NATURAL FREEDOM 



of a bird, a free man who has just been 

 released from jail. This is natural free- 

 dom, for all of the processes mentioned 

 follow In orderly causal sequences. 



Water flows freely if unconfined; that 

 is, it is free to move In accordance with 

 the laws of gravity, friction. Inertia, etc. 

 But water In the mill-pond behind the dam 

 is not free in this sense. On the other 

 hand the water of the mill-pond may be 

 free to the traveler who wishes to dip and 

 drink, while that of a free-flowing spring 

 near by is privately owned and sold to 

 thirsty travelers for a price. To the way- 

 farer It Is not free. Water which is free 

 to flow mav not be free to drink. The 

 meaning of the word "free" in the two 

 illustrations appears to be very different, 

 and so it is. Yet in each case there is a 

 definite context within which no outside 

 agent can trespass if freedom is to be pre- 

 served. Water free to flow must not be 

 confined, though It may be sold; water 

 free to drink may be bottled, but It must 

 not be sold. 



A locomotive is free to make sixty miles 

 an hour on the track but not across coun- 

 try. We may, in fact, conceive a self- 

 stoking and self-oiling locomotive which is 



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