them the material development of which we are so justly proud could
never have taken place. Moreover, we should recognize the immense
importance of this material development of leaving as unhampered as is
compatible with the public good the strong and forceful men upon whom
the success of business operations inevitably rests. The slightest study
of business conditions will satisfy anyone capable of forming a judgment
that the personal equation is the most important factor in a business
operation; that the business ability of the man at the head of any
business concern, big or little, is usually the factor which fixes
the gulf between striking success and hopeless failure.

An additional reason for caution in dealing with corporations is to be
found in the international commercial conditions of today. The same
business conditions which have produced the great aggregations of
corporate and individual wealth have made them very potent factors
in international commercial competition. Business concerns which have
the largest means at their disposal and are managed by the ablest men
are naturally those which take the lead in the strife for commercial
supremacy among the nations of the world. America has only just begun
to assume that commanding position in the international business world
which we believe will more and more be hers. It is of the utmost
importance that this position be not jeoparded, especially at a time
when the overflowing abundance of our own natural resources and the
skill, business energy, and mechanical aptitude of our people make
foreign markets essential. Under such conditions it would be most
unwise to cramp or to fetter the youthful strength of our Nation.

Moreover, it cannot too often be pointed out that to strike with
ignorant violence at the interests of one set of men almost inevitably
endangers the interests of all. The fundamental rule in our national