von Schrodern in seiner Jurstlichen Schaiz- und Renlkammer, u. a. m., als ein niitzliches Mittel angcpricsen wordcn;" then follows reference to Justi's monograph, Von Maniifacluren und Fabriken. Justi is blamed for giving Schroder an empty compliment for proposing that manufactures should be assisted by a scheme of landesfiirstlichen Wechsel, an impracticable notion, in Sonnenfels' opinion. Fortbonais, Elem. du Com., chap, iii, reappears, p. 283, and, in the same note, Hume, Polit. Essays 0/ the Balance 0/ Trade (sic); aUe Physiokraten are referred to at the same point, the
Further references
(Ics
La
Rcimarus, HandlungsgrundsiUze,
is
named without
283) contains
same page
(p.
"England, France, even Holland, has prohibitions of imports, and what amounts to the same thing, high
viz.,
When
therefore
many a
writer confidently
asserts
commerce flourishes most in stales where universal freedom of trade rules, we are justilicl in dcman<ling that these states shall be specified;" and finally (p. 2(/^), Nickols; vide above, p. 556.
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
569
In the
We
pass to chap,
iii,
"On
Foreign Commerce."
On
the
whole, he
is
inclined to
assume that
artificial restrictions of
than good.
entirely
of population.
and technical
that
germane
to
our purpose.
speculation
A
is
leading
theorem
is
that,
"The ground
(p.
of
knowledge
of foreign countries"
205).
The
author's
at this point
who
is
based
upon commercial interests. The diplomatic and consular representatives, as so long and well understood in Germany, and so tardily practiced in America,
are distinctly set forth.
this subject
than as a eulogist of
German
England especially has selected as ambassadors men of fundasuch were "rft'e Kecne,
Turkey,
and France.'
'
bibliographical item
is
to
be noted.
Sec. 221
clusion:
"Summing up
both sides,
and
markets
in themselves are
note adds:
mens de deux Indes, T. IV. Der Verfasser fiihrt die Erfindung der Messen zu dem 7ten Jahrhundert zuriick: als durch die Einfalle der
570
THE CAMERALISTS
drift of the
The
chapter
of
Instead of grant-
to the
same occupation.
The
him who,
with certain resources, passes from another stratum into the ranks
of the merchants.
On
among
the distinguished.
The
must be extended
The
standpoint of chap,
iv,
"On
Colonies"
may be
indiviz.:
of promoting
ing navigation.
A
viz.:
fundamental presumption
is
The mother
use
itself
state
will
will either
And
in general,
in Gallien die
gehemmet ward.
den Art. Foire
Handlung durch ungeheure, und Die erste Messe war zu St. Denys
welche Target
worden.
S.
in der Encyclopedie,
zum
'
Vcrfasser hat."
The
"Die
Viele aus
von diesem Anerbieten Gebrauch, und fiihren dann auch geadelt den
Handel immer fort. Die Erhebung in den Freyherren, und nachher in den Grafenstand, und die Stelle eines K. K. Hofraths hielt H. Fries nicht ab, seine Geschafte mit eben demselben Eifer fortzusetzen, ais cr
vorher gethan hat."
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
be
571
made between
foreigners
and the
latter.
to secure the
a question arises between the state and the colonies, the state appropriates the
complete
That
is,
On
is
must consent
Thence
its
gets
wants
in the
most
the
increases occupation at
home through
all
consumption of the
since the
colonists.
the greater
home government
and can
exclude
all rivals
shows that he is by no means in sympathy with the policy which he faithfully analyzes. He says (228):
fels
in
colonies:
principles of
armed power,
against
nations
When
the English,
who
own
treat with
of the world,
when
name
of
they
nevertheless
in in
the
eyes
mankind
the
honorable
[achtungswiirdig] nation
right
seem almost
possession
.... But
colonics,
the
efforts
of
rival
and the confluence of favoring conditions, will sooner or but certainly, some time remove them, and will put an end to
their dependence.
572
THE CAMERALISTS
note comments:
in the
America converts
it
into a prophecy.
place,
we may note
its
bibliographical citations.'
In the second place, we must recognize the continued attentive elaboration of administrative detail.
The chapter
con-
tains hardly
more than
all
titles of
with in securing
of internal
means
it
or as a catalogue of items to be kept in view by the state, a notable reflection of the cameralistic
to be dealt with
spirit.
The
details
all
by government under
this
head are
con-
sidered as
"means
ment and control of carriers, the provision and regulation of inns, stables, and storehouses for the men, animals, and goods
engaged in transportation, to maintenance
the repairs incidental to land
of the various trades,
Substantially the
same
all
In the
first
Viz.:
first,
referring to Cromwell's
note remarks
(p.
351):
"Navigation Act" of 1651, a "Ich kenne nur den Verfasser der Handlungsder Lander, etc., 13, welcher gegen
Aufnahme
wahren Vortheil
p.
dieser
On
356 the following occurs: " Das Werk von Bergier, Histoire des grands chemins d' Empire, ist alien unentbehrlich, die diesen Theil der Verwaltung zu besorgen haben.
Stadtstrassen aus
Gautier,
ist
der
Wege und
dem
p.
Franz.,
barkcit."
Again,
358:
"Sur
les
Sammlung
Ami
On
p.
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
573
must be noted.
In general it may be observed that dependence upon Forbonnais becomes more evident from this point. On p. 367 is this note: "Es kann meine Absicht nicht seyn, von der Marine anders zu handeln, als nach der allgemeinen Verbindung derselben mit der politischen Handlung. Um wenigstens sich nur einen Begriff derselben zu machen, wird La Science de la Marine par Villeneuve, und das Dictionaire de la Marine
zureichen."
On admiralty
Spanische
law, the author remarks (p. 375): " Die Quellen dieser
Sammlung
Sammlung von
dem Namen
consolato del
Mare bekannt, das wisbysche Wasser- und Seerechtsbuch, die oleronischen und hanseatischen Seerechte, die liibekischen Seerechte, von denen Stein eine Abhandlung entworfen hat; die englische Akte; die ordonnance de la marine von Ludwig dem XIV. Hierzu sind die Vertrage, und das Seeherkommen zu rechnen: von welchen in dem fiir die innerOsterreichische Sehiffahrt entworfenem Editto Marino einige Anwendung gemacht ist." A sentence or two before this passage,
Sonnenfels refers to Curland, Grundsdtze des europdischen Seerechts,
and
this
communication, a note
in 3 lateinischen
setzt.
I,
Prisca;
media aevi;
III,
gemacht worden.
vom
H. Maire
tiber die
du commerce,
etc.,
erklart
kann
werden und die Entwiirfe zeigen: wie vorerblandischen Provinzen unter sich ver-
theilhaft die
Handlung
aller
chiefly
marine insurance
passim).
the only
whom
Forbonnais
(p. 394, et
is
In chap,
viii
(ix),
on "Money,"
Justi
574
THE CAMERALISTS
was
shifting
it.
It
He
ists.
ing of the state which had been ultimate with the other cameral-
He
returns frequently to
state
some
detect
an infusion of more
typi-
On
p.
a note
verderbten
Munzwesens
ist
in Deutschland,
und
Mittel dagegen):
Vorschlag
"Dieser Miinzenbenennungen
525)
zu ihrem Ursprunge."
Schriftsteller
In a previous note
(p.
he says:
"Die
sie
haben
iib^r diesen
Gegenstand so
viele
daher,
Zum
2te.
prak-
Munzwesens gehoren."
le
commerce,
et
Aufl.;
finances
le
commerce, and
to
II. Tom., chap, ix, "De la circulation." on "The Circulation of Money," there is a reference "Montesq., Esprit des loix, Liv. 22, "Principes sur le commerce;"
to
Hume, E^say
Theorie b" pratique du commerce, Cap. Ill am Ende; Vol. Ill, p. 150, has the reference: " Ustarilz, Consider, sur les financ {sic) d'E^pagne;"
viz.,
"X. Band meiner gesammelten Schriften: Abhandlung von der Ursache der Theurung in grossen Stddten und dem Mittel, ihr abzuhel/en;" on p. 494 Hume is quoted again as authority
for the statement that although during the minority of
Edward (VI
?)
interest
tally
was prohibited
we may
England, the rate was 14 per cent. (Incidennote that Sonnenfels uses "die Interessen" interchangeably
in
Raynal
is
Middle Ages.
The
and
Justinian
five
Code
is
pages
CAMERALTSTICS OF SONNENFELS
cally political standpoint,
575
and which was, consciously or unconsciously, the animus of theSmithian political economy. Although
Sonnenfels had only in the faintest degree begun to generalize
economic problems
in the
volume
was distinctly an approximation to the Smithian method. For various reasons, Vol. Ill, Finanzwissenschaft, must be much more summarily treated than the other two. A few
of
its
and
later
this
may be done
to
in the
form
of disconnected notes.
politiques."
interest,
On
p.
508,
referring
a note begins:
worden."
Then
"In der Sammlung von politischen Abhandlungen, die in V Banden 1750 zu Amsterdam bei Schenchzern erschien, sind die verschiedenen fiir und wider die Interesseherabsitzung in dem Parlemente gehaltenen
Reden, aufbehalten,
am
dem
Titel:
Betrachtung
sind.
und Handlung
gesammelt
Auch
eine eigene
und mit
an
vieler
Abhandlung
iiber die
gesetzmdssige Zinsherabfor
illustration
On
p. 519,
"Dio Kassius"
is
drawn upon
interest,
of the effect of a
and
at the
of the Balance of
to (p. 520).
"Trading Companies," Raynal, "Hist, polit. et Philos., etc.," is again used as a source; in chap, xii, on "Exchange," Fortbonais, chap, viii, again appears to be the author's point of departure, and Dutot {op. cit.) is once more named. Siegel,- Einleitung turn Wechselrechte, and the same author's "Corpus juris cambialis, welches Herr Usal fortgesetzt hat," are listed at the end of the chapter. Chap, xiii, on " Commercial Treaties,"
mentions "die kleine Schrift Les avantages que
de son malheur."
le
Portugal pourroit
tirer
on "The Balance of Trade," quotes Hume "in dem Versuch iiber die Handlungsbilanz." At the same time it is asserted that "die Physiokraten halten die Berechnung der Bilanz fiir iiberfliissig." The volume closes with the note: "S. X. Band meiner gesammelten Schriften Abhand. von der Mauth."
Chap,
xix,
576
THE CAMERALISTS
title-page
is
The
first
two volumes
Berthume, due de
Sully,
first
those those
among the numerous writers on the subject, viz., first, who have exaggerated their systems into Utopias; second, who have tried to reduce policies of oppressive exploitaan
art.
tion to
These
latter talk
up the game
hunter
in
order to feed on
its
is
honor of standing
These have to reckon with the ruler, and challenge every expenditure which exceeds reasonable needs.
people [des Volkes].
to
who correspond
That
is,
to the
he
knew nothing
of the
but
fill
their
thrift.
who
According to
name "cameralconsidering.
it
him
from the
series of writers
whom we are
As between
He
Vide
p.
548.
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
write principles of finance, not a finance encyclopaedia;
577
and
In this
last respect
he gives
much.
difficulty of
making any
to rulers.
his
and he wanted
The
viz.:
have referred
in this as well
and second parts, I have this to say: that my intention in such references was not to furnish a literary encyclopaedia. The reader or student does not want a mere list of writings, brought together from catalogues and unreliable journals, without selection
and very often without knowledge. He wishes to get acquainted with good writings, from which he may extend the principles which he has gained, and in which he may find further information about this or that subject. With this purpose alone in view I have listed books, and none others than those which I have myself read and of
which
I
will
first
two
volumes, that they appear to have been drawn more from observation than from previous writers.
Whether
it
is
a virtue or
all
the books cited in the parts already discussed. part the citations are
In this third
more
frequent,
now
before us
is
S78
THE CAMERALISTS
upon
the issues which were then seething
Europe.
Nowhere
mental
issue,
definition than in
taxation.
Preface to this
fifth
was dissolved. Reduced to the concrete, the Revolution was an assertion that taxes should thereafter leave Frenchmen a living. The Revolution told the rest of Europe that the battle could be won. In this academic book one feels the tug of the vested interests upon the earnings of the masses, but what is better, one feels the force of a moral judgment that the masses must not be sacrificed to institutions. There is no assertion of a new social principle There is, however, assertion that old social principles here. must be applied with changed emphasis. So understood the book is a vivid document of political reconstruction.
the Assembly of Notables at Versailles
On
p. 2
finance, viz.:
The more
necessary
is it,
which
nmy
he most
advantageously raised.
These
of finance [Finanzwissenschaft].
The
follows:
may be summarized
as
In the
first
place,
we may reduce
first,
ing
comparing the former with the latter, discovery of the proportion of the resources which it will be necessary to use in order
to cover the needs;
and
col-
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
lecting the revenues.
579
Without attempting
to reproduce the
we
two
all
note,
first,
classes, viz.
the mediate
The former
from
crown
all
common property of the citizens rights, etc. The second class includes
As an
expenses of the
means
of
Then
The
finds
sition, viz.:
all
circum-
verbal variation
is
WoM
noncomedition,
first
Of course it would be absurd to rest an important conclusion upon a single phrase. It is hardly probable that Sonnenfels was distinctly aware of meaning anything different by this
phrase from the ideas conventionally associated with the terms
in
more frequent
use.
diflference
civilization
die Biirger.
an
after consideration.
The
latter
580
THE CAMERALISTS
is
composed
to
of the individuals
the state.
less
Even conceding
Sonnenfels consciously
it
meant
by substitution
of the
means
made
the substitution
may
legitimately
and
real.
of current opinion.
place.
The state as a self-existent entity was becoming The individual was becoming relatively both more
real
to another
is significant, viz.:
The
[Actnsigkcit],
under which
latter
everything
is
included
which
a state.
to
and so as
There
taxation.
remove most
of its proper
facts.
meaning, before
it
could
in the
of exemptions
from
and scholars
these classes
second,
general designation,
protection of
and the consequent advantages from the the community, carry with them the general obligagovernment;
for
if
then
it
would be well
them
to consider
whether
owes
to all citizens.
As
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
581
my hand on my conscience, in order to concede community could do without my writings better than it
who produces our bread
more
seri-
by the sweat of
ously than
certain
it
his
brow.
But
Every
am
deserves.
its
social
proportion
share to the
common
These
to contrib-
that
in
it.
of
the
condition
into
which
lapsing
decidedly instructive.
Roman
and he continues:
concessions of princes are the only remaining ground for
The
ruler,
it
the claim.
Now,
in so far as this
it,
exemption
is
a concession of the
sort, the tacit
carries with
like
thereby; in
which case
it is
must be revoked,
the
harm
community
an individual or a
class (91).
"He
is
whom
582
in
THE CAMERALISTS
were Sonnenfels' principles for distributing
application,
Thus he
to his
says:
The payments
to the
means
of
must govern:
the
With reference to the former, this prindues must not be so great as to impair the
courage to continue
is
eaming-power of the
earning.
That
is,
whatever
all,
or at least in
full;
continued labor.
Men whose
citizens
is
hostile to the
have
tried to
make
it
it
industrious, the
more
is
The
difference
l)ctween stimulating
consists in this:
the
....
Even
if
the state
The
greater
sum
of one
and decrease
tests of taxation
which he has
Thus he
says:
may be
Men
of insight cannot
to
ratio
is
encountered
In order to determine the ratio of the payments for taxes to the
CAMERALISTICS Ot SONNENl-Kl.S
means of other
583
The
who
of 100,
explains,
But Sonnenfels
at
this principle
sum
left
to
The one
be
left
in question
by the conclusion:
for
One
other.
sees that
even an approximate
is
made
viz.:
c.,
demand
this difference
which, at least
would be
senseless.
The
thing
between
be increased by a
be approached
This end
will
"The sums
that
is,
as the
to
marks
of a
The same
have to
raise the
sum reckoned
with reference
584
THE CAMERALISTS
income and adequate for the needs of the domains [Regalien] and accidental revenues do
periods, at
is least
inconvenient, through
its
own
and to be treated as such, or as auxiliaries of Polizey and Handlung, He declines to elaborate the subject therefore on the ground that Justi was strongest at this point, and may
be regarded as the best authority.^ This epitome of Sonnenfels' views about finance in general
contains
all
that
is
of taxation.
He
enters at
some length
into
argument with
may be
inferred from
what
has preceded.
Abgabe"
into the
modem
We may
by which Sonnenfels defended his position was quite different from the major premises of the modem singletax argument, his discussion contains the mdiments of all that has been said for and against the "single tax" as an expethe critique
dient.
On
and
First,
it is
because
it
is in
proportion to earnings;
the citizen has the
second, because
of payment;
when
means
third,
because
it is
collected in rates
feels less
than
Reference
is
made
to " Staatswirlhscha/t,
und
seine 2
Quartbande
dem
Titel:
Die Grund-
CAMERALISTICS OF SONNENFELS
585
A
may
single quotation
from chap,
x,
on "Financial Schemes,"
He
says:
and as the anonymous author of the Versuchs iiber more suspicion against them the more they promise. Every proposition looking to the improvement of the income of the state is a financial scheme. However they may be dressed up, these schemes fall into three classes: I, those which propose to facilitate collection, and incidentally to diminish cost of collection;
H,
amounts
new
objects.
observations
may be advanced:
I.
Nutzen
incor-
For the
advan-
II,
Every pioposition
unless
it
at first glance to
be rejected.
It
promis,
it
That
promises a monstrosity.
It
would be superfluous
German
experience
instructive.
What-
German
polity has
valuation,
political
German
polity to
German
Here
too, for
state.
We
bound
to
understand
we assume that its basic thoughts are identical with Whether they ought to be or not is beside the mark. The Germans have done what they have done while aiming at a somewhat diflferent goal from ours, while assuming a somewhat different social reality from that which we presuppose, and while consequently applying a somewhat different scale of values to details of available ways and means.
long as
our thoughts.
3.
when it is antithetic in form, the contrast between German and American conceptions of civic experience may be From the beginning the stated approximately as follows:
especially
Germans have regarded the state as primarily a unit, and only secondarily an aggregate. From the beginning Americans have regarded the state as primarily an aggregate, and only secondarily
a unit.
This contrast
is
the
American interpretation
of
German
586
The theorem
SUMMARY
is
587
of comparative
commonplace enough
It is
to
American students
theory
is
politics.
tion that
German
j)rimarily collectivistic,
primarily individualistic.
all
would be
of
upon valuation
German
and consistent
logic ruled
human
and
collectivistic states.
In
we
are dealing
vnth
relativities,
We
have to do with
attitudes, not with
proportions,
fixed quantities.
We
means
to the
most extreme
conduct.
In
like
types of conduct.
No
state, therefore,
can be truly
Each
state is
collectivistic
and
of other
peoples.
To
we may say
that in Ger-
many
collectivism
while
In America
individualism has been the predicate, while collectivism supplied the modifiers.
4.
Nor must we allow ourselves to be distracted by the German conception of the unity of the state has
itself to
often lent
The
to the citizens,
588
THE CAMERALISTS
prince,
when he
We
as
that individualism
we know
in
America
has, in
its
into license of some to invade the rights of others. The argument from perversion cuts about as deep on the one side as on the other. This argument is insufficient either to cast down collectivism or to set up individualism. The legitimate con-
is
correctives.
The purpose
of this
to
argue
for the one policy nor for the other, but simply to
summarize
the
is
way in which the coUectivistic idea was interpreted by Germans during the cameralistic period. This retrospect
quent developments in
to the present.
5.
German
civic theory
property.'
The
was symbolized by the prince. Its interests were represented by the prince in such a way that no one could very clearly discriminate between the personality of the prince and the interests of the state. The unity of this farm -patriarchate-principality was so impressive that
estate
at
first
very
little
titles
titles
"Slate,
Theory
of," "Quasi-absolutism."
Political
'
"Cameralism as
"Cameralism, Meaning
SUMMARY
589
and "welfare
They implied it from They insisted upon valuations which became motives of the German democratic movement after the Napoleonic period.' They furnished schedules which might be adopted as the programme of a rather thorough individualism;
entertain the last of these conceptions.
the beginning.
it
or
analysis,
knowing and
feeling
and
was
to
be
On
his being as
Of course
this
form
to the cameralists.
it is
may
be said that
else,
many, as everywhere
zens may, can, and should exist only as functions of the state,
exist
The
latter
conception was
It
is
among
the cameralists.
is
not
a pos-
and antithesis. We are dealing with men who would have said, and after a fashion did say, that the two views are mutually exclusive.
"Democracy, Symptoms
"Biological Analogy."
of."
59
6.
THE CAMERALISTS
Considering the state then as an organism of which the
prince
territory
was the head and (again in modem idiom) of which and population composed the tissues, the cameralists
the questions of civic polity to this double
it
easily reduced
problem:
How may
internal operations
and in
exterfuU relations
?^
By
its
elements in
major
se-
premise that
all
and external
We
must remember
no more certain than every other social class that the was a permanent arrangement of social strata. It was assumed that a certain standard of life was appropriate to each stratum, and that, maintenance of this standard of life being assured, it would be impertinent and presumptuous for mema})parently
human
lot
norm
total
by the
state
that
the
people could be
made
to result in
an increasing
margin
of material return,
might be expressed in
wants of the
this
way:
Given the
and
the customary
different strata,
how may
the state
so exploit territory
supplied, with
and people that tlie customary wants may be an increasing surplus which may be claimed as
public revenue ?
7.
"Security."
title
"Taxes, Burdensome
vs.
Non-burdensome."
SUMMARY
philosophy, except as every
philosophical onlooker
591
action connotes to the
human
some implied preconceptions. Cameralism was an administrative technology.* It was not an inquiry
into the abstract principles of wealth, in the Smithian sense.
It
closely analogous
with grub-staking a
It was a theory of managing natural resources and human capacities so that they would be most lucrative for the prince in whose interest the management was conducted. To be sure, just as any other
human
listic
camera-
even cast
its
conclusions occasion-
ally at last in
On
the whole,
however,
It
was
until the
Smithian
Germany
to
thrift,
of political expediency.3
a system of economic
The
theoretipolitical
The
last
political
than economic.
proposition
we may
specify
Vide Index,
title
"Cameralism as
Political
No
one
came
type of generalization as several British predecessors of the author of The Wealth 0/ Nation:.
3
Vide Index,
title
592
THE CAMERALISTS
it
consequence of treating
cameralists had not
The
sight
of
truth
is
that the
come within
political
those problems.
They were
trying to
of
expediency pro-
The
each
controlling principle of
for
its
own
The
latest
when
the
in
is
the
interest
of
particular
The wonder
might
known
its
as mercantilism.
would be irrelevant
It
to
and
would be
futile to
mercantilists.
The
ment
economic generalization at
phrase.
It
as
was a
it
fiscal
expedient.
doctrines
to
fundamental
essentials of
economic
from
programmes as
a
tariff to
would be
tax.*
who
prefer
an income
There
is
Vide Index,
titles
Rela-
tions to
Cameralism."
SUMMARY
stood as clearly as the physiocrats, or as
593
modern economists,
The
The
real difference
between mercanlilisls
it
fiscal policy.
The former
was wiser
extractive
fiscal
into promotion of
industries.
into
encouragement
of the
insisted
on inverting the
proposition.
o|)i)onents believed in
and
especially
the cameralists,
fantastic
views of the
nature of wealth.
cameralistic books.
This tradition
be
interpreted
as
an
essentially
different view of
he owned
mercan-
and
their
It is
supposed
frequently
positively stated,
in allusions to these
Vide above,
p.
339.
>
Vide Index,
tiiles
594
writers, that they
THE CAMERALISTS
supposed increase of population might go
In
fact, so far
on without
limit.
knew
They and therefore underpopulated. They believed that there was no immediate prospect of exhausting the resources of German
in proportion
must always be
the food
supply.'
German
soil,
and therefore
guilty of
it
increase of population
no more
was good govermental policy to promote by every possible means. They were economic misconception because of this
judgment than Kansas farmers are when they advertise for laborers from outside the state to help harvest their crops. But the gravest of all the errors of cameralism is supposed to
be
its
On
this
count we
is
may
do not
The Germans
was
is
facing at present.
The statesmen of the time saw certain elements of the problem much more clearly than we can see them today. In a word, the great masses of the Germans were infants infants in
of
life.
They
eflfort.
lived in straightened
No
How might the dormant powers of these unaroused folk be awakened and enlisted in
making
?
the
their material
conditions
German
was something
Vide Index,
title
like the
raw
"Population."
SUMMARY
595
recruits is made over into a rcgiincnt of disciplined soldiers. The Germans were divided up into some hundreds of squads, each controlled by a territorial prince who was within limits This was of course not a scheme absolute in his own land.
It
was a stage
in
the
quasi-communistic guild
organizations,
first,
this
was
The
understood and
misrepresented
simply because
their
own
The consequence
The
'
Pp. xxi,
59*^
THE CAMERALISTS
an
era,
civic ideas of
contains
all
the essentials of
German
polity today.
from
its
the one
German
easy
To
under-
stand modern
sary to
but of
is directly and indirectly exertupon the whole world, it is necestake account not only of present activities in Germany, tho.se formative puqjoses and tentative institutions
Germany which
generalization
coefficient,
is
is
that
every
its
telic
which must he
estiis
the thought
to
be objectively
mated.
In other words,
the thinker
order to value
If
it
correctly in the
of intelligence.
one
force.
trj'ing to
work out a
civic
money enough
to
pay
civic theory
and
practice in
Germany, but
it
furnishes a typical
must he interpreted
INDEX
INDEX
Absolutism.
tism.
Vide
Quasi-absolu-
Bielfeld,
267,
453
flf.,
2 58,
496
504Bierling, 240.
Adams, H. C,
Bluntschli,
xiii,
Agriculture, 155, 187, 214, 213, 230, 242, 283, 456 ff.
Alexander, 530.
Anatomiren, 114.
Botero, 133.
British
Brj'ce,
Museum
210,
220,
221,
227,
295-
in.
as
political
Aufnahme, 300.
August, Elector of Saxony,
3132,
Cameralism,
38,
theory
and
practice, 3, 51, 54 ff., 66, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75. 81, 83, 86, 87, 89, 109, no, 145, 146, 151 ft., 188, 197 ff., 246, 252, 280, 282,
293,
301
ff.,
ff.,
307
ff-,
ft.,
371
ff.,
ff-,
376
591-
423, 451
459. 476
of,
vii,
Baumstark,
xvii.
Cameralism, meaning
xiv,
Becher,
viii,
xx, 25,
107-34,
136,
1-20, 36, 43, 46, 51, 54 ff-, 69, 73, 82 ff., 106, ni, n6, 123, 167, 213, 156, 195 ff., 135. 220, 224, 246, 251, 260 ff., 272, 277, 283, 294, 370, 394 ff., 434.
439. 477 ff-. 495 ff-. 503. 543 '". 555. 572, 5^8. 590, 591 f-, 595-
Benevolent
431. 561.
despotism,
78,
118,
Cameralists,
xi,
xiii,
xv,
xix,
xx,
ff.,
Bentham, 485.
Bereitestes
Vermiigen
VernUi-
197,
gen), 154.
Cameralwesen, 280.
Cameralwissenschaft, and kindred terms, 18, 189, 21 t, 220, 222, 227, 229, 231, 234, 235 ff.,
239, 240, 254, 236, 273, 280, 282, 298, 283, 313 ff., 297, 299,
Berch, 231.
Bergier, 572.
Beschriebene Ceseize,
Besold,
xviii,
27,
28.
132.
Beyer, 240.
37 Iff-
599
6oo
Cammer,
316.
THE CAMERALISTS
148, 197, 229, 269, 279,
Daniels,
Darjes,
W. M.,
viii,
159.
226, 267-84.
ff.
Carlowitz, 205.
Casters, 569.
Darwin, 490. Democracy, symptoms of, 145, 318, 394 ff., 485 ff-. 526, 576, 57S,
579. 589-
Cato, 230.
Dickinson, 108.
Diestel, 21.
Censorship, 46.
Census, 46.
Chamber
Charles
I,
sciences,
xiii.
Charlemagne,
325.
Charles V, 531.
Child, 575. Chinki, 562.
"Divine
Chommcl,
Cohn,
14.
Du
Fresne, 229.
245.
Cicero, 484.
Dutot, 574.
Eclecticism, 481
of, 52, 103.
ff.,
485, 519.
Coinage, theory
Kconomy, and
12, 19, 36, 49, 50, 57, 109, 113, 126, 127, 130, 151, 172, 186, 187, 188, 193, 195 ff., 199 ff., 202, 209, 210, 211, 214, 217 ff., 220,
570
flf.
xxv.
Commerce, theory
174, 225,
of, 52,
in,
221, 222, 223, 226, 240, 241, 247, 250, 253, 254, 269, 270, 273, 274, 280, 282, 283, 288,
235-38,
126,
343 ff-, 376, 448 ff., 496, 502, 525 IT., 542 n., 567.
Community, and
(cf.
related
terms
242 ff., 245, 25s, 256, 268, 275, 276, 278, 290, 293, 297, 306, 307, 312, 316, 326, 376, 437 ff., 445, 459 ff., 496, 531, 534, 544 ff-, 556 ff., 564, 59T.
Cemeines Wesen),
104, 112,
Edward Edward
I,
516.
Conrad's
H andworlerbuch,
of,
VI, 574.
7.
Consumption, theory
Cornell
University
viii.
563.
Cossa,
Encyklopedisten, 555.
Ernst, Herzog, 60, 62, 166, 194.
Eudaemonism,
xx. 169,
Extractive industries,
205.
INDEX
Fallquener, 569.
60
silver,
Gold and
157
ff., ff.,
theory
of,
131,
ff-,
Ferguson, 489.
168, 205,
339
ff.,
347
448
471
ff-,
593-
Goldast, 565.
Finanzwissenschaft, 70, 399, 437 ff., 453, 496, 502, 575 ff., 578.
Fiscalists, 6.
Government, forms of, 117 ff. Government, purpose of, 88, 98,
99, 123.
Great Elector,
Fischer, F., 223. Fischer, P., 244.
FSrster, 207.
63.
Gross, 236.
Grotius, XV, 519.
Fond.
Vide "Capital."
527, 565,
Grund/este, 167.
Forbonnais,
568,
Handlung
(cf.
"Commerce"),
flF.,
Freedom, 30,
413
ff-,
552.
80,
Frensdorff,
289,
290,
Friederich Wilhelm
I,
239.
FUrstenau, 231.
Fries, 570.
Haushaltungswesen, 227.
Hecht, 290.
Heeren,
xxiii.
Ganser, 527.
Gasser,
224, 481. 186, 206-21, 222, 223, 227, 228, 296, 297, 309,
viii,
Hegel, 321.
Gautier, 572.
Gehurtsbrieff, 58.
Henry IH, 325. Henry IV, 217. Henry VH, 516, Herrmann, 177.
568.
227,
Geoponica, 230!
Georg, Herzog, 21.
Gerhard, 175-84,
296.
Gesellscha/t, 318.
193,
206,
248,
Hoffmann, G. A., 225, 244. Hoffmann, J. A., 174, 225. Hohberg, 245.
Hohenthal, 187.
Homick,
Gesetsgebung,
Polizey, 505.
as
synonym
for
ff.,
136,
Hume,
572,
ff.,
516, 568,
Gleichmann, 174.
Getting, 556.
Huth, 489.
6o2
Ickstatt, 229.
THE CAMERALISTS
40, 130, 185, 186, 206, 223.
Inama,
Langemack, 438.
La
Porte, 568.
L., 173, 225.
Ingram,
ix,
556.
Lau, T.
Leib,
Lau, 438.
J.
Jevons,
viii.
Leop)old
Lexis,
2.
I,
63, 290.
J6rger, 528.
Joseph
Livy, 311.
G. H., 286.
Justi, J.
H. G., viii, xx, xxii, 2, 86, 87, 91, 92, 116, 120, 146, 167, 176, 180, 183, 199, 203, 205, 206, 209, 225, 226, 229, 230, 248, 259, 260, 268, 284, 285-480, 481,
487, 496 S; 498, 503. 50s. 509, 522 ff., 528, 539, 551, 567, 568, 573. 581. 593Justice,
ff.,
223,
233,
260,
Luxury, theory
of,
Osse's idea
535
ff.
of,
32
ff.;
Justi's rules
of administrative,
337
ff-
Malthusianism.
tion."
Vide "Popula-
Kameralwissenschaft,
Maimbourg,
a.
61.
Kammer,
18.
Maire, 573.
KammeralschriftsteUer, 576.
Mahhus,
Kammergericht,
Kant,
xviii,
2.
Manufactures, 160
557
ff.,
174.
of,
482, 485.
ix,
Manufactures, productiveness
561
la,
ff.
Kautz, Julius,
xx.
Marc,
De
439.
xix, xx, 136.
Marchet, G.,
Maria Theresia,
468
ff.,
288,
310,
311,
483
ff.,
570-
34, 132.
Mark,
550.
Klugheit, 191.
Kolde, 62.
Means
ff.,
{Mitlel)
(cf.
Vermogen),
Kottencamp, 260
Kressen, 177.
364.
Kudler, 483.
INDEX
Melon, 504, 574.
Mercantilism, 7, 8, 14, 131. i33. 159 ff., 187, 265, 363, 366, 422 ff.,
456, 464, 479.
500-
603
Ordnung, 30.
Osse,
2,
21
ff.,
208, 271.
Mercantilism, relation to cameralism, 10, 12, 63, 151 ff., 159 ff-.
580. 592Mercantilists,
ix.
Palgrave,
ix.
Pascal, 94.
Merchants, protection
Merkel, 550.
Penalties, 519
ff.
Peter
I,
467.
Philip of
Philipp,
ff.
469
2,313.
Philippi,
M6ser,
J., xviii,
63.
Mohl, R. v.,
444, 477
ff-
593-
Pliny, 574.
Ploetz, 64.
Money, theory
448
ff.,
of,
131,
ff.,
ff.,
157
562.
ff.,
593-
Policey, 26, 28, 30, 33, 35, 37, 38, 46, 55 ff., 70, 74, 88, no, 115, 126, 149, 160, 166, 174, 202, 218, 222, 225, 240, 253, 254, 257, 258, 265, 269, 297, 301, 326, 329,
5".
574-
94.
376. 399, 487, 502. 505 ffPoliceywissenschaft, 91, 167, 224, 226, 227, 228, 229, 231, 234, 256, 328, 336 ff., 495 ff., 505.
Political
Nahrung, and
189, 228,
terms.
442.
National management,
Political science,
(cf.
and
ff.,
related terms
Nationaldkonomik,
Navigation, value
Nickols, 556, 568.
19.
of, 53.
235
531-
Politische Hatidlungswissenscha/t,
Niebuhr,
xiii,
295.
Oberlin, 573.
ff.
Obrecht, Georg,
Obrecht,
J.
25, 34,
ff.,
40
ff.
T., 42
201.
25,
Pope, 483Population, theory of, 15, 97, 265, 464 ff-. 341 ff., 421 ff., 444, 477 ff., 500 ff., 503, 531, 553 ff-,
566, 593-
Population, as
fare, 531.
norm
of civic wel-
Oppenheim,
108.
6o4
Porter, 569.
THE CAMERALISTS
xvi, xviii, xix, xx, xxii, 18, 19, 22,
Pragmatism, 275.
Price, theory of, 551
ff.,
563
f.
Production,
and
27, 61, 62, 63, 77, 83, 108, no, 127, 130, 132, 135, 170, 171, 172, 173, 175, 186, 187, 207, 222, 223,
similar
terms,
250,
Property
Propolio,
(cf.
Vermogen),
ff.,
225, 231, 232, 233, 234, 238, 259, 263, 267, 268, 272, 273, 284, 286, 291, 292, 310, 311, 453,
481
562.
no, 128
xviii.
ff., 485, 487, 497, 500, 504, 509, 519, 527, 549-
Pufendorf,
Rossig, xviii.
Quasi-absolutism, 63, 73, 74, 76, 77, 78 ff., 88, 89, 122, 124 ff., 137 ff., 145, 162, 181, 194, 198 ff., 262 ff., 265, 320 ff., 324, 325, 326, 328, 373, 374, 397, 403 ff-, 40s, 412 ff., 415 ff., 423 ff., 408, 431 ff., 466 ff., 482, 485, 491, 493 ff-, 495, 588-
Schlettwein, 556.
Schlozer, 453.
Ranke, Leopold,
xii.
Schmeizel, 240.
Schmoller, G., xx,
7, 8,
Rau,
ix,
294.
lo.
Schonberg, 205.
viii,
Ready means
154, 157
ff-,
(cf.
"Means"),
250, 441.
Schrammer, 438.
Schreber, 174, 223, 224, 325, 231.
Regalien, 297.
Reichskammer,
Reichthum,
2.
Schroder, viii, xx, 34, 107, 132, 135-74, 177, 186, 189, 190, 197,
156,
154,
157
ff.
Reimarus, 568.
Reinking, 438.
Religion, 5iiffcivic
203, 204, 205, 212, 269, 279, 290, 361, 374, 382, 403 ff., 452, 527. 568.
ff.,
value
of,
474
Rentwissenschaft, 227.
Republic, 112, 126, 181, 182, 251, 295. 299. 317, 318, 320, 324, 409,
468.
2, 41, 60-106, 109, no. III, 119, 135, 166, 175, 186, 190, 194, 217, 201, 212, 213, 221, 269, 285.
Revenue, significance of to
ralists,
viii,
camc377,
Security, 332, 334, 420, 470, 494, 507 ff., 517 ff., 522 ff., 590.
156
ff.,
161
f.,
279.
Ricardo, 489.
Richter, 267, 268, 275.
ff.,
221,
222,
Sieyfes,
413.
Roman
law, 300.
iz,
Smith,
xi,
xii, xiii,
Adam,
vii, x, 3,
Roscher, Wilhelm,
INDEX
179, 204, 246, 248, 272, 285, 298, 306, 316, 322, 366, 373, 378, 382, 468, 483, 489, 530, 551, 564, 565, 574, 575. 591Social concept, 112.
Sitsser,
605
106,
176,
223,
224,
225,
238
ff.
StoUen, 177.
St.
Real, 496.
mon-
Struven, 177.
Subjects, duties of, 365
ff.
ff.
ff.,
242.
Sonnenfels,
viii,
2,
86,
146,
260,
Tamerlain, 334.
Taxation, 174, 381, 590. Tax-dodging, 99, 580.
481-585.
Spencer, H., 179, 300, 301.
Spener, 94.
Staathalter, 324.
vs.
non-bur-
Stoatsgelahrtheit, 177.
Thorn, 229.
Staatshaushaltung, 50.
Staatsklugheit, 177, 178, 190, 237, 244, 495, 530, 532-
Thomas, W.
Thomasius,
I.,
465.
ff., 40, 45, 166, 171, 206, 208, 209, 210, 215, 240.
22, 23
Tillinghast, 46.
Toussaint, 507.
ff.,
305,
of,
369
ff.
land,
theory
572.
of, 53, 127.
Traders, value
498, 500
ff.,
503, 505.
Sladtvnrthschaft,
no,
of,
482.
necessity
of,
Turgot, 570.
Ueberfiuss, 154
ff.
Zincke's concept
252;
Justi's
concept of, 323, 331, 400 ff., 450, Sonnenfels' concept of, 474;
Usal, 575.
Ustaritz, 574.
490
ff.,
499,
553, 579
ff.;
Ger-
man
vs.
American idea
Justi's
of, 586,
Utilitarian
symptoms,
280.
588, 589.
Statecraft,
Utopia, Schroder's,
precepts
of,
143;
Justi's,
42s
ff.
332
ff-
Steuart, 496.
Value, theory
of,
564
ff.
Vauban, 382,
Varro, 230.
Velter, 439.
554.
Stinzing, 206.
6o6
THE CAMERALISTS
2645., 310, 319, 323, 324, 325, 329, 404 ff., 413, 454, 461, 490, 492 ff., 497 ff., 501, 503, 524, 526, 530 ff., 579, 589.
Wiegand, 556.
Wildvogel, 177.
Wirih, 276, 296.
Wirthschqftslehre, 12.
Verldger, 128.
Vermagen, 76, 250, 251, 307, 327, 366, 367, 373 ff., 375, 411, 440,
532, 546.
Woelnor, 550.
Wolff, xviii, 438, 482, 496.
Villeneuve, 573.
Vogemont, 528.
Volkswirthschafi, 290, 483.
Walpole, 569.
Zedler, 186.
Zincke, 206.
511.
131, 154, 156 S., 203 ff., 253, 339 flf.,
C,
Xenophon, 230, 284, 455. Zamcke, 21. Zimmermann, 232. Zincke, 14, no, 225, 229, 232-66,
268, 284, 297, 309, 316, 437 439. 481. Zinzendorf, 108.
ff.,
Wcitzel, xiv.
Zschackwitz, 224.
Zusamtnenjluss, 562.
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