but he may have as much gold and as many diamonds as he can lawfully get, because gold and
diamonds do not go bad. It does not occur to him that the man who has the plums might sell them
before they go bad.
He makes a great deal of the imperishable character of the precious metals, which, he says, are the
source of money and inequality of fortune. He seems, in an abstract and academic way, to regret
economic inequality, but he certainly does not think that it would be wise to take such measures as
might prevent it. No doubt he was impressed, as all the men of his time were, by the gains to
civilization that were due to rich men, chiefly as patrons of art and letters. The same attitude exists
in modern America, where science and art are largely dependent upon the benefactions of the very
rich. To some extent, civilization is furthered by social injustice. This fact is the basis of what is
most respectable in conservatism.
E. CHECKS AND BALANCESThe doctrine that the legislative, executive, and judicial functions of government should be kept
separate is characteristic of liberalism; it arose in England in the course of resistance to the
Stuarts, and is clearly formulated by Locke, at least as regards the legislature and the executive.
The legislative and executive must be separate, he says, to prevent abuse of power. It must of
course be understood that when he speaks of the legislature he means Parliament, and when he
speaks of the executive he means the king; at least this is what he means emotionally, whatever he
may logically intend to mean. Accordingly he thinks of the legislature as virtuous, while the
executive is usually wicked.
The legislative, he says, must be supreme, except that it must be removable by the community. It
is implied that, like the English House of Commons, the legislative is to be elected from time to
time by popular vote. The condition that the legislative is to be removable by the people, if taken
seriously, condemns the part allowed by the British Constitution in Locke's day to King and Lords
as part of the legislative power.
In all well-framed governments, Locke says, the legislative and