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CHAPTER XII.
THE SOCIALISTS OF THE CHAIR.
HIS Study of contemporary Socialism would not be com-X
píete without some account of the Economists of the
new school called Kaiheder-Socialisten* or Socialists of the
Chair. Like Socialists, they admit, in the first place, that the
distribution of wealth ought to be regulated more than it is by
principles of equity, and in particular that the labourers ought
to receive a larger share ; and, secondly, that this result cannot
be obtained as the effect of liberty and what are called natural
laws, but only through the action of the legislature and the
State. If the wish to see greater equality reign amongst men,
and the conviction that this ideal can only be realized by the
intervention of the Legislature constitute Socialism, then the
Economists of the new school are Socialists.
The Socialists of the Chair differ from the Economists of
the old school in their view of the foundation, the method, the
mission, and the conclusions of economic science.
Let us see how they themselves explain the points which
separate them from the orthodox doctrine.f
* This name was given in Germany to the Economists of the new school
by their opponents, and notably by M. Eras, because they professed, in the
Chairs of the Universities, doctrines with Socialistic tendencies.
t We shall here mainly follow : Adolf Held, Ueber den gegenwärtigen
Principienstreit in der Nationalœkonomie ; Gustav Schönberg, Z>/(f Voîkswirthschaftslehre
; Gustav Schmoller, Ueber einige Grundfra¿n des Rechts
und der Volkswirthschaft ; Contzen, Die Auf^e der Volkswirthschaftslehre;
Wagner, Die Sociale Frage; L. Luzzatti, Die Nationalcekonomischen
Schulen Italiens und ihre Controyersen ; Vito Cusumano, Le Scuole econovtiche
della Germania; Dr. Moritz Block, Die Quintessenz der Kathedersocialismus
; Friedrich von Bœrenbach, Die Social Wissenschaften ; Oppenheim,
Der Katheder-socialismus. Lastly, an unpublished study of Professor
Eheberg, for which I have to thank him specially.
