COMMERCIALISM 75 



lie conscience. The existence of the wide-spread sense of justice 

 secures attentive hearing to critics of " commercialism " when they 

 denounce the methods of corporations; ex 'parte statements by prose- 

 cuting attorneys and statements by magazine writers are accepted as 

 embodiments of undisputed fact. The development of a public con- 

 science has not been accompanied by equal development of the judicial 

 temperament. 



Whether or not the methods employed by some corporations in 

 efforts to overcome competition measure up to the popular conception 

 of the golden rule is not open to discussion. In the original form that 

 rule is " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself " ; and it would seem 

 that the obligation is on all alike. But the popular conception is that 

 the command is binding only on the corporations and that all indi- 

 viduals in the community are " neighbors." Yet corporations are 

 merely copartnerships, so that in their case, as in the case of the indi- 

 vidual, the standard of the rule is the love of one's self, which brings 

 into consideration the question of self-preservation. A man is justi- 

 fied before the law if he take the life of another to protect his own 

 or that of any under his charge; he may take life to protect his prop- 

 erty; equally in business affairs, a man is justified in doing things 

 for self-protection, which under other conditions would be unjustifiable. 



The owner of a cross-roads shop, who has built up a good trade by 

 close attention and honest dealing, would be thoroughly justified in 

 bitterly antagonizing a rival who had secured the old stand that he 

 might reap where he did not sow. If, however, success have made him 

 negligent so that he serves his community indifferently, he should not 

 complain against the invasion; he alone is responsible; he had thrown 

 away his estate. 



Both conditions are familiar. Corporations find themselves at 

 times as the old, still energetic shopkeeper, fighting to hold his own; 

 at others, as the sturdy newcomer invading an area occupied by slug- 

 gish men, satisfied with small business and large percentage profits. 

 To illustrate. 



Several men competing in the manufacture of some product com- 

 bine, reduce working expenses and with the money thus saved secure 

 competent scientific aid for improvement of methods. Few processes 

 are discovered, cost of production is decreased, waste is prevented and 

 by-products are utilized; the result being eradication of rule-of-thumb 

 competitors while the innovators gain control of the business to their 

 own great profit and to the great advantage of the consumers. They 

 remain incessant in efforts to better processes and to make new indus- 

 tries; but eventually the earlier patents expire. Other men, in view 

 of this, have been investigating and have discovered improvements in 

 methods, to become available with expiration of the early patents. 



