Chapter XXX: Conclusion: § 1. General survey (4)

[1234] Bell, I, p. 337; Klaproth, p. 567.

[1235] It is stated, that the nomadic Koryakes regard the settled Koryakes as slaves (Histoire de Kamtschatka, II p. 223). But we are not told that they require tributes or services from them. Probably our informant only means to say, that the settled Koryakes are despised by the nomads (see p. 222, ibid.).

[1236] Munzinger, Ostafr. Stud., pp. 149, 150.

[1237] Ibid., p. 327.

[1238] Geoffroy, p. 432.

[1239] Bell, I p. 170.

[1240] Paulitschke, I p. 263.

[1241] Several instances of this phenomenon are on record with Hildebrand, Recht und Sitte, pp. 30, 31, 37, 38.

[1242] Malthus, in his chapter on modern pastoral nations (Bettany’s edition, p. 73), remarks: “The power and riches of a chaik consist in the number of his tribe.... His own consequence greatly depends on a numerous progeny and kindred; and in a state of society where power generally procures subsistence, each individual family derives strength and importance from its numbers.”

[1243] Viz. as long as the country is thinly peopled. We shall see later on, that among some savages the desire to occupy land is a great motive for making war.

[1244] Geoffroy, pp. 425, 422, 441.

[1245] Levchine, pp. 349, 350, 397.

[1246] Munzinger, Ostafr. Stud., pp. 311, 327.

[1247] Histoire de Kamtschatka, II p. 218.

[1248] Paulitschke, I pp. 254, 195.

[1249] Fritsch, pp. 79, 226, 93; Kropf, p. 179.

[1250] See above, pp. 274, 277.

[1251] Munzinger, Ostafr. Stud., p. 310.

[1252] Von Stenin, Samojeden, p. 187.

[1253] Müller, Unter Tungusen und Jakuten, p. 173; Sumner, p. 67.

[1254] Latham, as quoted by Spencer, Descr. Soc., V p. 16.

[1255] Radloff, Aus Sibirien, I p. 312.

[1256] Licata, as quoted by Paulitschke, I p. 253.

[1257] Geoffroy, p. 434.

[1258] Munzinger, Ostafr. Stud., p. 154.

[1259] Even among the simple Todas; for it is stated that the decision of their disputes by the priest is “generally given in favour of the wealthiest of the litigants.” Metz, as quoted by Spencer, Descr. Soc., V p. 12.

[1260] Burckhardt, I p. 356.

[1261] Geoffroy, p. 440.

[1262] Chantre, IV pp. 79, 136.

[1263] Paulitschke, I p. 260.

[1264] Munzinger, Ostafr. Stud., p. 155.

[1265] Ibid., pp. 308, 311.

[1266] Galton, p. 142.

[1267] Hutter, p. 343.

[1268] Pallas. Reise, I p. 337.

[1269] “Preserving of food” occurs twice, because it works in different directions.

[1270] In this paragraph we shall use the same abbreviations as in Part II, Chap. I, § 3.

[1271] Cunningham (English Industry, I p. 31) remarks that “primitive agriculture is perfectly consistent with a very migratory life.”

[1272] Azara, II p. 160.

[1273] Lery, pp. 123, 127, 141–175, 312.

[1274] Von den Steinen, Unter den Naturvölkern, pp. 201, 214.

[1275] Hahn, Die Haustiere, pp. 388 sqq.

[1276] Radloff, Aus Sibirien, I pp. 463–465.

[1277] Levchine, p. 413.

[1278] Bagehot, pp. 72, 73. Hutter (pp. 353, 354), speaking of the Bali tribes of Cameroon, remarks that there is a difference between rich and poor, but the poor are not so badly off as in Europe, for the land is open to every one.

[1279] Sombart, I p. 342.

[1280] Adam Smith as referred to by Ingram, p. 282. Loria (p. 97) also holds that production was decreased by the introduction of slavery.

[1281] Cairnes wrote in 1862.

[1282] Cairnes, pp. 43, 44, 49–52.

[1283] Such was the slave system of the ancient Germans described by Tacitus: “You cannot tell master from slave by any distinction in education: they spend their time among the same flocks, upon the same land, until age separates the nobles and their valour causes them to be acknowledged.” Tacitus, Germania, 20. On the character of primitive slavery, see also Schmoller, Grundriss, I p. 339.

[1284] Bagehot, pp. 73, 74; see also Flügel, p. 96, and Jhering’s excellent description of the character of slavery in early Rome (Jhering, II Part I pp. 172 sqq.).

[1285] Cairnes, pp. 53–56, 62, 179 sqq.

[1286] Weber’s Article “Agrarverhältnisse im Altertum”, in Handwörterbuch der Staatswissenschaften, 3rd edition (1909) I p. 63.

[1287] Cairnes is also aware of the difference between ancient and modern slavery (pp. 109 sqq.).

[1288] Loria, pp. 2–6.

[1289] On Loria’s incorrect manner of reasoning, see B. Croce’s essay on “Le teorie storiche del Prof. Loria”, in “Materialismo storico ed economia Marxistica”. A much better opinion of Loria is held by Sombart (I p. 358).

[1290] Wakefield, pp. 323–325. Marx (I pp. 795–804) gives a detailed account of the same argument as developed in another book of Wakefield’s, and adds that the exclusion of the mass of the people from the soil forms the basis of the capitalistic mode of production (ibid., p. 798).

[1291] On the practical result of Wakefield’s plan, see Cunningham, English Industry, II pp. 603–607. Professor Cunningham justly calls Wakefield “a judicious and far-seeing man” (ibid., p. 605, note 3).

[1292] Merivale, pp. 305, 313–317. See also Waltershausen, article “Negerfrage”, in Handwörterbuch der Staatswissenschaften, 2nd edition, V p. 973.

[1293] See Dargun, pp. 49 sqq. Hildebrand (Recht und Sitte, pp. 134 sqq.) rightly remarks that in primitive societies the uncultivated land is not the property of the community, but nobody’s property (res nullius).

[1294] Where the State owns the land and gives it in use gratuitously or at a low rent, the land is practically free. Such was the case in China, in the 5th century of our era, where the State gave allotments to farmers at a definite tax. “It is obvious, that the condition of the free cultivators without land could not become intolerable so long as they were able to rent in on the simple condition of paying the ordinary tax; and as long as the State had land to let on these terms, private agglomerators would be unable to get farmers to pay more to themselves; so that large estates could only be profitable on condition of evading the land tax, or being tilled for the owner by servile labour.” Simcox, II p. 127.

[1295] “Destitute of land” is not the same as: “who own no land.” When the population is so scarce that even the most fertile land has no value, nobody owns land; but there are no men destitute of land, any more than in our countries there are men destitute of air or water; every one has land at his disposal. Only when every piece of land has an owner, can there be people destitute of land, i.e. who have no land at their disposal.

[1296] Ricardo, pp. 35, 36.

[1297] Spenser St. John, I pp. 74, 60.

[1298] Jenks, pp. 160–163.

[1299] Dr. Tönnies, in his review of the first edition of this work, remarks that the last sentences contain a most important qualification of our theory of the connection between slavery and land tenure. Every one does not want to take land into cultivation, though he may do so without any payment. On the other hand, where there are people destitute of land, it is not certain that they serve the landowners and so make slavery superfluous. It may be that, though they own no land, they have other resources to live upon, or that they are not apt to perform such work as is most wanted by the rich, etc.

We are well aware of all this. Yet we think we are justified in concluding that, generally speaking, slavery only exists where there is still free land, i.e. free land fit for cultivation. That we admit many exceptions to this rule, will appear from the last paragraphs of this chapter.

[1300] Mahler, pp. 58, 59.

[1301] Waltershausen, pp. 17, 18.

[1302] Mariner, II pp. 162, 160; West, p. 262.

[1303] Thomson, Savage Island, p. 143.

[1304] Turner, Samoa, pp, 176, 177; Von Bülow, p. 192.

[1305] Hoag is a large family-group of which the pure is the head.

[1306] Gardiner, pp. 483–485; 497.

[1307] Hale, p. 105.

[1308] Ellis, Pol. Res., III p. 116; I pp. 109, 103; Moerenhout, II p. 12.

[1309] Ellis, Pol. Res., IV pp. 412, 413, 416; Hale, p. 36; Remy, p. XLVI; Chamisso, in Kotzebue, p. 149; Marcuse, p. 95.

[1310] Waitz-Gerland, VI p. 199; Meinicke, Die Inseln des stillen Oceans, II p. 148.

[1311] Waitz-Gerland, VI pp. 216, 217; Meinicke, l.c., p. 254; Hale, p. 36.

[1312] Waitz-Gerland, VI p. 219.

[1313] Meinicke, l.c., p. 264.

[1314] Tutuila, as quoted by Schurtz, Anfänge des Landbesitzes, p. 355; Lister, p. 54.

[1315] Parkinson, Dreissig Jahre, p. 535.

[1316] Tregear, p. 106; Thomson, New Zealand, I pp. 96, 97, 98; Taylor, p. 355; Polack, II p. 69.

[1317] Geiseler, p. 42.

[1318] Kubary, Die Ebongruppe, pp. 36, 37.

[1319] Senfft, in Steinmetz’s Rechtsverhältnisse, pp. 448, 452; Steinbach, p. 297; Krämer, Hawaii, etc., pp. 430, 431.

[1320] Jung, p. 68.

[1321] Kubary, Soc. Einr. der Pelauer, pp. 47, 48; Kubary, Die Verbrechen, p. 85.

[1322] Kubary, Mortlock-Inseln, p. 253.

[1323] Waitz-Gerland, V, 2 pp. 120, 121, 78.

[1324] Ibid., p. 118.

[1325] Hale, p. 83.

[1326] Waitz-Gerland, l.c., p. 114.

[1327] See above, pp. 107–109.

[1328] Wilkes, p. 96; Hale, p. 102.

[1329] Codrington, Soc. Reg., p. 306; see also Codrington, The Melanesians, pp. 59, 60.

[1330] Codrington, Soc. Reg., pp. 311, 312.

[1331] Somerville, New Georgia, p. 404.

[1332] Ribbe, p. 272.

[1333] Ribbe, p. 116.

[1334] Woodford, pp. 32, 33.

[1335] Inglis, p. 24.

[1336] Brainne, p. 241; Glaumont, p. 75; Lambert, pp. 82, 85; Meinicke, Die Inseln des stillen Oceans, I p. 230; Rochas, pp. 245, 262.

[1337] Williams, pp. 18, 22; Seemann, p. 233; Hale, p. 59; Fison, Land tenure in Fiji, pp. 336, 338, 343.

[1338] Pfeil, p. 69; Hahl, p. 82; Parkinson, Dreissig Jahre, p. 158.

[1339] Sorge, in Steinmetz’s Rechtsverhältnisse, pp. 401, 422.

[1340] Haddon, p. 334.

[1341] Hunt, p. 7.

[1342] See above, p. 107. In Tahiti there were also people destitute of land, of whom we shall have to speak in this paragraph.

[1343] Ellis, Pol. Res., I p. 107.

[1344] Ibid., IV p. 414; Wilkes, IV p. 36; Remy, p. 155.

[1345] Thomson, Savage Island, p. 143.

[1346] Jung, p. 67.

[1347] Hale, p. 102.

[1348] Waterhouse, p. 316; Williams, pp. 43, 54; Wilkes, III p. 85; Fison, Land tenure in Fiji, p. 343.

[1349] Ellis, Pol. Res., III p. 360; Thomson, New-Zealand, p. 148.

[1350] Rochas, p. 243.

[1351] Von Bülow, p. 193.

[1352] Williams, p. 29; Fison, l.c., p. 345; see also Wilkes, III p. 98.

[1353] Ellis, Pol. Res., III p. 122.

[1354] Thomson, Savage Island, p. 143.

[1355] See above, p. 322.

[1356] Krämer, Hawaii, etc., p. 334.

[1357] Ibid., p. 451; Jung, p. 65.

[1358] Codrington, Soc. Reg., p. 311.

[1359] Gardiner, pp. 485, 470.

[1360] Turner, Samoa, p. 173; Von Bülow, p. 194.

[1361] Mariner, II p. 350.

[1362] Thomson, Savage Island, p. 138.

[1363] Turner, Samoa, pp. 175, 171; Hale, p. 28.

[1364] Ellis, Pol. Res., III pp. 96–98; Wilkes, II p. 22.

[1365] Ellis, Pol. Res., IV pp. 413, 416, 417.

[1366] Wilkes, IV p. 37.

[1367] Waitz-Gerland, VI p. 199.

[1368] Radiguet, p. 156.

[1369] See above, p. 319.

[1370] Tutuila, in Schurtz, Anfänge des Landbesitzes, p. 355.

[1371] Parkinson, Dreissig Jahre, p. 535.

[1372] Polack, II p. 156.

[1373] Geiseler, p. 41.

[1374] Waitz-Gerland, VI p. 165.

[1375] Steinbach, p. 297; Krämer, Hawaii, etc., pp. 430, 431.

[1376] Waitz-Gerland, V, 2 p. 121.

[1377] Ibid., p. 112.

[1378] Rochas, pp. 245, 246; Glaumont, pp. 74, 75; Brainne, p. 246; Lambert, pp. 79, 82, 83.

[1379] Williams, pp. 23, 90, 157, 39, 40; Waterhouse, p. 311; Fison, Land tenure in Fiji, p. 342; Wilkes, III pp. 81, 108; see above, pp. 91, 92.

[1380] Codrington, The Melanesians, pp. 21, 22.

[1381] Elton, p. 98.

[1382] Hagen and Pineau, p. 335; Turner, Samoa, pp. 315, 328; Ribbe, p. 138.

[1383] Hahl, p. 77.

[1384] Sorge, in Steinmetz’s Rechtsverhältnisse, pp. 401, 414.

[1385] Parkinson, Dreissig Jahre, p. 396.

[1386] Haddon, p. 342.

[1387] Moerenhout, II p. 223.

[1388] See Gerland, Das Aussterben der Naturvölker, pp. 5, 6; and Mahler’s essay, pp. 60, 61.

[1389] Ellis, Pol. Res., III p. 96.

[1390] One reason why these islanders wanted little labour may have been that they relied for a considerable portion of their food on the fruits of trees which, when once planted, required little care.

[1391] Gardiner, p. 486.

[1392] Hale, p. 85.

[1393] Mariner, II pp. 159–162.

[1394] Ellis, Pol. Res., III p. 96.

[1395] Wilkes, pp. 99, 108.

[1396] Williams, pp. 71, 32.

[1397] Blumentritt, Conquista, pp. 56, 57.

[1398] Ellis, Pol. Res., I p. 296.

[1399] Ibid., IV p. 152.

[1400] See above, p. 332.

[1401] Mariner, II p. 349.

[1402] Radiguet, p. 156.

[1403] See above, p. 338.

[1404] Williams, p. 45, and see above, p. 339.

[1405] We have not spoken of landed property among hunters, because there are reasons enough to be found, apart from the appropriation of the land, why slavery is not likely to exist among them. We will only remark here that among many Australian tribes property in land is stated to exist (see Dargun, pp. 49, 50). Sometimes even the whole of the land seems to be held as property. “It seems curious” says Macgillivray “to find at Cape York and the Prince of Wales’ Islands a recognised division and ownership of land, seeing that none of it by cultivation has been rendered fit for the permanent support of man. According to Gi’om, there are laws regulating the ownership of every inch of ground on Muralug and the neighbouring possessions of the Kowraregas and I am led to believe such is likewise the case at Cape York.” Macgillivray, as quoted by Haddon, p 432.

[1406] Wakefield wrote in 1849.

[1407] Wakefield, p. 326.

[1408] Ashley, I pp. 17, 18.

[1409] Inama-Sternegg, II pp. 73, 74.

[1410] Cunningham, English Industry, I p. 5.

[1411] Amira, p. 138.

[1412] Oppenheimer, David Ricardos Grundrententheorie, pp. 152, 153.

[1413] Ashley, I p. 21.

[1414] Ibid., p. 7.

[1415] Ibid., pp. 8, 9.

[1416] Ibid., pp. 22, 31.

[1417] Cunningham, English Industry, I p. 476.

[1418] Ashley, I p. 37.

[1419] Hildebrand, Natural-, Geld- und Creditwirthschaft, pp. 4, 8, 9, 14, 15, 18.

[1420] Absolute self-sufficiency does not appear to exist anywhere, not even among savage tribes, see above, p. 255. But there certainly is a great difference between those countries which get their chief necessaries directly by their own labour, and those which produce mainly for export.

[1421] Ellis, Pol. Res., IV pp. 416, 417.

[1422] Among many hunters, fishers and hunting agriculturists slavery and serfdom are also wanting. But among these there are no labouring classes (as opposed to owning classes) at all, whether free or otherwise. Only the Eskimos have free servants.

[1423] Ashley, I p. 31.

[1424] Ibid., p. 27.

[1425] Inama-Sternegg, II pp. 167–177.

[1426] See Inama-Sternegg, II p. 283.

[1427] Ochenkowski, p. 11.

[1428] This was done on a large scale by the German landlords towards the end of the Middle Ages, see Inama-Sternegg, III Part I p. 384.

[1429] Kovalewsky, Régime économique moderne, pp. 358–362.

[1430] Malthus, p. 438, note 1.

[1431] Lange, Die Arbeiterfrage, p. 227.

[1432] Ratzel, Anthropogeographie, II p. 242.

[1433] Krieger, p. 225.

[1434] Inama-Sternegg, I p. 382.

[1435] See Ochenkowski, pp. 11, 15, 21; Inama-Sternegg, I pp. 236, 237; Cunningham, Western Civilization, pp. 73, 74, 95, 108, 192. According to Marx (Vol. III Part II pp. 332, 333), the substitution of money payments for dues in kind necessarily leads to free contracts between landlords and cultivators.

Grupp (Zeitschrift für Kulturgeschichte, IV p. 242) asserts that the rise of money economy caused the transition from slavery to serfdom. We shall not discuss this point, as it is not directly connected with the subject of this paragraph.

[1436] Ashley, I p. 13.

[1437] Cunningham, English Industry, I p. 95.

[1438] Ibid., p. 251.

[1439] Ochenkowski, p. 7.

[1440] Cunningham, l.c. p. 5.

[1441] Ibid., p. 407.

[1442] Ashley, I p. 13; Cunningham, l.c. I pp. 95, 96.

[1443] Cunningham, l.c. pp. 158, 159.

[1444] Ashley, I p. 17; Cunningham, l.c. p. 160.

[1445] Cunningham, l.c. p. 5.

[1446] Ashley, I p. 26.

[1447] Ochenkowski, pp. 33, 34.

[1448] Ashley, I p. 20.

[1449] See above, p. 350.

[1450] Cunningham, l.c. p. 253.

[1451] See Ashley, I. p. 27.

[1452] Ibid., pp. 38–40.

[1453] Ibid., p. 37.

[1454] Ibid., p. 29.

[1455] Cunningham, l.c. p. 225.

[1456] Ashley, I p. 32.

[1457] Cunningham, l.c. p. 305.

[1458] Ashley, II p. 277.

[1459] See Ashley, II pp. 264–267, and Ochenkowski, pp. 18–20.

[1460] Ashley, II p. 265.

[1461] Cunningham, l.c. pp. 356, 357. On the Black Death and its effects, see also Thorold Rogers, Work and Wages, pp.5–26, and The Economic Interpretation of History by the same author, pp. 24 sqq.

[1462] Cunningham, l.c. p. 306.

[1463] Ibid., pp. 307, 308.

[1464] Ibid., pp. 355, 356.

[1465] See Ochenkowski, p. 37.

[1466] This date is given by Ashley, II p. 264.

[1467] Cunningham, l.c., p. 361.

[1468] Lange (Die Arbeiterfrage, p. 241) also remarks that in England the transition from agriculture to sheep breeding engendered a relative over-population. On relative and absolute over-population, see further Oppenheimer, Das Bevölkerungsgesetz, etc., pp. 79–84.

[1469] Ashley, II p. 267.

[1470] Ashley, II pp. 270–272; Cunningham, l.c., p. 362.

[1471] Ashley, II pp. 272, 273.

[1472] Cunningham, l.c., p. 474.

[1473] Ashley, II p. 281.

[1474] Ibid., p. 284.

[1475] Cunningham, l.c., p. 408.

[1476] Ibid., p. 393.

[1477] Ashley, II pp. 336, 352.

[1478] Cunningham, l.c., pp. 361, 476.

[1479] See Ashley, II pp. 286–288.

[1480] See Gonner, Article “Bauernbefreiung in Grossbritannien” in Handwörterbuch, 2nd edition, II pp. 593, 594.

[1481] Inama-Sternegg, I pp. 110, 111, 163–165.

[1482] Ibid., pp. 81–83.

[1483] Ibid., pp. 72, 60, 70.

[1484] Ibid., pp. 147, 148, 165.

[1485] Ibid., pp. 119, 120.

[1486] Ibid., pp. 123, 124.

[1487] Ibid., pp. 207–217.

[1488] Ibid., pp. 220, 221, 279–281.

[1489] Ibid., pp. 382, 235, 236.

[1490] Ibid., pp. 226–257.

[1491] Ibid., pp. 237, 367–371, 381.

[1492] Ibid., pp. 236, 367.

[1493] Ibid., pp., 240, 241, 319, 355. Even in the Merovingian period there were already such people, according to him, see pp. 122, 124, 163.

[1494] Ibid., pp. 241, 382.

[1495] Ibid., p. 367.

[1496] Lamprecht, III pp. 56, 57. See also Inama-Sternegg, II pp. 70, 164, 285.

[1497] Inama-Sternegg, II pp. 115, 145, 84, 85, 207, 209.

[1498] Ibid., pp. 4–27. Similarly in France, in the 12th century, the landlords encouraged emigration to the outlying, newly reclaimed districts. Villeins who were willing to settle in these parts were granted special privileges, a house and land were given them at a nominal rent (Luchaire, in Lavisse, Vol. II Part. II p. 336.)

[1499] Inama-Sternegg, II pp. 36–38.

[1500] Ibid., pp. 70, 71, 63.

[1501] Ibid., p. 64.

[1502] Lamprecht, III p. 63.

[1503] Inama-Sternegg, III Part I pp. 394, 395.

[1504] Ibid., II pp. 203, 204.

[1505] Ibid., III Part I pp. 1–13.

[1506] Lamprecht, V Part I p. 82; Inama-Sternegg, l.c., p. 212.

[1507] Inama-Sternegg, l.c., pp. 38, 214, 237, 285 sqq.

[1508] Ibid., pp. 366, 367.

[1509] Ibid., pp. 261–265.

[1510] Ibid., p. 220.

[1511] Ibid., pp. 176, 201, 249.

[1512] Ibid., pp. 202–205, 208–210, 225, 251, 255, 256, 277; Lamprecht, l.c., p. 82.

[1513] Inama-Sternegg, l.c., pp. 46, 174, 175.

[1514] Ibid., pp. 48, 50, 51, 213, 223, 241, 282, 303–309, 314, 408, 413.

[1515] Lamprecht, l.c., p. 83; see also Inama-Sternegg, l.c., pp. 54, 55, 420.

[1516] Inama-Sternegg, l.c., pp. 56–61.

[1517] Ibid., p. 67.

[1518] Ibid., pp. 54, 398, 417, 419, 411.

[1519] Ibid., p. 420; see also p. 311.

[1520] Ashley, II pp. 281, 282; see also Inama-Sternegg, III Part II p. 201.

[1521] On the history of the rural classes in Eastern Germany, see Knapp, Die Bauernbefreiung.

It may be of some interest to point out the great resemblance between the rise of Roman colonatus as described by Max Weber and the rise of serfdom in Eastern Germany. In both countries most of the peasants were originally free (Weber, Römische Agrargeschichte, p. 244; Knapp, I p. 32). The landlords, who formerly had passed most of their time outside their properties, when they lost their military function took the cultivation of their manors into their own hands (Weber, l.c., pp. 243, 244; Knapp, I p. 37). They soon acquired rights of jurisdiction over the peasants (Weber, l.c., p. 260; Knapp, I p. 33), and began to compel them to work on the demesne (Weber, l.c., p. 244; Knapp, I p. 40). The cultivators lost the right of emigrating (Weber, l.c., pp. 256–258; Knapp, I p. 42). Even the Bauernlegen, i.e. the joining of a peasant’s holding to the demesne, occurred in Rome as well as in Eastern Germany (Weber, l. c, p. 247; Knapp, I pp. 50, 55). And it is most remarkable that in both countries the rise of serfdom took place at an advanced period of their history.

This proves once more that the institutions of different countries may closely resemble each other, even in many details, without the one country having derived its institutions from the other. For even the influence of Roman law cannot serve as an explanation of this resemblance, as Roman law takes little notice of colonatus (Weber l.c., p. 259).

[1522] We must admit that we are not sure whether the facts of Roman agrarian history agree with our theory. In Rome slavery prevailed to a large extent at a time when the relative scarcity of land gave rise to the difficulties about the ager publicus.

We shall not attempt to solve this question. We will only mention our impression, on reading Weber’s Römische Agrargeschichte, viz. that, even in the time of the Empire, though some land fetched a high price, all disposable land had not yet been appropriated, and therefore the want of servile labour remained. At the beginning of the Empire free labourers were very scarce, and could only be got to help the landlords in sowing and at harvest time on condition of receiving a pretty considerable part of the harvest (Weber, l.c., pp. 236–238). Under Augustus and Tiberius the procuring of slaves from abroad became very difficult, and this led to kidnapping of men by the landlords (Ibid., p. 242). In the boundary provinces, even in later centuries, barbarians were imported and became coloni attached to the soil (Ibid., pp. 259, 260).

Slavery proper declined from the beginning of the Empire (Meyer, Altertum, p. 71); but the coloni, who originally seem to have been free tenants, gradually lost the right of removing from the manor they inhabited (Weber, l.c., pp. 242, 248–250, 256–258).

We must, however, bear in mind that the writers on the economic history of Rome still disagree very much, not only as to the explanation of the facts, but as to the facts themselves. See Max Weber’s article on “Agrarverhältnisse im Altertum”, in Handwörterbuch der Staatswissenschaften, 3rd edition, Vol. I.

[1523] The reader will remember that there are tribes among which land is abundant, but nobody can live upon land and human labour only: the possession of capital is necessary, and those destitute of capital have to apply to the owners for employment. The best instance is furnished by the pastoral tribes.

We have purposely avoided speaking of countries in which all land has been appropriated and capital also plays a great part, as it is the case in the manufacturing countries of modern Europe. Here the structure of society is very complicated and difficult to disentangle. We think, however, that here also the most important fact is the appropriation of the soil.

[1524] “The earth, as we have already seen, is not the only agent of nature, which has a productive power; but it is the only one, or nearly so, that one set of men take to themselves, to the exclusion of others; and of which, consequently, they can appropriate the benefits. The waters of rivers, and of the sea, by the power which they have of giving movement to our machines, carrying our boats, nourishing our fish, have also a productive power; the wind which turns our mills, and even the heat of the sun, work for us; but happily no one has yet been able to say, the wind and the sun are mine, and the service which they render must be paid for.” J. B. Say, Économie Politique, as quoted by Ricardo, p. 35.

[1525] This is the general rule. We are fully aware that there are exceptions due to secondary causes, internal and external. Moreover, open resources do not necessarily lead to slavery or serfdom: there are many simple societies in which there are no labouring, as opposed to ruling classes, everybody, or nearly everybody, working for his own wants (e.g. among many hunters, fishers, and hunting agriculturists).

[1526] Malthus (p. 453), speaking of war, says: “One of its first causes and most powerful impulses was undoubtedly an insufficiency of room and food”.

[1527] See Wakefield, pp. 126–134, on the happiness of settlers in new countries.

[1528] A good instance is afforded by the Angoni as described by Wiese. Their king, he tells us, subjected neighbouring tribes and brought them to his own country. “He did not care for the territory deserted by these tribes. It was his chief aim to have the people; to landed property he attached little value” (Wiese, p. 197).

[1529] Lange, Die Arbeiterfrage, pp. 199, 334.

[1530] See Melching, p. 19.

[1531] Guppy, pp. 44, 45.

[1532] See above, p. 90.

[1533] Ribbe, pp. 100, 141.

[1534] Sorge, in Steinmetz’s Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 399.

[1535] Somerville, New Hebrides, pp. 3, 5, 7, 4.

[1536] Hagen and Pineau, p. 331; see also Meinicke, Neue Hebriden, p. 340.

[1537] De Vaux, p. 330; Turner, Samoa, p. 341; Rochas, p. 229; see also Brainne, p. 248.

[1538] Parkinson, Im Bismarck-Archipel, pp. 98, 99, 101; Danks, pp. 294, 292, 293; See also Melching, pp. 43, 44.

[1539] Parkinson, Dreissig Jahre, p. 269.

[1540] Williams, p. 178; Pritchard, p. 372.

[1541] The condition of women is not, however, equally bad in all Melanesian islands. Among the Western Tribes of Torres Straits “the women appear to have had a good deal to say on most questions, and were by no means down-trodden or ill-used” (Haddon, p. 357; see also Meinicke, Die Torresstrasse, p. 115). And Somerville, speaking of New Georgia in the Solomon Islands, says: “In the eastern part the treatment of women is notably good. I have but rarely seen them at work” (Somerville, New Georgia, pp. 405, 406).

[1542] See the details given in Part I Chap. II § 5.

[1543] Cunningham (English Industry, I p. 77) justly remarks: “While there is no opportunity for exchange, it is not so well worth while for anyone to preserve a surplus; a very abundant harvest is more likely to be prodigally used within the year, and so with all other supplies; but the existence of opportunities for trade makes it well worth while to gather a store that far exceeds any prospective need and to stow in warehouses for sale all that need not be used by the producers to satisfy their immediate wants; the conditions are present which still further favour the accumulation of wealth.”

[1544] Kohler, Das Recht der Papuas, p. 364; Schmoller, Grundriss, I p. 243.

[1545] Cairnes, p. 50. In ancient Rome, at the end of the Republic, plantations of olives and vines were worked with slaves, whereas cereal crops were raised on lands leased to coloni; see Weber, Article “Agrarverhältnisse im Altertum”, in Handwörterbuch der Staatswissenschaften, 3rd edition, vol. I p. 166.

[1546] Köler, pp. 84, 154.

[1547] Zündel, pp. 408, 409, 387.

[1548] Kingsley, West African studies, p. 427; see also De Cardi’s description of the slave system of Bonny, ibid., pp. 516 sqq.

[1549] Dalton, p. 58.

[1550] Thomson, New Zealand, pp. 150, 125.

[1551] Polack, II p. 53; Brown, New Zealand, p. 30.

[1552] Dalton, p. 58.

[1553] Colquhoun, p. 54.

[1554] Modigliani, Nias, p. 525.

[1555] Nieuwenhuis, Quer durch Borneo. I p. 66; II p. 96.

[1556] See above, p. 197, note 1.

[1557] Blumentritt, Conquista, p. 65.

[1558] Pogge, Muata Jamwo, p. 232.

[1559] Kerr, II p. 129.

[1560] Bérenger-Féraud, p. 59.

[1561] Munzinger, Ostafr. Stud., p. 484.

[1562] Madrolle, p. 92.

[1563] Arcin, p. 275.

[1564] Among the ancient Germans the bearing of arms was a sign of freedom (Amira, p. 129).

[1565] Martius, p. 71.

[1566] Azara, II pp. 109, 110.

[1567] Powell, On regimentation, p. CXII.

[1568] Among the Soninkays and Malinkays of French Guinea the slave warriors are the only force on which the chiefs can rely; for the freemen would not always readily answer to the appeal of their lords. Arcin, p. 275.

[1569] Ingram, p. 44.

[1570] Ibid., pp. 51, 52.

[1571] Ibid., pp. 52, 53.

[1572] Goldstein, p. 362.

[1573] Torday and Joyce, Congo Free State, p. 139.

[1574] Ingram, pp. 58, 59.

[1575] De Groot, p. 455.

[1576] Blumentritt, Conquista, p. 53.

[1577] Lenz, p. 59.

[1578] Compiègne, Okanda, pp. 194, 195.

[1579] Torday and Joyce, Ba-Mbala, p. 411.

[1580] Martius, p. 63.

[1581] See above, p. 269.

[1582] Leroy-Beaulieu, p. 80. See also Malthus (Bettany’s edition, pp. 423, 424): “In the feudal times, the landlords could in no other way spend their incomes than by maintaining a great number of idle followers.”

[1583] Coquilhat, pp. 365, 265.

[1584] Finsch, Die Goldküste, pp. 359, 360.

[1585] Among hunting agriculturists we have found 34 positive and 43 negative cases; among agriculturists of the higher stages 136 positive and 52 negative cases.

[1586] Morgan, Anc. Soc., p. 136.

[1587] See Salvioli’s article on the struggles between pastoral and agricultural peoples.

[1588] See above, p. 295, and Grosse, p. 134.

[1589] Martius, pp. 123, 131, 131 note, 154 note, 531–533, 772.

[1590] Robidé, pp. 345 sqq.

[1591] Ibid., pp. 53, 218, 221, 288, 289, 232, 255, 317. See also “Nieuw Guinea”, pp. 186–192.

[1592] Robidé, p. 227.

[1593] Ibid., pp. 277, 242.

[1594] Ottow and Geissler, pp. 152, 153.

[1595] See Blumentritt, Conquista.

[1596] Cooper, p. 183.

[1597] Colquhoun, p. 70.

[1598] Rousselet, p. 223.

[1599] See above, p. 287.

[1600] Ingram, pp. 19, 38.

[1601] Ibid., p. 268.

[1602] Ibid., 224, 225, 230–233. On the African slave-trade, see also Ratzel, Anthropogeographie, II (1891), pp. 386, 387.

[1603] Polack, I, pp. 78, 79.

[1604] In ancient Wales “the price of a slave was one pound, but of one brought across the sea, a pound and a half. The slave who was brought from a distance was much less likely to escape, or even to attempt it, and was therefore a more valuable property; this principle still holds good among slave-owners.” Cunningham, English Industry, I, p. 117 note 6.

[1605] In the first edition we had spoken of negative internal causes. Dr. Tönnies, in his review, rightly remarks that this expression is not quite correct.

[1606] Our “external causes” correspond with what has sometimes been called condiciones, as opposed to causae proper.

[1607] Viz. if they have no opportunity to emigrate to countries with open resources.

[1608] Viz. generally speaking. Peculiar circumstances (e.g. a rapid development of industry) may bring about a temporary scarcity of labour. But the growth of population in most cases will soon bring this state of things to an end.

[1609] We have repeatedly remarked that the condition of countries with open resources is quite different: land is abundant, but the supply of labour is limited; therefore the ruling classes attach little value to land as such, but their chief aim is to people the land with men who enter into their service. A good instance is given by Junod in his account of the Baronga (near Delagoa Bay): “According to their laws, the soil belongs exclusively to the chief. But practically it belongs to every one. Nobody buys land. It is given gratuitously to whosoever wants to settle in the country. By simply declaring himself a subject of the chief, a native may acquire as much land as he wants for his subsistence.” (Junod, pp. 186, 187).

[1610] Lange, Die Arbeiterfrage, pp. 12, 13.

[1611] Hecquard, p. 313.

[1612] There is another reason: foreign women are sometimes procured for wives. But we may leave this case out of consideration as being foreign to our subject.

[1613] Dr. Vierkandt, reviewing the first edition of this work, remarks that there is no internal connection between the results of the investigation and the distinction of economic groups, as the existence or non-existence of slavery appears to depend not only on the economic state of society, but on many causes which have little to do with this state.

Though we fully admit this last, we think our division of the savage tribes into economic groups is justified by the results of our investigation. This division has led us to the following conclusions. Hunters and fishers, and equally the lowest agricultural group, as Dr. Vierkandt himself observes, generally do not keep slaves. The state of pastoral nomadism is also unfavourable to the growth of slavery. On the other hand, agriculturists of the higher stages are very likely to keep slaves.

Having arrived at these preliminary results, we have inquired which causes engender this connection between slavery and the economic state of society. We have also asked for the causes of the exceptions to the rules above mentioned. So we have come to an understanding of the internal connection between slavery and the other factors of social life. We cannot think our final results would have been obtained as well in any other way.

[1614] In the Shortland Islands (Solomon group) many of the common people are children of slave parents. Ribbe, p. 138.

[1615] Among the Tlinkits, in Holmberg’s time, it was the custom to sacrifice slaves at some great feasts; but the master often gave a good slave the opportunity of hiding during the feast; he could then return afterwards with impunity. Generally speaking, no slaves were sacrificed but the old and sickly and those who, being defective in some way or other, caused their master more trouble than profit. Except at the great feasts slaves were scarcely ever killed; for they were valuable and difficult to replace. (Holmberg, I p. 51). We see that the keeping of slaves had become profitable and so the old custom of sacrificing slaves was going out of practice.

[1616] To give one instance, Guppy states that in Ugi, in the Solomon Islands, “infanticide is the prevailing custom. When a man needs assistance in his declining years, his props are not his own sons but youths obtained by purchase from the St. Christoval natives who, as they attain to manhood, acquire a virtual independence, passing almost beyond the control of their original owner. It is from this cause that but a small proportion of the Ugi natives have been born on the island, three-fourths of them having been brought as youths to supply the place of offspring killed in infancy”. Guppy, p. 42.

[1617] See Post, Ethn. Jur., I p. 366.

[1618] Post, l.c.

[1619] Among the Chingpaws of Upper Burma slaves can always be liberated by their parents by means of a payment (Wehrli, p. 37).

[1620] Among the Tlinkits at the feast held in commemoration of the deceased, the man who gave the feast used to part with some of his slaves, whether by sacrificing or emancipating them was left to the decision of the priest. Erman, p. 382.

[1621] Among the Bayaka “if the deceased leaves no heir, his wives and goods pass into the possession of one of his slaves, who thus becomes a free man.” Torday and Joyce, Ba-Yaka, p. 44.

[1622] Among the Ewe-speaking peoples of the Slave Coast “according to custom, any slave who takes refuge in a temple and dedicates himself to the service of the god, cannot be reclaimed by his owner; but as by paying a fee to the priest the owner can close the doors of all the temples in the neighbourhood to his fugitive slaves, this provision of an asylum for an ill-treated slave is more apparent than real”. Ellis, Ewe-speaking peoples, p. 220.

[1623] Among the Chinooks, the flattening of the head, “appears to be a sort of mark of royalty or badge of aristocracy, for their slaves are not permitted to treat their children thus”. (Swan, The Northwest Coast, p. 168). Among the Malays of Menangkabao slaves were not allowed to dress in the same manner as free people or live in houses like those of the free or wear gold or silver ornaments or silks. (Willinck, p. 141).

[1624] See also Post, Ethn. Jur., I pp. 370 sqq.

[1625] See Steinmetz, Strafe, II pp. 306–315.

[1626] See Post, Ethn. Jur., I, p. 377.

[1627] Among the ancient Germans, slaves were obliged to wear their hair short (Amira, p. 139). Similarly in Dorey (New-Guinea); see “Nieuw-Guinea”, p. 149.

[1628] The facts do not seem to justify Déniker’s conclusion that the moral code of savages disapproves of compassion with slaves, because it is not profitable to the tribe. (Déniker, Races et peuples, p. 299.)

[1629] On the favourable position of native-born slaves in North-eastern Africa, see above, p. 267.

[1630] Déniker remarks that, together with the formation of social classes, a distinction between the different kinds of unfree arises. “The lowest grade are the slaves in the proper sense, who are not even regarded as human beings, whereas, at the top of the scale, we find people, unfree by birth, but able to arrive at a position not very different from that of the free citizens of the upper-classes.” Déniker, Races et peuples, p. 296.

[1631] In Dahomey “agriculture is despised, because slaves are employed in it.” Burton, II p. 248.

[1632] Among the Battas of Mandheling and Pertibie only the nobles are allowed to keep slaves. The higher nobles may keep as many slaves as they like, the lower only two or three (Willer, p. 43).

[1633] Among the Ewe it occurs that a slave is emancipated by his master. “But, generally speaking, slaves do not care to be free, for they are treated as members of the family and are so contented that they do not long for a change in their condition.” Herold, p. 170. The slaves, formerly kept by the Koniagas, evidently thought otherwise of their servile state: for on the arrival of the Russians, many slaves took refuge to them (Holmberg I p. 79).

[1634] The Athka Aleuts sometimes preferred suicide to captivity in war or slavery (Petroff, p. 158).

[1635] “In the district of Allas [in Sumatra] a custom prevails, by which, if a man has been sold to the hill people, however unfairly, he is restricted on his return from associating with his countrymen as their equal, unless he brings with him a sum of money, and pays a fine for his re-enfranchisement to his kalippah or chief. This regulation has taken its rise from an idea of contamination among the people, and from art and avarice among the chiefs.” Marsden, p. 255. Similarly, among the Maori, according to Polack (II p. 55), “chiefs who have tasted of slavery are often taunted by their friends, by whom they may have been ransomed, as having been slaves.” Brown (New Zealand, p. 62) remarks: “They attach great importance to the circumstance of never having been taken in war.”

[1636] Among the Ewe, the price of a slave is 140–200 shilling, so the relatively rich only are able to purchase slaves (Herold, p. 168).

[1637] On the West African coast, from Lagos to Cameroon, the master of the house has over his wives a limited, over his male and female slaves an unlimited power (Kingsley, West African studies, p. 439). Among the Bali tribes of Cameroon, female slaves are concubines without any recognized rights.

[1638] See Schmoller, Grundriss, I p. 339.

[1639] Winwood Reade, speaking of the coast tribes of West Africa, from Senegambia to Angola, remarks: “In those places where the slave-buying still goes on, the people are more disposed to go to war, to convict criminals, and to make use of any pretence to procure slaves. And it is also certain that there are regions where an almost constant war is carried on for the purpose of obtaining slaves” (Winwood Reade, p. 291).

[1640] Bagehot, p. 73; see also Ingram, pp. 5, 6.

[1641] Ingram, p. 5; see also Schmoller, Grundriss, I p. 338.

[1642] See Lange, Die Arbeiterfrage, p. 63.

[1643] Such is the case for instance in Cameroon (Hutter, p. 36). Among the Bali tribes of Cameroon the nobles wear their nails long, in order to show that they are not slaves (Ibid., p. 385). See also Westermarck, Moral Ideas, II pp. 272, 273.

[1644] See Ingram, pp. 9–11. All this applies much less to early slavery than to slavery in its more advanced stages. Yet even the patriarchal slave system of primitive societies sometimes has a bad influence on the slaves. Polack, speaking of the New Zealand slaves, remarks: “Debarred from the sight of their relatives, they become reckless of moral feeling.... Obscenity and lying are among the practices most persisted in by the slaves, and to their demoralized state may be attributed the greater part of the wars and dissensions of this irritable people; they may be justly regarded as the greatest drawback to the prosperity and civilization hitherto of the New Zealanders” (Polack, II pp. 58, 59).

[1645] Brinton, Races and peoples, p. 46.

[1646] Ferrero, La morale primitiva, etc.

[1647] Ripley, p. 564.

[1648] Ratzel, Anthropogeographie, II pp. 387, 388.

[1649] Powell, On Regimentation, p. CXII.

[1650] Adult males are not desired for slaves, because they are very difficult to manage. This is the case even among the semi-civilized Mohammedans of Baghirmi: see Nachtigal, II p. 615. The North African slave-hunters, according to Goldstein (p. 367), have a preference for girls, but also capture boys; full-grown men, however, are generally killed.

[1651] Slaves have also sometimes been employed in manufactures. Such, according to Cunningham, was the case in ancient Tyre. Slaves also “worked as artisans in the factories of Athens”. Cunningham, Western Civilization, pp. 66, 110. But we think such an employment of slaves is rather an exception.