54 National Life 



from the standpoint of the old political eco- 

 nomy. It is not the correct attitude from the 

 standpoint of science; for science realizes that 

 the nation is an organized whole, in continual > 

 struggle with its competitors. You cannot 

 get a strong and effective nation if many of 

 its stomachs are half fed and many of its 

 brains untrained. We, as a nation, cannot 

 survive in the struggle for existence if we 

 allow class distinctions to permanently endow 

 the brainless and to push them into posts of 

 national responsibility. The true statesman 

 has to limit the internal struggle of the com- 

 munity in order to make it stronger for the 

 external struggle. We must reward ability, 

 we must pay for brains, we must give larger 

 advantage to physique ; but we must not do 

 this at a rate which renders the lot of the 

 mediocre a wholly unhappy one. We must 

 foster exceptional brains and physique for 

 national purposes ; but, however useful prize- 

 cattle may be, they are not bred for their own 

 sake, but as a step towards the improvement 

 of the whole herd. 



If I have put my position at all clearly, 

 you will see how the key to it lies in the 



