William Bennett Munro

“ There is always a danger, of course, that social control may proceed too far. It is not the object of government and of social organizations to run all men in the same mould, making them mere automatons without individuality or initiative. Government should aim to give sufficient scope for every individual to use his abilities in the best possible way. Control over the acts and discretion of individuals is justified only where such control promotes, in the long run, the well-being of the greatest number of individuals. The state is not an end in itself. Society is not an end in itself. ”

“ It cannot be measured by figures of population and wealth. What a nation contributes to the progress and permanence of civilization depends not only upon its economic prosperity but in an even greater degree upon its spiritual and intellectual strength. This vast land, so richly endowed by nature and with its riches so fully utilized by man, has won and can retain its foremost place among the nations of the world by promoting justice and contentment among its people, upholding the reign of law, diffusing education among all, and holding true to the ideals of democratic government. ”

“ Day by day we are looking more and more to government for leadership, for regulation, and for supervision in all our greater social and economic activities. In the field of social and economic effort, all roads lead through government—it is the clearing house of our greater problems. Whether the problem be one of banking, commerce, poor-relief, labor, or defence we must reckon with the hand of government as one of the strongest among constructive and harmonizing factors. Government is the focal point in all civic relations. ”

“ Or he may let them go into ramshackle, the house unpainted, the lawn grown up in weeds, and signs of neglect apparent everywhere. Each section of the city is as its people make it. It is absurd for men and women to clamor for fine parks, monumental public buildings, and brilliantly-lighted streets if they do not obey the precept that civic pride, like charity, ought to begin at home.
The billboard nuisance. One of the worst offenders against civic beauty and good taste is the flaming billboard which stares from every vacant lot into the faces of the passers-by. ”

“ In a real democracy the only safeguard is the common sense of the people, and a system of free, public education will do more for the diffusion of common sense among the people than anything else can do. It is unsafe to place the ballot in the hands of people without giving them the opportunity to acquire that degree of enlightenment which is necessary to enable them to use the ballot intelligently. The voter who cannot read a newspaper or understand the public questions which he is called upon to decide is a poor foundation upon which to build a government. ”

“ Is Democracy the Best Form of Government?—During the past few years democracy has been rapidly gaining ground. The governments of Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, and other countries have been reconstructed in such way as to give them, outwardly at any rate, the rank of democratic states. But in spite of this phenomenal progress, which came on the heels of the World War, it remains a fact that more than half the population of the world is still living under systems of government which the people do not control. The world has not yet been made safe for democracy, nor half of it. ”

“ Should it merely make laws, coin money, establish post offices, maintain an army, or should it actively engage in such activities as operating the railroads, the coal mines, and even the factories of the country? On the one hand there are those who take an individualistic or laissez-faire attitude towards governmental policy and maintain that the government should interfere as little as possible with the daily life of the people. It should confine itself, the individualist claims, to political matters purely, leaving economic affairs entirely alone. ”

“ Pittsburgh, a great industrial community, is depicted as a knight in steel armor, emblematic of strength and power. Labor having reached its highest expression in the prosperous industrial community, the city is being crowned with a laurel wreath and heralded by the winged figures which have arisen out of the smoke and steam. The whole picture is symbolic of the immense energy which is guided by labor into productive channels. ”

“ Can Democracy Solve Its Problems?—But if not socialism, what then? Certain it is that we are facing great problems both at home and abroad today; and these problems must be solved in the interest of human happiness. We cannot close our eyes to them and trust that somehow or other they will work out their own solution. Can democracy and our present system of private industry master them? Well, democracy and our present industrial system have overcome a great many obstacles in the past and it is only by studying the past that we can make any forecast of the future. ”

“ Certain subjects form the groundwork of knowledge, and to go ahead with others before first mastering them is like building the roof of a house before you have dug the foundation or erected the walls. Without a grounding in the great languages, the English language particularly, and a fair proficiency in mathematics, history, and the elements of science no one is entitled to call himself an educated man. ”

“ Whatever may be the inspiration to marriage it can truly be said that many unions of man and woman contribute nothing to the well-being of present or future society. Is it right that an institution of such importance to the human race, both present and future, should be so little controlled by law, by custom, or by public opinion and so largely left to the discretion of individuals? ”

“ Every public utility finds it essential to use property which belongs to the whole people. A railroad must run its tracks across the highway; a gas company must lay its pipes beneath the pavements; an electric lighting company must put some of its poles in the streets; a street railway company, as its name implies, must make large use of the public thoroughfares. Moreover, they all desire the right to take whatever private property they may need for their terminals, power houses, tanks, and so on. This is a right which only the government can give. ”

“ Man can do much, but his powers are limited without the aid of nature. Animals and plants can be carried from one part of the world to another and made to thrive in their new environment; but mineral resources were laid down many millions of years ago in certain definite places and there they have stayed. A country which has no mineral resources cannot create them by the genius or industry of its people. On the other hand, if great natural resources are at hand, progress becomes merely a question of applying human intelligence and industry to these resources. ”

“ The Causes of War.—Intelligent people everywhere are agreed that war is the greatest curse of humanity and that some means of prevention must be found. If the world, within the next generation, should have the misfortune to engage in another titanic conflict like the last, it will not much matter who wins. Victor and vanquished will alike go down in a welter of blood and chaos. There is no difference of opinion among thoughtful men of all nations on this point. So far as the desirability of permanently avoiding war is concerned, there is entire agreement between pacifists and other people. ”

“ When independence had been established, after a long and difficult struggle, it is not surprising that the people of the thirteen states should decide to write the principles of civil liberty into their new state constitutions. They took this means of demonstrating their conviction that the fundamental rights of the citizen ought to be inscribed in a solemn document beyond the power of legislatures to change. It would be absurd to think, however, that civil liberty exists in the United States merely because a list of civil rights is written into the constitutions of the states and the nation. ”

“ Compulsory voting rests upon the argument that, in a democracy, the right to vote imposes a duty to vote. The citizen must serve on a jury in time of peace and in the army during war whether he likes these forms of public service or not. Why, then, should he be allowed to shirk his duty to vote, a duty which must be performed if democratic government is to survive? If one voter has the right to stay away from the polls, every other voter has the same right. ”

“ The democratic character of the civil service system. The civil service system is democratic. It gives everyone an equal chance. It matters not who the candidates are, whether rich or poor, Republicans or Democrats, with friends or without friends—all have an equal opportunity. Merit is the only thing that counts. And it is the only thing that ought to count in filling public positions. It is true that the candidate with an education usually has an advantage in answering civil service questions; but does not education help a man or woman in every branch of life? ”

“ War inflames popular passion and impels both the officers of government and the people to do unwise things, sometimes to violate the laws of the land in the name of patriotism. An excited nation, like an excited man, is entitled to some allowance. Nevertheless, it is the duty of all who understand the meaning of free government to stand firmly against the wrongful curtailment of personal rights at any time; for the true interests of free government are never promoted by resort to injustice or oppression. ”