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Natural Law is everywhere. Its lines as they permeate the business world may not be so easily traceable as in material science, but the evidence of their existence and rule is no less positive and unquestionable. But their relations are more complex. They are so interlaced and mingled with human or legislative law on the one hand, and a purely mental and moral economy on the other, that any study of one is impossible, except in its connection. They shade. into each other so perfectly that no line of demarcation is visible.

The general perception of the uniform and universal reign of law has grown with the growth of knowledge, and at the present time the highest aim of science is its fuller discovery and interpretation. Natural Law is but another name for the methods of the Creator; and that being admitted, it is evident that all just and wholesome human enactment must be founded upon it. That this true foundation is more generally recognized and built upon at the present time than in any past age, is obvious; and this is especially true where constitutional and democratic forms of government prevail. Human law is the will of society. in an effort to interpret natural method; and although it may put limits on individual will, it is yet indispensable to human welfare. There has been a steady improvement in legislation and government, in proportion as Natural Law has been understood. Step by step the patriarchal, tribal, and monarchal forms of government have played their part, and led up to the modern republic, which is the most wholesome framework of society yet evolved. Further improvement will follow in proportion as the lines of Natural Law shall be wrought into the warp and woof of the social fabric.

The key to progress and approximate perfection in every department, whether physical, mental, moral, or even spiritual, is conformity to law. Take a few illustrations: A thorough observance of mental and physical hygienic law

tends directly to healthful and normal individual development. A greater or less transgression brings a proportionate penalty. The penalty must be paid whether the violation be knowingly or ignorantly committed. A headache and nervous depression are very certain to follow a prolonged drunken revelry, but no more so than are panic and business stagnation to come after an era of wild speculation. That physical disease, the effect of which is to gradually thin the blood toward a watery condition, when it continues unchecked, is no less certain in its logical results than will be the degradation of our monetary system to a silver or greenback basis, if at any time a process of dilution indefinitely continues. Legislation may for a while. prevent the full assertion of law, but it is nevertheless an active, living force, unceasingly pressing in the direction of its natural fulfilment. A stream may be dammed on its way to the ocean, but the final tide-level of its waters is not a matter of question. It would be as reasonable to expect to increase the efficiency of one blade of a pair of shears by the mutilation of its companion, as to benefit either capital or labor by an antagonistic policy toward the other. Illustrations might be multiplied.

Some think it practicable to transgress natural principles with impunity, so long as they avoid the open violation and penalty of human legislation; forgetting that the penalty of the former is the inevitable sequence of the transgression. One may try to persuade himself that even eternal principles are elastic and subject to exceptions, for the reason that they sometimes seem to fail to assert their rule. But if they do not vindicate themselves speedily, we may be sure that they are always pressing in that direction, and will never be satisfied till the end is reached. We confine water in a tube, but its tendency to seek a level continues, and no human power can divest it of this inclination. Natural Law is a living force, persistent, reliable, always in

its place and pressing to do its work. It is this invariableness which enables us to use it, and make it serviceable. While, therefore, it is true that we are always under its sovereignty, it is no less a fact that when we comply with its conditions, it becomes our most valuable and indispensable co-worker. Its powerful aid, like that of steam or electricity, is always in waiting, only we must not dictate its methods of operation. We make mistakes, and our lines of action are often inharmonious and contrary, while the operations of Natural Law are consistent and harmonious. Its different factors may modify, or counteract, but never oppose each other, for truth cannot be in opposition to truth. Its only warfare is with error, and its complete victory is simply a question of time.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND.

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