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In his essay entitled, " Whose Bread I Eat--His Song I Sing ", J.G. McDaniel uses a story from his childhood to describe how people become dependent upon a handout and are unaware of the liberties they may lose until after they have lost them.. Mr. McDaniel heard this story as a child at a barbecue he attended with his father.
"The barbecue was held on the bank of the Ocmulgee River in Georgia and was the occasion of an address given by Congressman Stephen Pace. Mr. Pace was there to tell the people why he was opposed to a federal spending bill that would subsidize farmers. Given that Pace represented a rural district, many farmers were naturally in attendance.
The congressman told the following story about some wild hogs that had once lived along the river. It seems that no one was sure how the hogs had gotten there nor how it was that they were able to survive the floods, fires, freezes and droughts which occurred in the area. Not even the hunters were able to kill them off. Of course there was the occasion when one of the hogs would be killed by a pack of dogs or by a hunter, but that was not the norm.
One day a man showed up at the country store inquiring as to the whereabouts of the hogs. He was a slim, patient, deliberate man. In his wagon he carried a lantern, some quilts, an ax, some corn, and a shotgun. After obtaining the desired information, the man went on his way. The storeowner had forgotten about the man until he showed up a few months later in search of assistance in moving the hogs out of the swamp. He said that he had them all in a pen. Of course before the townspeople would believe it they had to see the hogs in the pen for themselves. Upon viewing the sight, they were all amazed and wondered how he had been able to capture all the animals.
The man said, "It was all very simple. First I put out some corn. For three weeks they would not eat it. Then some of the young ones grabbed an ear and ran off into the thicket. Soon they were all eating it; then I commenced building a pen around the corn, a little higher each day. When I noticed that they were all waiting for me to bring the corn and had stopped grubbing for acorns and roots, I built a trap door. Naturally, they raised quite a ruckus when they seen they was trapped, but I can pen any animal on the face of the earth if I can jist get him to depend on me for a free handout.""
McDaniel, J.G., "Whose Bread I Eat-His Song I Sing", Essays on Liberty, The Foundation for Economic Education: Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, vol IX, 1962, p. 20
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