Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-06-26
THE ASPIRATION
TO DEMOCRACY
Commencement Day Address of Dr. Liberty H. Bailey at
University of Vermont

there is no adequate means Of protection
The ownership of public utilities would
violate the underlying function of gov
eminent, which is not only that IT ex-
press the will of the people but that it
shall protect the people. BY directing
all the complaints at government. so does
the national ownership of utilities tend
TO set the people against their govern
ment.
Checks may be devised as against the
autocracy of commissions and boards
with large legislative powers; but they
are only checks nevertheless and not
remedies The dominion of such commits
sions or boards may be the worst form
of autocracy. These agencies are not
reached directly by vote of the people.
In fact the vote OF the people Is for
POLITICAL ends and not for the manage
ment of the peoples business. Manager
ship cannot lie in the public vote. Gov
eminent should exercise the large
function of oversight and of protection
of the peoples interests independently of
the political vote.
The ownership of the utilities by gov
eminent does not remove such utilities
from politics. Experience has amply
Illustrated this.
1t is an underlying principle in democ-
racy that community self lies be-
fore state help. The appeal to the State
is rather for permissve and defensive
legislation, allowing things to be proper
ly undertaken and to provide ways Of
correcting abuses and of giving every
man a chance. The operation of these
forces is usually better left with those
x,,l,a i,,t l,op, md ,ho l,o 10
the quick and personal touch. on it's
face. the state help theory appears to
be dynamic but in the end it is more
likely to be disruptive.
THE TENDENCY OF ORGANIZATION
The speaker called attention to the
tendency Of organization to take the
place of votes of the will Of the peo-
pie. The very perfection of the organiza-
ton may become a menace to democracy.
Thereby may minorities gain control
and represent themselves as expressing
the will of the people. We do not know
that the prohibition amendment
represents the will OF the majority of the
people. The prohibition forces have been
well organized and have been able to put
forward such a campaign that a result
to their purpose has been secured. The
speaker expressed himself in favor of
prohibition legislation and has himself
been engaged in a part of that work
but any movement however good. that
does not rest on the will of the people
has in 1t elements Of danger and its
enforcement becomes circuitous. The
complete support of prohibition would
come naturally by the gradually widen
ing conviction Of all the localities. We
oil hat 10
to he forced by a well-organized and
energetic minority. However desirable
the purpose may be, the ends do not
necessarily justify the means.
The influence Of organization is we'll
seen in the covenants resulting from the
Paris conference. The interests of labor
and trade seem to be we'll safeguarded
but so far as these covenants are yet re-
ported to us, agriculture is not effective
ly in them and yet the production from
| the earth Of supplies and the maintain
ance Of the fertility Of the planet are the
fundamental problems before mankind
The farmer must be safeguarded in his
"living wage" The surface of the earth
must be protected; the vast rural peo-
pies must partake ana must share In the
democratic movements Of the world; we
II the farming people Of the world under.
stood each other and had large inter
national plans of cooperation. Our
fundamental and economic politica'
problem in the end is the ownership
and use of land. We need instrument
talties for these great ends as much
as for labor and trade. The betterm en-,
of one should be consciously the bet
terment of the others.
| Every shortening of the hours OF
labor and alienation of the condition
of the workingman draws the labor
away from the farm and adds to the
difficulties of our fundamental occu-
patton. We are much in need of a CO.
ordinated system of social and eco.
nomic development.
The speaker warned his hearers thai
we are in danger in our great wei.
fare legislation of taking the gimp Out
of our people and making them lazy
We are projecting vast devices fol
eliminating responsibility-the lock
step of the graded schools. the arti
fetal eight-hour day, the movement.
against the industry of children, the
making of the workingman a ward o.
society and many forms of private anc
social charities. 1t would seem as l.
we are in the way of developing vas
schemes to prevent the performance O.
labor not only among the class ordi
narily referred to as working men, bu
in other ranges of society, as in tn,
clerkships and many kinds of ire
sponsible service, corporations, insti
tutions and concerns For them Their,
is no eight-hour day. The speake
said 1t had been so long since he haC
seen a man do good days work II
public enterprise, that he would be ex
cited at the prospect. Perhaps ever,
kind of social betterment is for tn,
good of the race. yet we must be care
full that we do not make n society O
drones
His objection to socialism. as com
monty preached, lies in the promise o
laziness that seems to run through it
Its dyllistic theories, its hazy phrase
oloEy and its incohesive irresponsible
fabric seem to offer only Intangible
results Political socialism is largel,
yet vocabulary Much of the pic
tured socialism is only a gilded peas
antry.