The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1900-02-03
ALL MEN NOT CREATED equal.

ex-senator John ingalls,, of Kan
sas, takes exception to the views O
Thomas Jefferson as embodied in tn,
declaration of Independence. In tn,
1oliowlng statement, made to tn,
Pnlladelphia FssS, he declares al
men are not created equal
The interest of the people in the
social crisis is evinced by numerou:
correspondents, who offer solutions o.
industrial problems and remedies fol
the misery and poverty which are the
heritage of so large a portion of the
human race. Much of the prevalent
d1scontent no doubt springs from a
perverted constitution of the nature OF
human liberty and the meaning Of
hutnan equality.
The glittering generelities OF
Thomas Jefferson, that all men are
created equal, and that the rights to
life, liberty and the pursuit of happi-
ness are inalienable, have been the
texts for many injurious instructions.
They are rhetorical fourishes, mean
lngless to the gentleman on the scat
fold and in Sing Sing, who pursued
the feetirg phantom of happiness
with the jimmy of the burglar and
the dagger of the assassin.
"Men are not created equal physi-
cally, morally or intellectually, nor in
aptitude, opportunity nor condition.
1T is perhaps accurate to say that
OF the 800, 700, 900 inhabitants of the
earth no two are created equally.
Nature is incapable of uniformity and
detests equality as much as she alb
hors vacuum. One is made to hon.
or, another to dishonor, as one star
ditfereth from another star in glory.
History is a series of repetitions.
Those who have failed in life blame
everybody but themselves. Thecom
plant against fate is as old as Adam.
1t will end only with the epitaph of
humanity. The distinctions between
men were established by act of God
and they cannot be abolished by the
act of Congress.
"Wete all these panaceas enacted
into statues, all barries thrown down,
all obstacles removed, all burdens
lifted and the whole constituency
lined up for fresh start, the result
would be the same.
If all the wealth of the country
was equally distributed, there would
be about $I2oo per capita. Could the
assets of the nation be divided pro
rata, share and share alike, the first
day of January, 1900, by the close of
the century the soul of the philantro-
pist would be shocked by the same
spectacle of inequality existing now.
Some would be in the cab, some on
the foot board, some in private cars,
of dry cuIvelf'tt tiiRYa iYaf the the ties in search
wiss.ss OF socIery wouTd demand IN
the lame of justice another division.
1t seems trite and superfuous to
affirm that the equality of rights be-
fore just laws and equality of oppor-
tunity III the race of life. Every man
has the absolute right to the use of
his faculties and opportunities to in-
crease his fortunes so long as he does
not in terfere with the free exercise
of the same rights by everybody else.
''It should be apparent also upon
the most superficial reflection that
political liberty by maintaining equal
ity of rights must inevitably result in
greater inequality of condition than
other system. Life is a grand free
for-all. There is no pedigree, nor
caste, nor prerogative.
"In the exercise of his powers and
the enjoyment of freedom, can laws
assign any frontier beyond which
man may not pass in the kingdom of
knowledge? Can any bound be set
to learning and wisdom? Can socie-
ty say to Edison or Tesla, You shall
explore the mysteries of nature no
further lest you infringe the equality
of man?' Can legislators, or con-
ventions, or tribunals assess the wages
that Melba shall receive for her songs,
or Kipling for his stories, or Choate
tor his arguments, or Bryan for his
eloquence, or Irving for his imper-
sonations?
''The world is eager for excellence.
1t pays for what it wants. There
has been no time when the man or
woman who can do anything better
than anybody else was so sure of in
slant recognition and ample emolu-
ments than now.
"The time will never come when
the lace will not be to the swift and
the battle to the strong. Incidence
will never have the same wage as
thrift nor ignorance the same reward
as wisdom.
ambition will never lose its in
centive nor genius its supremacy.
Poverty and debt will never be abol-
ished by edict, nor will those who
have failed in life, having had equal
opportunity, take charge of the affairs
of those who have succeeded.
"The medicine for the ills of socie-
ty must be found, therefore, in indi-
vidual cultivation and development,
and the ultimate appeal must be to
conscience and intelligence to protect
liberty from the folly of its friends
and the fury of its foes, and at the
end of time all will be justified to their
rights and deeds.