Principles of western civilisation

XI TOWARDS THE FUTURE 439

tendency to the equalisation of conditions continues throughout the world, we see the whole process, in this case as in the others, gravitating to a level beyond which it has no inherent tendency to rise.

In the two phases of the competitive era already described, that is to say, first of all, in the struggle between capital in its relation to labour, and then in the struggle between industries in their relation to society, we saw that every organisation of capital was, of necessity, in the competition of business to make all the money it could within the limits of its own interests. So now we begin to see that the governing principle of all international trade, whatever other purpose it may incidentally subserve, being essentially that of an uncontrolled struggle for private gain, one result has been from the beginning inherent in the international process in progress in the world. The capitalist and trader who went inside all frontiers, and exploited all conditions of society and of human labour, did so always in the lien of conditions from which he was in the end powerless to escape. The competition in which he was engaged with his fellows necessarily tended, just as in the example cited by Professor Adams, to eliminate in the end all principles and considerations from the struggle but those which contributed to success. And so, as in the two phases of J/azssez-fatre competition previously described, we see the international process in trade slowly tending throughout the world to be regulated in all its details at the level of the lowest qualities governing it, namely, those contributing to success and survival in a free fight for private gain.