we find the need of cooperation. There is cooperation in the home; business is cooperation on a larger scale. Man cannot live and maintain the kind of society in which we now live without cooperation. The Need of Confidence Underneath this cooperation is mutual confidence. Unless one stops to think, one little realizes the amount of confidence that one must place in other people. Take money; for example, a paper dollar. What is it worth? As paper-nothing. Why is it worth a dollar? Because behind it stands the good promise and the whole strength and honor of the government. We have confidence that the American Government to its fullest extent is ready to back that paper dollar. Another example: You buy some groceries and give a check in payment. The storekeeper accepts your check, endorses it, and sends it to a bank. The bank places it to the credit of your store. From there it passes on through a central bank and clearing house until it finally comes back to your own bank where it is charged against your account. You use the whole great banking system of the United States at every step; you place confidence in many and the many place confidence in you. Mutual confidence confidence in the integrity, in the proficiency, in the honesty, in the good intentions of others-is the keystone upon which modern society is built. You buy an automobile of a well-recognized make. You do not test every part of that machine yourself 13 In order to work together we must have faith in each other. When YOUR CHECK in payment for the tea, sugar and YOUR GROCER ACCEPTS flour that you buy, he shows confidence in you. He believes that your check is good, endorses it, and In dent that a machine of that make has been thoroughly tested before it comes into your hands. Confidence is the basis of modern life. The man or woman who attempts to destroy this confidence by thoughtless, selfish or criminal acts, is an enemy of the community. Basis of Government Cooperation and confidence, so necessary in modern life, also form the basis of Government. Government is organized for the purpose of looking after common interests, interests that can be best handled by the cooperation of us all. A state is similar to any other organization created for a definite purpose. It is all of us organized into a political society for the purpose of serving the common good, and without this organization we could not receive this service. All of us, each active as a separate individual, would be too weak; all acting together are mighty. The purpose and need of government is illustrated many times a day. "That's the best cop in town," said George, as the policeman at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Twentieth Street, New York, with uplifted hand stopped the traffic. He motioned a young woman with a little girl to cross the street, took gently the hand of the child and helped her across, started the traffic promptly and in a minute had everything running safely again. "How is he better than the policeman at the corner of Lafayette and Canal Streets?" I asked. "He handles the traffic and besides he's 15 ally looks after children," said George, who has boys of his own. Backed by the State We seldom think of a policeman as the special protector of women and children. Usually we think of him as the guardian of life and property against criminals. But he is needed to keep order among the well-meaning citizens as well as to protect us from the acts of criminals, or to force criminals to answer for their acts. Nine out of ten of the automobile drivers mean well and are reasonably careful. They do not wish to hurt anyone. They do not wish to be needlessly selfish in disobeying traffic rules, but no two automobile drivers think exactly alike. No two of them see the traffic from exactly the same point of view. Therefore, someone with authority is necessary to direct the traffic. With an able officer in charge who has the power of the whole State back of him, not only are our streets made safe, but the traffic moves along more rapidly and easily. Need of Umpires and Rules When we think of a traffic policeman as a director who smooths our way, we have hit upon a new conception of government. What is true of street traffic is equally true of many things in our daily life. The great majority of us have good intentions. We are willing to do our share for the good of all, but since we are individuals, with separate minds, each thinking in his own way, we form different plans and do things in different ways. Unless there is some impartial umpire with real The police are hired by the people organized as government. Some cities also have WOMEN POLICE whose special work is to look after the children. enemies of the people. authority who enforces the rules that we have mutually agreed upon, we should live and work continually at cross purposes. How could the actors, the electricians and camera men work in harmony to produce a moving picture if they did not follow the instructions of the director? Without him there would be confusion. In like manner, with SO many people doing so many things in so many different ways, without laws and their rigid enforcement, there would be endless confusion in any city or any nation. This confusion would become very serious unless there were uniform rules or laws that apply to all the people so that each one may know in advance just what he must not and must do, so far as his acts affect the comfort of his neighbors. Bad Neighbors, Poor Citizens In every community there are people who object to to rules. Some of these are merely thoughtless or careless, some ignorant, some selfish, and some actually criminal. The thoughtless and the selfish would like to act as they please regardless of the comfort and welfare of others, provided the law would permit. They who They who carelessly throw away their glowing cigarettes, or thoughtlessly drop their orange or banana peelings on the sidewalk, have been responsible for many costly fires and serious accidents. Spitting on the sidewalk is also an act of the thoughtless, selfish, or ignorant citizen which may result in sickness and death Such a person is simply a bad neighbor and poor citizen, but not a criminal at heart. Others, Let us have a few more examples of the need of government. When, as a result of the Spanish-American War, the United States, in 1898, came into control of the Philippine Islands, smallpox was a very common disease that carried off thousands of natives every year. We had already learned the value of vaccination as a safeguard against this disease. In their ignorance the natives objected to being vaccinated, but our Government insisted, as it does with us. In one year, more than a million people in these islands were vaccinated, and as a result smallpox was banished from the Philippines within the short space of two or three years. Only by good laws and a strong government were the people of these Islands saved from paying the penalty of their own ignorance. "SWAT THE FLY" is, in many of our towns and cities a popular and a wise slogan, for the fly is a very common carrier of many kinds of contagious diseases, especially cholera and typhoid fever. These, along with |