The daily Nome industrial worker., 1916-09-04
PERSONAL FREEDOM.

men were the most patriotic in the country. On Independence Day they | will go to more trouble to decorate | their saloons than any other busi- ness men. Inside and outside they | will have an array of bunting that is joy to the eye. And for that reason, it is only what might be ex- pected when we find them appealing to patriotism to uphold their traffic Accordingly, the liquor dealers are filling the papers with paid adverti- sements which are intended to re- call the great struggle of seventy six, when the revolutionary Fathers fought the tyranny of King George, so that their successors might enjoy unalIoyed the delights of personal freedom.
 It is a noble view point. Highly patriotic in it's legend, we can appre- ciate what a fine lot of people they are who are engaged in the booze business. Liberty or death is their high sounding motto; just as it was the slogan of Patric Henry.
 We don't know how it is that these honest people have been so misunderstood all these years. They, who provide the money for schools and for every governmental activity, have been decried by frivolous per sons as the incarnation of every thing immoral. It is a sin and shame that men could be so misun- 6erstood, and that their actions should be so misinterpreted
 Personal freedom is a noble idea. But in the nature of things, unless we have to revert to absolute anarchism, is must be accepted, as well as enjoyed, in a purely relative sense.
 Unfortunately, the burglar, the pick pocket, the homicide, the crlml- nal of any kind, finds himself mak- ing use of the very same complaint that is now made use of by the liuuar dealers in their paid adver- tisements. The pick pocket, the burglar, the homicide all can say that the laws which are passed and on the statute books against them are a gross interference with their personal freedom. Under an ideal condition of society person should be free to pursue any occupation whatever, whether purGe-snatching or use-breaking. This would re- suit in personal freedom Of the highest type, and one no doubt which, if the liquor dealers are to be believed, was the ideal which was fought for in '76.
 It is to be hoped. to be more serious, that no person will be mis- led by these shallow arguments.
 Society is an organization which for it's own protection must make certain regulations. And every per sons freedom therein must be con- ditioned upon the freedom of every one else. Where the freedom of a person or set of persons interfcres with the social well being, society has the right to curtail or limit that freedom. Only in this way can such a social organization continue. And the evolution of society has been and still is towards the elimination of anti-social conditions which pre- vail.
 Anti-social conditions are those which react upon the welfare of the society, and whether the personal freedom involved appears desirable or not to the individuals. guilty of anti-social acts. they will in the end have to agree to its curtailment.
 There are two schools of thought each with powerful advocates. One is the collectivist school and the other the individualist or anarchist school. Today for the most part in America and in Great Britain the latter prevails. The idea has been to allow the individual capitalist to run riot, and to allow exploitation to be unrestricted in any field. The right to interfere with that exploita- tion is challenged as an infringe ment of the constitutional ideas as to personal freedom. Hence at tempts to limit the hours of labor the concentration of wealth, child