The Daily News. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1920. INCENTIVE.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 November 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1920. INCENTIVE.

Economists take but little, and Socialists take no account of human nature. Yet how absolutely essential is incentive 'to the average individual and therefore to the life and progress of the community ! If the human element is left out, and men are treated as machines, many of the theories of the Socialist and Communist may be considered as unassailable, hut the moment due consideration is given to the human element the whole of their structure completely collapses. The activities of everyone are more or less dependent on incentive. Without incentive nearly all would fall into a state of utter slothfulness. That such would be the case is not a mere statement but an undoubted fact, which all experience tenets to prove. Of course, the degree of the effect of incentive varies very greatly according to the individual. Some men are so devoid of desire for well-being, and so lacking in the elements of self-respect, or they are so blinded by their grievances against their fellows on account of imaginary wrongs, that they are content to leave themselves as a burden on society, but most men receive the necessary stimulant towards exertion and progress from incentive, and the natures of some are such that the incentive caused by their desires and aspirations is so great that ' their utmost capabilities are called forth. Incentive is immensely varied in nature and degree, from that which is caused by purely natural and more or less general needs and desires, to that arising from what may be termed artificial conditions; from the. entirely sordid and selfish to that which embraces the highest sentiments. The actions of some are almost wholly due to one ciass of incentive, while those of others are due to many. Some men are only urged to a minimum effort by their need or desire for their bare animal requirements, beyond which they will not go. The need for food and warmth, and the fear of lacking them, are the only incentives that affect, some, and such as these j under any of the systems advo-

cated by Socialists and the like would assuredly fall into a state of absolute slothfnlness. Others go a little beyond this, and strive to gain more than the barest comforts; the labor and effort of such as these, from the very spirit of it, will tend little or nothing towards the general welfare and progress. Were the community dependent solely on such men there would of surety be rapid descent towards degradation. But, fortunately, no community is left to the mercies of this class. Far the greater number have as an incentive desires so extended and so non-personal that the more primary become almost non-existent to their conscious minds. It is the great incentive arising from desire for home, for independence, for wealth, for fame, for political or other position, for power for power's sake, for power or opportunity to work for their fellows or for their country, for the love of learning, for art, for science, and for innumerable other causes, that bring forth the efforts that result in improved methods, inventions and scientific achievements, all necessary to the general well-being, progress and development of the race. That incentive is the all-important spur to human activities seems so evident that it would appear quite unnecessary to advance any proof in support. That this is so must be a self-evident fact to anyone who has any knowledge of the history of the progress of the world or who has any knowledge of his fellow beings and their motives and actions, or who has any knowledge of the effect of the removal or lessening of incentive. Tire incentive to all effort is reward, be it one form or another. The reward may be actual monetary payment or means, or power for gratification, or realisation of, one's desires, or may be the satisfaction in the fullness of a life spent for the good of one's fellows. Any system that ignores or does not take into full account incentive, the mainspring of human action and progress, must inevitably lead to disaster. Any system, be it brought about by the socialistic tendencies of the Government, or the operations of Trade Unions, that leads in the direction of payment irrespective of ability or effort, such as a level wage to all, or to any system of payment without a just equivalent of effort, which lessens or destroys incentive, will assuredly cause degradation, and, if persisted in, must lead to disaster. That "to live we must work" is a truism. Almost equally we might consider that we can live only to the extent we work.