People and Problems: A Collection of Addresses and Editorials (Classic Reprint)

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1kg Limited, 2017 M07 17 - 356 pages
Excerpt from People and Problems: A Collection of Addresses and Editorials

TO veto or not to veto is a question that has to be decided not in ten years but in ten days; and if the question turns upon profound economic con siderations, some kind Of pronouncement has to be made upon them, however profound they may be, within that specified time. Nor can the journalist Shirk the duty Of taking sides in the matter; if he is convinced that the welfare Of the country demands a certain course Of action he must advocate that course by such arguments as he can command, and can not afford to wait for more perfect knowledge.

But while considerations Of this kind excuse some things they do not excuse everything. There is no excuse for making use Of arguments when human interests are concerned which, employed in any other domain Of intellectual activity, would stamp a man as an utter incompetent or charlatan. We may not be able to command demonstration; but we should know what demonstration is. We may not be able to test our conclusions by following them out to their remotest consequences; but we Should at least be warned that there is something wrong in them, if they lead at once and Obviously to absurd results. We may not be able to Obtain and to compare statis tical data in sufficient completeness to settle a ques tion definitely; but it is a reproach to our own intelligence and a disparagement Of that Of our readers if we do not refrain from drawing wide reaching conclusions from manifestly insufficient data.

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