488 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ment of the furnaces whose ruins have been described as picturesque 

 additions to Pennsylvania's scenery. The sewing-machine caused untold 

 misery, as did the power-loom, the shoe-machine and other inventions, 

 which the world now regards as unmixed blessings. 



Progress in manufactures, combined with increasing ease of com- 

 munication and transportation, made the business world more compact 

 and intensified competition. The struggle for existence led to frequent 

 changes in method, at once destructive and constructive. In iron manu- 

 facture, small furnaces soon brought only loss to their owners; in 

 trade, the small shopkeeper, who idled for half the day waiting for 

 chance customers, found himself neglected. The story was alike for 

 all. The owner of the petty furnace, like the keeper of the petty shop, 

 was displaced by his more energetic rival, who recognized the coming 

 change and so arranged that by smaller percentage profits on greater 

 sales he might secure increased profit on his business capital. Men 

 may groan in bitterness of spirit as they please, they may denounce the 

 avarice of a manufacturer who sees fit to make the iron and to convert 

 it into the finished product, all within one plant; or that of the mer- 

 chant, who chooses to sell dry goods, shoes, groceries and hardware on a 

 great scale under one roof; they may denounce, if they will, the man 

 who, having gained the advantage over his less energetic neighbors, 

 strives to prevent another from depriving him of it — the denouncing 

 amounts to nothing. The condition is normal to the advance of the 

 race, for, while bringing disaster to the few, it brings increasing comfort 

 to the many. The energetic man, other things being equal, wins in the 

 race for money, fame, usefulness; in this world every man receives 

 practically full pay for the net average of his abilities. This is nature's 

 law; no legislation avails for its repeal. 



This is not the place to discuss the propriety of placing limitations 

 upon combinations of manufacturing interests; the wisdom of per- 

 mitting the accumulation of vast fortunes; the justice of permitting 

 such fortunes to be inherited so as to support descendants in idleness 

 or dissipation. Such questions are irrelevant in this connection, for 

 we have merely to ascertain whether or not the commercial development 

 of the last half-century has led to a lowering of the moral tone and to 

 the injury of mankind. 



Just here one may halt. The term 'commercialism,' like * culture,' 

 is so vague, so comprehensive as to be elusive. It certainly is service- 

 able. If a man fail to secure funds for some object dear to him, the 

 failure is not due to any deficiency on his part or even to the nature 

 of the project, but only to 'commercialism.' In such cases, the term 

 is usually synonymous with common sense. 



But in a broader way, the term refers to a supposed general de- 

 terioration of personal honor, due to the commercial life of our com- 



