THE PRICE OF DEVELOPMENT 



the late James J. Hill make the poor poorer? Such 

 men add enormously to the wealth of the nation. 



With all its discounts and set-backs, the natural 

 struggle for existence has carried the whole race for- 

 ward. Even business competition may be entirely 

 beneficent. Two men open shops or houses in simi- 

 lar lines in the same town and one outstrips the 

 other. Maybe his location is the better; one side of a 

 street may be more favorable to success than the 

 other side. Maybe he is more affable in manner, 

 more thorough in his methods, more accommodat- 

 ing, more fair-minded, of sounder judgment — in 

 fact, the better man in a beneficent sense. 



On a broad view, throughout any country, this 

 will be found to be true: success in business, in the 

 professions, on the farm, in the manufactory, comes 

 to those who deserve it. It cannot be otherwise. The 

 world is thus made. Among the nations the same 

 rule holds. England has earned all the power she has 

 got. She is endowed with the gift of empire. Solid 

 merit alone tells in the long run, as well among 

 nations as among individual men. The worth of 

 France rests upon solid qualities. The worth of 

 Germany is inherent in the character of her people. 

 That she has run to Krupp guns and Kaiserism dur- 

 ing these later generations, and has coveted the 

 land and the gold of her neighbors, is one of those 

 human calamities analogous to tornadoes and 

 earthquakes. 



151 



