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Show DRIFTING. Modern legislation has frequently broken from the individualistic principles tentati- i ..- , . tablished by the founders of our governiiu .-,:! accepted by the people for more than ;x r :;t ;r.. and has gone along new sociological paths w' lead no man knows whither. There is a sugi;. --.;, .-. of paternalism in the attitude of the federal g..-.-. -. ment on the subject of the rights and .overei-r.'v of the states, upon which the. constitution of rh. federal government was founded. In the inter-.:,-., commerce law and the pure food law and the a ;-trust ;-trust law, each of which seems to render . -- ative the contention of certain old-timers in At:,-r- I ican politics that the states were independent j ereignties. there is more than sufficient evident- j indicate a radical change in the sentiment of tl, people in favor of a strong central power resti;,:: in Washington. It is hard to conceive of the delegates dele-gates of the several states assembling "to form :. more perfect union" unless in their wisdom tip -y sought to make that union paramount to the individual indi-vidual states which they represented. "United stand, divided we fall," and "In union there i-strength" i-strength" seem to have come down to us from t!, very foundation of the government. But in other matters than a centralized government govern-ment there are striking indications of portenteai-; changes from the accepted laws of sociology. Xo" only has the government recognized in the past the need of encouragement of thrift and economy, bur each man has been free to work out his own well-being well-being in a land so full of opportunities that he could hardly fail of just reward. Individual opportunities oppor-tunities were as near equal when each one made his living independently as they can ever be. And the I opportunities were broad for manv rears, covering. I indeed, the whole history of the country until within with-in the past decade or two. Then organization and centralization in the business and manufacturing world wrought wonderful changes in the economic ! conditions of the country. There has been a constant con-stant readjustment of wages and prices of commodities, com-modities, but the worker with his hands, the bookkeeper, book-keeper, clerk indeed, the whole vast army of wagf earners even with industry and frugality and self-denial, self-denial, have not the opportunity to provide much more than a bare subsistence for themselves and families, facing the future and the infirmities of age with the almost certainty of insufficient saving to provide ease and comfort in their declining years. This condition has been recognized not only by the workers but by the employers of labor besides. t and to meet the demand of the wage earners some employers, through naturally humane instincts j probably, have established pensions for superannu- I ated employes in order to guarantee faithful serv- ice for themselves and at the same time lessen the f hardships which would surely follow the decline in earning ability of the worker with advancing ag Xot only have companies and corporations inaugurated inaug-urated such a pension system, but several states-have states-have appointed commissions to investigate the feasibility feas-ibility of state insurance and old-age pensions for 1 T f 1 i i . i 1 worsers. x ensions ior preaeners, scnooi teacners i and about every other underpaid profession have been suggested and the suggestion has met with very general approval. The pension theory may be correct in principle. Xo one questions the desirability desira-bility of providing for old age comforts, and the need of an allowance will be conceded by fair-minded fair-minded men as long as present conditions of em-ployment em-ployment are maintained. " But underlying the whole pension scheme, whether by the state or corporation the conviction intrudes that we have drifted away from individualism individ-ualism and away from the ideal democracy which it was sought to establish with the western republic The proletaire cannot provide for themselves, but i must accept their just dues in the form of charity. . To admit the necessity of such a wide diver- gence from the canons of democratic individualism I is to acknowledge failure as the result of our form j of government. But to deny that necessity requires i a' recognition of the conditions which brought fur- j ward the suggestion. Radical reformation and a return to that approximate equality of opportunity f which prevailed before the machinery of the law was perverted to the advantage of the favored few become vital to the maintenance of individualism and freedom. To teach frugality and at the sain-' time macerate and starve the wage worker into do- . cility with a pension fraud is to invite destruction of all the cherished ideals of liberty, and will f eventually lead to the inauguration of principles of government which would make industry inessential and put a premium on idleness. It were far better for the individual and society at large to perpct- ... , ' uate the good by the elimination of the evil in pres- i ent economic conditions than to permit the con- tinued exploitation of the masses by a paternalism that i3 as insufferable as it is unjust and that mpst f lead eventually to revolution or slavery of those- ; not endowed with mentality or physical prowess to overthrow the bonds being drawn so closely and so adroitly by the hands of illegitimate wealth. |