Excerpt from The Truisms of Statecraft: An Attempt to Define, in General Terms, the Origin, Growth, Purpose, and Possibilities, of Popular Government John Stuart Mill again opens his widely known treatise on Political Economy with an examination of the conditions Of production, and then passes on to distribution and exchange; and it is only in the latter portions Of his work that he deals with the Influence Of the progress Of society on production and distribution, and with the Influence of Government, as if they were subordinate topics. It may be truly said that Political Economy, considered scientifically, is only concerned with the nature of wealth, and the laws Of its production and distribution; but, nevertheless, Mill himself includes, in the latter portion of his work, among the factors of the study, several more personal aspects Of human affairs. It is sufficiently evident that he considered that the study Of human nature was involved in Economics; for, in his Opening chapter, he says that the subject includes directly or remotely the operation Of all the causes by which the condition Of mankind, or Of any society Of human beings is made prosperous or the reverse. The work Of Ricardo (one of the world's greatest Economic thinkers) is even more closely confined to trade and commerce than those of Adam Smith and Mill whilst Professor Fawcett breaks fresh ground, and follows Mill, in dealing with such personal problems as socialism and strikes. I quite recognise that it has been the custom to confine the subject Of political economy to the Operation Of these laws, which, as it were, play round human society in connection with human needs and human activities but I cannot help thinking that, inasmuch as political economy has its very root in human nature and human needs, it is not only pertinent to such an enquiry, but directly essential to its clear and comprehensive under standing, and certainly to its being popularly studied, to ascertain and explain Of what this element of human nature consists, and what are the best methods Of treat ing it, in most successfully ministering to its needs, when its units are grouped in co-operative communities. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.