The independent. [volume] (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907, 1904-12-22

| the prOfOundeSt respect cndnceu u
loan me Henry Georges Science OF
Political Economy" Turning the leaves
idly, my eye fell upon this passage,
indicated by a marginal mark:
The law of nature, which is real
" the pastulate of true science
of political economy. is that men
always seek to crafty their desires
with the least possible exertion,
whether those desires are selfish
or unselfish. good or bad.
Reading the book. found the idea
expressed again and again. with an
iteration that by reason OF the style.
was far from damnable. George ad-
duces this fundamental law as an on
set to the primary postulate upon
which Adam Smith built his political
economy, that men are actually gov
erned by mere selfish motives.
I remember how some twelve years
apo that exceedingly skillful debater,
Ernst Belfort Bax. the co-Worker Win
William Morris, in one OF MS many
academic articles in the CommonWeal,
undertook to prove, in playful spirit
If naradox. that selfishness OF nlgh
order. and unselfishness were actually
one and the same But Baxs clever
word spinning, read with delight by
anti-socialist college students, o1ten
succeeded eventually in opening tnelr
ewes to the enormity OF our rough-ano-
tumble each for Observation-Disclosures
the-hindermost system.
Seriously, it is incredible to widely
travelled man or one VINO has seen
life in it's varied phases, how the pc
lief that selfishness is the main spring
az human action could have gained any
wide acceptance To travel amongst
mining camps, numbering grounds, cat
tie ranches, wealthy farming districts;
Ia know hunters. Indians. frontiers
men, free and easy city bohemlans'
gamblers and such like. when the morn
Of plenty is overflowing, is to know the
force of the spirit of unselfishnes. Nay,
more! The existence OF SO many I'M
fortunate men OF the hobo fraternity,
besides indicating an unhealthy social
system, speaks for the unselfishness OF
those who have but little to spare, Tor
most assuredly it is not Dives who sup
ports Lazarus. To be child is to be
a communist, and youth is synonymous
with prodigality. No thought OF WIN
ters SHOWS embitters the nectar TO
the summar butterfly.
Again. he whose travels have been
confined to the four walls OF library,
finds it equally difficult to accept the
sordid belief. He recalls that men,
orable chapter in Sartor Resartus,
1.-THE Everlasting Yea," when the soul
tormented one awoke to new heaven
and new earth. for that first pre-
liminary moral act, humiliation of
self, had been happily accomplished.
He remembers that others besides
Tennyson have asked:
is it well that while we range
with Science. glorying in the
time,
City children soak and b1acken soul
and sense in city slime?"
and needing duty's clarion call, have
devoted their lives to patient investi-
cation of cause and effect. He recalls
the spirit of self-sacrifice in an Arnold
Won Winkelreid, who upon the field of
Sempach, thoughtless of fame, undes-
tined to see the fruits of his action,
gathered the points of the spears held
by his country's enemies in his breast
and FELL or Father Damien suffering
the untold agonies of living death
that he might somewhat alleviate the
sufferings of his unfortunate fellows.
Both were cases of magnificent suicide
urged by pure, unselfishness. Interior
motives were absent. Such one
would recall the many who have writ
ten, without adequate reward, often
without sufficient food or necessary
clothing, but nevertheless persisting,
feeling they had message. The single
tax movement itself, with it's crop Of
lucid, often brilliant writer's, working
year in and year out for the establish
ment of definite principle, sacrificing
time, money and talent for the cause,
is, to me. instance sufficient of the
inherent unselfishness of mankind. And
surely as unselfish as the song of
Gagged bird were the outpouring of
Beethoven, Goldsmith, a Bunyan, a
Cho kocunoro a Chattnrt0u q or,h q