The Continental Monthly, Vol. 3, No. 1 January 1863: Devoted To Literature And National PolicyVarious
History
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 3, No. 1 January 1863: Devoted To Literature And National Policy
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century -- Periodicals
The making of tools, implements, and fabrics is at first carried on
solely by individuals working alone, but at length, machinery comes into
use, the elements are used as driving power, and manufacturing
establishments arise having a complicated organization. The division of
labor has been all the time becoming more complete, till now a single
workman manages but a part of the process of making an implement or a
fabric, which must pass through many hands in succession before it is
completed. All are familiar with this fact. It is exactly analogous to
that which we observe in the animal economy. Low in the zoological
scale, one membrane performs all the organic functions; higher in the
scale, there are different organs to perform the distinct functions.
When the stomach and liver first appear, they are very simple in
structure, and as simple in function; it is just so with the
manufactories in the industrial organism. But the stomach and liver
become more complicated as the scale rises; it is just so with the
manufactories as civilization advances. Animals lowest in the scale have
no heart--no circulation. It is just so with society--if society it may
be called--which is lowest in the scale; it has no exchange of
products--no commercial circulation. The parallelism is complete.
Further, as already specified, we find in the animal organism, that the
dependence of parts and functions upon each other becomes greater with
the increase of complexity; that unitization at the top of the scale, in
the midst of an almost infinite complication of organic structures and
functions, has a completeness and significance which it cannot have in
the simple organism at the bottom of the scale. The same precisely is
true of the social organism. At the bottom of the scale, there is no
dependence of one part on another--no cooeperation--no proper
unity--nothing but simple individual life. Higher in the scale, there is
dependence of one element of society on another; there must be
cooeperation, combination, organization, a tendency, at least, toward
unity.
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