Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1896-09-03
LIVE QUESTIONS.
COOPERATION VERSUS INDIVIDUAL

mate naturalization Of all the leading
industries would be the greatest social
boon to humanity and that the world
is slowly but irresistibly bowling on
toward that radiant goal. Bat it is
moving with friction. People declare
that we need our hardships and vicissi-
tudes i'll order to develop character; that
if we lifted the burdens from the shoul-
ders of men and gave them an easy life
they would rapidly degenerate into in
tellectual nonontities. This, hope to
show, is the result Of Il too superficial
view Of human life.
Hardships have tendency to harden
character, and so far as the character is
hardened its power to expand and de-
yelop is checked. l once observed Il
striking illustration Of this fact in the
vegetable kingdom. On river bank l
noticed lot Of jumpers growing out of
the ragged and broken rocks which liued
the river. The roots pointed in through
holes and creviccs wherever they could
force their way to lay hold of the scanty
soil there secrctod. The hard struggle
Of those trees for Subsistence reminded
me at the time of the hard struggle that
millions Of our fellow beings have for
subsistence. But what was the chlrac-
Ter Of those trees? They were hard,
scrubby, less than one third the usual
size of the juniper and deprived of
beauty. Such was the result Of their
struggle for existence. Struggles produce
hardness of character in men as well as
trees. But is hardness individuality?
! No. Hardness is the result of contrac-
ton; individuality is the resulr of cx-
pansion. A man who is ground down
by hard labor and long hours, with low
wages and perhaps part Of his time out
Of employment, becomes Injured TO suf-
fering ard develops a rigidity of char
acter which may render him prcof
against feeling, bat the man who would
call that individuality botrays ignorance
Of human nature 1t Woald be as absurd
to say that the stunted trees are the
largest and most beautiful Anything
that hinders the free play of the human
faculties checks the development Of indi-
viduality. And certainly industrial
slavery, hard and monotonous drudgory,
pinchod and oramped existence. will
prevent the FREQ play Of the faculties
more than anything else
Evils of Competition.
Those who do business for themselves
are ofton in Il worse condition i'll this re-
spect than wage egrncrs. Each one has
host of rivals, who struggle to outdo
others of their class. This, it is claimed,
develops individuality. But what sort
of individuality? The same that is de-
veloped in gambling. The gambler, in
his efforts to got ahead Of his rival, ac-
quires cunning and destroys his con
science. The same qualities are de-
velopod i'll nearly the same way by oUI
competitive system. In advertising
every merchant proclaims his own
goods to be tho very best and viii not
scruplc to color and conceal the plain
facts in order to make his goods sell.
And how often lotteries and other in
duccmonts to buy are resOTted tol The
science Of adulteration, another OF
spring Of competition, exhibits the same
so called individuality. Competition
develops our animal nature, but nothing
above that,
And what is our animal nature? The
enshrouding the shell. of our real be
ing, Competition strengthens and hard
ems the shell and keeps it closed. Co.
operation bursts open the shell and lets
the life shoot upward and develop into
a great tree bearing fruit. This is indl-
viduality. All forms of solfshness con-
tract the soul, and competition is the
educator Of selfishness. Altruism ex-
pands the soul, and cooperation is the
law Of alruism.
Advantages OF Individuality.
What is individuality? 1t is dis
tinctive character. 1t is highly de-
NtAplJNl NbllN44llCil Vi litllltltbu. II Ill-
plies the power to see. Ee who cannot
see beyond the limitations of his own
personal interests is yet undeveloped. 1t
implies the power to hear-to enjoy the
harmonies Of the social universe. 1t
implies the power to feel-to enter into
sympathy with the sorrows and the joys
of the human family. The broader the
character the more perfect the indiyidu-
ality.
individuality is developed by associa-
tion-the association of interests as well
as of minds, The soil which contains a
great variety of ingredients grows a
moro perfect plant than the soil of few
ingredients, The plant receives from
the various elements of soil and trans.
forms them ilsto its own self. The man
of broad and varied associations be-
= comes a more perfect individual than
the man of very limited associations be-
cause the knowledge, the inspiration
and the lifo which he draws from the
many he transforms into his own indi-