Mill’s24*lamentationoverthepettinessofmodernEnglishstatesmenisfamiliar。Whatisreallyimplied？England，asMillthedemocratwouldhavesaid，wasonceacountryofcastes：thepriest，thenoble，themerchant，thepeasant，representeddistincttypes。Eachclasswasboundbyanunalterablecustomandconformstoinheritedtraditions；each，again，dischargedsomesimpleorgeneralfunctionnowdistributedamongmanyminorclasses。Inlaterphrase，modernEnglandhasbeenmadebyprocessesof’differentiation’and’integration。’Theoldclasslineshavedisappeared，thebarriersofcustomhavebeenbrokendown，theoldfunctionshavebeenspecialised，andinsteadofindependentindividualaction，thewholesystemoflifedependsupontheelaborateandindefinitelyramifiedsystemsofco-operation，deliberateorunconscious。Theobviousresultisagrowthoforganicunity，accompaniedbyanequaldevelopmentofdiversity。Eachunitcanbeassignedtoamorespecialfunction，becauseotherfunctionsareassignedtoco-operatingunits，andgreatermutualdependenceisimpliedinthegreatervarietyofcareersandactivities。Inhisdemocraticphase，Millblessesthisprocessaltogether；heapprovesthedestructionofprivilegeandcastedistinctions；heapprovesthe’divisionoflabour，’theincreaseddiversityofoccupation，andtheconsequentgrowthofco-operation；hedesiresthefullerresponsibilityoftherulingclassorthecloserdependenceofgovernmentuponthepeople。Butinthelaterphase，whenheemphasisestheevilsofdemocracy，doeshenotcondemnwhatisanecessaryimplicationintheveryprocesswhichheapproves？Thedivisionoflabour，henowobserves，narrowsaman’slifeandinterests；thenecessityofco-operationnarrowsthesphereof’individuality’；andtheprocesswhichgivesdiversitytosocietyasawholeimpliescertainuniformitiesinthesocialatoms。Thelessthevarietyintheunits，thegreateristhefacilityofarrangingthemindifferentconfigurations。Theeccentricmanisacross-grainedpieceoftimberwhichcannotbeworkedintothestate。
’Individuality’issofarahindrancetothepowerofenteringintoanindefinitenumberofcombinations。Andyetsofaras’individuality’diminishes，theresponsibilityofgovernmentmeansthesubordinationofrulerstotheaveragecommonplacestupidity。What，then，isthe’individuality’whichmaybecalledunconditionallygood？Howarewetodefinethedangersoastoavoidcondemningtheconformitywhichisanecessaryimplicationofprogress？Howarewetomanage’differentiation’attheexpenseof’integration’；toexaltsuch’individuality’asisincompatiblewith’sociality’；andtoregard’eccentricity’and’antagonism’andcontradictionasvaluableinthemselvesinsteadofaccidentalresultsinparticularcasesoforiginalitywhichinsomesenseispriceless？Here，Ithink，istherealdifficulty。
Havewetodealwithforcesnecessarily’counteracting’eachother，inMill’sphrase，orwithforceswhichcanbecombinedinahealthyorganism？Millundoubtedlysupposesthatsomeconciliationispossible。Thehistoricalviewhasshowntheevil。
Wehavenowtoconsidertheremedytobeappliedtothevariousformsinwhichitaffectseconomic，political，andethicalconditions。Thegeneralprinciplehasbeengiven。
’Self-protection’istheonlyjustificationfortheinterferenceofsocietywiththeindividual。Althoughabsolutelibertywouldmeananarchy，wemaystilldemandamaximumofliberty，andsuppresssuchauseoflibertybyonemanaswouldinfactrestrainthelibertyofanother。Mill，likeBentham，holdstothepurelyempiricalview。Interferenceisbadwhentheharmcausedbythecoercionisnotcounterbalancedbythegood。
Bentham’sdoctrineisnotonlyplausiblebut，withinacertainsphere，pointstooneofthemostobviousandessentialconditionsofusefullegislation。TheUtilitarianswerealwaysaffectedbythelegalprinciplesfromwhichtheystarted。Inthecaseofcriminallaw，Mill’sprinciplemarkstheobviousminimumofinterference。Astatemustsuppressviolence。IfIclaimlibertytobreakyourhead，thepolicemanisboundtointerfere。
IfyouandIclaimthesameloaf，thestate，evenifitbeacommunisticstate，musteithersettlewhichistoeatit，orleaveustofightforit。And，again，iftheprincipledoesnotfixthemaximumoflegislation，itpointstothemostobviouslimitingconsiderations。Thestatemeansthejudgeandthepoliceman，whocannotlookintotheheart，andmustclassifycriminalactionbyitsdefinableexternalcharacteristics。Itcanreachthemurdererbutnotthemalevolentman，whowouldmurderifhecould。Itisthereforeincompetenttopunishwickednessexceptsofaraswickednessismanifestedbyovertacts。Ifitwentfurtheritwouldbeunjust，becauseactingblindly，aswellasintolerablyinquisitorial。Norcanitgenerallypunishactionswhichproducenoassignableinjurytoindividuals。Topunishamanforneglectingdefinitedutiesisnecessary；buttotrytopunishtheidlenesswhichmayhavecausedtheneglectwouldbemonstrous。Thestatewouldhavetobeomniscientandomnipresent，andatmostwouldfavourhypocrisyinsteadofvirtue。Briefly，thelawisfartoocoarseaninstrumentforthefunctionofenforcingmoralityingeneral。Itmustgenerallyconfineitselftocaseswhereinjuryisinflicteduponanassignablepersonandbyconductdefinedbydefiniteoutwardmanifestations。ThishadbeenclearlystatedbyBentham。Mill，inhischapteronthe’limitsoftheauthorityofsocietyupontheindividual，’insistsuponobjectionsobviousinthelegalcase。Canwededucefromtheselegallimitsageneralprincipledefiningtherelationbetweensocietyanditsunits？InoticefirstthedifficultyalreadysuggestedbythePoliticalEconomy。
IV。ECONOMICAPPLICATION
How，asMillhadasked，inspeakingoftheeconomicaspectsofgovernmentinterference，arewetomarkoutthespacewhichistobesacredfrom’authoritativeintrusion’？Solongasthesocialstateissimple，theapplicationiseasy。Whenonesavagecatchesthedeer，andanotherthesalmon，eachmaybeforbiddentotaketheother’sgamebyforce。Eachmanhasarighttothefruitsofhisownlabour。Intheactualstateofthingsthereisnotthischarmingsimplicity。Aman’swealthisnotadefinablematerialobject，butabundleofrightsofthemostcomplexkind；
andrightstovariouspartsofthewholenationalincome，whicharetheproductofwholesystemsofpreviouscompacts，Thepossessorhasnoteveninthevaguestsense’created’hiswealth；
hehasmoreorlesscontributedthelabourofbrainsandhandstotheadaptationofthingstouse，orenjoyshisrightsinvirtueofanindefinitenumberoftransactions，bargainsmadebyhimself，orbequeststransferringtherightstonewgenerations。
Toprotecthispropertyistoprotectamultifarioussystemofrightsaccruinginallmannerofways，andtosanctionthevoluntarycontractsinvirtueofwhichthewholeelaboratenetworkofrightscorrespondstothecomplexsocialorder。Thetacitassumptionoftheeconomistswasthatthisorderwasinsomesense’natural’andlawanartificialorextra-naturalcompulsion。Canthelinebedrawn？Thelegalregulationhasbeenanessentialthoughasubordinatepartofthewholeprocess。Law，atanearlystage，isanundistinguishablepartofcustoms，whichhasbecomedifferentiatedfrommerecustomassettledgovernmentshavebeenevolvedandcertaindefinitefunctionsassignedtothesovereignpower。Wecannotsaythatonesetofinstitutionsisduetolawandanothertocustomsortovoluntarycontracts。Thelawswhichregulatepropertyinlandorinheritanceoranyformofassociationhaveaffectedeverystageoftheprocessandhavenotaffecteditasconditionsimposedfromwithout，butasapartofthewholeelaboration。Theprinciplethat’self-protection’istheonlyjustificationofinterferencethenbecomeshardofapplication。IamtodowhatIlikewithmyown。Thatmaybegranted，for’myown’isthatwithwhichImaydowhatIlike。
ButifIamallowedinvirtueofthisdoctrinetomakeanycontractsortodisposeofmypropertyinanywaythatplease，itfollowsthatthesamesanctityistransferredtothewholesystemwhichhasgrownupbyvoluntaryactionateverypoint，andwhichisthereforeregardedasthe’natural’orspontaneousorder。Nowtheactualcourseofevents，asMillmaintains，producedasocietywithvastinequalitiesofwealthasocietywhich，ashedeclares，doesnotevenshowanapproximationtojustice，orinwhichaman’sfortunesaredeterminednotbyhismeritsbutbyaccident。Onthisinterpretationoftheprincipleofnon-interference，itfollowsthatinthenameoflegal’liberty’
youapproveaprocessdestructiveof’liberty’infact。Everymanisallowednodoubtbythelawstoactascircumstancesadmit；
butthecircumstancesmaypermitsomepeopletoenjoyeveryconceivablepleasureandtodevelopeveryfaculty，whiletheycondemnotherstofindtheironlypleasureingin，andtohavesuchdevelopmentascanbeacquiredin’Londonslums。’AfamousjudgepointedoutironicallythatthelawsofEnglandwerethesamefortherichandthepoor；thatis，thesamepricewaschargedforjusticewhethertheapplicantscouldafforditornot。Isitnotamockerytotellamanthatheisfreetodoashepleases，ifitonlymeansthathemaychoosebetweenstarvationandthepoorhouse？Millhadhimselfbeeninclinedtoremedytheevilsbyinvokinganomnipotentlegislaturetoundertakeverydrasticmeasuresofreform。Equallawswillproduceequalresultswhen，inpointoffact，theyapplytomenunderequalconditions。Ifasocietyconsistsofmutuallyindependentandself-supportingindividuals，theprincipleofnon-interferencemayworksmoothly。Eachmanhasactuallyhisownsecretsphere，andthelawonlyaffectstheexchangeofsuperfluousadvantagesamongindependentunits。Butthatistosaythattomakeyourrulework，youmustpreventallthatprocessofdevelopmentwhichisimpliedincivilisation。Societymustbeforcedtobe’individualistic’inorderthattheformulamaybeapplicable。Self-protectionmeanstheprotectionofexistingrights。Iftheyaresatisfactory，theresultofprotectingthemwillbesatisfactory。Butiftheactualorder，howeverproduced，isessentiallyunjust，thetestbecomesillusory。Yet，ifthelawsaretointerferetopreventthegrowthofinequality，whatbecomesofthesacredsphereofindividuality？
Herewehavetheoften-notedconflictbetweenequalityandliberty。Leavemenfree，andinequalitiesmustarise。Enforceequalityandindividualityiscrampedorsuppressed。Andyetinequalitycertainlymeansapressureupontheweakerwhichmayleadtovirtualslavery。Wemustadmitthatneitherlibertynorequalitycanbelaiddownasabsoluteprinciples。TheattempttotreatanyformulainthisfashionleadstotheperplexitiesexemplifiedinMill’streatmentofthe’liberty’problem。Hisdoctrinescannotbemadetofitaccuratelythecomplexitiesofthesocialorder。’Equality’and’liberty’defineessential’moments’intheargument，thoughneithercanbemadetosupportanabsoluteconclusion。
ThedifficultywasindicatedinBentham’streatmentof’security’and’equality。’Both，hesaid，weredesirable，butwhentherewasaconflict’equality’mustgivewayto’security。’
Herewecometoanothercloselyallieddoctrine。’Security’
implies’responsibility。’Amanmustbesecurethathemaybeindustrious。Hewillnotlabourunlessheissuretoenjoythefruitofhislabour。ThisgivestheMalthusianvismedicatrix。
But，statedabsolutely，itimpliespureself-interest。RobinsonCrusoewasresponsibleinthesensethatifhedidnotworkhewouldstarve。And，ifwecould，infact，markoffeachman’sseparatesphere，orregardsocietyasacollectionofRobinsonCrusoes，theprinciplemightbeapplied。Eachmanshouldhavearighttowhathehashimself’created。’Butwhenaman’creates’
nothing；whenhis’environment’isnotadesertislandbutanorganisedsociety，theprinciplemustbedifferentlystated。