In fact, we must remember that the experience on which we rely in regard to economic growth has been obtained, not by experiment in a laboratory, but by observation in the world itself. The investigator in a laboratory can note all the conditions under which an experiment is conducted; he can be certain that under the same conditions the same result can be secured over and over again. But in the world of political and economic activities we never find the same conditions repeating themselves; the fundamental inquiry must always be, How far were the conditions of some growing community in the past similar to those of some growing community to-day? How far are they on all fours, so that we can argue from one to another directly? Sometimes we may get a very close analogy, and instructive comparisons may be possible; but even when the conditions are very different, when there is hardly any close parallel, we may still get a suggestion as to a mode of development that might prove fruitful or as to a danger which it may be well to bear in mind.
There is pleasure in completing, so far as the limits of time and energy allow, an empirical economic investigation; but to those who have any vigor of mind at all there is a keener delight in seeing new fields of possible inquiry opened up. It is very enjoyable to renew acquaintance with an old difficulty in a fresh form, or to find that some question which seemed to be settled is forcing itself clamorously on our attention for reconsideration; and hence we have, as economists, set out for our too hurried visit here with eager anticipation. The conditions of South Africa seem to be very different from those of any other part of the world, and therefore every particular economic problem presents itself in an unfamiliar aspect. There has not been such a clear field for the working out of new ideas as was presented in the great West, or even in Australasia; and all questions as to the opening up of the country and the economic aims and aspirations of the settler are necessarily more complex. There may not be the sharply defined conflict between the old and the new which renders British India such a fascinating field for study, but the African problems are not simplified on that account. It is, rather, true to say that there is additional complication with regard to all industrial activity in a land where the natives have not been schooled to regular.habits of work by the discipline of a high traditional civilization. As passing tourists we can obviously make little progress in understanding how these practical difficulties are to be solved, but at least we hope to learn to know better how the questions ought to be stated. We shall have our reward if we carry back with us as a cherished possession a not wholly unintelligent interest in the great economic problems which must be worked out in South Africa.
