Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1897-1902, 1901-05-03
ABOUT SELF HELP.
SCHEMES THAT ARE GENER-
ALLY WGLL-MEANT.
In . Way Everybody Wishes to Help
the Struggling Man-Too Much Over
Fostering. However, May ParaIyze His
Self-Helping Qualities.

The well-known trade paper, the
Iron Age, deprecates the use of the ex-
preston working class or wage
earning class" in this country, declar-
ing that we have no such distinct
classes; that men pass readily from
one position to another, according 10
their abilities or good fortune. But
the age has something further than a
mere spellbinder's or demagogue's pur-
pose in dealing with this subject. 1t
holds that the use Of the expression is
unfortunate if it encourage the idea
Of patronage Of one class by another.
1t declares, and rightly, that in this
country the wage-earner does not rep
resent a class, but a condition that
may be temporary; that there are very
few employers that have not at some
stage Of their career been wage-earn-
ers, and that our so-called classes
merge in a way that would be impos-
| sible if there were any real class dis
| tinctions. The Age therefore depre-
| Gates anything that tends toward the
making of class distinctions, toward
the patronage by one class of another,
as we'll as toward the acceptance of
| patronage. In this connection it de-
velops a thought that may not be so
popular as this, but that commends it
self to reflection, namely, that an en-
couraged investor like an encouraged
! immigrant or an encouraged anything,
fc .nf h Nhn 0tf
| plication of it is that it is unwise for
| industrial and transportation corpora
| tons, for example, to offer, as they
| frequently do, special facilities to their
employees for becoming stockholders
| Such schemes are generally, if not al
ways, we'll meant. The stock idea we
all know, namely. that employees that
, have an interest in the business will
| be stimulated to greater care for that
! business, will be steadied by their
| sense of responsibility sounds
well, but which the Age holds to be
! rather specious than solid, because the
practice leads to an artificial situation
Every investor, it declares, should in
vest for the same reason that any in
| veStor invests, exercising the same
| caution, be prepared to accept the same
responsibilities. and be entitled to the
same fruits. The specially helped en-
! plOye as a stakeholder is likely to be
! troublesome. The thought is a deep
| one and worthy Of consideration. In
way, everybody, particularly in this
country, is hopeful and helpful as to
| the struggling man Of small means
| The sight of the small wage-earner be-
! coming large wage-earner, then a
salaried man. and then a capitalist, is
! ever a welcome sight 1t is typical of
/ the optimistic and sympathetic charac-
| ter Of American life. But however
/ beautiful these qualities are, they can
not in the long run ignore fundamen-
tai traits, and unquestionably it seems
| to us the Iron Age has laid bare one
of those traits in its suggestion that
| too much Over-fostering or too much
! help may result not only in a paraly-
sis Of self-help, but in the creation Of
the spirit that is fatal to the only con-
dition on which permanent prosperity
can be based, namely, the exercise on
the part of each for himself of the
qualities of good judgment, of thrift,
and wise management. For with all
these there is more .or less of an els-
ment OF luck or the operation Of
things that no one can control thar
bring at times disaster. and when dis
aster comes the only defense against it
is the education which the exercise Of
these qualities alone can give The ar
tifcially stimulated man at such times
lacking these qualities shows weakness
instead Of strength. indianapolis
News.