This extended connection also offers the means of colonization — sporadic or systematic — to which developed civil society is driven, and through which it procures, in part, for a portion of its population, in a new soil, a return to the family principle, and, in part, for itself, a new demand and field for its industrious labour.
Civil society is driven to found colonies. The increase of population already has this effect by itself; but above all a multitude arises that cannot win the satisfaction of its needs through its own work, once production exceeds the need for consumption. Sporadic colonization occurs especially in Germany. The colonists move to America, to Russia, remain without connection to their fatherland, and thus confer no benefit upon it. The second kind of colonization, wholly different from the first, is systematic colonization. It is brought about by the state, with consciousness and regulation of the proper manner of its execution. This kind of colonization occurred repeatedly among the ancients, and notably among the Greeks, among whom hard labor was not the business of the citizen, whose activity was rather directed toward public affairs. When the population grew to such an extent that hardship could arise in providing for it, the young were then sent out into a new region, one partly specially chosen, partly left to the chance of discovery. In more recent times the colonies have not been granted the same rights as the inhabitants of the mother country, and wars, and finally emancipations, have arisen out of this condition, as the history of the English and Spanish colonies shows. The liberation of the colonies proves itself to be the greatest advantage for the mother state, just as the freeing of slaves proves to be the greatest advantage for the master.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.