Security May Betray Us; A. Rutledge

In human life, a review of the lives of most men of real eminence reveals that they had to overcome the [29 ] obstacles and perils of insecurity. But for these insecu rities, they probably would have remained mediocre. The greatest foe of attainment is security, which is foe to the constant exercise and development of courage, aspiration, and effort. Many men and women who are buds of genius never Hower because they are protected from ever having to really exert themselves; they lose that vital spark. It would be vain to hope to find the heroes and hero ines of the race on bathing beaches, in night clubs, in any of the resorts of ease and of pleasure. We always find them in life's front-line trenches, on the perilous fron tiers of uncertainty. Negative Logic Rarely except in afHiction are we awakened to a sense of our own weakness and folly, or come to realize how little all our acquisitions can conduce to our peace of heart, which perhaps is the only real triumph in life. By some kind of negative logic, hardship, which we are accustomed universally to lament, is a blessing; and security, for which we long so ardently and strive for so unremittingly, may betray us.

Whenever I hear that the government is helping some one, 1 feel sorry for that person. Or whenever I Bnd that someone, by a monopoly grant of power, has a sure market or a sure job, I feel sorry for him too. Even helping a person to help himself may be a disservice to him; for you will probably-perhaps unconsciously-com .. [30 ] pel him to do it your way. Charity, if needlessly be stowed, probably will have a vicious effect. People who are promised support will hardly work. All grants, all subsidies, all rewards for services not rendered have a deleterious effect on character; andu character is noto£ foremost consideration, what is? I have an old friend who is a cabinebnaker, a master craftsman of the ancient sort. He knows his woods. Whenever I want anything special in the way of a piece of cabinet wood, I go to him. One day I asked him for the very strongest piece of oak he had. As he gave it to me, he said, "I cut it on a bare hilltop. It has stood all the storms-alone, and without leaning on any other tree." I often think of that when considering the best person for a job, or when I hear fond parents say, "I am going to spare my child all the hardships I had to endure."

[31 ] SOCIAL SECURITY tg paul of. poirof ~ THffiTEEN thousand United Mine Worker beneficiaries of the Anthracite Health and Welfare Fund were advised early in 1954 that future pension and death benefits would be cut to half their former rate. Miners of hard coal, who had retired expecting the fund to provide security and independence in their old age, thus found that insecurity may be the penalty for reliance on a poorly funded promise. The 50 per cent cut in anthracite fund pensions was said to be necessary because of a continuing decline in revenue resulting from a steady drop in hard coal pro duction in recent years. But why should the anthracite industry experience a steady drop in production during a period of general industrial expansion? The obvious answer is that labor, capital, and managerial ability could be more profitably employed in the production of some thing other· than hard coal. The health and welfare fund royalties which were added to the price of coal helped to weaken the capacity of the industry to compete.