THE END OF LAISSEZ-FAIRE

compared with, that of the others, because thatconsumer will outbid the rest. Thus, if onlywe leave the giraffes to themselves, (i) themaximum quantity of leaves will be croppedbecause the giraffes with the longest neckswill, by dint of starving out the others, getnearest to the trees; (2) each giraffe will makefor the leaves which he finds most succulentamongst those in reach; and (3) the giraffeswhose relish for a given leaf is greatest willcrane most to reach it. In this way more andjuicier leaves will be swallowed, and eachindividual leaf will reach the throat whichthinks it deserves most effort.

This assumption, however, of conditionswhere unhindered natural selection leads toprogress, is only one of the two provisionalassumptions which, taken as literal truth,have become the twin buttresses of laissez-faire. The other one is the efficacy, and,indeed, the necessity, of the opportunity forunlimited private money-making as an in-centive to maximum effort. Profit accrues,under laissez-faire, to the individual who,30