The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-07

! per coins to be still current in the nine
| teenth century which had never been out
! OF circulation since the days of the Ro-
man empire. On the other hand, by far
/ the greater part Of the capital at any
moment existing is less than a year old.
| Almost trifing in quantity, relatively,
| Is that which Is over ten. AS most kinds
| Of capital wear out quickly, so they are
| quickly recreated. After a devastating
war or pestilence, provided Iaborers are
not all swept away, a good season or
! two will replace the population in a con-
| dition of reasonable comfort
The other relatively absolute condition
to the production of wealth is social or
ganization. In respect to this 1t is clear
er than in canvassing capital that we
are not dealing with an obsolete condt-
ton Nature being boUntiful, isolated
| men, with lowest stage OF social or
ganization, would, of course, fare better
still.
But here too the important thing is not
to see that the condition we are COM
menting upon is not an absolute one. That
Is little more than matter Of analysis
and nomenclature The essential in
sight is to perceive how immeasurabIy
actual production depends on society as
an organic affair
Those not trained to thinking in this line
could not be expected to realize 1he part
society plays in wealth production but I
do believe that any Of the great writer's
on the subject assign to the fact its due
Importance. Suppose nature present in
all magnifcence, considerable capital
created and labor in plenty to employ
1t. How insignificant will the reward Of
this labor be unless man stand in right
relations to one another; unless exchange
of produce can prevail; enabling each to
ADVANTAGE Of oil 7i4
endowments and requirements of others.
Think of every separate human being
attempting to supply his or her own
wants unaided. nature might be never
SO prolinc, the result would be poverty
and barbarism. Frederic Bastiat COM
puted that through social organization
and amassing of wealth which this has
made possible any individual Roiler Is
now enabled to enjoy in a day more sat
tsfaction than he could himself earn in
ten centuries were he obliged to work
alone and destitute Of these aids
The cotton spinner in yonder mill tells
you that he can at present earn 81 so a
day. Ask him what he means by this
and he will explain that he possesses
such and such skill, strength and intelli-
gence. The real explanation is infinitely
more complex. That his wage in that
mill Is what 1t Is means that the mill
owner or corporation is there, with mill
and machinery, which people were in
condition to place there for such and
such consideration, which consideration,
in turn, could be offered them only be-
cause other people stood in certain given
relations to one another and to these.
The mans wage rate, further, means
that there are men working in Southern
cotton fields and other men manufactur-
ing instruments for that work; that rail-
ways and steamboats, exist, with the
numberless forms of industry tributary
to each, and, in addition to all this, that
there are people in all countries who
wish cotton cloth and have the means to
pay for 1t.
Oud friend in the mill for all his dex-
terity and industry Is a most dependent
creature. Let any one Of ten million con-
ditions change, and his ability to earn Is
affected. The same Is equally true of
any other of these lnnumerable social
units with whom his lot is thus intimate
ly bound up. The intricacy Of his social
web Is not greater than it's Importance
in production, and no language can do
Justice to either.
Well says Prof Kries: "If the causes
Of mans material veal or misery once
lay in what the man himself did, now
they are to be found as well in what is
done and experienced by those for whom
ne produces, those whose products ne de-
sires, those who produce for others IN
the same line as he, and those who de-
sire from others the same products as
he"
Man Is by nature social. The Individual
in himself does not form whole. Save
as parcel and facet Of the social body he
IS naught by fragment. The productive
powers Of the individual as such are in
capable of development without a human
environment, and even if developed they
would be useless, having no scope Tor
action.
Not only society, but as wen the state
scciety's coercive or authoritative aspect,
through which it forces individuals with
in certain limits to obey the collective
will, is Of vital impor lance as an econ
emic factor. Not alone anarchy, but the
slightest real insecurity to life or prop
erty paralyZeS production. Even among
the best meaning citizens there must be
some authoritative tribunal to settle nom
est disputes. Government is renGsred
necessary not so much by the wicked
ness of men, which may in time abate'
as by the permanent finiteness of their
knowledge. Besides, nearly all the ma
tons have vital interests Of a purely
economic nature which only the public
authority can administer.
Copyright, 1909