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Show ' I'J' " ' ' ' ' THE PRESS-BULLETI- . ',, -''. i ' : : WHY 1 INDIVIDUALISM J IS AS DEAD AS. A SMELT AT A RECENT-- public k earing certaii)' proposed food legislation which iir. Perkins fav-ored and which ' recognized :,'tbe necessity of co-op- f ration ,o,niej one . '. remarked that the legislation was - a violation, of te ', principle,' of . individualisnr.' ' '." Mr.' 1'erkinsrretorted, "Individ- - nalism ias dead as a smelt.", , Mr. Perkins reasons, for his, be-- , ' lief are outlined in the following article: ' s By GEORGE W. PERKINS, Chairman of MayOl MitchelV Food . Supply Committee. One of the greatest stumbling blocks , to progress is the human inclination to follow 'precedent and old methods too closely. ; We find it difficult to strike out along entirely new lines. , Thomas Jefferson, in, bis old age. ' wrote a letter In which he said : . Some' men ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose whut tbey did to be beyond amendment. " 1 knew that age of the Revolution well. I be-- ( longed to it and lubored with it. It deserved well of Its country. It was very like the present, but without the experience of the present ; and forty years of experience Is worth a cen-tury of took reading i. and this they would say themselves were they to ' arise from the dead. Great Changes Taking Place Rapidly. The changes that occurred from the close of the Revolutionary War to 's old age made a deep impres- - ISITrrSnatamirmrBmirilllT-- !- Tl wmmmm I t 'i " .T..JB1MTL ' "'--r-S II f rli'- - I'f - irfl I IIIWIMIHMJI flY peace. Be Is much more apt to be s faithful, conscienticais servant than it: he had not had military training. He - enters public service in time of peace? In more nearly the sanRTspirlt that ne V-would enter military service in time of wai" namely, from a sense of patriotic - duty and a desire to serve his country- - and his fellowmen. In receut years we have been bearing . a great deal about government owner- - , ship of our railroads. We are told that in Germany the railroads are owned by the government and that their opera-tion is most successful This is true, but in Germany conditions are vastly different " The military training of the youth. In t fact, the entire trend of education la , ' Germany is to impress upon the young : men of that land that they owe service to their country. When a man enters ' the government's employ in the rail-road business he is as conscientious as he would be wve he entering the gov-ernment's service in time of war. If our railroads were to be taken over and operated by our government at this time, how many of you think d duplicate Germany's success? Government ownership of railroad3 S 4 may be as desirable In this country as it is in Germany, but we must first have public servants who will at least come somewhere near the standard of Germany's public servants in efficiency and honesty. Look at the spectacle we are pre-senting to the world at this very mo-ment in our pork barrel legislation! Could we afford to have our railroads operated by the same type of public servants? If our government is to endure, If' we are to take our proper place among the nations of the world in the new civ-ilization, the man of the future must live not for himself alone but for others. .,.. Consideration for one another is speedily becoming a social, industrial 4 and economic necessity. Centralization is the order of the day. The telegraph, the telephone, the auto-mobile and the airship are the causes. g They have wiped out not only old prec-- Why a New Era Co-oper- a- I t tion Mast Succeed Pare i Individualism. itiVITU intercommuni- - t drawing the t the act of an t t individual can affect a large t I number of people; therefore that form of freedom which f J is tsimply another expression f t for license to do as one I pleases can no longer exist." t (JEOIJGE VV. PERKINS. V i GEORGE W. PERKINS. of turcomwsricria and still adliere to the la we, the precedeutii and the book learning of their fathers. This la 'OUR great problem: It la a difficult, complicated, problem and is causing a struggle, of . titanic propor-tions a struggle to throw off in a night, as it were, the precedents of an old world for the realities of a new. Precedent makes. cowards of us all. Hit the educator, the scientist and the lnvtitor have left us no choice. We must adjust oar thought and action to new conditions. " The changes of the last twenty-fiv- e years socially, industrially and econom-ically have been great, yet 1 believe they are Infinitesimal compared to the changes that are coming. I believe these changes are going to deal most largely with the relation-ship of man to man. . The Day of Individualism Con. Id this country we have been living In an age of the utmost freedom to the individual. It baa been the individual-istic period, when the order of the day has seemed to be "every fellow for him-self and the devil take the hindmost." We have gloried in the freedom of the Individual and have practiced thl. freedom to a point where, In many phases of our life, it has amounted to license to do almost anything that we pleased or that brought profit or fancied renown, regardless of its effect on one's fellowmen. In the early days, when Instantaneous intercommunication did not exist, when education was meagre and science un-developed, what the individual did wan of comparatively small couseiuen e, for bis deeds did not reach very far aud did not affect many people. With intercommunication drawing the world together in one centralized community, the act of the Individual can affect a large number of people; therefore, that form of freedom which Is simply another expression for li-cense to do as one plcnsese can no lonper exist. When Manhattan was sparsely set-tled and nust of the people lived 011 its southern end it would not have mattered much had there been a cue of smallH)X at the north end. The could have done pretty much as he pleased wltfcost endangering any one ele. lint a mt smallpox in the north-ern end of Msaksttan to-da- run t be qiiimititiiierl Immediately to irie t Other people. Wlita I was a boy there whs im So-ciety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, an4 bad wy oue aujjge.-a- , d that a man could not whip his home as much as he pleased be would have been ridiculed, indeed, in those days, the idea that a man had not the right to beat his own child as, he pleased was given little attention. When we were all driving horses and buggies there waa no speed limit and a man did not have to procure a license to drive a horse. With the ad-vent: of the automobile a license has Un-oni- a necessity. The public must know that the man who operates an automobile knows first how to operate It and. second, to control it Society Is finding it necessary to take away much of what has hitherto been called "freedom of the individual." In my Judgment this process Is only In its Infancy. The freedom of the business man to do as he pleases is now being seriously challenged, and 1 most heartily agree with what Mr. John D. Rockefeller. Jr., said recently at Cornell University to the effect that one of the chief quali-fications for a manager of a large busi-ness concern Is rapidly coming to be the human quality and ability to ad-- I just differences between capitalist and laborer and to understand their rela-tionship. Relation of Capital and Labor. Until recent years little broad think-ing was given to this problem aud dif-ferences were settled on the basis of "might makes right" All this is rap-idly changing and we are entering a period of new industrial relationships. In the long ago the relationship be-tween capital and labor was that of owner and slave, then camo the period of master and man, then the period of employer and employe, each period being a decided step forward. In my Judgment we are Just now en-tering a period of copartnership, where the tool user will be part tool owner and where capital and labor will share more equitably In the profits of the business In which they are Jolutly; engaged. This advance is Inevitable because of our educational system, which teaches! the worklngman to think for himself. It Is Inevitable because lntercotniniinl-- : ration has told the worklnttmnn in one community what the worklngman lu other communities are striving for and j tiHiIf vlug. It Is Inevitable, because strikes and iloekoiiU chii never be sell led snt.lsfae- - torlly or prnminently by merely nils-- j lii a man's wnces. It Is Inevitable lieennve It izhez f:i-- ' bility P business and bemuse it is as, .ailvuiit.iLous to capital us U labor. j As a matter of fact when a worklug-ma- n strikes it is not merely to obtain an increase in his wage; that is what the papers tell us the trouble Is all about aud that Is what he usks for; but way down underneath what be Is really striking for is a larger percentage of the profits of the business. lie may not realize this, but. sub-consciously, 'thin Is precisely what be is doing. No mere increase In wagee can ever satisfactorily solve this problem. It can be solved only on the basis of profit sharing. By profit sharing I do not mean bonus giving. I iiiean actual prnflr sharing plans based on the earnings of the business, with a fair percentage to capital and a fair percentage to labor after ordinary wages aud Inter-est have been earned. Profit sharing can be done satis-factorily only when the business con-cern makes public its transactions, so that the laborer aud the stockholder can know as Biuch about the busbies as does the manager himself. In the adjustment of difficulties be-tween capital aud lalsir I am confi-dent that open books will accomplish much more than open shops. These changes are g and fundamental. What are we going to do about It? Whut Is to be our men-tal attitude? How are we going to handle the.-- e problem? Can we approach them from tiie same point of view as did our fathers, who Ih-e- In a strictly Individualistic age? Can we approach them from the knowledge we have gained from law books which Were written In the age? If we do we will be combatting the mk-ht- onward rush of new thought and new condi-tions, provided in large measure by the scientist, the educator, the inven-tor. What the Future Hold Forth. What Is the outlook? Is It a sad, pessimistic future that unfolds? Ioes life hardly seem worth living tinder the new conditions or does It hold out an optimistic future, with finer aud more worth while goals? Let me se? if I can picture it as I sec It. First, Just a glance into the past. About, the only peil we have had has been the almighty dollar. The flrt question asked when a man die-i- j K "How much was he worth;" w:tli scarcely a thought as to how utif h he il.:.I for hi.s community or his coun-try. But what has it uil amounted to? j Have the men who have lived aud worked simply to acquire great for-tunes obtained peace of mind, happi-ness and honor? How many of them could answer MYes"T Has the country been benefited by the course they have taken? A very large majority of our countrymen would answer "No," On the whole, the Individualistic age baa not been a success, either tor the' Individual, or the community in which he has lived, or the nation.- We are, beyond question, entering on a period where the welfare of the community takes precedence over the interests of the Individual and where the liberty of the Individual will be more and more circumscribed for the benefit of the community as a whole. Man's activities will hereafter be required to be not only for himself but for his fellowmen. To my mind there Is nothing in the signs of the times so certain as this. How the Rewards Will Come. Our only decora tloa the almighty dollar is receding Into the background. The man of exceptional ability, of more than ordinary talent, will here-after look for his rewards, for his honors, not In one direction but In two: First and foremost In some public work accomplished, aud, sec-ondarily, in wealth acquired. In place of having it said of him at his death that he left so many hundred thousand dollars it will be said that be rendered a certain amount of public service and. Incidentally, left a certalu amount of money. Such a goal will prove a far greater satisfaction to him, he will live a more rational, worth while life and he will be doing his share to provide a better country In which to live. I have two reasons for believing that future conditions will be as I have briefly sketched them: First because the world Is being drawn together in one centralized community through the wonderful de-velopment In science and the marvel-lous work of the isventor. Second, ibecausa ia our country especially we are entering upon a nw stace of development which call lomlly for Bien wbo will render dis-interested public servle. We face new conditions, and in order to survive and succeed vvu will require different spirit of public ser ice. one reason why I am stromrly for universal military training Is that it .develops In the youth a si use of all arouml responsibility to his country, hut only la liiuu t war but in tune of " W e e edents aud customs but State and na-tional lines as well A man living in Baton who wishes to talk , to a man living in San Fran-cisco simply rings a bell, puts a little) Instrument to his ear and proceeds to talk. .'There is hardly a miracle In the Itlble more wonderful than this. The doctrine of "State rirbts" la being rapidly demolished. The na-tion la being obliged to assume many of the functions of government here-tofore performed by the State, and this tendency is growing. The State, viewed as an Individual with the right to do us it pleases with-in Itself, without regard for other States, can no longer be tolerated. Only the nation can act in matter that affect interstate relations, and with Intercommunication and trans-portation developed to their present stage a considerable percentage of a State's activities are interstate la their effects and consequences. t . The World la Drawing Together. tr We must therefore take on a new nationalism. The world has been drawn very closely together by the cable and the transatlantic liner, but It is on the verge of being drawn In-finitely more closely together by the wireless, the airship and the subnu rlne telephone. When these are practical, everyday instruments of Intercommunication and transsirtntlon the social prac-- tices and the Industrial methods of one nation will quickly and seriously affect all otr-- nations. This will re-quire the yielding by nations of cer-ti-u of their Individualistic rights and prerogatives in order to safeguurd audi benefit the world as a whole. This opens up a great, new vist-a-it presents problems that are lrv tensely Interesting end of g importance. The period that la upon us offers large opportunities for Indlvlduul thought, initiative and action, for con- - Uruetlve work and for constructive statesmanship. The mighty changes taking place ha Etiiipe tell us with unmistakable voice that the reconstruction period is at ha, id. The man of the future must rtali7,e It. He must be ready to adjust himself to the new conditions. Tie must 'iuve sufficient vision, Intel-ligence and courage to cast aside the methods and pn. 'edents of a ' nre. lie must le( the rlen Its dead, lie on; T not loo' the setting but .!' ul'd to sun. ion on his mind; yet as we look back , .. at them from this distance they seem ' ,. lnflulteslmal when compared with the , changes that have taken place in the .' world the last quarter of a century and , the tremendous cbuuges taking place now. George W ashlngton was a represent t.i-- , tlve of the best type of A merit an a century and a half ago. He was a scholar, a soldier aud a statesman, yet be did not know as much about science as a young schoolboy of to-da- Thomas A. tdisen typifies the scien-tist of our time, but the gap lietween the man of the Edison t)pe and Wash-ington Is probably greater than the gap between Washington and the man whoe bones were recently discovered near Trenton, iN J said to have lived 125,000 years ago, ; The advances in science, intercom-munication and in universal educa-tion these three great factors account for the stupendous progress this coun-try has made In the lust twenty-fiv- e years. . They have swept away old prece-dents, old customs, and they will even-tually sweep away many of the laws Dow on our statute books. The man of y who does not fully comprehend all this la doomed to be somewhat of a failure, whila the man who docs comprehend it will have taken a long stride toward smress. It is not many years since I was a lad, and yet at that time there was no such thing as a tib'pbene. The tele-trap- b was In very meagre use; fast ex-press trains did not exist It took several weeks to cross the ocean, and the only flying machine we knew about was the much derided one possessed by Lar!i9 Green. Entering a New World When Abraham Lincoln was Presi-dent it took four days or more for a letter to travel from his home In Illi-nois to New York. It took hlin severul days to go from his home to Washing-ton to be inaugurated. And yet only a few weeks ago a young woman, un-aided and alone, travelled lu a flying machine from Chicago to New York in eight hours and fifty minutes. We are Just entering a new electrical world, where everything Is done, ns It were, on the Instant Our fathers had none of the modem mac hinery with which social and busi-ness intercourse is now carried on. Tin !r sons are wrestling with the prob-lem of how to use these new mcthtid.- |