The Washington times., 1917-09-16

Bull Run Russell called . halt 70
the Official mismanagement and
waste in the crimean war because
he had the perception to distinguish
the confusion necessarily incident tc
war from that caused BY bad admin
istration.
It would be fortunate II one ct
Ike authority in this most righteous
Of all wars could point out to the
lpsople Of the United States the diff
ference between useful and necessary
self-sacrihce and the waste and con-
fusion that is now passing for pa
triotie effort
! All viii admit that . certain
amount Of concentration Of power Is
necessary for q state Of war-al
patriotic citizens will eheerfully sub
NIT to the loss Of personal liberty
that It neeessitates.
But one should not be stigmatizsd
as unpatriotie for protesting against
the subversion Of our fundamental
institutions; the sweeping away Of
an our safeguards Of freedom
against the eYer-increasing army Of
officials saddIed upon the producing
classes, the enormous official waste,
the fatal official delays, the daily
increasing official tyranny, the ig-
norant and ruinous official meddling
and obstruction 10 business, the con-
traction Of credit, the loss Of con-
fdenee, and the feverish markets
caused thereby. All these evil ef-
feets arise from one cause.-The evils
inherent in offieialism itseh, only
shown more clearly by the war.
From Freedom to Despotism.
In our rapid transit from state
Of freedom to . state Of despotism,
let rs see what has occurred here in
the District:
We now have . vice squad to regu-
late our morals; we now have the
prohibition crank to decide what we
shall drink and when we shall drink
it; we have the strict Sunday laws
by which church people can decide
what we shall do or shall not do
while they are at church; we have
commissions with large and despotic
powers to regulate our business, to
decide what we must charge for our
services, regardless Of their cost, to
decide whether or not we shall be al
lowed to borrow money to carry on
or extend our business, and other
dangerous powers which tend to
check the production and exchange
Of wealth. Over all these fields Of
covered now by Government
control, where previously the citizen
could do as he pleased, he Is now
obliged to do what some arbitrary
official pleases. This is only q sam
pie of what is going on over the
whole country.
History is q sad story Of one peo-
pie eonquering and enslaying an
other, but Americans are the only
people have met with in history
who have deliberately set about to
enElave themselves.
Raising Money.
Under q regime Of freedom the
enormous sums necessary to carry |
on the war could have been raised |
as fnanciers tell rs they should be
raised by borrowing with only a |
slight and gradually increasing tax
on business. As in every private
the borrower would have |
been free to borrow and the lender |
free to lend-there would have been
no disturbance Of business or trade
business would not have been
alarmed, production checked, and en-
terprise killed by the acts or threats |
Of ignorant, irresponsible, and tyran-
nical officials. But what happens in
the regime Of despotism under which
we now live? Does the irresponsi-
ble official meddling now with al
most everything, give the business
world that security and certainty
which Adam Smith thought so neces-
sary to industry and commerce? ?