The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-12
ivD,viDr as AyD aissES
theesy rms, Wesl,h a1d Progress .Te the
NsVh ~ thu Sew.

"
theesy rms, wesi,h a1d Progress .Te the
WsVk ~ thu Sew.
To " EbltoH ~ tut stS Sit. III con.
sldefina the iltefatufo Of the Socialist ptopa'
ganda, and indeed the greet bulk IT the
matter having 10 do with the relations Of
capital and labor and coanats questlons. We
continually meo, the fornula the wealth
pfotuciaa masses. - OF the same thing clothed
In slightly different terms. but conveying the
idea that wealth 10 the product ~ men core
porats rather than Of man the individual.
Yet the world, past Hud present, affords
countless examples Of the total inability OF
mere labor 10 do more than keep NE IN the
hody and provide the rudest and mOst made
uuate means OF sustenance Take the Egyp-
tian fellah. Left TO himself and hts pointed
sticks, what has he done in the ages since
Phe raoh 70 help himself, or what would ne
ever have done without the help OF a Few
individuals Of alien race TO teach him good
administration and to multiply ana safeguard
the work OF his hands by the productions OF
the mechanical and engineering science ana
skill Of other individuals
To come n little nearer home. the distinc-
ton between n we'll to do American farmer
and a fellah under the Khediviste-the de-
greo Of comfort and wealth Of he former
rs compared Will the poverty OF the latter
can hardly be attributed to the difference In
the amount Of labor done. but TO the fact that
the American farmer Is heir to and has ut his
disposal the sum Of the efforts OF a number
Of superior ind viduals who have been I'M
weariedly at work since the first OF our SKIN
clothed ancestors clipped out a nint axe
head a little better than that OF his neighbor.
The fact that the American farmer IL better
Of than the tellah is not due TO the EFFORTS OF
ora and administrators have totally altered
his environment and given direction 20 nus
helped. though often hampered. by the So
called wealth producing masses.
In greater or less degree the same prInei-
Wherever you find the highest standard OF
living. the most universal PROSPERITY there.
other things being ~ nd s Eva; 0i YS S9t, wiz v hS Masses ans
which do not produce. these exceptional in
dividuals or. potentially able 70 do so, sup
mud hrts Which all the wealth %pr0duced BY
able to lift them out of. The Russian. peas
ant. the famine stricken native Of India. the
naked savage of the. Congo these are masses,
and whatever they have OF, VIII eyer get Will
be conferred {, I'd S on th sou Gf iHd II snv Of what we
are pleased to call the advanced. races tour
selves. for eNample) are essentially dinerent
ally throwing on from the general mass
superior men, who continually raise the aver
age Of the race, the race itseli acquiring a
special capacity for recognizing ana reward
Ing special capacity and utilizing its pro-
auctions. and thus continually, evolving a
t higHet the snG m ATTEST ions Of this, particular
individualistic capacity, leaving the abstract
speculation 9f the s!Sn nse and. G lem besp a me
ton. In one man. We And It expressed IN a
Tpfi &c disS SIspaSdTiE N s1T 1Tof1 asdiDmninisirrstfiVV tai
ents. In another In the exact and patient
DEDUCTIONS OF science. The sum totel is
unit not Of the many. If the American
farmer, has more than The ielleh, !, is not
alone because he works harder or gets
but because Mccormick and such as he made
his tools, because Vanderbilt and such as he
" !" thnmssnd ina vidnais ~orki"s; alone ,HeyerI in
messesI have solved for him every problem
Of his trade. from the virgin soil to the RuIlet
S are 'n "oliectiveiy especially beneht%d by the
wealth produced by individuals.
same rule applies TO every one with equal
or greater force-to nil operatives. TO clerks.
"a merch ants and to professional men enter
and extending to every nook and corner OF
life from the cradle to the grave. To sum up;
bur b ~ the Few The many, from the million
ARE who has not earned his money to the
pauper who hes none, unassisted produce
There is. Of course, a fly in the ointment
was T We ! fSs H We shf pG of pSatiG GsiSr'T p or S@s
is sometimes In excess of the value of their
contribution TO the general. good. Fortunes
are sometimes the result OF destructive rather
than constructive energy; but even this carries
lts own cure with II, for the financial radical
who breaks down and destroys must In the
end build UP again or himself fall a victim
10 his own system. Herein the chief vice OF
socialism resides: for that nebulous phantom
seems concrete on this point-thati II primarily
seeks TO lessen or do away altogether with all
special rewards to individuals; to swing a
iop of everything which projects above II.
Now our present condition Is almost entirely
the product of individual men who (be it. sor-
did or notl have worked mainly In the hope
OF gain. n we annihilate that hope. we relax
the mainsprinR Of action: and as 1t seems to
be a rule OF things that nothing can stand still.
but must ever 90 forward or backward, II Ia
more than an even chance that should the
Incentives to enterprise be destroyed we
should soon be slipping back much faster
than we have climbed up.
presume IL might be sal ID that the sum
Of tn ese individual productions in time be-
comes the heritage OF the race, and as snch
should be used for the general benefit. Moth
has happened and is happening. Every la
borer who to-day works ten hours where
his grandfather worked fourteen. who. regards
as bare necesRaries what his grandfather con-
sidered Injuries. Is ENJOYING his share OF the
general herita Ce--a heritage that In the ma.
ture of things. must &c on increasing and work.
Ing ont a steady. evolutionary amelioratlon Of
conditions, unless the ben e1cent process Is
checked by the hands OF blind fanatics strik-
inv at the system In which 1t has It's root,
PATERSON, y. j., June ii. v.B.