The Labor Question 249 



close contact with any large body of our fellow-citi 

 zens it is apt to be the man's own fault if he does not 

 grow to feel for them a very hearty regard and, 

 moreover, grow to understand that, on the great 

 questions that lie at the root of human well-being, 

 he and they feel alike. 



Our prime need as a nation is that every American 

 should understand and work with his fellow-citizens, 

 getting into touch with them, so that by actual con 

 tact he may learn that fundamentally he and they 

 have the same interests, needs, and aspirations. 



Of course different sections of the community have 

 different needs. The gravest questions that are be 

 fore us, the questions that are for all time, affect us 

 all alike. But there are separate needs that affect 

 separate groups of men, just as there are separate 

 needs that affect each individual man. It is just as 

 unwise to forget the one fact as it is to forget the 

 other. The specialization of our modern industrial 

 life, its high development and complex character, 

 means a corresponding specialization in needs and 

 interests. While we should, so long as we can safely 

 do so, give to each individual the largest possible lib 

 erty, a liberty which necessarily includes initiative 

 and responsibility, yet we must not hesitate to in 

 terfere whenever it is clearly seen that harm comes 

 from excessive individualism. We can not afford 

 to be empirical one way or the other. In the coun- 



