THE END OF LAISSEZ-FAIRE

anxiety or struggling greediness which over-casts the mild faces of the herd.

But the principles of laissez-faire have hadother allies besides economic text-books. Itmust be admitted that they have been con-firmed in the minds of sound thinkers and thereasonable public by the poor quality of theopponent proposals—Protectionism on onehand, and Marxian Socialism on the other.Yet these doctrines are both characterised,not only or chiefly by their infringing thegeneral presumption in favour of laissez-faire ,but by mere logical fallacy. Both are examplesof poor thinking, of inability to analyse a pro-cess and follow it out to its conclusion. Thearguments against them, though reinforced bythe principle of laissez-faire, do not strictlyrequire it. Of the two, Protectionism is atleast plausible, and the forces making for itspopularity are nothing to wonder at. ButMarxian Socialism must always remain aportent to the historians of Opinion—how adoctrine so illogical and so dull can haveexercised so powerful and enduring an in-

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