190 THE THIRD POWER 



Undoubtedly men who prey on others must be re- 

 strained, but even this restraint will be in the inter- 

 est of general liberty. That man is not free who 

 does not get a fair reward for his own toil undimin- 

 ished by tax for the benefit of his fellow citizens. So 

 the vice of our present system is, that it is not based 

 on liberty. And the farmers are those from whom 

 liberty is withheld. So it all comes to a question of 

 freedom. In doing away with the present abuses 

 we are attacking not simply commercial and indus- 

 trial unfairness and oppression, but tyranny. It is 

 not insisted that any man shall have less than he is 

 entitled to, but that all men shall have all that they 

 are entitled to. Liberty, then, is the great aim of 

 the American Society of Equity. 



And there can be no real justice where there is 

 not liberty. For justice is, by its very nature, some- 

 thing that is due to a man ; a debt owing to him ; 

 something to which he is entitled. When it is given 

 or conceded to him as a favor or privilege coming 

 from a benevolent despot, it is not really justice at 

 all. Justice is not a thing to be granted, but one to 

 be demanded. So when the American people came 

 to frame their new and free government under the 

 constitution they declared that one of their purposes 

 was to "establish justice." They knew that a gov- 

 ernment could not be free unless it was just, or just 

 unless it was free. And they were right. Surely this 

 is a good precedent — one to which every American 

 citizen should bow in reverence. But the appeal is 



