January 4, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



25 



cut-throat competition. In order that rates 

 may be maintained at the two-cent instead 

 of the one-cent level, either competition 

 must be absent, or it must be partial or im- 

 perfect. In the actual railroad world com- 

 petition is iisually present at some points 

 and absent at others. The consequence of 

 this mixture of competition and monopoly 

 is that rates will be determined differently 

 for some points than for others, and this 

 constitutes what is called local discrimina- 

 tion. In a regime where monopoly is pres- 

 ent, discrimination, not only of this local 

 character, but discrimination as to persons 

 and as to commodities carried, is a natural 

 and inevitable result. It is not, of course, 

 a desirable result; but it is no more unde- 

 sirable than is the cut-throat competition 

 which is the other horn of the dilemma. 

 This cut-throat competition discourages the 

 investment of capital in new railroads, and 

 the shippers and consumers must in the end 

 suffer. This dilemma between the evils 

 of monopoly and of competition leads to 

 governmental regulation, though the effi- 

 cacy of this remedy is not all that could be 

 desired. It is not our purpose to discuss 

 the best solution of so difficult a question. 

 We are merely concerned in pointing out 

 that this railroad-rate problem is partly 

 due to cut-throat competition and that cut- 

 throat competition is one more example of 

 the suicidal effects of blindly following in- 

 dividual self-interest. 



Numerous other examples might be 

 given ; we shall, however, content ourselves 

 with one. As John Rae has pointed out, 

 there exists a species of subtle competition 

 in private expenditure, due to social rivalry 

 —the desire for distinction through wealth. 

 It has frequently been remarked among 

 ladies' social clubs which begin with simple 

 entertainments, that each successive hostess 

 attempts, almost unconsciously, to surpass 

 her predecessor in the entertainment of- 

 fered. Beginning with tea and cake, the 



club ends with elaborate and expensive 

 collations, until it produces a heavy drain 

 upon the resources of its members. In 

 precisely the same way, on a larger scale, 

 there is laid a heavy burden upon us all 

 through the social rivalry of individuals. 

 If we study the history of Newport or sim- 

 ilar fashionable resorts, we find that social 

 racing has gradually resulted in setting a 

 pace which only the most wealthy can keep 

 up, and that even for them expenditure 

 represents cost rather than satisfaction. 

 This cost often takes the form of producing 

 fictitious values on articles merely because 

 they are 'exclusive.' As John Rae says:^ 



A dish of nightingale's brains could scarcely be 

 a very delicious morsel, yet Adam Smith quotes 

 from Pliny the price paid for a single night- 

 ingale as about £66. According to Suetonius, no 

 meal cost Vitellius less than £2,000 * * * Thus 

 Adam Smith reckons the cost of some cushions of 

 a particular sort used to lean on at table, at 

 £30,000. 



Nor do we need to draw our examples 

 from ancient Rome. The 'History of Lux- 

 ury' by Baudrillart will show the tendency 

 to produce luxury out of social rivalry in 

 all ages. It was only recently that an 

 American in London gave a dinner party 

 which was said to have cost $8,000. The 

 table was placed in a large Venetian gon- 

 dola set in the midst of an artificial lake, 

 while in a smaller gondola near by a band 

 was stationed. 



Much has been said of late about the 

 importance of living the simple life, but so 

 far as I know there has been no analysis 

 to show ■why it is not lived. This analysis 

 would reveal that the failure to live it is 

 due to a kind of unconscious cut-throat 

 competition in fashionable society. When 

 San Francisco was destroyed by earthquake 

 and fire, much comment was made upon the 

 fact that many did not feel their losses as 



' ' Sociological Theory of Capital,' by John Rae, 

 ed. by C. W. Mixter, MacMillan, 1905, p. 247. 



