Book Reviews

The idea of refunding tax mon ey in the form of vouchers to in dividuals for use as payment to the private school of their choice has been offered by Yale Brazen and Milton Friedman as a ·turn from the socialism of the public school. Leonard Read denies that such a scheme is "any escape from socialism." It would be only a mat ter of time, says Leonard, before the government moves to dictate the curricula of a voucher-sus tained private school. "He. who pays the fiddler calls the tune." Since I have been a supporter of the voucher idea, Leonard Read's caveat brings me up short. Am I indulging in rationalization when I argue that the educational voucher does not mean that the government is supporting the pri vate school? The voucher, so I 757 758 THE FREEMAN December have thought, should be consid ered a partial restitution of money that was taken by legalized theft in the first place, and the condition imposed upon its use should be that there can be no condition!

Is this an unrealistic hope? It seems to me that a parochial school, cashing vouchers at the Federal Treasury, could invoke the protection of the religious clause of the First Amendment against any governmental effort to interfere with curriculum matters. And couldn't the nonsectarian school, with no religious bulwark to fall back on, plead the Free Speech clause of the First Amend ment, saying that its teachers have a constitutional right to con duct their classes as they, in con sultation with the school authori ties, see fit? All of this, of course, assumes that the voucher is simply a form of money that has been reclaimed by the individual from a Robber State. The voucher money would not be a gift of the government, it would be grudging recognition that it is wrong to force anybody who chooses a private school to pay twice for his education. Equity is involved here, not government charity.

Having stated my viewpoint, I must admit that Leonard Read's fear of government control of the private school has a sound grounding in history. States do not neces sarily interpret their own consti tutions with any regard to the plain meaning of language, and, despite the First Amendment, conditions could be imposed on the use of the voucher. Yale Brozen, Milton Friedman, and the Ameri can Conservative Union, all vouch er proponents, will have to think this one over, and, at the very least, hire canny legal draftsmen to frame the bills calling for voucher legislation. The Market as Conservator Leonard Read is a gentle man, and he never tries to cram things down your throat. He lets an im peccable logic, dressed in some frequently delicious phraseology, do his work of conversion. He reaches his most persuasive peak in his ecological essay, "A Con servationist Looks at Freedom," which is a magnificent statement of the case for the private market as conservator. Far from destroy ing our forests, it is our private timberland owners, with their spe cialized knowledge of seed, spac ing, fertilization, thinning, and other sustained yield practices, who have been keeping our nation in trees. "Today," says Leonard Read, "61 per cent more wood is being grown than is harvested and lost to fire, insects, and disease."

Put together with Mr. Read's pre1971 THEN TRUTH WILL OUT 759 vious remark that "a conservation policy ... counsels the use of trees for homes," this is the definitive answer to Mr. Justice William O. Douglas's claim that our lumber companies have been raping the continent. As for the more extreme pres ervationists (who want nature to remain in a completely pristine state), Mr. Read offers them the witty observation that "had man kind been around throughout the ages and succeeded in preserva tion - 'retention undisturbed' dinosaurs would still be with us." This is a forceful way of saying not all change in nature is bad. Lest Leonard Read be accused of having a bias against wild ani mals, let the reader ponder his further statement that "there are now thousands of bison under pri vate ownership - far from ex tinct." In addition to the bison, we also happen to have 109,000,000 head of cattle on our modern range. For the animal lover, it is a case of "all this and Heaven, too." Plus, of course, a good pro tein diet for millions.

Ralph Nader, now the frenetic apostle of a state-enforced "con sumerism," once contributed a very sound argument against pub lic housing to THE FREEMAN. Do I fancy that Mr. Read's essay on "A Consumer Looks at Freedom" is directed (more in sorrow than in anger) at his ex-contributor? If Ralph Nader reany cares for the consumer, he should listen to Mr. Read's point that the ,"welfare state way of life is adverse to con sumer interest: unemployment compensation, low-income hous ing, tax-financed· education, aid to dependent children, medicare, dis ability payments, food stamps, in short, the whole so-called welfare program." The inflation and taxes needed to sustain the welfare state way of life means that most peo ple can only afford shoddy goods, which is what they get when in dustry, forced by labor union co ercion to pay above-market wages, has to skimp on quality in order to maintain volume.

Rooted in Reality It is as a consumer that Mr. Read cringes when business execu tives pay more attention to the welfarist's "social goals" than they do to alleviating poverty by manufacturing and selling a good product for the lowest possible price. The universal concern with "image" seems a mischievous trend to Mr. Read, for it takes away from a concern with per formance. The irony is that, "when the emphasis is on the image rather than the performance, not only will the performance deterio rate, but so will the image." Leonard Read does not often get 760 THE FREEMAN December personal, but in his essay titled "A Laborer Looks at Freedom" he divulges some details about his past that were previously un known to me (and I have known him for a quarter-century!) Mak ing a point against government in terference, he says that "happily" he grew up prior to the child labor laws. His work week from age eleven to age eighteen was 102 hours, "up every morning at four 0'clock, cleaning stables, milking cows, six hours at school, and evening chores, and clerking in the village store until nine o'clock week days ..." During World War I he served, often around the clock, as an airplane mechanic. Such a novitiate made Leonard Read a fact-minded and thing-minded man, which means that his later career as a word man has been soundly rooted in the realities which are necessary to give verbal symbols any true meaning. Today, alas, we shield our children from work. And all too often they grow up to be indifferent, even danger ous, philosophers. * HANDSOME BLUE LEATHERLEX FREEMAN BINDERS $2.50 each ORDER FROM: THE FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION IRVINGTON-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK 10533 THE FREEMAN - Volume 21, January-December1971 Prepared by BETTINA BIEN GREAVES of the Foundation staff NOTE: In page references, the number preceding the colon designates the month those follow ing refer to pages. All articles have at least three entries-author, subject, and tit:1e-except in a few cases when title clearly indicates subject matter. Books reviewed are listed on page 768.