1 Representative government means, chiefly, repre[sentation of business interests. The government commonly works in the interest of the business men with a fairly consistent singleness of purpose. And in its solicitude for the business men's interests it is borne out by current pubhc sentiment, for there is a naive, unquestioning persuasion abroad among the body of the people to the effect that, in some loccult way, the material interests of the populace [coincide with the pecuniary interests of those buai■ pess men who live within the scope of the same set ,of governmental contrivances. This persuasion is an article of popular metaphysics, in that it rests on an uncritically assumed solidarity of interests, rather than on an insight into the relation of busi-
Esto no es verdad en casi el mismo grado para las políticas mercantiles de Inglaterra, ni siquiera en la época moderna temprana. En la política inglesa, bajo el incoherente sistema constitucional de la era mercantilista, el fin ulterior (confeso) es siempre la ventaja (comercial) de la "mancomunidad" ("commonwealth"). El príncipe interviene más bien como segundo que como primer demandante en la solicitud del estadista mercantilista.
BDSINB88 IN LAW AND POLITICS 287 ness enterprise to the material welfare of those classes who are not primarily business men. This persuasion is particularly secure among the more conservative portion of the community, the business men, superior and subordinate, together with the professional classes, as contrasted with those vulgar portions of the community who are tainted with socialistic or anarchistic notions. But since the conservative element comprises the citizens of substance and weight, and indeed the effective majority of law-abiding citizens, it follows that, with the sanction of the great body of the people, even including those who have no pecuniary interests to serve in the matter, constitutional government has, in the main, become a department of the business organization and is guided by the advice of the business men. The government has, of course, much else to do