following behind. And
in the years to come your competitors will be not from among the
non-college men and women--you have already put yourself out of their
reach--but from among those who, like yourselves, ambitious for better
and greater things, are to-day, in this and other similar institutions,
using every means, straining every nerve, to attain the highest possible
degree of efficiency for future service. You are not only to be leaders,
but in some way you seem to know it instinctively and to be putting
yourselves in a state of readiness.

But does some one raise the objection that this theory of leadership
does not seem to be in harmony with the spirit and genius of our
American institutions; that under a democratic form of government all
are equal; that all men, irrespective of intellectual attainment, share
equally, not only before the law but in the very making of law; that in
America all men are rulers? All this is true theoretically and, to a
certain extent, practically, but it does not lessen the need of
efficient leadership; it increases that need, or, at any rate, it makes
it necessary that the number capable of efficient leadership be greatly
increased. The very fact that all have a voice in the government, that
all do share, consciously and potently, in its exercise and in its
responsibilities, speaks more loudly than anything else can of the need
of wise leadership. If the great mass of people were not factors, they
would not have to be taken into account. They might need drivers but not
leaders. But being factors and yet, in the main, not being capable of
adequate analysis of our most complex and highly intricate problems,
they must be provided with safe and efficient leaders. I believe in the
honesty, in the good intentions, and in the good sense of the common
people. But I do not believe in their ability to detect relations, to
draw wise conclusions, and to formulate policies touching the
complicated political, social, and economic conditions of our times.

It is a well-recognized fact that, as some one has said, "speaking
broadly, the striking disadvantage under which a democracy labors, as
contrasted, let us say, with certain types of autocracy, lies in its
inability to plan effectively with reference to remote goals.... What we
call 'far ahead' thinking is difficult for the individual, but it is
vastly more difficult for the group, and its difficulty is intensified
in both cases if it demands la