to certain restrictions for
the common good. He must not carry on any kind of business likely to
become a public nuisance. His cattle may not graze in the streets. He
must give part of his earnings toward maintaining a water supply for a
protection against fire. The citizen of a great city is subject to far
more restrictions. The government assumes the control of education,
charities, the care of the public health, the drainage of the streets,
the collection of offal, and a multitude of other duties which in a less
intense civilization each family performs for itself.

The advance in science and the arts, too, has brought about a revolution
whose effect we must recognize. A hundred years ago almost every
community, and to a large degree every family, was industrially almost
independent of every other, as we have already shown. To-day each man
relies on a million others to supply him with the commonest necessaries
of life. The armored knight was proof against all foes, save the few
antagonists similarly clad. To-day my life is dependent on the fidelity
and vigilance of ten thousand men, and every man I meet has me in his
power. Given the malignant will and fiendish cunning necessary, and one
single man can kill a thousand human beings and destroy a million
dollars at a blow. To sum up, each advance in civilization makes men
more dependent upon each other, and increases the advantage and
necessity of having industries most important to the common welfare
controlled by society as a whole instead of by individuals.

It is contended by some that from the increased interference of
government with private affairs, there is danger that the liberties of
the people will be curtailed, and that their rights will be so hedged
about by restrictions that the result will be evil instead of
beneficial. To this it must be answered that the people themselves are
the source of the government's authority and power of restriction, and
that in no case will a restriction of the government be long maintained
which does not benefit far more in conserving the rights of men than it
injures by infringing them. Apply this rule to any case of government
action in industrial matters. A city government, for instance,
constructs a system of sewerage. All taxpayers must contribute something
towards its expense, and their right to spend that money in such other
ways as they choose is abridged; but, at the same time, the more
important right of having he