THE PRICE OF DEVELOPMENT 



paper as I write fears my hand. It is ever on guard 

 against its natural enemies. This is the proof of the 

 universal struggle. Among the lower forms the 

 struggle or competition of the fleet with the slow, 

 the cunning with the stupid, the sharp-eyed, the 

 sharp-eared, and the keen of scent with those less 

 so; of the miscellaneous feeders with the more 

 specialized feeders; and, among mankind, the com- 

 petition of men of purpose, of foresight, of judg- 

 ment, of experience, of probity, and of other per- 

 sonal resources, with men who are deficient in these 

 things; and, among nations and peoples, the in- 

 evitable competition of those who cherish the high- 

 est national ideals, the best-organized governments, 

 the best race inheritance, the most natural resources, 

 and so on, with the less fortunate in these respects 

 — all this struggle and competition, I say, is benefi- 

 cent and on the road to progress. 



Myriads of different types of animal and vege- 

 table life fit into the scheme of organic nature withv 

 out conflict or hindrance, but when there is con- 

 flict, the strong prevail. The small and the gigantic, 

 the feeble and the mighty, the timid and the bold, 

 the frail and the robust — birds, insects, mice, 

 squirrels, cattle — exist in the same landscape and 

 all prosper. Only when there is rivalry do the feeble 

 go to the wall, which means only that their numbers 

 are kept down. The cats do not exterminate the 

 mice and rats, nor do the hawks and owls extermi- 



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