Amador ledger., 1905-02-24
THE SocIALISTIc DRIFT.

improvident class. One of the
orators of that propaganda address
ing an audience in Jackson recently,
divided society into two classes,
namely, property-owners and nom
property owners. Those who sue
ceeded in accumulating something,
and those who failed or neglected so
to do. 1t is human nature the world
over for the man who has nothing,
whether as the result of his own
shiftlessness or of misfortune it
matters not, to rail at conditions as
they exist, and seek to change the
same by a division with the thriftier
class. According to the tenets of
socialism it is all wrong to own
property, whether of land or NOV
able effects, as individuals. All
wealth, they claim, is the product of
human toll, and should belong to
society as whole, and not to indi-
vidual members thereof. All dis
tinctious of rich and poor should be
abolished. The world owes every
man a living, and nothing more.
With proper adjustment there is
enough for all, and to spare, and the
social system should be so managed
that every one should be doled out
his portion from the common fund.
The incentive to action-the desire
to accumulate property = which,
under the present system is the
dominant trait of character, would
be done away with. The whole
fabric Of society would be changed
with this disappearance of the rul-
ing motive to make headway in the
world, as it is now generally under
stood. Some will contend that
practically this would mean the
death blow to ambition. Not so.
Ambition is inseparable from human
nature. 1t cannot be throttled by
any conceivable change in conditions.
Damned up in one direction, it will
manifest itself in another. The sub
stitution of the cooperative system
-socialism-for individual owner
ship, would remove human ambition
from the main channel in which it
now flows under the present system.
1t does not follow, however, that
men would be ambitionless under
the altered conditions. Indeed, it is
argued that this most potential
force in the human makeup would
simply be turned to more useful
channels. The desire to excel would
manifest itself in the arts and
sciences, in the sphere of invention,
and in fact in every department of
human activity.
The purpose of this article is not
to discuss the vagaries of socialism,
as that vague method of government
is generally understood. We are
apt to dismiss such doctrines as
merely the teachings of discontented
and impracticable dreamers. The
talk that it is the coming political
issue in the United States may be q
correct forecast of the future. At
any rate it is long way from being
a pressing issue just now If it ever
does reach position as living po-
litical question, there is little doubt
that the intelligence of the American
voter will thrust it away in the back
ground. 1t is undeniable however
that a great deal of our law making
or the propositions emanating from
the law making bodies are fashioned
after the socialistic pattern. The
tendency is to shift the burden of
maintenance from the Individual to
the community at large. The state
treasury is looked upon in great
measure as the common fund, to be
drawn from those who have acquired
something, for the support of those
who are needy. Every successive
legislature witnesses a drift more or
less pronounced in this direction.
Perhaps if the trainers of these
measures were twitted with socialis-
tic leanings they would Indignantly
repudiate the impeachment. But
the fact remains that the burden of
lawmakers is to strike down the
spirit of self-reliance and independ-
ence in the individual, and place the
burden of responsibility upon society
or government. The state is, in an
ever increasing ratio, placed in
paternal light. 1t is the states
province to look after the bringing
up of the child from infancy to man.
hood, and to take care of him even
after reaching the age of maturity.
Numerous instances might be cited
in proof of this assertion. Our
craftsmanship is developing along
the lines that everything essential
to good citizenship should be free.