Evening star., 1914-11-22
Drawing by S. J. Woolf

TT has often been said that nowadays sNSS&a
l there is tendency for the land to
become and more the property
of the many under the free play of -
economic laws. The great ranches of the
West, the big plantations of the South
and the large farming and timber tracts
of the North have been undergoing
process of change a result of which
a number of separate individuals have
taken the place of the former solitary IL
proprietor the owners of thousand
acre properties More and more it is the
day of the small holder of land Even 80
in the suburbs of our great cities the
number of individual home owners has
increased greatly as witness the develop Il
ment in the territory adjacent to New "E
York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago,
St. Louis Boston, Baltimore, and else SAWMSA-
where.
Perhaps there is question more I'M
portant than this in the entire range of
social problems; for the triumph OF the
small proprietor over the large one makes
for the growth and maintenance of that
element in society upon which Our civilization can
most surely depend Theprncipe has special application
to our farming population. There is probably no other
force in the nation conservative OF all that gooo
fair and vrtuous that issuing from those owning the
soil they till These constitute one grand division OF
the army of workers. and very important one indeed
There is another vast group the industrial those who
labor in the manufacturing field Here is an immense
armv of men and women who swayed by an entirely
different law tending toward the concentration OF
industry and business affairs generally in compare
tvev few vast establishments. 1t is only by the con-
centraton of labor this way that there has about
the cheapening process which has produced the fa IN
prices of manufactured articles.
IF our huge factories divided into number OF
smaller establishments, it would have been impossible
for this country to have achieved its unique position
as manufacturer There nowhere appears to be any
counteracting force to this law of concentration IN
the world of industry. Indeed, there are forces in
action which appear to demand greater and ever IN
creasnp output from each establishment in order that
the minimum of cost be reached. Cost IS largely
question of quantity of product
THIS phenomenon in late years has given rise to
complaint often heard on the lips of young men,
who say that it is longer possible for man working
on salary and without capital to rise to ndepen-
dent position According to this argument there
obstacles which prevent such men from reaching part
nership in the firm place of independence. Chief
of these are the huge establishments already in exist
ence it is claimed which impossible barriers to
advancement.
There is no foundation for such belief As already
pointed out the who is engaged in agricultural
pursuits has nothing to fear from capital 1t is COM
paratively easy for him to borrow the modest
amount necessary to begin farming operations. The
only competition be feared is that of Others of that
class, similarly situated And this is simply the spur
which ought to drive man on to success.
AS to the young engaged in industry, it may be
difficult for say, mechanic or practical worker to es-
tabsh entirely business for himself, but not to
win partnership in great firm already in existence,
or shares of stock in company: these easier than
before This should stimulate the ambitious man.
And it should be lost sight of that if the in
the industrial and business world be difficult win the