Hand in hand with national self-sufficiency, we should look after the individual welfare of the poorer elements who constitute the bulk of our population; assure decent conditions to our laboring class by raising the level of the minimum wage; afford the relief to the needy and suffering, especially to war widows and orphans. Social legislation in this direction would be nothing more than social justice in action. In the prosecution of this humane policy it would be far better to err on the side of benevolent paternalism than on the side of rugged individualism. The slogan should no longer be live and let live but live and help live that government may bring about the happiness and well-being, if not all, at least of the greatest number.
Especially at this time we soul guard against the dominating passion of wealth. Unless economic equilibrium between all classes of society is achieved, we may not be able to forestall the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, to the detriment of the suffering masses of our population. If necessary we should take positive steps to attain the social mean by preventing the rich from getting richer and the poor from getting poorer. Love of country springs only from genuine attachment to the soil, it can receive nourishment from the uprooted and artificial life of the homeless and disinherited.
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