Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1911-08-05

not with the machinery. hut with
nose who are operating it The rem
cay Is not for the people en- masse to
attempt to manipulate the complicated
and dehcately adjusted mechanism.
wnlcn must inevitably lead to confu-
sion and disaster. but to exercise more
care IN the selection of their specially
CHOSEN operating agents
everybody will agree that the av-
erage man is not as intelligent as
able. or as honest as the ablest, or
the most intelligent, or the most hon
est The individual fallibility of the
average man will at once be con-
coded. but there are some people who
seem to imagine that there is some
mysterious virtue in mere numbers;
mat ten men are necessarily more
moral and more honest than one man:
that by adding together thousand in
svlouals, none of whom has ever gone
ceyono the multiplication table. some
strange and weird transmutation re-
suits by which the combined mass is
enabled to work out the most diff cult
problem in Euclid with the utmost
accuracy Thus. following out this
highly intelligent theory. whenever
one is anxious to have a message car
ried with the greatest haste from one
part OF the city to another. obviously
the thing to do is to employ not the
neetest messenger boy in the service.
but arrange with ten or a dozen aver
age boys to unionize the job
The distinguished senator from Ore
gon (Mr. Bourne) is perhaps the great
est living exponent of this doctrine
HIS recipe roughly stated, | under
stand to be this: Take the voices of
10 foolish men, 20 ordinary men. S
rascals. 16 good citizens. and wise
men IF any such can be induced to
JONI; mix them all up together. with
the result, vox populi. vo1 Del II
was IN some such fash of inspired
wisdom that the learned senator. in
the course of a speech delivered in
senting to US his now well-known and
Justly celebrated composite citizen"
said:
The people can be trusted The com
posite citizen knows more and acts from
higher motives than any single Individual
yeloPed. While seifshness is usually
mized in the composite citizen.
With growing confidence in this
child of his creative genius, he next
evidently as the result of
mature reflection. because the decla-
ration constitutes one of the capital
lied headings with which in his edi-
torial capacity he has thoughtfuIly
adorned his speech-that the
COMPOSITE CITIZEN is UNSET
FISH"
The senator Immediately proceeds
under this caption to tell US how the
gratifying transformation from dis
tributive selfishness to collective al
truism is brought about by a process
as interesting as it is ingenious.
quote again:
The composite citizen is made UP of
In most cases by selfish interest But
because of the difference in the personal
up the composite citizen there is cor
dominating said units
Mr.. President, let me pause long
enough here to say that this is not a
quotation from Herbert Spencer.
though quite as lucid and convincing
as anything that learned philosopher
ever wrote. But listen further:
And while composite action is taking
suits. selfishness is worn away 't an9 ere re
eral welfare is substituted before action
is accomplished
1 am unable to accept the frivolous
suggestion advanced by some that this
beautiful conception has been evolved
from an overworked and hystericaI in
ner consciousness: that friction and
attrition can scarcely be expected TO
exercise an intelligent choice: and
that what little general welfare there
Is IN the com DlDaIlOD TO begin with g
oui,e as likely to be worn awav as
selfshness Solomon has told us that
fool may be brayed In a mortar with
a pestle and his foolishness will NOT
depart from him. but II evidently
never occurred to that wisest of men
that the result might have been far
different If he had submitted a large
number of fools TO the process ar thar
critical period while con- posite action
was taking place
AL the operations of government
iawmaking. law constructing, law exc
cuting-will be merged in the one su-
preme. all-embracing function of bal
ioting We may confidently look for-
ward to that halcyon era when there
will be primary elections to nominate
candidates for office. preprimary elec.
tions to designate persons to become
candidates for nomination and anta-
prepriamaries TO frame an eligible
list from which to select preprimarv
candidates to run the gauntlet of the
primary itself to the end that onIy
the good and virt7ous may compere
for the final suffrages of the people
Having selected our candidates nv
This sitting and resifting and rere-
sitting series of primary elections. we
will have election elections to de
termine who of these irreproachabIe
persons shall become our officials. and
then recall elections to get rid OF them
If we think on reflection that some nm
desirable material has slipped through