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About The Omaha morning bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927 | View Entire Issue (March 23, 1923)
Hoover Says Democracy Arises From Individualism System of Government Is Device to Carry Out Pro gram of Organization, to Act as Medium in Assur ing Justice and Restraining FiVil Instincts From Developing Into Powerful Forces. By HERBERT HOOVER. Secretary of Commerce. l editor’s Note: This Is the fifth in- | sfiftllment of a series of six nrtieles by Mr. Hoover on "American I mil \ iilimlism" ap pearing dally in Tlie Onmlm Morning lh-e. Tlie fnllmving nrtlrle deals xvitli "Tolitieal I’lmses of Individualism.") It. is not the pt*imary purpose of; this essay tp discuss our political or ganizitlon. Democracy is merely tlie | mechanism which individualism in vciiiei as a device that would carry I out the necessary political work of Its bocal organization. Democracy arises out of Individualism and pros pers through it alone. _ Without question, there exists, al most all over the world, unprfece dented disquietude at tlie functioning of government itself. It is in part the dreamy social ferment of war emotion it is in part (he aftermath j of a period when the government was everything and the individual nothing, from vliirb there is much stimulation to two schools of though. One that all human ills can he cured by gov et 11 men tat regulation, and the other that ;tll rt rulation is a sin. Murine the war, the mobilization of every effort, tlie destruction of the normal dt-nsnnb -:> 1 <1 tlie normal ave nes of distribution, required a vast \i ur: ion over the, deadline of in- | dividualisni in order lhat wo might secure immediate :• stilts. Its con- , tinuailon would have dcstioyed the in hictive <‘f roir pconlc and undermined all real progress. We are slowly getting Imck hut many still aspire to these supposed short cuts to the millennium. Ninth of our discontent takes the j form of resentment against the in equalities in the distribution of the sacrifice of war. Doth silently and vocally there is complaint that while some died, others run no risk, anil vet others profited. Kor these com plaints there is adequate justification. The facts are patent. However, no conceivable human intelligence would l.e al l-’ to manage the condo t of war so as In see it"' all sacrifices and ) burdens should he distributed equ, t-iljiy War Is destruction and we should hlame vvi for its injustices, not a socir! system whose object )* construction. The submergence of the individual however, in the strug gle the race <ouM be hut tem porary -its continuance through the . rudur.r of ini'.'vidua! action and its Inequities would, if for no other 1 ■ason, destroy the foundations of our civilization. Government »s Lmpiri. I.onk at as tlm umpire in our social system, our government has main nerl an equality before the law and , development of legal justice and an authority in restraint of evil instincts upp< ■ t this social syst 11 '■ ideals SO far as the imperfections of developing human institutions permit. Tt has gone to the greatest distance of any government toward maintain ing ail equality of franchise; an equal ,tv of entrance to public office and government 1V the majority. It has succeeded far beyond all others in those -lifeguards of -quality of op portunity through education, public information, and the open channels of free speech and free press. It Is, however, much easier to chart the course (,f progress to government in dealing with the abstract problems of order, political liberty and stimula t on to Intellectual and moral advance r.n id .than it is to chart its relations to the economic seas. These seas are ,,,-w and only partly discovered or explored. inn* government's greatest troubles and failures are in lhe economic field. 1 , iy years ago the contact of the in d. id'll,-il with tlie government had its largest expression in the sheriff or policeman, and in debates over politi uii equality. In those happy days the go 1 runout offered but small inter f( . i.e. with the economic life of the cd ..ten. But with ilie vast development of Industry and the train of regulating i, ,'iehs of the national and munici pal government that followed from it; (Mih the n I-nt vast increase irf taxa tion due to the war—the gov/nment has become through its relations to economic life th< most potent force for maintenance or destruction of oui American individualism. Equality Throttled. The entrance of the government be gan strongly three decodes ago. when . on. Industrial organization began to * nun* powerfully in the direction of consolidation of enterprise. We found in the course of this development that equality of opportunity and Its corol lary, individual initiative, was being throttled by the concentration of con trol of industry and service, and thus an economic domination of groups budded over the nation. At this time, particularly, we were threatened with a form of autocracy of economic pow er. t tur mass of regulation of public utilities and our legislation agulnst re straint of trade is She monument to our Intent to preserve an equality of opportunity. This tegulation is Itself pi oof that we have gone a long way loward the abandonment of the "cap ' Italism" of Adam Smith. I <ay by day we learn more as to the ; practical application of restriction against economic and political domina tion, We sometimes lag behind In the correction of those forces that would override liberty, Justice and equality of opportunity, but the principle Is so strong within us that domination of l the few will not he tolerated. These restraints must keep pace with the growing complexity of our economlo organization, hut they need tuning to our social system if they would not take us into great dangers. As we build up our powers of production through the advancing application of science we create new forces with which men may dominate—railway, power, oil and what not. They may produce temporary blockades upon equality of opportunity. Regulation Necessary. To curb the forces in business which would destroy equality of opportunity and yet to maintain the initiative and creative faculties of our people are the twin objects we must attain. To preserve the former we must regulate that type of activity that would domi nate. To preserve the latter, the gov ernment niust keep out of production and distribution of commodities and services. This is the deadline between our system and socialism. Regula tion to prevent domination and un fair practices, yet preserving our rightful initiative, are in keeping with our social foundations. Nationaliza tion of industry or business is their negation. When we come to the practical problems of government in relation to these economic questions the test lies in two directions: Does this act safe guard an equality of opportunity? Does it maintain the initiative of our people? For In the first must lie the deadline against domination, and in the second the deadline in preser vation of individualism against social ism. Excluding tlie temporary meas ures of nie war, the period of regula tion has now been long enough with us to begin to take stock of its effect upon our social system. It has been highly beneficial, but it has also de veloped weaknesses in the throttling of proper initiative that require some revision. We have already granted relief to labor organizations and to agriculture from some forms of regu lation. There is. however, a large field of c-u operative possibilities far outside agriculture that are needlessly hampered. The most important of considera tions in any attempts to pass judg ment upon social systems is whether we maintain within them permanent and continuous motivation toward progress. These forces must be of two orders, one spiritual and the other economic. Education Advancing. We may discover the situation in our own social system either bv an analysis of the forces that are today it) motion or by noting the strides of progress over the century or over the last 10 years. By a consideration of the forces that move us we can see whether our system shows signs of de. cay, whether its virility is main tained: and by the touchstone of time we can find out whether these forces have been powerful enough to over come the malign influences that would lessen the well-being of our system. If we should survey the fundamcn tals of our civilization from the point of view of its progress by the test of time, we can find much for satisfac tion and assurance. It is necessary to recount the values of economic individualism in stir.iulaton to inven tion; large constructive vison; inten sity In production with decreased physical effort; our increased stand ards of living and comfort. It is of i course easy to enumerate our great ; economic progress, but the progress of the social forces that will sustain 1 economic progess is infintely more important—for upon them depends the real future of our people. Education in its many phases has made much advance. The actual equipment, the I character of instruction, the numbers I j reached, period of Instruction — ! show improvement with every dec ade. Public opinion has become of j steadily increasing potency and re liability in its creation. The great ] strides in, development of processes i and equipment for production and J distribution are being followed by in i creasing devotion to the human far- i tors in their execution. ( ountry (idting Better. Moral standards of business and commerce are improving; vicious city ' governments are less in number; in visible government has greatly di minished; public conscience is pone trating deeper and deeper; the root- i ing up of wrong grows more vigorous; the agencies for their exposure ami remedy grow more numerous, and above all is the growing sense of service. Many people confuse the ex posure of wrongs which were below the surface with degeneration; their very exposure is progress. Some ac credit the exposures of failure in our government and' business as evidence nf standards of a lower order than in some other nations, A consider able experience leads me to the con viction thats while we do wash our dirty linen in public most others never wash it. It is easy to arraign any existing 1 Institution. Men can rightly be critical because things have happened ithat never ought to happen. That our social system contains faults no ] one disputes. One can recite the ! faulty results of our system nt great length; the spirit of lawlessness; the uncertainty of employment in some callings; the deadening effect of i er lain repetitive processes of manufac ture; the 12 hour day in a few in dustries; unequal voice in bargaining for wage in some employment; ar rogant domination by some employers and some labor leaders; chilli labor in some states; inadequate Instruction in some arias: unfair competition in some industries; some fortunes excessive to beyond the needs of stimulation to initiative; survivals of religious in tolerance: political debauchery of some cities; weaknesses in our govern mental structure. Most of these oc cur locally in certain regions and certain industries and must cause every thinking person to regret and to endeavor. Hut they are becoming steadily more local That they are recognized and condemned Is a long j way on the road to progress. I'. S. 80 Per < ent Intelligent One of ihe difficulties in social j thought is to find the balance of per spective. A single crime does not 1 menu a criminal community. It is | easy to point out undernouiished. overworked. uneducated children. ! children barred from the equality of | opportunity that our ideals stand for.. It is easy to point out the luxurious petted and spoiled children with fa vored opportunity in every communi-j ty. But if we take the whole 3F> ■ millions of children of the United States, it would bn a gross exaggera tion tj* say that a million of them suf fer from any of thse injustices. This is indeed a million too many, but it is the 34 million that tests the sys tem with the additional touchstone of whether there are forces in motiva tion which are insistently and care fully working for the amelioration of the one million. Its by-products of endowed loafers, or hoodlums, at re spective ends ef the economic scale, are indeed spectacular faults. Yet any analysis of the 105,000,000 of us would show that we harbor less than a million of either rich or impecun ious loafers. If we measure our peo ple by scales of other civilized peo ples, we also find consolation. We have a distaste for the very expres sion of “class,” but if we would use European scales of “classes” we would find that above their scale of “lower classes” we have in equival ent comfort, morality, understanding and intelligence fully SO per cent of our native-born whites. No European state will lay claim to 30 per cent of this order. Does this not mean that we have been gaining something? I do not conceive that any man or body of men, could ever be capable of drafting a plan that would solve these multiple difficulties in advance. Moreover, if wo continue to advance we will find new difficulties and weaknesses as the by-product of pro gress—but to h« overcome. (Tn 1»« <’ontlnai*il.) (Copyright, 1023) Dressmaking School in Douglas County in April A sewing specialist from extension service of the state college of agri culture will be in Douglas county the three week in April to conduct a four day dress construction school. The school will be held at a cen trally located place and will be for delegates, two women from each com munity. where dress form and sewing machine attachment or short cuts in sewing work has been given and the requirements completed, ns in this Country. Women of any community not hav ing had any of this work and who are interested should get in com munication with the county agent. Democrat Will Succeed (»ruentlior on I tilities A director «*f the Metropolitan utili ti*s district to succeed <M Gruen* tie r will be named within 10 days, ac cording to Mayor Jam* s (\ Pahlman, who also is a director of the board. The new’ director will be a. demo crat and will be named to fill out the six year term which began on Janu ary 1 last. I’nlted States Senator elect It. R Howell, director of the board and general manager. i« hot expected home until th* first part of April. It Is understood that n<* action on the matter of selecting a n*w manager wd! be taken until his return. Higlilaiui Country Clul» Leases 160 Acres Laud Members of Highland Country club, t Jewish club recently organized, signed t * a year b ase yesterday f*>r 16b acres one mil* east of Father Flanagan’s |: vs' home, between Dodge and Pacific streets. Plans arc unebr way for a club house to cost tweep $8*VOOO and $73,000, and one uf the officers stated that w-.rk on il would begin within th** n* xt few weeks. This club will be jfi the \icinlty of the y ew Happy Hollow club. jClheres a Difference On one street, in one block there is a row of restaurants. Meal times, you'll notice a crowd streaming into one of these restaurants. The others you'll find almost empty. Coffee—good coffee—M-J*B Coffee, that's the reason for the crowd you find in the one. Yes, there's a difference in coffee. A one pound can of MJB Coffee in your home shows you what real coffee goodness is. / —and there's a difference in tea, use Tree Tea. #Groneweg & Schoentgen Co. Wholesale Distributors Telephono Jackson 1302 J Cadet Noncoms Form Club at Central High noncommissioned officers' club bus been formed at Central High school. The organintion is somewhat similar to the cadet officers' club, which consists of the senior officers but it is believed by those In charge that more benefit may lie derived out of the new' organization if it gets started right. "The object of the club is to get a closer co-operation and to aid in mnk ’ ing promotions.” said Cadet Tueut. Col. Walter Key. "Hath week the boys will hear a lecture on military tactics and leadership by one of the senior officers or by some outsider." Marion Morris, highest ranking junior officer, lias been chosen presi dent. There are no other officers So far tlie elub has heard talks from Maj. Judd Crocker. Capt. George l.ik . ert. Capt. Stanley Ilelff and Col. Wal ter Key. American Consulate at Smyrna Hazed by Fire By 1’rew*. Constantinople, March 22—The American consulate at Smyrna has been destroyed by tire. The seals and | records were saved. TROUBLED WITH PIM PLES5YE ARS All Over Face. Itching and Burning Terrible. Cuticura Heals. “For about five year* I an troubled with pimplea and black* heads on my face. The pimples were hard and red l and sometimes festered. They were scatteredall over my face, and the Itching • and burning at times were something terrible. I sent for a free sample of Coticura Soap and Ointment which helped. I purchased more and was hraled after using two cakes of Cuti cura Soap and two boxes of Oint ment.(Signed) Miss Nettie Scott, R. 2, Box 70, Feir Grove, Mo. Give Cuticura Soap, Ointment and Talcum the care of your skin. ■ •apUlMbTrwkTitAU Mdm ' orator-** Dept H. K*J4*at> Mm* " frold ****** • hns Rotp 2k Ointment 21 end WV T*l**nnM* PV^Cuticuri Soep *h**e* without mu*. Domestic Science Schools Use Calumet Where baking is done scientific ally — where ingredients stand or fall under exacting tests, you find Calumet Baking Powder used more often than any other brand. — the choice of over hundreds of brands—the perfect leavener —pure—uniform. Keep this in mind when you buy baking powder, because it is of vital importance to successful—depend able baking. The purchase price of baking pow der does not determine its economi cal merits — results tell the story. That’s why the sale of Calumet is 2 >2 times as much as that of any other baking powder. A pound can of Calamet contains full 16 ounces. Some baking pow ders come in 12 ounce instead of 16 ounce cans. Be sure you get a pound when you want it. BY TEST CALUMET The Economy BAKING POWDER _ _ THE WORLD'S GREATEST BAKING POWDER i “Five Minute Salads and Desserts” —how to make with Oranges Orange Salad Oranges sliced and served on let tuce with French dreasing make a di>.h fit for the most important occa sions. Luscious Dessert Try oranges cut up with sliced bananas sprinkled with shredded co conut. A luscious dessert prepared in a jiffy. Serve to your folks tonight. Snlnrl and Drunrrt in One Sliced oranges, plain, are both des sert and salad in one delicious dish. Also an excellent way to serve de licious oranges for breakfast. « No cooking, waste time, fuss or trouble to make delicious foods with oranges. Simply slice them or cut them up and serve plain or with lettuce, coconut, bananas or other fruit. In a jiffy you have a salad or dessert for busy-day lunches or unexpected guests. Always fresh and delicious, liked by every one, always ready for an emergency. Special Sales in Oranges Buy Now Retailers are now offering luscious Cali fornia Sunkist Oranges at special prices. Order a dozen or two; keep a full supply always in the house. We scnc^ t0 anV "Oman who mails the 1/ fkZvz coupon below a valuable Free Book of tested recipes, prepared by Miss Alice Bradley, Principal of Miss Farmer’s School of Cookery, Boston. Send / the coupon for it, and get your cgpy by next mail. f y X yM «| 0 Get our free book / Sumkist to uae. ^ Fruit Growers Uniformly Good Oranges / vT™. ^ Los Angeles, California Sunkist are the uniformly good oranges from California's finesf f Please send me without charge groves. Teniler, juicy, easiest to slice or serve cut up in desserts and y * c°Pr Miss Bradley's orance salads These oranges have been selected for you, yet cost no X *nd lfmon recipes, more than the ordinary kinds. f X Name ___ _ California Fruit Growers Exchange X J)rpt. N-50. Los Angela*, ilaltf, » Street.™™ —— _ X City-State_