The Two Americas 199 



that will promote the prosperity of all. The poorest 

 motto upon which an American can act is the motto 

 of "Some men down," and the safest to follow is that 

 of "All men up." A good deal can and ought to be 

 done by law. For instance, the State and, if neces 

 sary, the nation should by law assume ample power 

 of supervising and regulating the acts of any cor 

 poration (which can be but its creature), and gener 

 ally of those immense business enterprises which ex 

 ist only because of the safety and protection to prop 

 erty guaranteed by our system of government. Yet 

 it is equally true that, while this power should exist, 

 it should be used sparingly and with self-restraint. 

 Modern industrial competition is very keen between 

 nation and nation, and now that our country is strid 

 ing forward with the pace of a giant to take the lead 

 ing position in the international industrial world, we 

 should beware how we fetter our limbs, how we 

 cramp our Titan strength. While striving to pre 

 vent industrial injustice at home, we must not bring 

 upon ourselves industrial weakness abroad. This is 

 a task for which we need the finest abilities of the 

 statesman, the student, the patriot, and the far-seeing 

 lover of mankind. It is a task in which we shall fail 

 with absolute certainty if we approach it after having 

 surrendered ourselves to the guidance of the dema 

 gogue, or to the doctrinaire, of the well-meaning 

 man who thinks feebly, or of the cunning self-seeker 



