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The Jews used bars and rings of gold and silver as money prior to using coins. Syrian, Roman, and Jewish coins were used during the time of Christ. The Roman Government imposed a tremendous tax burden upon its subjects. The people of Israel also had to pay a tax to the temple. Publicans, or tax collectors, were well known for their corruption. Thus, the Jews had utter contempt for publicans. Christ paid his share of taxes and taught that it was right to do so even under the corrupt system of the Romans.

A standard criticism of the welfare state which is enjoying a resurgent popularity is that many of its operations are inefficient, even counter-productive, in relation to their assumed objectives. At the level of political and journalistic rhetoric it is asserted or implied that large sums of tax-payers' money are being spent in ways which benefit mainly the army of officials that administers them, and that much needless legislative effort goes into securing complexes of rights which serve only to provide work for tribunals and lawyers. At its most extreme the claim is that some welfare enactments actually cause more harm than good in that their intended beneficiaries would be better off without them.

The system of natural liberty analyzed in the Wealth of Nations is evaluated by Smith in utilitarian terms, as may be seen by examining his reasons for permitting departures from the principle of laisser-faire. References to justice in the Wealth of Nations are interpreted in the light of the Moral Sentiments which, despite appearances to the contrary, also has a utilitarian value basis. Smith's 'contemplative utilitarianism', coupled with his belief that individual moral and political agents do not routinely make conscious utilitarian choices, manifests itself politically in a form of 'sociological conservatism' which restricts legal and political reforms to those which are in harmony with the immediate moral feelings of the ordinary citizen. This is demonstrated in his theory of political obligation and related to his natural theology.

University public service, which takes a variety of forms, criticism and extension among them, is the least well rewarded of the institution's principal functions. Yet, of all organ- izations in society, the university has a special responsibility to identify social problems and to help resolve them. It is proposed that Canadian universities ought now to take the initiative, in consultation with leaders in both government and the-community, towards determining through what mechanisms publicly-provided university resources can most effectively be deployed in a public service thrust towards the improvement of the quality of Canadian life. ; Le service public au sein de nos universités, prenant une variété de formes, y inclus, la cri-tique et les cours publics sous les auspices de l'université, est la fonction la moins récom-pensée de cette institution. Pourtant, de toutes les structures dans la société, l'université a une responsabilité spéciale d'identifier les problèmes sociaux et d'aider à les résoudre. L'auteur propose que les universités canadiennes doivent prendre actuellement l'initiative, de concert avec des personnalités dirigeantes du gouvernement ainsi que de la communauté, pour déterminer quels sont les mécanismes qui permettraient le meilleur déploiement de ressources publiques universitaires pour améliorer la qualité de la vie canadienne.