If it has the American Temperament it says, “YES, BUT ...”

The whole policy and temper of a true American government is summed up in its saying as it looks about it—­now to this business man and now to that, just in time, “YES BUT.”

Louis Brandeis, of Boston, when he was made attorney for the Gas Company of Boston to defend the company from the criticisms of the people, sent suddenly scores of men all about canvassing the city and looking up people to find fault with the gas.

He spent thousands of dollars a month of the Gas Company’s money for a while in helping people to be disagreeable, until they had it attended to and got over it.

The Gas Company had the canvassers show the people how they could burn less gas for what they got for it, and tried to help them cut their bills in two.  Incidentally, of course, they got to thinking about gas and about what they got for it, and about other ways they could afford to use it, and began to have the gas habit—­used it for cooking and heating.

The people found they wanted to use four times as much gas.

The Boston Gas Company smiled sweetly.

Boston smiled sweetly.

Not many months had passed and two things had happened in Boston.

The Boston Gas Company, with precisely the same directors in it, had made over the directors into new men, and all the people in Boston (all who used gas) apparently had been made over into new people.

What had happened was Brandeis—­a man with an American temperament.

Mr. Brandeis had defended his company from the people by going the people’s way and helping them until they helped him.

Mr. Brandeis gave gas a soul in Boston.

Before a gas corporation has a soul, it would be American for a government to treat it in one way.  After it has one it would be American to treat it in another.  There are two complete sets of conduct, principles, and visions in dealing with a corporation before and after its having a soul.

Preserving the females of the species and killing males as a method of discrimination has been applied to all animals except human beings.  This is suggestive of a method of discrimination in dealing with corporations.  A corporation that has a soul and that is the most likely to keep reproducing souls in others should be treated in one way, and a corporation that has not should be treated in another.

There are two assumptions underneath everybody’s thought, underneath every action of our government:  Which is the American assumption?

People are going to be bad if they can.

People are going to be good if they can.

Men who want to arrange laws and adjust life on the assumption that business men will be bad if they can, it seems to some of us, are inefficient and unscientific.  It seems to us that they are off on the main and controlling facts in American human nature.  It is not true that American business men will be bad if they can.  They will be good if they can.