1. Undoubted evils result from some forms of competition under the conditions actually existing. Complete freedom must remain a somewhat abstract ideal, and actual conditions must be recognized. Entire freedom of choice means freedom to make mistakes, a privilege whose enjoyment society cannot always permit. The child should be raised to good citizenship, and entire freedom of choice makes that impossible or improbable. The freedom of choice of the insane, the feebleminded, and the criminal, cannot be recognized. Even where competition is the ideal of sound adult humanity, it is not to be too suddenly or extremely applied. The inequality of faculties, the prevailing dishonesty, the mass of inherited abuses, cannot be either ignored or at once ended. The immigrant from Europe, plunged into the trying conditions of city life, suffers in health and in morals, and often becomes a burden upon society. One of many competitors may drive competition to an evil extreme. The "problem of the twentieth man" is presented when nineteen men desire to limit competition in ways not socially harmful, as by closing shops on Sunday or in the evening, and the one man refuses. The appeal to economic harmony often is the cry of "peace, peace, where there is no peace." The highest social result may be attained now by limiting, again by directing, in other cases possibly by fostering, competition.

2. The main rivals of competition are custom, religion, morality, combination, and state action. The first three of these were the strongest forces in the past and they are still operating; but combination and state action are more characteristic of the present. The influence of custom, of morality, and of religion on value, has been touched upon at several points in our study; that of combination has been recently and more fully discussed. But state action, one of the most important of all the limitations, has been reserved for the concluding portion of our work.

Forces opposing competition.

3. It is a function of the state to determine in part the ways in which men shall exert their powers. This is not the sole function of the state, nor is its influence toward this end exclusive. The state puts limits to the physical rivalry of men. In the distant past no doubt physical rivalry between men was an agent of progress. The strong drove out the weak; physical contest developed more vigorous limbs, keener senses, and higher sagacity. today it is one of the principal functions of the state to suppress the physical contest between men. The citizen is surrounded with a network of rules and regulations of which he is hardly conscious. Most men easily avoid coming into contact with the police and feel no irksomeness in the control of the civil courts. The state regulates economic interests in many other ways; it controls the building of streets; it inspects the material and construction of houses; it forbids acts injurious to the public welfare; it regulates the issue of money; it determines the manner in which credit may be extended, the forms of taxation, and the direction which trade may legally take. The state has a part in shaping great industries of a public or semi-public nature, such as waterworks, railroads, and the postal system.

The state 's part in directing competition.

Aim and failings of state action.

The state is as wise as the men who constitute it. Men make mistakes, therefore men collectively will make them. The state regulates and limits - now wisely, now foolishly; but its aim is to preserve the benefits of competition without its evils, to lift the competition to a higher plane, and, by determining the direction in which men shall put forth their efforts, to give a higher and truer economic freedom.

Questions On Chapter 44. Free Competition And State Action

1. What is economic freedom? How different from political freedom?

2. Does the presence of a policeman increase or diminish competition among men?

3. Are most positive laws intended to hinder competition or make it freer?

4. In what ways does competition reduce the total product?

5. Is custom a better regulator of economic action than competition?

6. Criticize the doctrine of economic harmony, giving examples.