Knowledge and forethought are primarily mental qualities, though there is an element of morality in forethought; dependableness and reasonableness are primarily moral qualities, though there is an element of mentality in both of them. In this age of great mental achievements, especially in the fields of physical science and mechanical invention, there is a tendency to underestimate the importance of moral qualities. This tendency may have been increased by the perception that moral teachers themselves have sometimes overemphasized the lesser virtues (that is, those which count least in the improvement of social life) and underemphasized those which count most.

Moral advantages of civilized men over savages, dependableness. Nothing can be more important in the building of a great and prosperous nation than dependableness. Many writers have taken pains to point out how dependent we are upon one another in a highly civilized state. One way of illustrating this mutual dependence is by comparing a highly developed society to a complicated machine or a highly developed animal organism. There are many striking resemblances, among the most important of which is the interdependence of parts. This interdependence of parts increases as we ascend in the scale of organic life. In the human body, for example, or in that of any of the higher mammals, the interdependence of parts is much greater than that found in the bodies of the lower forms of life. The same change is noticeable as we ascend in the scale of social life. Each individual tends to specialize in some particular kind of work and to depend upon other individuals, who have specialized on other kinds of work, to supply him with goods and services which he cannot produce for himself. Some of the reasons why this is so advantageous will be discussed in the chapter The Division of Labor.

There can be no great amount of dependence of one upon another where the people are not dependable. This is equally true of a machine or an animal organism, but we do not

attribute moral qualities to the parts of any of them. The wheel in a machine has no choice. It must of physical necessity do whatever its construction requires it to do. But if the machine be not well made, so that some part is not compelled to work harmoniously with every other part, the whole machine will work very imperfectly or not at all. Similarly, if one part of the animal organism, especially of a highly developed organism, should fail to perform its functions, every other part is likely to suffer, and the whole organism may even die. There is no physical necessity compelling a person to be dependable, as is the case with the parts of a well-made machine or the organs of a healthy body; but it is just as important that he should be. That is why dependableness is such an important quality of the people, and why it becomes increasingly important as civilization advances. In fact, without it civilization cannot advance at all.

Our mutual dependence is of various sorts and degrees. If someone fails to do that which he is expected to do, he may imperil the lives of hundreds or thousands of his fellow men, as in the case of a switch tender or a locomotive engineer; he may occasion the loss of valuable property; or he may, as in the case of an unpunctual person, merely upset our calculations and cause many of us to waste our time waiting for him or guessing what he is likely to do. In all these cases, in greater or less degree, he occasions loss to the nation. The time we waste on account of his lack of dependableness is as truly a loss as the property which is destroyed. Aside from the direct loss of time and property, there is the greater loss which comes from the discouragement of enterprise, the lack of confidence, and the general demoralization which ensues when men can no longer rely upon one another.

Honesty. The first element in dependableness is common honesty. Men who will not keep their word, fulfill their contracts, or do business without cheating, are not only morally odious; they are also obstructions to the progress and prosperity

of the community. Perhaps this is why they are morally odious. A community made up of such people, no matter how gifted they might be mentally, could scarcely prosper. No one could trust anyone else; consequently there could be no credit. Nothing could be bought or sold without the closest and most minute inspection, and this would be laborious and therefore wasteful of time. There could be no coöperation or teamwork, but everyone would have to look after himself and spend a great deal of time watching his dishonest neighbors. Among the many advantages of honesty, therefore, not the least is that it is a great labor-saving device when it is practiced throughout a community. Of two communities which are otherwise equal, the one within which honesty prevails will advance more rapidly in prosperity and power than the one in which dishonesty prevails.

Sobriety. Next to honesty, sobriety is probably the most important element in dependableness. In a rudimentary state of society, where each individual works and acts most of the time alone, and where, therefore, there is little interdependence, drunkenness may not be so vicious as it has now become. In our interlocking civilization no personal habit or vice so unfits a man for usefulness as drunkenness. If you had to take your choice between riding behind a locomotive engineer who was addicted to drunkenness and riding behind one who was addicted to any other vice, there is not much doubt as to which you would choose. If you had to take your choice between a chauffeur who was in the habit of getting drunk and one who had formed any other bad habit whatsoever, you would not be likely to take the drunkard. Apply a similar test to anyone in any of the hundreds of responsible positions (and all positions are coming to be responsible positions) and you will reach the conclusion that the person who is addicted to drink is about the least desirable citizen you can name. There are fewer places where he is of any use and more where he is a menace than is the case with the victims

of any other vice. Whatever you may think when you are discussing, in the abstract, the relative harmfulness of various vices, you are not likely to be much in doubt when you come to a concrete case like that of a locomotive engineer, a switchman, a driver of an automobile, or even a janitor or anyone else whose lack of dependableness might endanger your life. Sobriety must obviously rank high among the virtues which go to make up what we have called dependableness.

Courage. Courage is the father of many virtues, as fear is of many vices. It is probable that as many falsehoods result from fear as from malice. In any kind of emergency you will want dependable companions who will not fail you. Their dependableness will be in proportion to their courage. Even your own courage may depend partly upon their courage, and theirs upon yours; that is to say, when you feel that you can rely upon one another, you will all feel more courageous and more capable of coping with a difficult situation than if each of you doubts the courage of the others. This applies not only to physical courage in a time of physical danger, but to moral courage in times when the larger interests of society are at stake. Men of weak courage fear to come out on the right side, and even men of real courage have their confidence shaken by the feeling that they cannot depend upon their fellow citizens.

Fidelity. Fidelity is closely related both to honesty and to courage, and serves much the same purpose. It is the quality which keeps faith even though one might gain some individual advantage by breaking faith. The habit of breaking faith or abusing confidence demoralizes a group or a community and makes any kind of effective teamwork impossible.

There are doubtless many other elements which contribute to the dependableness of a people, but these four are the principal ones. Any group of people who possess these four in high degree can rely upon and coöperate with one another and carry out any form of teamwork which they have

the intelligence to plan. A community whose people are weak in any one of these four qualities will have difficulty in carrying out any effective scheme of group action, no matter how clearly they perceive the advantage of doing so. While these are moral qualities, they are nevertheless qualities upon which the economic prosperity of the nation depends. They are therefore of just as much interest to the economist as good tools, good land, or any other factor.

Reasonableness. Reasonableness is a noticeable characteristic of progressive people, as its absence is of unprogressive people. It includes freedom from prejudice, passion, and superstition, willingness to take a sensible view of things and to be guided by sound judgment rather than by stubbornness and general contrariness. It is opposed equally to the slavish following of old customs, on the one hand, and blind and headlong pursuit of new fads, on the other. It involves a frank recognition of all the necessary conditions of social life and teamwork, and a willingness to submit to those conditions even at some inconvenience to self. It involves the willingness to help in any genuine reform movement even at some inconvenience to self, and likewise a recognition of the necessary and legally constituted methods of effective reform.

Teachableness. The first element in reasonableness is teachableness, or eagerness to learn, especially to learn better ways of doing the work which we have to do. Travelers among backward races give many strange accounts, not simply of the ineffective methods of work, which we might expect, but of the unwillingness of the people to learn new ways even when they are shown. One railroad builder who was forced to employ native labor in a backward country, which need not be named, found that they were accustomed to carry all burdens on their heads. In moving dirt they insisted even on carrying it in boxes and various receptacles on their heads. He supplied them with wheelbarrows and gave orders that they were to use these and nothing else. They used the wheelbarrows, but