social structure of the vanquished. For this reason Europe fell more easily before Napoleon from 1796 to 1812, imperial France before Germany in 1870-'71, and Russia before Japan in 1904-'05.

While the disastrous consequences of widespread corruption as shown by such instances are not to be lightly underestimated, it is evident, on the other hand, that corrupt conditions may exist even on a considerable scale without bringing about the extreme penalty of disintegration or conquest. Recoveries little short of the miraculous are sometimes noted in this field of social pathology. It would be difficult to conceive a lower stage of degradation than that reached by the English ministry and parliament during and immediately following the time of Walpole, yet to-day England enjoys the reputation of possessing one of the most honest and efficient governments in the world. American municipal reformers sometimes despair of any efficacious remedy for the corruption which prevails in our cities. They should take heart

'It would, of course, be absurd to assume that every victor in such contests is free from all taint of corruption. A very large and powerful state may, although extremely corrupt, succeed in overcoming a small and weak state which is relatively free from corruption. Something akin to this occurred when Finnish autonomy was suppressed by Russia in 1902. On the other hand it is evident that in such a struggle the honesty of the small state would be in its favour while the corruption of the great state would be a source of weak

ness.

upon observing the degraded conditions which prevailed in Prussian municipalities prior to Stein's Städteordnung of 1808, and in England prior to the Municipal Reform Act of 1835. In both instances formerly corrupt conditions have been succeeded by honest and efficient municipal systems which are observed with envy and commented upon with admiration the world over.

The conclusion which the foregoing illustrations seem to warrant is that while corruption is a pathological condition which in an extreme degree may lead to social death, it is also susceptible to treatment which may bring about recovery with renewed and even enhanced vigour. Between these two extremes every degree of partial strength or weakness may exist in a social body as a result of the presence or after effects of corruption. The Roman Church suffered a tremendous loss of influence in Western and Northern Europe as a result of the Reformation. It has never recovered this territory, but it survived as an institution which, modified by internal reforms, has acquired a greater influence and a greater number of communicants than the medieval church ever dreamed of. Spain, partly through corruption, lost her colonial empire, but the mother country remains intact. True Lord Salisbury called it a "decadent nation," but at least it is not in ruins. Germany was victor over corrupt imperial France in the last great European war. The progress of the Vater

land since that event seems phenomenal, but already uneasy voices, troubled at contemporary conditions, particularly in the army and the emperor's immediate entourage, are raising the question: "What does the future hold for us,-Jena or Sedan?" Conquered in 1870-'71, the French, in Gambetta's deathless words, nevertheless remained

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a great nation which does not wish to die." The history of the Third Republic has been besmirched at times by scandals of the most offensively corrupt character. Yet in spite of this and other national weaknesses the outside world is probably altogether too much inclined to underestimate the latent strength of modern France.

Contemplation of the general evils which may result from corruption suggests the possibility of eliminating it from social life. While such a condition of affairs may be looked upon as an ideal, it will nevertheless remain an ultimate ideal which can be approximated rather than realised, and that only by the most patient, determined, and continued effort. Every social organisation, as we have seen, presupposes the subordination in some measure of personal to broader interests. But no matter how far social integration is carried, and social duty correspondingly emphasised, there will always remain a field for individual effort. Absolute communism in which the state shall be everything and the individual nothing is unthinkable. Even where the individual as such is but little re

garded, he will remain a member of small social groups, as e.g., the family or business corporation, the interests of which are almost if not quite as close to him as the interests of his naked ego. The lines bounding the two great fields of individual interest and social interest are variously drawn in different countries and at different times. No doubt they will be redrawn in the future, probably greatly to the extension of social functions if one may judge from the present drift. Always, however, the two great fields will remain, and the best results in each will depend partly upon the activities of the other. In the main these activities do not conflict, indeed they strongly reinforce one another. When the individual pursues his daily work diligently and intelligently, although primarily with a selfish end in view, he is nevertheless adding to national wealth and welfare. So also with most of the activities of the family, the church, the club, and the business corporation. In each of these cases, however, it is inevitable that conflicts will sometimes occur between individual and narrow group interests on the one hand, and broader social interests on the other. These conflicts may gradually take on less selfish and less dangerous forms, but will hardly disappear so long as the character of the individual and the constitution of society remain fundamentally unchanged. The problem of corruption, therefore, is a persistent one. There will always remain the possi

bility of moral struggle for improvement; there will never be absolute perfection in these extensive and involved relationships.

A very striking implication of the persistent character of the problem may be found in the fact that much of the current terminology of political science implies the presence of corruption as a common factor in the life of the state. To modern students Greek classifications of forms of government appear rather naive, considered simply as classifications, but many of the separate terms employed in them nevertheless remain in general use. Plato, for example, describes the decline of the pure Republic ruled by philosophers who are actuated by the highest motives, first into Timarchy, next into Oligarchy, then into Democracy in the sense of mob rule, and finally into Tyranny. We must infer that in the real world, as the Philospher saw it, the number of perfect Republics, granting that such beatific political entities or any acceptable approximation to them could exist, would be far less than the number of degenerate states. The common characteristic of all the latter from Timarchy to Tyranny is the predominance of some form of personal or narrow group interest over the highest interests of the state. In other words the great majority of state forms as classified by Plato are to be distinguished by the degree and kind of corruption they exhibit. Aristotle's distinction between pure forms of constitutions,-Royalty, Aris