To recapitulate the preceding argument,—the structure of society, no matter how completely evolved and generally beneficial to the highest human interests, is nevertheless such that when brought into contact with natural human egoism it offers access at many points to the onslaughts of corruption. The evil consequences may be extreme, or only severe, or in time they may be completely overcome. History furnishes examples of all three eventualities. It also bears witness to the fact that many gross and threatening forms of corruption that were once prevalent have been eliminated from the life of civilised nations. Those which remain to afflict us are the object of vigorous corrective measures which are constantly being extended and strengthened. Corrupt practices are found to be limited in some cases to certain branches or spheres of government with consequences of varying degrees of danger to the national life. Or they may be limited in amount or percentage by various prudential considerations on the part of political leaders who, however, are far from being sufficiently restrained in this way as social welfare requires. While corruption thus appears to be a persistent problem of social and political life it is far from being a hopeless one. In the words of Professor Henry C. Adams,[39] its solution “is a continuous task, like the cleansing of the streets of a great city, or the renewing of a right purpose within the human heart.” FOOTNOTES: [24] 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 weakness. [25] Although most of the references to historic forms of corruption presented in the following pages are taken from the comparatively recent annals of nations which are still living, it is worth noting that the subject could also be illustrated abundantly from ancient history. Even prior to the Christian era Rome suffered from various kinds of political corruption that exist in very similar forms at the present day. Readers of the Old Testament find, particularly in the books of Isaiah and Micah, denunciations of social evils not unlike those published in contemporary magazines.