(a class hitherto almost unknown and now by degrees replacing the yeomen who work their own estates); the appearance of the agrarian question; the radical and socialistic character of the remedies proposed-these things all show an alteration of the ancient basis on which the political fabric was erected. But if it is certain that the United States will tend to enlarge and strengthen the action of the central government, in proportion to their advance in population and material civilization, one cannot say as yet whether this centralization will be for the benefit of a single Federation or of several. The question of secession is not yet closed. Will the government of Washington alone profit by the powers taken from the thirty-eight States, or will these powers be divided among three or four governments at the head of Federations, fixed by natural geographical divisions? These are serious questions, which I could not have entered upon without giving more space to speculative conjectures than was compatible with my original plan.1 E. BOUTMY. MAY, 1888. 1 [A short paragraph is here omitted. It refers to the replies to critics which do not appear in this translation (D.).] |