tinually to higher stages, except in the regions where for a time, or permanently, agriculture has not been possible, namely, in the arid belt. In this second stage man relies less directly upon nature for his food. He learns to take more thought for the future. His herds and flocks. represent a body of social capital which must be preserved intact, and of which the increase only can be used. There is a development of the institution of private property, not as yet in land, but in movable wealth, and in consequence we are not surprised to find the contrast between rich and poor making its appearance. Among the Kirghiz of central Asia only the rich have more than one wife.1 A murder is paid for with six hundred head of cattle. Borrowing at interest and rules concerning the inheritance of property make their appearance.2 Warlike habits continue; the men, although extremely lazy and slovenly, are brave and capable of undergoing great hardship. There is no special development of the arts nor of slavery, for these are especially characteristic of a relatively peaceful existence. IV. The Agricultural Stage The change from the pastoral to the agricultural stage may be exemplified from the history of the Jews. In Genesis we read: "And Abram was 1 Moser, "Durch Central-Asien," Ch. II, Leipzig, 1888. 2 Lansdell," Russian Central Asia," Boston, 1885, Vol. I, Chs. XXII and XXIII. very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. . . . ... And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. . . . And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren." But in Samuel the agricultural stage is suggested: "And he will appoint him captains over thousands and captains over fifties, and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. . . And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants." In Spencer's "Descriptive Sociology," the food-getting aspect of the early history of the Hebrews is divided as follows: "Pre-Egyptian period: Reared sheep, oxen, asses; a slight beginning of agriculture. Egyptian period: Love for settled abode and agriculture seems to have been implanted. Period of the Judges: Transjordanic tribes continued shepherds; the rest passed on to agriculture. Period of the Monarchy: Wheat and olives were cultivated in such a measure as to allow of extensive export. Period of the Two Kingdoms: Agriculture made more extensive by terracing and watering. Wheat the chief product." The German tribes afford another illustration of 1 I Sam. viii. 12, 14. the passage from the pastoral to the agricultural stage. They migrated with their cattle into Europe, and later became settled cultivators of the soil.1 A third illustration may be taken from the history of England. Professor W. J. Ashley 2 says on this point that "to judge from the account given by Cæsar - who had abundant opportunities of observation the Britons, at the time of Cæsar's invasion, were still, except in Kent, in the pastoral stage.. When, however, we pass to the three centuries and a half of Roman rule, we can hardly help coming to the conclusion that it was during that period that England became an agricultural country." Still another example is to be found in the history of the Greeks. "Homeric social forms," says a recent writer, "witness the long-continued presence of the nomadic stage, now passing away as a result of changed environment. It is probable that the dominant peoples of Greece and Asia Minor were a detachment of those nomadic conquerors who ever and anon swept forth from the plains of central Asia, infusing fresh blood and vigor into the societies with which they came in 1 See Hildebrand, "Recht und Sitte auf den verschiedenen wirtschaftlichen Kulturstufen," Erster Theil, Jena, 1896; and Meitzen, “Siedelung und Agrarwesen,” Berlin, 1895, Vol. I, p. 131; and compare Ashley, "Surveys Historic and Economic," New York, 1900, pp. 157-160, and pp. 115–131. 2 In the Introduction to "The Origin of Property in Land," by Fustel de Coulanges, translated by M. Ashley, London, 1892, pp. XXIII and XXIV. contact." "' 1 It should be noted, however, that in this case the pastoral life had not resulted in domesticating those animals which are necessary to agriculture. While the Greeks were nomads they had chiefly sheep and goats, and it is probable that the ox, the horse, and the mule came to them after their western migrations and settlement.2 This change to a settled life with agriculture as the chief occupation is accompanied by profound Hunting tribes, such as the Bushmen, Pata gonians, Australians. Hunting tribes, with some soil cultivation such as the Indians and poorer negroes Fishing peoples living on the coast, as in northwestern America and Polynesia Tribes with hoe culture and agriculture and some industry and commerce (inner Africa, Malays). NUMBER OF INHABIT- 0.0017-0.0088 0.17-0.70 as many as 1.77 0.70-1.77 1.7-5.3 Purely agricultural regions of southern Europe as many as 70 Mixed agricultural and industrial regions of (Condensed from an estimate by Ratzel, quoted in Schmoller's "Grundriss der allgemeinen Volkswirtschaftslehre," p. 183.) 1 Keller, "Homeric Society," New York, 1902, p. 30. 2 Ibid., p. 37. changes in the whole social structure. Partly as a cause and partly as a result of the changed methods of getting a living, there is a marked increase in the density of the population, and this necessarily implies new social relations and duties. The table on page 46, showing the density of popu lation in typical regions of the world, will emphasize the fact that the growth of civilization has meant an ever increasing closeness and complexity in the relations of man with man. Another prominent characteristic is the great development of slavery. This had existed in previous periods, but to hunters and herdsmen, large bodies of slaves would have been a detriment, not an advantage, and therefore the slaughter of enemies was common. The Masai in East Africa, says Ratzel, are a shepherd tribe, who subsist upon herds of a fixed size, and have neither labor nor provision to spare for slaves, and hence kill their prisoners; "their neighbors, the agricultural and trading Wakamba, being able to find a use for slaves, do not kill them." In the early history of Greece, slavery was a much less important institution than it became at a later period. In Homer's time, the male captives taken in war were usually slain, and only the women and children enslaved, since the social organization "was not yet strong enough to hold in subjection bodies of grown men.' 1 "History of Mankind," translated by A. J. Butler, London, 1896, Vol. I, p. 123. 2 Keller, "Homeric Society," p. 277. |