Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1923-04-04


individualist. But let me say also
that l am an American individual1st.
For America has been steadily develop
ing the ideals that constitute progress
sive individualism.
No doubt, individualism run riot,
with no tempering principle, would pro-
vide long category Of inequalities, OF
tyrannies, Nominations, and injustices.
America, how ever, has tempered the
whole conception of individualism by
the injection of a definite principle,
and from this principle it follows that
attempts at domination, whether in
government or In the processes Of In
dustry and commerce, are under an
insistent curb. If we would have the
values of individualism, their stimula-
ton to initiative, to the development
of hand and intellect, to the high de-
veIopment of thought and spirituality,
they must be tempered with that firm
and fixed ideal of American individu-
alism-an equality Of opportunity. II
we would have these values we must
soften its hardness and stimulate prog
ress through that sense Of service that
lies in our people.
Therefore, it is not the individualism
Of other countries for which l would
speak, but the individualism Of Amer
lea. Our individualism differs from
all others because it embraces these
great ideals: that while we build our
society upon the attainment of the in
dividual, we shall safeguard to every
Individual an equality of opportunity
to take that position in the commun-
ity to which his intelligence, character,
ability, and ambition entitle him; that
we keep the social solution free from
frozen strata of classes; that we shall
stimulate effort of each individual to
achievement; that through an enlarg-
ing sense of responsibility and under
standing we shall assist him to this
attainment; while he In turn must
stand up to the emery wheel of COM
petition.
Individualism cannot be maintained
as the foundation of society If 1t
looks to only legalistic justice based
upon contracts, property, and politi-
cal equality. Such legalistic safe
guards are themselves not enough. In
our individualism we have long since
abandoned the laissez faire Of the
Eighteenth century-the notion that 1t
is 'every man for himself and the
devil take the hindmost" We aban-
doned that when we adopted the ideal
Of equality of pportunity-the fair
chance of Abraham Lincoln. We have
confirmed its abandonment in terms Of
legislation, of social and economic jus
tice-in part because we have learned
that it Is the hindmost who throws
the bricks at our social edifice, in part
because we have learned that the fore
most are not always the best nor the
hindmost the worst-and In part be-
cause we have learned that social in
justice Is the destruction Of justice
itself. We have learned that the Inn
pulse to production can only be main
tanned at high pitch If there is a
fair division of the product We have
also learned that fair division can
tons on the strong and the dominant
We have indeed gone even further in
the Twentieth century with the en-
bracement of the necessity of greater
and broader sense of service and re-
sponsibility to others as a part Of In.
dividualism.
Whatever may be the case with re-
gard to Old World individualism (and
we have given more back to Europe
than we received from herr the truth
that is important for us to grasp to-
day is that there is world of differ
ence between the principles and spirit
of Old World individualism and that
which we have developed in our own
country.
We have, in fact, a special social
system of our own. We have made 1t
ourselves from materials brought in
revolt from conditions in Europe. We
have lived it; we constantly improve
it; we have seldom tried to define 1t.
1t abhors autocracy and does not argue
with 1t, but fights 1t. 1t is not capital
AoAlt VI SVSAdAAolI1s VI QOT
a cross breed of them. Like most
Americans, I refuse to be damned by
| anybody's word-classifcation of 1t, such
as capitalism" 'plutocracy," "prole-
tariat" or ''middle-class," or any other.
or to any kind of compartment that is
based on the assumption of some
group dominating somebody else.
The social force in which | am inter-
ested is far higher and far more pre-
cious thing than all these 1t springs
from something infinitely more en-
| during; it springs from the one source
of human progress-that each indiyid-
ual shall be given the chance and
stimulation for development of the
best with which he has been endowed
in heart and mind it is the sole source
of progress; 1t Is American individu-
alism.