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Mr. Schwab addressing shipyard workers.bitter experience, perhaps, that the oneway to make such principle's enduring isby the continuous exercise of individualinitiative and enterprise." Such men learn that success is measured,in some direction, by reasonablereturn for initiative, and that in Americanbusiness life we never achieve anyreal industrial development except interms of economic development"The pre-eminent trait of the Americanpeople is the desire to succeed, in theopinion of our countrymen. That is themainspring that has brought about thegreatest development and enterprisesthat this country has known. We are avirile nation, filled out with the passionof self-determined success. In that passionis born our love of achievement andour inventiveness."We have heard much of German efficiency,but, to go no further than theindustry with which I am most familiar,it is clear that though the Germans werethe second largest producers of iron andsteel, there is not a single iron or steelprocess or invention or development thatcame out of Germany. The essentialreason for German efficiency lay in thefact that they got a full day's work fromtheir working men by means of legislation,VOL. LXVL—8government control, and in other waysnot American."We cannot, here in America, employthe methods of obtaining efficiency bywhich the Germans excelled. We cannot,on the other hand, to my mind,achieve in governmental enterprises theessential appeal to initiative and enterprisethat has built up the great industriesof this country."The men who achieved these enterpriseswere not impelled solely by the motiveof making money. They were thesimplest, most whole-hearted men in theworld. But they had what every greatAmerican has had, the American passionin their souls of successful development,of achievement of things worth while."To my mind this essential characterof all great Americans is the touchstoneon which our national progress has made,and will, if at all, always make its mark."And that is to say that the best andmost economic results will not be obtainedin America by government ownershipor direct control; that there shouldbe national supervision of all great enterprises,supervision such as will preventdestruction, but will preserve in business,as elsewhere, our priceless gift of nationalfreedom. Of that I am sure."IOI

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