8 PROHIBITION. 



If the rights of all individuals wei'e any greater than those of 

 any individual, they would increase as society grew. A community 

 of ton would have twice as many rights as one of five, one of one 

 hundred would have ten times as many rights as one comi^osed of 

 ten. And whei'e there were a million souls there rights would be so 

 vastly increased that the individual would have hardly any ! No ; 

 a society of ten, a hundred, or a thousand, has no more rights 

 than au}^ one in that societ3^ Ten is but a repetition of one ; one 

 is but the unit of measure for all the rest ; the rights of the whole 

 are contained, in miniature, in the rights of one. And this one 

 is a complete sovereign from all aggression, so long as he does not 

 transgress another''s bound himself. If this foundation be ignored, 

 society itself has no rights at all. This talk, then, about the supe- 

 rior claims of society is a trick of words, a delusion, a usurpation. 

 Individuals existed befoi'e society ; out of tliem was it made ; away 

 from it can they secede. In short, the governmental status of the 

 individual decides the status of society. Society exists for the indi- 

 vidual, not the individual for society. Society is but an individual 

 written large. The sovei'eignty of the individual then, is of supi'eme 

 importance as a factor in the welfare of society. In one of the 

 brightest gems of legal jui-isprudence, the law has always recognized 

 tills fact. Does it say that anything may be done to the individual, 

 provided it is conducive to the welfare of society ? No, it says "A 

 wrong done by the government to the humblest individual is a wrong 

 done to the whole people." Why ? Because liberty is alwa^'^s vio- 

 lated in the persons of the dos])ised, never against the rich or the 

 respectable. And if the rights of these are protected, even though 

 they are "saloon keepers !" the rights of all are secure. 



PRIVATE INTEREST vs. THE "PUBLIC GOOD." 



Another thing the prohiljitionists are solicitous for, and this is 

 the "jMiblic good," tlic greatest good to the greatest number. And 

 for this end pi-ivate interest, or nrivate good, must get out of tlie way. 

 Now is there any such tiling, in government, as the public gooil 

 divorced from one's own private good ? What is the greatest gov- 

 (iriimeutal good if it is not to make every one mind his own busi- 

 ness i' 'J'liis having b(!<'i) accomiilished, an e(juMl oi»porlunity is 

 e\l«'nil<'d to all to help themselves. All being oili;r(;d an e(jual op- 

 jKntiinily for self lielp, they will be al;le to help themselves, and in 

 i!ase of nece.s.sity, be able to help otiiers. Ecjual liberty necessitates 

 (Mpiality, eiiuality begets fraternity, and fraternity solidarity. For 



