Equality of Opportunity

Equality of Opportunity BY ELMER G. PETERSON, A. M., PH. D., UTAH AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE Factors in the Movement Toward the Ideal Which will Be the Glory of Mankind. The ideal of the government of the United States is impartial justice which, in the hearts of the American people, goes deeper than perfunctory law, reaching down into the life of the Nation, promising an equality of opportunity, a goal, the attainment of which, under our most enlightened system of government, there is grave reason for questioning. A government founded upon this lofty ideal proceeded joyously for many decades in the hope that the ideal was to some extent an automatic one and that the nobility of purpose and the rare patriotism which founded this commonwealth would continue to guide its destiny to the highest plane. But the history of the United States of America, as is the history of the rest of the world, is a history of human frailty with occasionally great thrills of righteousness which find their way into law, and less frequently into practice. A government founded on the ideal that all were equal before the law, and further that all would be given equality, has drifted, as a result of enormous industrial development, away from this ideal and is becoming, we must all say, to some extent, sordid in practice. Yet any student of government who has followed the history of the United States of America carefully must realize that continuously fighting the great greed of selfish interest is a life of unsurpassed purity which finds expression in times of great crises. America has faced three such great crises in its history, as admirably portrayed by President Eliot of Harvard University in one of his addresses. At the time of the founding of the Nation we were face to face with a great problem which was solved only as a united people with righteousness can solve such a problem. We may read, if we so desire, into this great conflict the hand of Divinity. Surprising the world, the States were granted hide-

1094 IMPROVEMENT ERA pendence fulfilling the so-called dreams of the pioneers of America. After a complete separation from the mother country, adrift upon the face of the world, the new nation confronted a second crisis more serious than the first. Theirs was now the problem of organizing their dreams into statutes. There arose up to meet this exigency great and good men who are heralded today as world figures. Men trained in the organization of finance, in the functions of government, and men blessed above all with freedom from the restraint of, but without disrespect for, precedent, and with a vision approaching that of the old prophets. The government so founded was organized and began a course of unparalleled development toward a world power. There crept in the great curse of slavery. One-half of this magnificent commonwealth was industrially adapted to the service of slavery, and consequently in the course of development the whole South became blighted. The great slave traffic drew further and further apart two sections of the United States, to some extent already distinct industrially, until the gleeful world looking on saw the great structure of government crumbling to ruins. The monarchs of Europe smiled indulgently at this great blow-up of a dream which had come, in their minds, already too near attainment. H>re arose again a great figure whose duty it was to give his life on the altar for this great cause ; whose life and death must symbolize the great travail. The American people crystallized a sentiment more quickly, more surely, and effected a remedy more absolutely than could have been done by any government differently organized, however well administered it may have been. The voice of the people was sure and liberty arose cleansed of this great curse. The government then leaped forward in bounds hitherto unbelievable. The industries of the country were organized ; the government, now assured of its existence, welcomed the investment of capital, and the nation rapidly assumed place with the foremost of the world. As a result of such rapid movement errors have crept in, abuses exist in the administration of law and justice which are not surpassed in the civilized world. The people are alive to the fact that the dawn of the Twentieth Century is indeed a time of readjustment nationally, and are going about the business with the

EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY 1095 same calmness, the same perseverance, the same surety of purpose that characterized them in the other great crises which have been mentioned. The motive back of this Twentieth Century movement is this : realizing slowly but surely that the government may have drifted from its first purpose, good men are attempting a reorganization which will bring it back to this first purpose. In the working out of this ideal of equality of opportunity we are able to trace the administration of human intelligence in its several divisions. Variously, the departments having to do with the bodily health, having to do with the intellect, and having to do with character formation. That department which has to do with physical well being must receive our serious consideration, because upon this is based our success mentally and our success morally. It is probably true that great governments were never administered by dyspeptic legislators, and so in any fight for equality of opportunity equality in obtaining physical health and development must be included. Realizing this great truth far-seeing administrators and citizens have gone deep into the life of the nation to determine whether in reality the poor and the rich have this equality of opportunity which means their physical well being. There has crept in as a result of knowledge of this fundamental truth, and as a result of recent scientific advance, an amount of legislation having to do with the conduct of our schools, our streets, our water supply and our food, with the idea of protecting to as great an extent as possible those who have not the protection of wealth from abuses of one kind or another. Here we must pay high tribute to the character of Utah communities which have forced prohibition legislation on our statutes, and here we must decry the character of the community which does not force observance of this legislation. Great in the pages of history will be the names of such as Miss Jane Addams who in her work deals with fundamentals. She talks less of the refinements of society and more of the simple problems of health and how to obtain it. She is deservedly called the "Second Citizen" of America. Around these great movements are grouped the pure food and drug act, and in the fight for the maintenance of this great measure the two forces have been equally aligned, those fighting for equality of oppor-

1096 IMPROVEMENT ERA tunity and those fighting for special privilege. Here also comes onr long list of legal measures regarding sanitation, proper structure of buildings for the poor, that they may not suffer needlessly from disease ; proper width of streets that the poor may not be shut out from the sunlight ; and other measures of equal benefit, including sanitary control of factories and the limiting of the working hours of factory hands. We find that education is closely and more closely aligning itself on the side of the majority in an effort to give equality to each, and a square deal in the fight for valuable information. So there have been great reforms accomplished, and great reforms are pending in our public school systems and in our colleges. For many years the college course has served as a barrier between the great group of highly trained educators who make up the faculties of our colleges, and the people who ultimately pay all the salaries and to whom therefore is due the service of these institutions. But of late years there has developed in the colleges of the land an idea that their prime function is to help not the educated few alone but the majority of the citizens. These institutions have paid less attention to entrance requirements and more attention to graduation requirements. Disregarding so called scholastic dignity, disregarding a certain element of alleged culture, looking only for results and willing to make any sacrifice in order to obtain these results, these institutions have contributed a large share toward the betterment of American society. They have frequently held their academic standards low that their standards of service might be high. They have driven their professors into the field and have thrown open their doors and welcomed all who sought education, in order to give the poor boy and girl equality in the fight for learning. The politics of the nation, following as politics always follow instead of leading, is attempting to align with this new movement and so insurgency has placed a big mark on American history. Of the merits and demerits of this it is obviously unnecessary to speak. The situation just now is too partisan to make a discussion of it very fruitful, because the facts are colored. History alone will be able to place a proper valuation upon this movement. All these reforms as they affect the home are doubly valuable because the home must always be the foundation of our civiliza-