Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 84.djvu/543

Rh and on the other hand, the specifics of those who not only have the cause of society at heart but whose judgments are sure.

The third difficulty is the perplexing problem of determining just how far the self-interest of the individual is consistent with the general good. How much shall freedom of contract be abridged? How much social control shall be exerted over the individual in other directions? How far shall combinations of labor and capital be permitted to go in carrying out their purposes? Amid the complex conditions of modern life, these questions are more difficult to answer than ever before. It is all clear enough that restrictions here and there upon the liberty of the individual make for the greater liberty of the whole. Without some restrictions there would be nothing to arrest the hand of the social marauder. But then again individual initiative has been the great factor in human progress. Few things have done as much to advance mankind from the age of stone to the age of steel. If the individual is put in leading strings, our civilization may become stagnant. Not to push social restraint far enough is to invite anarchy. Selfishness is at once the thing that makes for progress and makes the attainment of perfection impossible. Just where is the point to curb it so as to secure the good without the evil that it works?

A fourth difficulty is the danger of insisting too little upon the fundamental principles of right conduct. Men do not do good because their hearts are evil is an old saying still worthy of belief. The primary need of every man is the reformation of his own life. It is well enough at times to protest against the wrongs inflicted upon one by others. No man worth the saving will consciously permit himself to be imposed upon or taken advantage of by others. But it is still more important that those who protest see to it that their own hearts conform to what is right and true and of good report. Those who demand justice should see to it that their own hands are clean. The first duty of organized labor is to keep itself free of such leaders as the McNamaras. The protesting spirit occasionally forgets the value of the heritage bequeathed to us by the past and the fact that there is more of good than of evil in the world. It at times runs dangerously near the point of revolt, as in some of the doctrines openly proclaimed by the militant branch of the Industrial Workers of the World. "I am come not to destroy, but to fulfil" are words which should not be forgotten. There is a crying need for more of the law-abiding spirit, for more men of high principle and of a staunch adherence to the right because it is the right.

A fifth difficulty is the tendency of the masterful element in human nature to run to extremes. The desire for domination is strong. The fighting instinct is covered with a thin veneer. An overbearing spirit is sometimes not far removed from the spirit of fair play. The craving for distinction within moderation is a wholesome desire, but