y of the struggle as welcome to the far-sighted man of
business as they are to the foredoomed victims of this relentless
warfare."

On the other hand, competition is said to be a--

"Wonder worker in developing energy in the strongest individuals, and
massing wealth in masterful states; but, since competitive trading can
never be wholly beneficent, it should be strictly controlled, in the
interests of the toiling millions, who are too weak successfully to oppose
its attacks. The results of forcing on the naturally weak, by means of
competition, hard and unequal bargains which are evaded by the strong, are
appalling in their magnitude, dividing whole peoples permanently into
castes, rich and poor, injuring the former by excess, and the latter by
deprivation, making a nation strong in the trading instinct, and rich in
accumulated wealth, but weak and poor in all its other parts. This abuse
is saddest of all when, failing to be recognized as an evil, the doctrines
of free trade are wrought into the policy and social life of a people."

Protective remedies for this state of things are introduced as follows:

"Wherever the value of competition has been fully recognized, but
supplemented by wise control of its energies, the results are excellent.
This fact forms the foundation of our protective laws, whose very name
'protective' implies assailants; those hard bargains, to wit, driven on
the fighting side of trade, under the motto of 'let the fittest survive.'
When a small army is attacked by a large one, it covers itself by
earthworks. Similarly, where there are sheep, and wolves abound, the
farmer puts up fences which effectually protect his flock; and, in the
same way, tariffs are 'forts,' whence the artisan may hope successfully to
defend himself against the attacks of his powerful and unscrupulous enemy,
capital; or they may even be considered as a pistol, which a little fellow
points at a big bully who threatens him with a thrashing."

Such are the arguments which are urged with great fervor, and immense
effect, upon the American artisan, who fully and firmly believes that
protection is the only agent capable of lifting his lot above those,
dreaded levels at which the "pauper labor of Europe" is universally
believed to live.

The simple answer to all this rhetoric appears to be that, while it might
be valid as an indictment of the competitive system as a whole, it is
valueless when directed against a part of that sy