The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1908-03-05
A ROAD TO SOCIALISM
Municipal Ownership Destroys
Individual Enterprise.

Sty FointS Out the hangers 10
Democratic Form of Government
Which Results From Undue ExtSn-
sion Of Government Activities.
Adam Smith in his Inquiry Into the
Nature and Causes of the Wealth Of
Nations" gives the duty of the govern
ment as threefod-frst, to protect the
people from invasion by other people;
secondly, to protect the individual from
the injustice of other individuals; third
ly, to erect and to maintain certain
public works and institutions which
are essential, yet not from their nature
remunerative.
Jefferson in his first inaugural de-
clared the sum of good government to
be to RESTRAIN men from injurinS one
another" and to leave them other
wise free to regulate their own pur-
suit of industry and Improvement"
but not to rake from the mouth Of
labor the bread it has earned"
Both jefferson and Adam Smith ex-
press the spirit Of oar Institutions. the
| freedom of business as long as the
rights of individuals are not interfered
with.
The American people are asked to ac-
cept a new principle-the principle OF
Socialism. AS stated by ROber. Batch
ford, that principle" the root idea of
Socialism, means two things:
"First.-That the land and all the
machines, tools and buildings used in
making needful things, together with
| canals, rivers, roads, railways. ships
and trains used in moving. sharing
| distributing needful things and all
| the shops. markets, scales, weights and
money used in selling Or dividing need
full things, shall be the property of (be-
long to- the whole people (he nation).
"SecOnd.-That the lands tools, ma
chimes, trains, rivers, shops, scales,
money and all other things belonging
| 70 the people shall be worked, man
| aged, divided and used by the whole
| people in such Il way as the greater
number of the whole people shall deem
| best
1t is true that many who believe In
| municipalizing the four utilities. water,
| electricity, gas and tramways, deny
| any further connection with Socialism.
| Then there are Socialists who reject
limited municipal trading on the same
| principle that Il prOhibitionist votes
against local option, refusing a part of
the programme, hoping by this means
to get the whole programme. Never
theless municipalizati Of the four
utilities mentioned is a part Of the So
cialistic programme.
The international conference OF So
cialists held in Paris in September,
1900, declared
"That it is the duty of all Socialists
TO make clear to all the value of mu-
nicipal activity. to recognize in all mu-
nicipal forms the Importance which at
taches to them as embryOs of colecti-
| visit states and to endeavOr to municipal
ize such public services as urban trans
port service. education, shops, bakeries,
I water supply, etc"
Thus the issue is drawn between So
cialism and individualism. There is no
halfway ground, as the experience of
English cities abundantly proves Glas-
gov engages in forty-four different
lines of business. rabbits are bred
by TOrQuay, Liverpool raises beets
and one English town actually raises
chickens. A momentum is gained
from the munlcipaliZatiOn of larger
utilities that inevitably carries the city
into further trading. thus competing di-
rectly with Il large number of inhabit-
ants.
A fundamental error in the belief
that leads to the SOcialiStic programme
is that all persons have the same needs
and desires. The advocates of the doc
trine overlook the fact that as the COM
pleXity of mems lives increase their
needs and desires increase; that it may
be necessary for one man to use a
phone, while his neighbor has no pos
sible need for it,
In an individualistic community the
government may be an unprejudiced
arbitrator, but in n SOcialistic one it
must always fight for its own rights.
Its natural tendency is to crush out all
competition. The overgrown, evilly ad-
ministered corporation may do harm
In an individualistic community, but
when the corporation and the govern
ment are one the combination has in
fnitely more power to injure and does
not fail to use it. In the former case
the people may divorce corporation in
auence from the government, but in
the latter the two are combined and
may crush the people.