One step ahead: Thornton versus Longe

Abstract

This Paper addresses the intriguing issue of whether William Thomas Thornton plagiarized Francis Longe's (1866) pamphlet denouncing the classical wage fund doctrine. In doing so, the paper comprehensively reviews all of the corroborative evidence surrounding the plagiarism allegation laid against Thornton, drawing particular attention to a little known letter to The Times written by Thornton, in an effort to clear his good name of any impropriety. It is the conclusion of this paper that Thornton has no case to answer; the evidence not only from Thornton's own early work on wages and trade unions, together with additional corroborative evidence suggests that far from having plagiarized Longe's (1866) work, Thornton apticipated many of his ideas.