The Danger of the Boycott.
There can be no question about the right of an individual to refrain from buying from another individual if he so chooses. If one individual does not want to employ another, or otherwise refrains from doing business with him, it is his unquestionable right. But when a person starts an active propaganda against another in order to keep everybody else from doing business with him or employing him he has entered upon dangerous ground. Such a course of boycott can only result in ultimate ruin in the country where it becomes general. The press despatches state that an effort is being made to have Congress enact certain laws that will legalize the boycott. President Roosevelt is being urged to recommend this legislation in a message to the national Legislature, but he is refusing to set his approval to any such measures. Any one who will take the pains to examine closely into the trend of this time will have no difficulty in seeing that the boycott sentiment is gaining ground rapidly. Capital has set the example by combining to crowd out competition, and now the labor-unions are following on to combine and use the boycott to enforce their terms of demand. The whole situation shows a condition of internal faction and hostility in the country that can not fail to end in revolutions and riots. If men were seeking to help each other there would be hope in the outcome. But instead of seeking to help each other they are striving to beat the other man in every way they can. This condition of things can not go on for very long without resulting in ruin. The prophecies indicate that this generation is to see a great international boycott declared. It should be very apparent to any one that the people are being trained for it thru the boycott sentiment that is being generated in the society of to-day.