The institution of private property is the basis of our whole economic system. No nation has ever enjoyed industrial prosperity for any length of time without recognizing the right of private property. Destroy this right and you take away what now constitutes the chief incentive to labor, saving, and industrial efficiency. Under a socialistic system, which would either abolish or largely curtail this right of private property, it is argued that other incentives would take the place of the motive now furnished by private property and that men would keep on working and organizing even if private property were entirely abolished; but this is a large question and its discussion must be relegated to a later chapter.
The right of private property is subject to restrictions.
In any case most men are now agreed that the right of private property cannot be left unfettered; it must be guarded against abuse. Society cannot wisely permit it to stand as an obstacle to the general interest. Even the right of private property, therefore, must bend to the good of the community. Men are allowed to own property because their doing so promotes the well-being of the whole people; the right should not go further than that. It is for this reason that we place various restrictions upon the right of private property, restrictions in the interest of the public health, or for protection against fire, or for the preservation of public morals. No one has the right to own and maintain property that constitutes a public nuisance, such as an unsanitary tenement house, for example, or a building that forms a fire trap. The right of private property is entitled to respect only in so far as it is exercised in keeping with its prime purpose, which is to advance the interests of the whole people by giving each individual a sufficient incentive to work and to save.
General References
H. C. Adams, Description of Industry, pp. 3-117; F. W. Taussig, Principles of Economics, Vol. I, pp. 1-110; H. R. Seager, Introduction to Economics, 4th ed., pp. 1-121; R. T. Ely, Outlines of Economics, 3rd ed., pp. 1-98; C. J. Bullock, Introduction to the Study of Economics, pp. 115-179; 375-431; H. R. Burch, American Economic Life, pp. 1-37; 71-80; 315-335; T. N. Carver, Principles of National Economy, pp. 3-46.
Group Problems
1. The effects of division of labor and the ways in which we may retain its advantages while reducing its detrimental effects. How division of labor arose. The extent to which it is now carried in industry. Its physical effects. Social, political, and economic effects. Its value. How its defects can be overcome. The reduction of hours in certain industries. Vocational education for the worker. The restriction of child labor. The better organization of the labor market. Recreation for the workers after work-hours. The merits and practical difficulties of each plan. References: F. W. Taussig, Principles of Economics, Vol. I, pp. 30-48; Thirteenth annual report of the United States Commissioner of Labor on Hand and Machine Labor (for illustrative material); H. R. Seager, Introduction to Economics, pp. 153-158; R. T. Ely, The Evolution of Industrial Society, pp. 398-424. See also the references given at end of chapters XX-XXI in this book.
2. The justification of private property. References: L. C. Marshall, Readings in Industrial Society, pp. 144-223; 947-988; John M. Mecklin, Introduction to Social Ethics, pp. 302-322; F. A. Cleveland and Joseph Schafer, Democracy in Reconstruction, pp. 69-95; Herbert Spencer, Social Statics, pp. 62-65.
Short Studies
1. Our chief economic wants. L. C. Marshall, Readings in Industrial Society, pp. 9-15; 270-277; 828-833; C. J. Bullock, Introduction to the Study of Economics, pp. 79-87.