Editorial September 12, 1931 Issue

Earning Just Rewards

Clifford P. Smith

The right to just compensation for labor or work was one of the first of all rights to be generally recognized. Now, there is no other right having a recognition that is more nearly universal. As for the future, the preservation of this right from abridgment and from substitution deserves constructive and watchful thought, not only on the part of economists and statesmen, but also on the part of all people who are concerned for human welfare. No other right than this one, except the right to freedom of thought, is more essential to the best interests of human society.

In the present situation, the recognition of the right to just compensation for labor or work is so nearly universal that nobody attacks it directly and explicitly. Whether Bolshevism constitutes or involves an attempt to institute a form of slavery is a debated question, but there should be no difference of opinion as to the bad effect of a lottery or any scheme by which the risking of a small stake may result in the winning of a large sum. In effect, any scheme of this sort distracts thought from the earning of just rewards; it necessarily depreciates, not only the motive for earning money by labor or work, but also the right to do this.

The bad effects of gambling in general and of lotteries in particular became evident to the economists and statesmen of the more advanced countries of the civilized world in the early part of the last century. Nothing better than deceptive excuses or pretexts allowed these evils to continue here and there into later years. The Louisiana State Lottery was not stopped until 1891, but an inkling of the reason for its persistence until then can be inferred from the fact that the company which operated the lottery offered $1,250,000 a year for a renewal of its legal sanction. Even to-day, the Irish Free State conducts or sanctions a lottery which is doing an immense amount of harm, without regard to the commendable purpose to which its profits are given.

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