It was every man singly
against all the rest of the world. No man was his brother's keeper. If one
did not look out for himself, that was the end of it; there was no one
else to do it."
"But the system itself made men selfish," I ventured to say.
"To be sure it did," he replied. "But why did they not then abolish the
system before it had brought upon them its long train of evils? It had to
go at last."
"But," I asked again, "was not competition a good thing for the large
number of people not directly engaged in business? Did it not keep down
the prices on all kinds of commodities?"
"Certainly not in the main. It increased prices, because it increased the
cost of everything. But let us suppose a case where it had the effect you
suggest. Could a man with a heart wear a coat, for example, with any
pleasure, if he knew that rivalry between the manufacturers had forced the
people who made the garment to accept starvation wages? And this was done,
not from humanitarian motives, to furnish the poor with cheap clothing,
but for the purpose of getting more business and so of making more money.
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