Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1888-11-01
LOGIC OF PROTECTION.
Tho Natural Consequence of the Advance
OF Civilization.

OF CIVILIZATION
Protection in every form, in its full
est meaning, applied to every sphere
of life, is the distinguishing feature
Of civilization. Without protection
society and civilization can not exist;
barbarisn, savage life, the life of a
brute. alone prevails. Protection is
The siow-working agency which gradu-
ally lifts man to higher planes of civil
izatien. It reduces the dangers and
chances in the struggle for life. Soci-
ETY. charges itself with guarding the
individual against dangers and diff
culties by which he may be beset- In
the natural state each individual has
to fight hunger and thirst, the incleIn-
encies of climate and weather, and
his mortal enemies besides, who are
ever plotting his destruction. 1t is by
means of protection that the life of
man differs from that of the animal;
for protection is the result of mans
highest intellect, of his faculties of re-
Election and forethoughS. We build
houses to protect ourselves by day and
night from the inclemencies of the
weather. We make clothes to suit the
season, now to shield US from the
scorching rays of the sun, and then to
protect US against the freezing winds
Of the north. We cultivate fields and
erect storehouses; we raise cattle and
collect provisions to ward off starva-
ton; we create insurance companies
against accident and fire; we create
life insurance to protect the brood
should the wage-earner die; We create
savings banks to prevent want in our
old age. and thus through every phase
of civilized life protection may be
traced, like the red threads in the
ropes of the English navy.
Governments, laws, institutions, are
but so many arrangements for the pro-
lection Of the individual in his life,
limbs, possessions, and in his right to
enjoy happiness. Civil laws define his
rights. and courts protect him in them.
Criminal laws are enacted to shield
society from the efforts of the wicked;
police and courts are there to enforce
The protection Armies and navies
serve no other purpose than to protect
nations against other nations. But
the protection which civilization to-
day aocords the individual goes far
beyond that of life and limb and ma
terial possessions. Names, honor,
&c
ness, even the name a man may choose
to give his goods or merchandise, are
protected. And among civilized ma
tons some go still further and accord
to individuals protection in their oc-
cupations, their means of earning a
living, against the inroads made by in
dividuals of other nations. These
countries take to heart Shylock's
words:
"You take my house when you do take the
prop
That doth sustain my house; you Ia Ike my
When you do take the means whereby live"
And just as this protection in the
means of earning a living is but a nat
ural and logical consequence in the
advance of civilization, another link
in the chain of protection which makes
up civilized life, SO is free, trade the
very reverse of protection and civil
Eation. 1t is return to the methods
Of barbaric life. 1t is the fight of each
against all; of individuals against tho
species, and of entire organized species
against the individual. 1t means want
of foresight and reflection in the indi-
vidual, and in society as whole
Emil SchalE. in ~ Y. Tribune.