The Marshall republican., 1908-11-13

sUe tUutNtupatt Not/ tUe oystem, 10
wrong-Personal Character and Sin
eere ainteIlisent Public Opinion Form
Tho One Efeetuai Remedy.
In considering the evils, unquestion-
ably many and serious, of our present
economic system there Is apt to be a
lack of discrimination between the
evils that inhere in that system and
those which, while existing under it,
are O necessarily the product of K.
The Socialist thus att:ibutes to capt
talism'all the evils Of civilization from
poverty to prostitution. He ignores
the individual characteristics which put
the satisfaction Of present desires be.
fore future welfare and which are in
many cases responsible alike for the
pauper and the prostitute. On the
other hand, the economic stand pattcr
refuses to acknowledge that part of
the poverty and degradation Is due to
an unfair division of the product Of
the combination of labor and capital.
Yet this unfairness is not an Inherent
factor Of our capitalistic system any
more than are unbridled appetites. So
ctalism will eradicate neither selfish.
ness nor self indulgence from human
nature. In fact, by prescribing a rem
ely which does not reach the root OF
the disease It lessons the likelihood Of
r~emedying the real wrong.
Similarly In considering the evils.
1nquestionably many and serious,
which have existed under corporate
operation of public utilities there Is
apt to be a lack of discrimination be-
tween the evils which inhere in that
system and those which are not neces-
saTily the product of 1t. The municipal
Socialist attributes to private owner
chip all the evils Of public utilities,
from the im%pertinence Of the hello
gtyf- to a typhoid epidemic, with high
prices and poor service ever in the
foreground. He utterly ignores the
facts which prove that these evils have
no necessary relation to private owner
ship because they are equally In evil
dence under municipal ownership. The
notorious %impudence of the govern
ment telephone girls Of Paris contrasts
most unfavorably with the courtesy
generally accorded to telephone users
In New York. In the cities of more
than 100000 population in the United
States the average typhoid death rate
10 slightly lower In the cities where
there are water companies than in
those In which the supply Is under
I public management. And so every
! cause of complaint under private own
ership can be paralleled by similar or
worse conditions under public owner
! ahtp. The latter will eradicate neither
incompetence nor Indifference to the
! general welfare. In fact, by prescrib-
ing q remedy which does not reach the
root Of the disease 1t postpones indef-
n0tely the real cure.
what is the real cure? The bringing
home TO public utility companies Of
their responsibility to the public for
good service at reasonable rates and,
on the other hand, the convincing of
tise public that such companies are en-
titled to a fair return upon their in
vestments and furthermore that the
Rsafter In city council or state legisla-
ture who tries to levy tribute on these
companies is a public enemy. How Is
this to be accomplished? BY state
boards of control, removed from local
antagonisms and clothed with powers
adequate to the protection Of the pub
lr ON the one hand and Of the compa-
nses on the other. 1t is only about a
year since the public utilities Of New
York and Wisconsin were placed I'M
DOR such control, yet already some cor
p0Fations have been disciplined.
No permanent cure for economic
evils can, however, come from such
boards Of control unless there is q
general awakening to a higher type Of
civic consciousness and of individual
Integrity. In q large sense we are
personally responsible for the econom-
Be- conditions under which w live. So
long as we worship wealth without re-
gard TO the methods of It's requirement
We are silent partners of the men who
get It dishonesty or by oppression.
90 long as we are negligent of the
character of the men we choose to
represent us politically we are parties
10 every graft game of u representa-
tSv0s. We don't need a new political
system, but we do need a new sense
Of aggressive righteousness in politics
and business alike. With the coming
OF that will come the %remedying Of the
economic wrongs which give the So
cAalists their most effective arguments,
and without 1t no system, whether So
c1alistic or capitalistic, will be satisfy
ing or stable.
Public opinion OF the right sort Is a
tremendous power for good in both
business and politics. 1t encourages
and sustains the man who is honest,
straightforward and fair and rebukes
and defeats the man who seeks un-
worthy end by unworthy means. But
public opinion Of the right sort is rare.
Il must be not only intelligent, but
sincere, and its sincerity depends alb
arIntalu tannr. tho Il apaatar ~ tha