BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1902-10-11

ties are worn out, are very rare, ard
the industrial strides we have taken in
the last decade are assuredly extraor-
dinari1y long. On the other hand. it is
to be said without at the moment max
ing any comparison of methods Of gov
ernment, that political life in England
which attracts many Of the
retired or partially retired lusiness men
of whom Mr.. van Cortlandt writes, eX
hibits On the whole more individuals OF
high type than are to be found in the
political life Of America, where business
engrosses lifelong attention This fact
has frequently attracted the attention
of critics without, as far as we have
noticed, dra wing from the corollary in
ference just alluded to.
The incentive to this prolongation of
business activity in America Mr.. van
Cortlandt finds in Our social conditions,
which give 10 increasing wealth increas-
ing power and prestige, instead of. as
IN the old countries, where landed pro-
prietors still hold up their heads above
all others, interfering, because of bus
mess connections, with social prefer
sions. In other words, he finds in the
very 1naterialism Of Our age, of which
so much on1plaint is made, the chief
stimulus 10 that rapid growth and dev-
e1opment in this country which is the
wonder of the world, He goes even
further, taking the view that the tyran.
ny of trade union:sm in England is ef-
fective to retard growth there, mainly
because Of the readiness of her ripe
leaders of commerce to surrender their
labors to younger hands; and in "the
German emperor's attention to leaders
of German industry, much TO the dis
gust of the aristocracy". he sees ap-
probation of the main reason for Our
superiority in trade.
That there is much substantial
ground for his explanation of Americas
achievements we do no doubt. In the
old days oe Eng'and's unrivalled su-
premacy, notably after Spain's fall and
the eclipse Of the Dutch traders in Eliz.
abeth's reign, the English merchant
princes became an horored class The
queen herself, as Green says, "lent a
ready pstro2age 10 the new commerce,
shared il is spccu,a.io.ls aid considci-
ed its extension and protection as
part of public policy" The whole ma
ton was alive to the advantages of the
new wealth to be got from trade, and
young ard old, aristccrat and commo-
ner, bent their best energies to the task
Of acquisition.
Money is certainly not despised in Eng
land to-day, and the effort to win it is
at least as keen as ever, but with es-
tablished wealth came later the con-
ditions which now hamper her in the
race with nations less accustomed than
she to affluence and luxury; and in the
new class distinctions which grew up
with them out of the old feadal system
began that system under which the ac-
tive producers became the recruits OF
the lovers of leisure and social dstinc-
ton.
To the extent, therefore, to which
this practice is more common in Eng
land than America to-day there is
sound reason for believing that Mr. van
Cortlandt has put his finger on prime
cause of our rapid catching up with
English trade success. The energy of
youth is as valuable in commerce as in
any other competition, but in that field |
of human activity, as in most others, in
the direction of great affairs, the wis
dom that fingers after the rush of
Knowledge, when it comes, is beyond
price. And if of this wisdom our in
dustries have the advantage of great
er proportion tnan those of other
nations, because in our ideas of equality
its rewards are more unalloyed. it is not
surprising that we are pushing to the
front.