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a history of the progress of unfettered enterprise; of
the way in which competitive skill has advanced
trade to the highest pitch of excellence. And,
after all, where is the proof that this uncontrolled
liberty of action has had any injurious influence on
the public health. Early records inform us that
the life-time of the people has never been so long
as it is now. In 1690, according to Mr. Finlaison,
the expectancy of a man's life at the age of thirty
was only to about fifty-six; at the present time it is
to sixty-three. Surely this does not show that the
rapid progress of manufactures has done any injury
to the public health, it rather shows that with the
increase of trade, and the larger employment of
industry, there have come better means for the
preservation of health and the prolongation of life.
I am far from saying in all this, that there are
no occasions for interference with the methods of
trade and manufacture. It may be that this very
freedom in the exercise of industry, when uncontrolled
by science, does sometimes produce, what
may be called an exuberance of growth, that requires
trimming and keeping in order. Here it is
that the powers of local authorities can be usefully
employed; for when a manufacturer so conducts
his processes as to let loose into the air and soil, a
large portion of his property as waste products, he
is not merely doing an injury to his neighbours, but
he is also acting imprudently to himself; in fact,