Evening star., 1916-09-26
ance and only has to release, that II
to say. the self-reliant enterprise.
Americans Fit to Meet Rivals.

to say. the self-reliant enterprise.
Americans Fit to Meet Rivals.
There is only one thing that I have
ever been ashamed about in America,
and that was the timidity and fearful
ness Of Americans in the presence Of
foreign competitors. I have dwelt
among Americans all my life and am
an intense absorbent of the atmos-
phere Of America, and I know by per-
sonal experience that there are as ef-
fective brains In America as anywhere
In the world. An American afraid to
pit American business men against any
competitors anywhere! Enterprise, the
shrewdness which Americans have
shown. the knowledge of business
which they have shown. all these
peaceful and honorable conquest of
| foreign markets. which is our reason
able ambition
I spoke moment ago of the federal
various business associations, members
OF that commission have made this as
tonishing discovery, that in some fields
OF manufacture. at any rate, not 10 per
cent OF the producers of America keep
accurate cost accounts They do not
Know how much each part of their op-
GRAFTON costs them. They have not an
alyzed their business in such a way as
tuted for waste, or where efficiency can
take the place of inefficiency, and one
OF the things that is going to happen,
now that we are going to be up against
world, is that we are going to become
nrst-class economists, and that Ameri-
can labor, already distinguished for its
emciency, is going to double and treble
place, and this great stimulating air of
the worlds competitive brains has
wrought its effects upon us, we are go
ing to be- 1 hope, what the world has
not want to prevail by the backing of
their government, but by the backing
OF their skill and knowledge.
America to Serve Mankind.
A friend Of mine was once invited to
attend a peace meeting. He said he
would come with pleasure if he might
De permitted to explain that most of the
men sitting on the platform were en-
gagged in fomenting war. and when he
was asked to explain this pleasing
meaning he said:
~ have looked over the list of the
men who constitute your executive
committee, and almost every one of
them Is engaged in doing things to ex-
cite the hostility and disturb the ma
.ioHdi Aeelin8 OF men IN foreign cOun-
tries, particularly in the orient, which
Will inevitably lead to war sooner or
later The combinations of the mod
ern world that are lasting are not
the competitions of physical force. They
are the competitions of intellectual
1orce The competitions of business
either lay the foundations of respect
and mutual confidence or the founda-
tons OF suspicion and mutual hostility.
America has stood in the years past
Tor that sort of political understanding
among men which would let eyery
man feel that his rights were the same
as those of another, as good as those of
another, and the mission of America in
the field of the worlds commerce is to
be the same, that, when an American
comes into that competition he comes
without any arms that would enable
hlm to conquer by force, but only with
those peaceful influences of intelli-
gence. desire to serve, a knowledge
OF what he Is about, before which
everything softens and yields and rem
ders itself subject. That is the mission
or America, and my interest, SO far as
my small part in American affairs in
concerned, is to lend every bit of inteIli-
gance l have to this Interesting, this
vital, all-important matter of releasing
the intelligence of America for the
service of mankind.