The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-01-06

of the frontiersmap pass out OF politi-
cal prominence. and we reach The stage |
where the standard of social success
is found In PLAYING with keeness the
games of commerce and of politics;
where every man Is expected to submit
to the law, Of which he becomes a
part. but where, as long as he keeps
within the rules set by that law, all
things are condoncd which do not pass
the line of meanness or violent immor-
ality which disqualifcs man from
associating personally with his fellow
men.
SUDDEN SOCIAL CHANGE.
THE suddenncss of the change has
been attended with all the exagger-
alton to which sudden social move-
ments are liable. In Europe the men
who exercised authority in virtue Of
their courage were only gradually dis
placed by those who did so in virtue
of their astuteness. The earlier stand
ard of military virtue as a qualiflca-
ton for social distinction persisted
long after 1t had ceased to be the main
requisite for success in business and in
politics, or even in war itself Tradi-
tions as to the use of wealth which
had survived from earlier times exer-
cised potent influence even upon thos.
who had amassed that wealth by the
methods peculiar to later ones. A man
who would have that standing in the
community which for most men is the
chief object of ambition was compelled
to pay his respects to the past no less
than to the future.
I'm America the case was different.
Tho AnO1 nf ind1iSt rial cpf laYnapf cy nt
SO rapidly into the districts which but
short time before had been the habi-
tat of the miner or the ranchman that
it obliterated, as with a sponge, the
traces of the social order Of a ruder
time. Unhampered by precedent. each
set out to make his fortune in world
where all were from one standpoint
| peaceful citizens and from another abb
| solute Adventures. Life in the half.
settled communities of the United
States became game in a sense which
| 1t perhaps never had been before; a
game played by q series of accepted
rules. and where no tradition or code
of etiquette not Incorporated in the
rules counted for anything at all. The
result has been an eXaltation of the
principles peculiar to one stage of the
questioned supremacy which they have
elsewhere sought in vain.
"As long as the conditions remained
which gave birth to this state of things
free land. abundance of opportunl-
ties. a body of men possessed Of ply
steal and mental soundness, and start
ing to play the game with approxi-
mately equal chances--so long did the
| OF n I'd i,I,
were based upon these conditions prove
themselves tolerably adequate for the
purpose in hand. They might be OBJ
jected to by outside observers as in
complete, wanting in background
crude, repulsive if you like: but they
at least enabled vast social machine
to be run with a great deal of aggre.
gate happiness and with less glaring
violation of justice than had been ex-
emplifed in any other machine 20
which the critics could point. But
with change in conditions this de-
gree of success was less fully assured.
And this change has already come
about.
Organization in business, in local
politics and in national politics has
brought with it an inequality Of OPP
portunity and an unfairness of condi-
items in which the game of life Is
played. Competitive business Is giving
place to trusts. The town meeting has
been supplanted by the organized mu-
nicipaity. The old federation of states
with strong traditions of home rule
has become centralized nation
reaching out beyond its old borders to
rule over nations less civilized than
itself.
ONCE A GAME NOW A TRUST
Under these circumstances it be.
comes impossible for the community
to rest complacently in that egoistic
morality which seemed sufficient for
the needs of a generation earlier. We
can no longer rely upon competition
to protect the consumers against
abuse when industry has become so
highly organized that all production
is centralized in the control y Il single
body. 1t is no longer true. in the sense
that it was fifty years ago. that each
man may be left free to manage his
own business and that the community
will find its work best done as conse-
Qucnce of such freedom. Commerce
and industry are no longer to be re-
garded as games where we have moth
ing to but to applaud the most skill :
full player when he wins and rest in
the assurance that his triumph is IN
line with the best interests Of the COM
munity as whole.
what once was regarded as q game
has now become a trust, not merely in
the superficial and accidental sense in
which the name trust Is now applied
to all large combinations Of capital
but in a prOfoundar sense. as trust
exercised on behalf of tho public
which it Is in the power Of those whu
control this capital to use we'll or i'll nj
their pleasure without adequate re-
straint from any quarter. Where
competition is thus become a remote
contingency, and where law is almost
necessarily inadequate unless it be
made SO strict as To forbid the good
no less than the evil in private busi-
ness enterprise, new system of eth
les is a matter Of vita, necessity fuy
the American pooplc--l system whici,
shall treat the dirocto" no longer as
an individual pursuing private bust.
ness Of his own and with the right tC
resent the suggestion that he should
conduct it unsoltishly. but as having
moral responsibilities to his stockhold
ers, to his v vCr'sing.nen. and to the con
sumers that purchase his goods or his
services. In the absence of such an
ethical advance, no political or legu
. solution of the so-called trust problem
Is likely to be eeffctive.
PROHIBITIONS DO NOT PROHIBIT
"Demagosucs will continue to mee
ii with prohibitions which 40 not pro