The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-08-23
EVENING AUGUST %,

such that most men flourish. but what
Is worse. the spirit of envy and jeal-
Ousy and hatred springs up in tho
breasts of those who, though they may
be doing fairly well themselves, yet see
others who are no more deserving doing
far batter.
Wise laws and fearless and upright
administration of the laws can give the
opportunity for such prosperity as that
we see about u.s. But this is all that
they can do. When the conditions have
been created which make prosperity
possible, then each individual man must
intelligence. energy, industry and reso-
lutte purpose. II. when people wax tat
they kick. as they have been prone to
do since the days Of Jeshurun, they will
If they go into wild speculation and lose
their heads, they have lost that which
no legislation can supply, and the busl-
ness world will suffer in consequence
If In a spirit of sullen envy they insist
upon pulling down those who have
prof1ted most by the years of fatness.
they will bury themselves in the crash
Of the common disaster. 1t is difficult
to make our material condition better
by the best laws. but it is easy enough
by bad laws to throw the whole nation
into an abyss Of misery.
NEED OF STABILITY.
Now, the upsl1ot Of all this il that
1t is peculiarly incumbent upon US in a
time of such material well-beins, both
collectively as q nation and individually.
each on his own account. to show that
we possess the qualities Of prudence.
self-knowledge and self-restraint. In
our government we need above all
things stability. fxity of economic pol
icy. while remembering that this fxity
must not be fossilization, that there
must not be inability to shape our
course anew to meet the shifting needs
of the people as these needs arise. They
are real and, great evils in our sociaI
and economic life, and these evils stand
out with ugly badness during good
times, for the wicked who prosper are
never a pleasant sight. There is every
need of striving in all possible ways,
individually and collectively, by combi-
nations among ourselves in private life
and through the recognized organs OF
government, for the cutting out of these
evils. Only let US be sure that we do
not use the knife with an ignorant zeal
which would make it more dangerous to
the patient than to the disease.
"One Of the dangers of the tremendous
industrial growth of the last generation
has been the very great increase in large
private and especially in large corporate
fortunes.
I'VE may like this or not, just as we
please. but it is a fact. nevertheless.
and as far as we can see 1t is an in
evitable result of the working of va
riOus causes, prominent among which
has been the Immense Importance steam
and electricity have assumed in modern
life. Urban population has grown In
this country as in all civilized coun-
tries, much faster than the population
as a whole during the last century, ana
where men are gathered together In
great masses it Inevitably results that
they must work far more largely by
means Of combinations among them
selves than when they live isolated from
one another.
Nov, I suppose that most of us pre-
fer on many accounts the old condi-
lions OF life, under which the average
man lived more to himself and by him.
self, when the average community was
more self-dependent, and where. even
though the standard of comfort was
lower on the average. yet there was
less of the glazing inequality in worldly
conditions whicS we now see in our
great cities. @]ers
POOR HAVE NOT GROWN POORER.
1T is not true that the poor people
have grown poorer. but some of the
rich have grown so very much richer
that where multitudes of men are herd
ed together in a limited space the con-
trast strikes the onlooker as more vio-
lent than formerly. On the whole. our
people earn more and live better than
ever before, and the progress of which
we are SO proud could not have taken
place had 1t not been for the great up
building of Industrial centers, such as
our commercial and manufacturing
cities. But together with the good there
has come measure OF evil. Life is not
SO simple as 1t was. and surely both for
| the Individual and the community, the
simple life Is normally the healthy life.
| There is not In the cities the same sense
of common underlying brotherhood
which there is still in country localities.
and the lines of social cleavage are far
more clearly marked
For some Of the evils which have at
| tended upon the good Of the changed
conditions we can at present see no
complete remedy. For others the rem
| edy must come by the action of men
| themselves In their private capacity.
whether merely as individuals or by
| combination, one with anther. For yet
others some remedy can be found in
legislative and executive action. ma
| tiona1, state or municipal Much of the
| complaint against combinations is en-
| tirely unwarranted. Under present day
| conditions 1t is as necessary to have
| corporations in the business world as it
| is to have organization among wage
| workers. But we have q right to ask
| in each case that thew shall do good
and not harm. Exactly as labor organ
| fzations, when managed intelligent1y
| and in a spirit of justice and fair play.
| are OF very great service not only to the
wage workers but to the whole COM
munity. as theh istory Of many labor
organizations has conclusively shown, SO
| wealth. not merely individual but cor
porate, when used Alright is not merely
| benefit to the community as a whole,
but in dispensable to the upbuilding of
| the country under the conditions which
at the present the country has grown
| not only to accept but to demand as
normal This Is so obvious that it
seems trite even to state it. and yet
| II we are to judge from some of the ar
guments advanced against and attacks
made upon, wealth as such. 1t is q
| fact worth keeping in mind
WHEN WEALTH IS MENACE
"A gfeat fortune. if not used Alright,
makes its possessor in a peculiar sense
| menace to the community as whole,
just as a great intellect does If it is not
accompanied by developed conscience.
| by character. But obviously this no
more affords grounds for condemnins
wealth than it does for condemning In
| tellect Every man Of power by the
| very fact of that power is capable of
doing damage to his nejghbors but we
| cannot afford to discourage the devel-
opment of such men merely because 1t
is possible they may use their power to
| wrong ends. II we did SO we should leave