LegislationandlegaldecisionsarebasedonthedogmaofNaturalLiberty。ThisispeculiarlytrueasregardstheEnglish-speakingpeoples，thefoundationofwhosejurisprudenceisthecommonlaw，anditholdstrueinanespecialdegreeofAmerica。InotherEuropeancommunitiestheswayofnaturalrightspreconceptionsisnotsounmitigated，butevenwiththemthereisavisiblygrowingpredilectionforthenatural-rightsstandpointinallmatterstouchingbusinessrelations。Thedogmaofnaturallibertyispeculiarlyconducivetoanexpeditiousbusinesstrafficandpeculiarlyconsonantwiththehabitsofthoughtwhichnecessarilyprevailinanybusinesscommunity。
Thecurrentbodyofnatural-rightspreconceptionsantedatesthemodernbusinesssituation。Theschemeofnaturalrightsgrewupandfoundsecurelodgementinthecommonsenseofthecommunity，aswellaswithitslawgiversandcourts，underthedisciplineofthesmallindustryandpettytrade“domesticindustry“whosedevelopmentculminatedintheeighteenthcentury。1*Inindustrialmatterstheefficientandautonomousfactorinthedaysofthesmallindustrywastheindividualworkman，hispersonalforce，dexterity，anddiligence；similarlyinthepettytradeoftheprecapitalisticEnglishsituationthedecisivefactorwasthediscretionandsagacityofthesmallmerchantandpettyemployer，whostoodinthedirectpersonalrelationswiththeircustomersandtheiremployees。Insofarastradeandindustrywasnotrestrainedbyconventionalregulations，statutoryorcustomary，bothtradeandindustrywasineffectanopenfieldoffreecompetition，inwhichmanmetmanonasomewhatequablefooting。Whilethecompetitorswerenotonafootingofmaterialequality，theindustrialsystemwassufficientlyloose-jointed，ofasufficientlydiffusegrowth，tomakecompetitioneffectiveintheabsenceofmandatoryrestrictions。Thelikewillholdofthebusinessorganizationassociatedwiththesmallindustry。Bothtradeandindustryweremattersofpersonalefficiencyratherthancomprehensivelyorganizedprocessesofanimpersonalcharacter。2*
Naturalrights，astheyfoundtheirwayintotheconceptionsoflawandequity，wereineffecttheassumedequalrightsofmensosituatedonaplaneofatleastconstructiveequalitythattheindividualsconcernedwouldbeleftinapositionofeffectivelyfreechoiceifconventionalrestrictionsweredoneaway。Theorganizationwasnot，mechanically，aclose-knitone，inthesensethattheconcatenationofindustrialprocessesorofbusinesstransactionswasnotrigorouseitherinpointoftimerelationsorofthequantityandcharacteroftheoutputorthework。Neitherweretheplace，pace，circumstances，means，orhoursofworkcloselydeterminedfortheworkmanorhisemployerbymechanicalcircumstancesoftheindustrialprocessorofthemarket。Thestandardizationoflifeundertheoldregimewasofaconventionalcharacter，notofamechanicalkindsuchasisvisibleinthemorerecentdevelopment。Andthisconventionalstandardizationwasgraduallylosingforce。
Themovementofopiniononnatural-rightsgroundconvergedtoaninsistenceonthesystemofnaturalliberty，socalled。Butthisinsistenceonnaturallibertydidnotcontemplatetheabrogationofallconventionalprescription。“Thesimpleandobvioussystemofnaturalliberty“meantfreedomfromrestraintonanyotherprescriptivegroundthanthataffordedbytherightsofownership。Initseconomicbearingthesystemofnaturallibertymeantasystemoffreepecuniarycontract。“Libertydoesnotmeanlicense；“whichineconomictermswouldbetranscribed。
“Thenaturalfreedomoftheindividualmustnottraversetheprescriptiverightsofproperty。“Propertyrightsbeingincludedamongnaturalrights，theyhadtheindefeasibilitywhichattachestonaturalrights。Naturallibertyprescribesfreedomtobuyandsell，limitedonlybytheequalfreedomofotherstobuyandsell；withtheobviouscorollarythattheremustbenointerferencewithothers’buyingandselling，exceptbymeansofbuyingandselling。