But is it not true almost invariably, if we look at social questions of every kind in a comprehensive way, that the survival of the fittest means the survival of the morally best?  That the religion which endures is of the highest type?  Business success in the long run, is so strongly based upon mutual confidence and trust, that, especially in these later days of credit organization, the dishonest man or even the tricky man cannot prosper long.  A sales manager of a prominent institution said lately that the chief difficulty that he had with his men was to make them always tell the truth.  For the sake of making an important sale they were often inclined to misrepresent his goods.  “But nothing,” he added, “will so surely kill all business as misrepresentation.”  Even a gambling book-maker on the race tracks in New York, before such work was forbidden by law, is said to have proudly claimed that absolute justice and honesty toward his customers was essential to his success and had therefore become the rule of his life.  Although it is sometimes said that the man who guides his life by the maxim, “Honesty is the best policy,” is in reality not honest at heart, it must nevertheless be granted that in business the survival of the fittest means the survival of the most honest business man.

It may perhaps have been true in the days of Machiavelli that cruelty and treachery would aid the unscrupulous petty despot of Italy to secure and at times to maintain his dukedom; but certainly in modern days, when in all civilized countries permanently prosperous government is based ultimately upon the will of the people, the successful ruler can no longer be treacherous and cruel.  Even among our so-called “spoils” politicians and corrupt bosses, who hold their positions by playing upon the selfishness of their followers and the ignorance and apathy of the public, there must be rigid faithfulness to promises, and, at any rate, the appearance of promoting the public welfare.  Otherwise their term of power is short.

If we look back through the history of modern times, we shall find that the statesmen who rank high among the successful rulers of their countries are men of unselfish patriotism, and almost invariably men of personal uprightness and morality, and usually of deep religious feeling.  Think over the names of the great men of the United States, and note their characters.  Pick out the leading statesmen of the last half century in England, Germany and Italy.  Do they not all stand for unselfish, patriotic purpose in their actions, and in character for individual honor and integrity?