Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-09-23
Individual Liberty
And Big Government
Complex Age Intensifes Problem
Of Freedom and Authority
By William H. Harrison.

By William II. Harrison.
The staggering actualities and po-
tentialities of the harnessed atom, in
volving as they do military, political.
social, economic and moral problems
Of the greatest magnitude and complex
ity, add new impetus to what has
been one of the most important single
trends in human affairs during the last
century. This trend-and trend" prob
ably Is too mild a word for its the
thing which has been often referred
to as big government growing ever
bigger.
Many men have ardently opposed this
growth, and many still do, and the
cause Of human freedom will be helped
If they continue to do it-as long as
they do it with genuine understanding
of the times. and not blindly or emo
tionally or out of an ignorant fidelity
to their prejudices and preconceived no.
tons. That said, however, and grant
ing that such enlightened opposition
can do much to curb abuses, there
seems to be virtually no chance that
big government will become any less
big in the future. On the contrary,
there seems to be every chance that it
will become bigger-if not in physical
size. at least in the sense Of intruding
itself more and more into the affairs
of the individual or of groups of indi-
viduals
Compared with countries like New
Zealand, Sweden and Britain, the
United States today is not so far along
the road to paternalism as some Amer
leans seem to believe. Compared to
that of a country like Russia our Gov
eminent is not even close to being
radical or dictatorial. Yet, though we
are still the most politically conserva-
tive major nation in the world, we have
within the last Is or 80 years-notably
since 933-centralized a vast amount
of authority in Washington, and the
signs indicate that that authority. in
stead of diminishing is likely to grow.
! Current plans to create a new agency
or agencies to control the development
of the atomic bomb and the uses of
atomic energy-an unacceptable control
show how the trend is going.
This steady enlargement of govern
! mental authority throughout the world
in America less so than elsewhere-has
not been brought about solely by few
men. There have been ambitious dicta-
tors. like the despots of earlier ages, who
have achieved absolute power by force
and conspiracy, but in democratic coun-
tries, through democratic processes,
there has been at the same time a
marked willingness TO let leadership
regulate. Nor can this be explained
simply by saying that great masses of
people have gone soft and lost the spirit
of self-reliance. Titanic forces have
been at work during the past 100 years.
There has been a tremendous industrial
revolution. There has been an immense
increase in the workers capacity to
produce things. There has been the
development Of technology that en-
ables one man to do in one day what
perhaps dozen or more men once could
not do in week or longer. And whether
one attributes them to overproduction or
hiidC2So4louAiEJeioi vi
there have been periods in which mil
lions have found themselves unemployed
and without any means Of livelihood.
These are some OF the factors that
have led people in the last 100 years
particularly since 1900-to demand not
more freedom of action but more au-
thoritative leadership. Another factor
has been the periodic paralysis of
parliamentary systems, as in the case
of lRewar France. And yet another
factor-possibly the most significant of
all-has been the astonishing rate at
which the number of human beings
have multiplied, In l845, the populat ton
of the United States was under 10000
600, the population Of Europe was about
200,0oo000. and the population of the
world as a whole was billion Today,
century later. the population of the
continental United States is we'll over
100000, the population of Europe
territorially only slightly bigger than
this country-is in the neighborhood of
500,000y0oo, and the population of the
world is roughly two billions. This
growth, together with the industrial
revolution, has made the life of nations
so complex that the individual, feeling
microscopic and powerless in the mass,
has naturally tended to rely more and
more on group organization and govern
ment.
AS for the future. If mankind con-
tlnueS to increase itself at the rate
| prevailing from 1900 to 1925, the popu-
lation of the world, according to experts.
| may approach four billions by the end
OF this century-a doubling of the pres
ent figure. This prospect may not ma
terialize, of course, but it is a distinct
possibility, and when we couple it with
the great chronological advances of the
past few years and with such>things as
radar and the revolutionary implica-
tons of atomic energy, more and bigger
government MISUNDERSTANDING in
ternational government-seems clearly
on the way. 1t will do no good to try
to Danish this fact by deploring it or
denying that it exists: every friend of
individual freedom must recognize it as
a compelling challenge.
$50 4
In oversimplified form this challenge
may be described as the problem OF
reconciling or synthesizing the concept
of individual liberty with the concept
OF governmental authority in such a
way as to preserve the liberty without
no ro1 ,t1s,, I,