The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-02-10

for tho long future. Turn over the street
railways, with their army OF 10000 en-
rloyes,, to the municipalities. md pres
emily n demand will arise that tho steam
railways DO acquired by tic state or Fed
4 ernl government. Some ,lnwiso practices
on the part of other services would
| preclpitatc II demand for their acduls-
tion. THAT road leads to abolition of
| private property and to socialism.
May Work Serious Injury.
| The penalties of tniamanngement OF en-
| terprlscs owned but not operated by the
government VIII he principally economic:
| while government operation involving an
| important Increase In the number OF gov
| ornment dictionaries may work serious
| Injury To our institutions: the evil effects
OF tho cnc hcIng temporary; OF tho other,
| permanent and Fundamentals
| Regulation oi tho charges OF public
! service corporations ~ we'll established
| principle, Nat there axain the question OF
| eNncdieheN may AT any time be raised.
Arc We ne,, fer example. attacking tho
| WRONG ena W the railway problem when
| we attempt a. y,N rates3 Two great
sources ~ railway accidents and casual
Ties tathaN are tho single track and grade
crossings, ami the single track la II
sennfe ~ frelsht congestion In times OF
Il
| To eontNei Tho railways BY Inv to lay
double tracks and abolish grade cross
inss. III give MS frequent ma speedy SER
Vice, IN other words. to benefit them
selves while they benefit us rather than-
Tor Ns To pursue policy which will
reduce railway earnings and thereby
/ postpone tho advent OF needed improve
| lnentsg Ought we not to leave the rail-
ways profitable. specnlatively profitable.
IL you Will, because of there being few
greater factors In the progress OF the
country than railway extension and i'm
provemcnts?
To fix a limit to the activities OF the
State by setting up Code OF natural
rights with which the state must not in
terfere. or to determine the field OF the
States activities from an analysis of the
nature Of the State. is simply to be-
cloud the various issues when confront
us from time to time. 1t Is better to
separate the two. The state is empowered
by law, to do many things which the die
tates OF expedency cause II in ordinary
times to refrain from doing. On the other
hand If we arrive at tho conclusion that
certain course OF action is socially ex-
pedient, we can set about amending s.atu-
ties and constitutions where necessary.
AS has been cleverly sald compulsory
vaccination may be based on definite
data, but theological experts can pro-
duce nosimilarly trustworthy statistics
about the relation between orthodoxy
and immunity from damnasion.'
The unrestraned play of private in
terests similarly to that OF national
rivalries does not always make for jus
tice. and in so far as this is true. State
interference rests upon common ground
with all human law.
Objections valid ouatpaf Gtoto tptar
ference when a prince and his favorItes
can impose their will upon the people
no longer obtain when the people make
their own laws.
When the State prohibits to the rail-
roads grade crossings; when It prescribcs
FOR them patent couplers and block sig
nails; when for factories 1t institutes
boiler inspection and demands that dan
gerous machinery be guarded and unsan-
itary conditions corrected, II is restricting
the liberty OF individuals or small groups
OF individuals. but Is increasing the lib
erty of many times their number State
Interference, In the modern sense. may
raise the ceiling of the poor mans cabin
and enable him to stand upright.
Social Expediency.
When 1t is proposed that the State
should regulate the hours of labor for
adults, or compel parents 20 send their
children to school, II is frequently OBJ
jected that men have right to work as
many hours as they like, and to set their
children to work.
But this idea that the individual has
certain natural rights. OF which the
state cannot deprive him. is passing
away. Men are beginning to realize that
all social right resolves itself into So
| ca expendiency. !. e., the ultimate well
| fare OF society In the long resut. The
| doctrine of natural rights served Its pir-
pose IN the day when tyranny often took
| the form of harmful Interference with
! the free action OF the individual. In
stead of following this circuitous path
we now appeal directly to social expo
| diency. Whatever 1t Is expedient that
the state should do. It has a right to do.
| Right In this sense Is. Of course. some
| thing different from legal right, which
is determined by law. The State now
| deprives the criminal of the foremost
OF his so-called natural rights, the right
| of life 1t forbIds us now to do certain
! work on Sunday. If 1t thinks 1t socially
expedient TINT 1t limit the hours of laz
Dor on week days and forbids child labor,
| 1t has right so to do.
| II this reasoning be correct. the only
| limit that can be placed Upon State ac-
tivity Is the limit which the facts OF the
past and of the contemporary world pre-
scribe, and these facts must be weighed
in the light of the capacity. traditions,
and present condition Of each particular
people
1t Is an error to start with any pre-
conceived notions for or against state m
terference The end OF State action, we
have seen, Is to enable the individual to
realize himself more fully in the State.
In the case of specific measures. 1t has
been suggested that we ask, first does
the end proposed lead toward Our ulti-
mate end? Second. are the means, ade-
quate? Third. are they too costly?
lCOlNTTEn NJ cHhRIGE