ctive sentiment that the evil results of one's
own conduct should be borne by him alone. If one suffers loss through
his own misjudgment, incapacity, or want of care, then, whatever the
precepts of other virtues may require, we do not feel that justice
requires us to bear any part of that loss. On the contrary, we feel
instinctively that he should bear the loss alone, that it is the
natural penalty for his lack of judgment, capacity, or care. If my
neighbor neglects to insure his house and loses it by fire, I see no
reason why he should not bear the loss alone.

In this connection, perhaps I should not omit to notice references
often made to the rights of labor, the rights of capital, property
rights, and personal rights, as if they were different in their nature
and importance. I do not as yet see such difference. All rights are
personal rights, and the right of each to control his labor, his
savings, his person, and his property is the same. I am not yet
convinced that the right of the laborer to make use of his labor is
superior to that of the capitalist to make use of his capital; that,
whatever his greater need, the right of one without property is
superior to that of one who has property; that the right to get is
superior to the right to save. It is also loudly proclaimed that
"property rights" are of little importance compared with "human
rights," unmindful of the truth that the right "of acquiring,
possessing and defending property" is, as much as any other, a human
right and, as such, necessary to be maintained if the race is to rise
above its primitive condition of poverty. However, I do not see that
the differences, if any, affect the general question of individual
rights.

The conclusion I arrive at is this: Society, and with it the race,
cannot survive unless it restrains to some extent individual freedom
of action, nor can any particular society long survive if it carry
that restraint too far. It should, therefore, ascertain and maintain
the line, the equilibrium, between necessary freedom and necessary
restraint. It is only by such action of society that justice can be
established and the welfare of the race be advanced. This brings us to
the question of how and by what instrumentalities society can best
perform this momentous task, the securing of justice. This will be
considered in the next chapter.

CHAPTER V

JUSTICE CAN BE SECURED ONLY THROUGH GOVERNMENTAL ACTION. THE BEST
FORM OF GOVERNM