Goshen College - Maple Leaf Yearbook (Goshen, IN)

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156 , GOSHEN COLLEGE RECORD. JUNE political gravity from the state to 'the individual was inclined to turn the existing systems topsy-turvy. It may be questioned wthether the pendulum did not take an extreme swing. I am inclined to look upon the present ten- dency towards centralization in gov- trnment, that is, a giving up of ser- tain powers to the government hith- erto jealouslylguarded by the people, as a slight reaction against this ultra- radical attempt to enqthrone the in- dividual. Another exceptional and significant feature of our civilization is the emancipation of the masses, especial- ly such as were - in slavery. This was a natural outgrowth of the doctrine of the equality of all men. Slavary as an institution is based upon the assumption that some men who have come into pos- session of other men, either by pur- chase or capture in war, have a right to compel these men to do labor for them in order that they might be free from the economic struggle. In former ages the institution of slavery was no doubt justifiable. It was the freedom from struggle for physical existance thus secured to the intel- lectually superior that made possible the highest attainments in the Arts and Sciences. All former civilizations were based upon slavery. The popu- lation of Athens in the time of Peri- cles was about four-fifths slave. The population of Rome in the time of Marcus Aurelius was about one-half slave. Not only was the morality of slavery unquestioned, but it did not seem to occur to the most advanced political thinkers of the age, that a political society or state could be formed withlout slavery. Plato, in his remarkable attempt to descrifbe an ideal Republic, would halve a large portion of its inhabitants occupy the position of slaves. When we con- ceive ,how thoroughly the old civiliza- tions were based upon this institu- tion, and how generally its existence received the moral assent of man, we are made to believe that its abolition was one of the greatest forward strides ever taken by the race. Yet the fact is evident that slavery, in the sense here used, has passed away never again to receive the authorafta- tive assent of enlightened fmankind. Its abolition was brought about large- ly because under its iniquitous system a large number of persons were ef- fectually denied a fair chance to de- velop their personalities. Anld in an age which has asserted the equality of men and enthroned the individual no- thing could compensate for this. It is certain that no civilization in the fu- ture will be called great, regardless how high its attainments may be in Literature, Arts or Science, when these have been reached at the price of human sl-ayvlery and subordination. Another institution, characteristic ofotir age, which has grown out of the enthroning of the individual and the emancipation of the masses, is the Democratic form of government, that is, the almost complete sharing of the powers of government with the gov- erned. This is shown by the astonish- ing growth of representative forms of governmenlt in Europe and Ameri- ca during the last century. It is un- questionably the goal toward which governments in all enlightened na- tions are traveling. There was F10-

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1910 GOSHEN COLLEGE RECORD. 155 state showed so-me concern for the physical and intellectual training of its constituents, but it did so with the idea that it could thus develop a bet- ter citizen, who could best further the interests of the state. VVe must not suppose that the mission of the state as generally conceived was always an unvvorth-y one. In the case of the jewish anfd Athenian state, the nations were conscious of a high and worthy mission to accomplish. But in each case the end sought was not to develop a high type of individual, but to in- sure the supremacy of systems and at- tain to a national ideal. The center of political gravity lay in the state and not in the individul, accordingly there were few rights that a man possessed that the state wats bound to respect. Not only was personal iniative crush- ed in blind obedience to sylstems in which individual rights were ignored, but quite generally he was under the absolute control of an individual or, hierarchy of individuals who possess- the power of life and death over him. The Roman citizen soldier counted for little except as he was instrument- al in extending the empire of the Caesars. The many, comprising the middle and lower classes of society, existed for and were used for the pur- pose of furthering the interests of those who ruled over the-m. These condi- tions existed practically up to the time of the English Revolution. Now under such conlditions, equality of opportunity for the highest de- velopment of the individual and for the fullest expression of personality, was practically denied to a great ma- jority of men. It is not to be sup- posed that such confdi'tio-ns could long exist when once the minds of men were aroused to the injustice of it. Such a time came during the seven- teenth and eightenth cengturies. It was in the minds -of the political philosophers of the age, such as john Locke, that political ideas were con- ceived that were to revolutionize whole systems of government. These ideas were: that the rights and powers of 'government were Originally inher- ent in the people. A natural out- growth of this idea was the doctrine of the native equality of all me-n. Its propogation resulted in the attempt to enthrone the individual in, all his rights, powers, capacities, and oppor- tunties. This attempt was directly or indirectly responsible for most of t'he rervolutionsi and uprisings within the governments of Europe during these cenfliuries. So thoroughly were the minds of men imbued with the idea of freedom, and equality that there is scarcely a political document, in the nature of a constitution, drawn up during this period, that does not in some form or other assert the native equality of men. Our declaratio-n of independence asserts, that all men are created equal, that man is endow- ed with inalienalble rights, that gov- ernment derived their just powers from the governed, claims that would have seemed most startling to the peo- ple of several hundred years earlier. Almost every state constitution drawn up in Afmerica prior to the nineteenth century contained its bill of rights, in wlhich the foregoing so-called rights of man were enumerated. Quite na- turally political system would have to be altered to meet these new ideas. This violent changing of the center of

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1910. GOSHEN COLLEGE' RECORD. 157 thing that the crowned heads of Eu- rope so much feared during the last century, or eivzen at the present, as the clamour of the masses for constitu- tional government. The great struzgi- gle now going on in England is one incident to the extension of repre- sentative government, in which a rep- resentative body is trying to secure the preponderance in legislation over a non-representative body. Vwfhile, in the case of some of our American Re- publics, representative government has not proven very satisfactory, its extension, among all nations may gen- erally be taken as indicating the grad- ual liberation of the masses from poli- tical bondage. Butt we are not only interested in observing what forces have been and are at present operative in making our age what it is, but granted that these may be allowed to run their na- tural course, what will- the end be? The belief seems to persist among those who profess to be students of this subject, lthait there is a course for our civilization to run, a destiny to ac- complish. Vlfhile this destiny may not be a conscious one to the great majority of men, we believe it is capa- ble of being discerned by those who conscientiously put forth the effort. Granted that there are no adverse forces introduced, that those now operative be allowed to run their normal course, we believe that the goal toward which we are traveling is that state of society in which each in- dividual, without disadvantage of birth, privilege or position, shall have a fair chance to obtain the fullest possible expression of his personalilty. This I believe to be the utmost that any e civilization can do for a person. That is, simply make the conditions favora- ble for the fullest development of the capacities and powers of the indirvi- dual. Certainly no past civilization has done this except for only a limited numfber -of men. There have been cer- tain restraints operative to prevent this condition of society existing, some of which we have briefly spoken. They may be spoken of summarily as being political, economic, intellectual and moral. From all these restraints man must have a reasonalble degree of freedom. Politically there are cer- tafinly fewer restraints than there has ever been in the history of men. ln fact our political freedom has outran our economic and moral freedom. In some states men enjoy more political freedom than they are capable of us- ing wisely, It is still true, however, that large numbers of men in our own age and country do not enjoy a rea- sonable degree of economiic freedom. This is almost the whole contention of the socialists. Such writers on poli- tical economy as Marx, Mills, and Bentham, trace all the ills of society to the restraints due to econlomic in- equality. VVhile this is deduced from a materialistic interlpreitation of his- tory, which is subject to grave mis- oonception, such inequality certainly does 'exist to a degree. It is still pos- sible for some men to obtain undue advantage over their felllows and fail to give them adequate reward for their labors. It is still true that many persons are denied afair chance to de- velop their full powers and capacities because the struggle for existence con- sumes their time and energies. But the time has come when such con- Continued next mQI1tl1.