FALLACY OF THE GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP IDEA.
The doctrine of socialism, which may be defined as government ownership
and operation of the means of production, is attractive. Some of our
ablest men are numbered among its exponents, and the political parties
which advocate socialism, in whole or in part, are growing rapidly.
The theory of socialism is so beautiful and may be so cleverly stated
that very few indeed have the acumen to withstand its assaults upon the
reason, particularly when only one side of the question is heard. The
great mass of our people have refused to accept it, not because they
believe it unsound, but because they either do not understand it or are
prejudiced and believe it to be some destructive, lawless scheme of the
discontented.
The recent coal and railroad strikes, had they long continued and
assumed really alarming proportions, would have furnished an almost
unanswerable argument in favor of the government ownership idea; and a
repetition in these or in some other important industry would perhaps
so drive home the conviction that socialism was the only remedy, that
for all we could do the elections would be carried by the party
advocating those measures, and our present form of government
overthrown.
The superficial thinker, upon reading the foregoing pages, will probably
arrive at one or two conclusions as to the Trust; either it must be
destroyed or it must be taken over by the government. The more
thoughtful will conclude that it would not be wise or expedient, even if
possible, to destroy the Trust, and his next thought will be in the
direction of public ownership. He will say that if the government can
operate the Post Office system so successfully it ought to be able to
operate the coal mines, the oil fields, the factories and the railroads,
just as the cities operate their water works, police department, and in
many cases their railroads and gas plants. If he be not too thorough in
his reasoning he will conclude that if the government operated the
Trusts, all their evil qualities would be eliminated and their good
qualities saved. It is a convenient conclusion, yet it is unsound as I
shall presently proceed briefly to show.
COMPETITION.
Some writer has said, "Competition gluts our markets, enables the rich
to take advantage of the necessities of the poor, makes each man snatch
the bread out of his neighbor's mouth, converts a nation of brethren
into a mass of hostile, isolated units, and finally involves capital and
labor in one common ruin."
Successful competition denies competition, because the successful
competitor must destroy his rival, before he can be successful.
Competition is the antithesis of co-operation. The one means isolated
units, the other an organized combination of units. The Trust method of
co-operation, however, while it destroys competition among industries,
_does not destroy competition among men_. Here lies an important
distinction which will develop as we proceed.
INSTINCTS.
Contest and rivalry are inherent instincts in all living things,--in
vegetable and animal life alike, and this struggle for existence
determines which shall survive. The law of survival of the fittest
determines which plant, which animal and which man shall succeed. All
these are struggling among themselves for supremacy and nature is the
supreme arbitrator of the contest. The law of natural selection cannot
be overcome. It is as fixed and immutable as the law of gravitation.
Men are not born equal. Nature never duplicates, and never creates two
things alike. Men are unequal and different in nature, in stature,
intellect, frugality, desire, industry, perseverance, hardiness and
strength. A wise Creator hath made it so.
Were all men alike they would all want the same thing--to do the same
thing, to create the same thing, and to consume the same thing--which
would result in chaotic confusion. Again, the inequality of conditions
has been one of Nature's greatest and most useful expedients in
developing and perfecting the race. To assume an equality among men is
to assume that which is impossible and that which would be unwise. It
has ever been the struggle for existence which has urged men to move
onward with vigorous, earnest and persistent effort. The desire to
surpass, to outshine, his fellows has always been and will ever be a
potent factor in his development, and when this rivalry is exerted in
the struggle for the means of sustenance then does this desire develop
into the power that moves the world. Emulation, that milder form of
competition, is that which may be said to have for its object of
attainment the applause and approval of our fellows. It has no influence
in the struggle for bread. The primary desire to sustain life and
perpetuate the species is the inherent instinct that gives power to the
secondary desire to excel or emulate a rival, and hence bread is the one
great objective point. Take away the necessity to struggle for food,
clothing and shelter, and you destroy that dynamic power that moves the
world.
PUBLIC OWNERSHIP.
If contest and rivalry are inherent instincts, and if the struggle for
existence brings out men's best efforts, then, any system which destroys
the opportunity for the free exercise of these instincts in such a
struggle is at cross purposes with the basic principles of human nature,
and is therefore unsound and unscientific.
Socialism presupposes the government's taking over and operating of
every farm, factory, railroad, mine, telegraph, trade and industry. The
Goulds, the Rockefellers, the Morgans and the Schwabs must then seek
government positions with a fixed wage not to exceed the wages of their
inferior officers and workmen. If they were then to exercise their
marvellous organizing powers, it would no longer be the fear of poverty
which now inspires them. They would know that they could no longer
aspire to excel their fellows in wealth and social position, and there
would no longer be a struggle for existence.
Existence would be for everybody alike who is willing to labor a few
hours a day. Food, clothes and shelter would be in abundance for the
rich and poor, regardless of one's abilities or attainments. The one
great incentive that has always moved men to labor with energy,
enthusiasm and persistence will have vanished. The world would soon go
to sleep.
OBJECTIONS TO SOCIALISM.
1. It would create an enormous and dangerous power for the party in
control, and would probably perpetuate its control over every industry
in the land.
2. It would destroy the instincts of rivalry, contest and competition
for the necessaries of life, and that desire to excel and surpass our
fellows, which instincts now move the world.
3. It removes the incentives to progress by eliminating the
opportunities to acquire individual affluence and social superiority.
4. It would result in stagnation of business.
5. It would cause deterioration in human character because of the
removal of the incentive which makes men strive to better themselves
mentally, morally and intellectually.
6. It is unscientific in that it does not comprehend the great
inequality of men and the necessity for the inequality of conditions.
7. It does not rest upon the fundamental law of natural selection,
because it diverts men from their natural callings, since it is the
struggle for existence only that determines which is fit to survive, and
which is best fitted for certain work.
8. It is impossible of attainment except by confiscation without just
compensation to the owners of the enterprises confiscated, and to this,
modern civilization would never consent.
9. It would create an industrial machine so colossal, so complicated and
so complex that it would be entirely unmanageable.
10. It would result in chaos and confusion because of the assumed
equality of very great inequalities.
ARGUMENTS FOR SOCIALISM.
There is much in socialism that is good and true. In fact, it may be
that it is nine-tenths true; but the other one-tenth is fatal--it
outweighs the other nine-tenths.
I have heretofore in my public life, and could now, set forth many
convincing arguments in favor of the government ownership idea. If I did
so now it would necessitate answering them by repeating and enlarging
upon that which I have just set forth, which is not the purpose of this
essay. In my opinion there has been no argument for socialism yet
produced that can overcome the force of the foregoing truths.
As times and conditions change, so do opinions, and thus has it been
with the writer. Change is the only thing that is constant--strange
paradox--and mutability is the one immutable law of the universe.