Pittsfield High School - Yearbook (Pittsfield, MA)

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must 'face the future' with rational plans for social security was a widespread con- viction, the need for which was proclaimed in the pulpit, on the platform, in gatherings of 'experts', from business and professional forums, in conventions of the people, in the press. Due to such fervent national opinion, plans and laws for greater security went into effect. A policy of intervention by the government seemed to take the place of free enterprise. The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 193 3 endeavoured to raise the price of basic agricultural commodities by dimin- ishing production and controlling market operations. In 1936 justice Roberts of the Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional on the ground that it was the right of the state, not of Congress, to regulate agriculture in the state. In trying to give security, Congress had overstepped the Constitution, the protection of our democracy. In 1934 the Cotton Control Act limited the amount of produc- tion of cotton in order to help the hardpressed farmer. Both of these acts, in attempting to render the people more secure, had rendered the government more powerful. Each was a step toward greater security, less liberty. Complete security can be granted only in a dictatorship. It can be gained through the interposition of the government in all fields of endeavour, and the re- moval of freedom of enterprise, both of which would destroy the very roots of democracy. The citizens of Russia, Italy, and Germany have far more economic security than the people of the United States. Yet George Counts points out, Although the ultimate course of Fascism defies prediction, and although a regime of 'law and order' has been indubitably established, there is every reason for be- lieving that Italian business men have been profoundly disillusioned and would give much to restore that freedom of enterprise which the Fascist State has des- troyed. In demanding one's liberty, security asks too high a price. Yet all men need some security. They should feel secure that in their country they will have the right to work and to succeed. Men must realize, however, the profound truth which Emerson advanced when he wrote, No kernel of nourish- ing corn can come to him fmanl but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. A true American should till his oppor- tunitiesg he should challenge the Fates, hoping for the success of his endeavour, and if he fails, with fearless optimism and unflinching perseverance he himself should rebuild his world, without demanding or desiring the interference of the government. Because the great men who did the most to shape our democracy believed in men's own efforts for success, they wrote into the Constitution that every man has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Washing- ton, Madison, and Adams guaranteed the right to pursue happiness, not to acquire it. Security should not be a leading figure on the American stage. It is not in the American heritage, nor is it a part of the American dream, the dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with op- portunities for each, according to his ability or achievement. America is a young nation, and, like youth, should be brave and eager and daring. Let us preserve the American ideal of freedom, and let us fulfill the American dream by giving the opportunity to man, not the achievement. Sail, sail thy best, ship of Democracy, Of value is thy freight, 'tis not the Present only, The Past is also stored in thee ...... 77

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How Much Security Is Fnougln Maplewood Prize Essay Written by Barbara E. Myers t ecurity is mortals' chiefest enemy, croaked Hecate, plotting the downfall of Macbeth. The old witch had reasoned rightly, too, for Macbeth's feeling of false security was to cause him to forget that he must ever be on guard lest his dearest treasure, his power, be taken from him, and consequently he lost that power. Yet people everywhere in our country today are seeking security, even demanding it, from the government, forgetting always that with that security they may lose their most prized possession, their libertyg that freedom may slip away while they devote themselves to the search for security. Liberty and security walk different roads and lead to opposite goals. As our security increases, ac- cordingly will our liberty decrease. From the seventeenth to middle nineteenth century, freedom, not security was the keynote of American life. The Pilgrims left the security of their homes and hearths in England, seeking greater freedom, and when they touched the shores of New England, they brought more to America than ships and supplies and men. They brought an ideal -- an ideal of freedom. America grew and flourished in that ideal. In 1775 an ill-trained group of soldiers fought for it, daring the strength and might of England, risking their positions, their homes, their lives, for their liberty. America became a country of freedom-freedom of the press, of speech, of endeavour. In America a man was free to try and fail, as well as to succeed. Americans believed it was the right and duty of every man to shape his life for himself. In 1838, in the midst of a growing movement westward, the editor of the New York Sun remarked, Boys and men are educated in the belief that every man must be the architect of his own fortune. The true American neither sought, nor desired, security. As Kipling wrote of him, He greets th' embarrassed Gods, nor fears To shake the iron hand of Fate Or match with Destiny for beers. Immediately after the Revolutionary War, the United States was torn by a period of turbulence and agitation. It was a time of economic, political, and social instability, which affected all classes, rich and poor. Only one group re- mained unshaken by the tumult of the nation. The slaves, submerged, as james Truslow Adams says, at the bottom of society, were undisturbed and uninterest- ed in the state of the nation. They were secure, working, sleeping, eating, as their masters commanded. When Lincoln freed the slaves by the Emmancipation Proclamation, they were indecisive, unreliable, bewildered by their liberty. Security had weakened them, made them dependent, unable to think and work for themselves. It took many years for the slaves to comprehend and appreciate their freedom fully, so far had they walked along the diverse path of security. In 1931, in the deepening depression, there was a widespread cry for more security. Matthew Woll, acting president of the National Civic Federation, echo- ed the thoughts of thousands when he issued a plea for permanent security for the nation. Charles Beard, in America in Mid-Passage, notes, That America 76

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