welfare were promoted by shorter hours the decision should be voluntary. If the eight-hour law prevailed here and not in European countries, our manufacturers could not compete with theirs in the markets of the world. More workmen, too, would be attracted to our shores in hopes of an easier time. And both these causes would force down wages. Legislation in regard to the frequency of payment of wages is clearly superfluous, though perhaps harmless, except as a precedent. Every unnecessary enactment decreases the respect for law, and lowers the estimation of its justice and impartiality. The general demand for the widening of legislative functions arises, doubtless, from a vague though baseless idea that, by some additional enactments, evils which really come from defective character can be corrected by the magic of legislation. For this reason, an effort is made to correct every petty grievance by additional law-making. Prosperity is expected through some legal panacea, instead of by economy and industry. The present time is prolific of those so-called political economists who advocate new and unique additions to our already overburdened code. Ignorance of the first principles of political science can only give rise to such visionary theories. The "reformers" assume that all employers are blindly selfish, and wish to lengthen hours and depress wages. On the contrary, it is for the interest of every employer to pay good wages and make as short hours as competition and the nature of the business will warrant. Only by such a course can he retain his best help and get the highest quality of production. Business prospers in the absence of legal interference, except to simply provide for justice and freedom. It is true that the complex arrangements of modern civilization require State intervention in some ways unnecessary under more primitive conditions. The factory legislation of England, and similar enactments in some of our States, are examples. An excess of liberty to some individuals may prove a tyranny to others. As the good of society is more important than the possible advantage of one of its fractional parts, the operations of the few must be restricted when they encroach upon the liberty of the many. In other words, the natural law of liberty, as applied to society, is higher than that pertaining to the individual; and while they are not in opposition, the lower is modified by it. Thus human law should indorse and supplement Natural Law by restricting private will when it conflicts with the will of society. This is compatible with the greatest average freedom for all. The primary obligation of the State is in the exercise of what are usually known as police powers. There are a variety of other functions more or less intimately connected with these duties of protection to person and property. We expect the State to enforce our contracts, regulate our sanitary conditions, prevent and punish frauds, abate nuisances, and ward off general evils so far as is possible. Among the examples of factory legislation which seem wise and proper is State interference in behalf of children whose parents or guardians, through motives of cupidity, will not protect them from overwork. The same restrictions in regard to an adult would be superfluous, for he is responsible and supposed to be able to judge correctly as to what is best for himself. Besides, if he be restricted in hours, it might mean for him less food and clothing and a poorer home. Wholesome regulations relating to fireescapes, sanitary inspection, foul air, the fencing of dangerous machinery and elevator wells, are proper and necessary. They encroach upon no man's liberty, and private enterprise cannot always be relied upon to regulate them. Individual cupidity and neglect must be controlled by public supervision. Personal will must be subservient to collective will. Individual freedom might lead to the location of a powder-mill or a glue factory in a thickly settled street, unless it were restrained by collective freedom. It is obviously within the province of the State to appoint boards of health, and sanitary inspectors, whose duties shall include the supression of contagious and epidemic diseases, and the protection of air and water from pollution and contagion. As it is impossible for individuals to be universal experts, it is also necessary to have government inspectors to test weights and measures, to detect adulterations in foods and chemicals, and also, in some cases, to brand those articles of commerce whose quality or quantity cannot be verified by ordinary observation. Organized government has the power to aid and supplement the wisdom of the individual, without in any way restricting his independence, or deadening the competitive and elastic forces of the business world. The boundary line between State intervention and individual enterprise must, to a certain extent, be determined by a wise expediency; but the great end to be sought is, that private enterprise and competition shall be left unhampered. Any unnecessary dependence on the government for objects obtainable by private efforts is so clearly a violation of Natural Law that bad results are sure to follow. |