a contract.

difficult to prove in court. Therefore, to avoid misunderstandings and to make proof certain, all important contracts should, whether required by law or not, be in writing. ... The first essential of any contract is the presence of competent The six

essentials of parties, and the second is the mutual agreement of these parties. Agreement arises from a meeting of the minds, or an assent to the same thing and in the same sense, and it must be with an intention of being bound by the obligation of the contract. The third essential is that the agreement must be free from fraud, mistake, or duress. Fourth, it must be based upon sufficient cause, price, or consideration, (fifth) to accomplish a lawful purpose. The sixth and last essential of a written contract is that it must be clearly stated. Contracts arise from agreement, and agreements originate in some How con

tracts arise. form of offer and acceptance. In oral contracts the offer and acceptance are by word of mouth; after the agreement is reached it may be reduced to writing, thus forming a written contract. Agreements may also be reached by correspondence. Where the negotiations are in this form, the agreement of the parties and the written form of the contract originate at the same time. A written offer followed by an acceptance in writing . . . results in a contract; these writings constitute the evidence of the agreement, and are, in fact, the written contract.

Examples — 1. Oral offer and oral acceptance

An oral

contract. “I will sell you that cow for $500, and deliver her at your place not later than May 3d,” said O to B, as he pointed out a cow in his dairy herd.

“Agreed,” replied B, “I will take her at that price, and make payment on delivery."

This oral agreement may be reduced to writing; if so, it will be The oral somewhat as follows:

duced to “ THIS AGREEMENT between 0 and B, both of Cowlitz, Oregon,

writing. witnesseth:

“ That 0, in consideration of the agreement of B, contracts to sell and deliver to B one full-bred Jersey dairy cow, registered and known as 'Jersey Lil,' the delivery to be made on or before May 3d, 1919, at the dairy farm of B.

contract re

“ That in consideration of the agreement of O, B agrees to pay to O the sum of Five Hundred Dollars, at the time of the delivery of the above described cow, this sum being in full payment of the purchase price.

“ IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have hereunto subscribed our names, this 4th day of February, 1919."

(Signed).
(Signed).

B..

An agree

ment reached by means of letters.

2. Agreement reached by means of letters

Offer

TROY, MINNESOTA, February 3, 1919.
John Doe,

Home Place.
Dear Sir:

I will sell you one hundred bushels of select seed wheat, No. 1 Dura, delivered at your farm for four dollars a bushel.

Upon receipt of your letter of acceptance, I will consider the contract closed, and deliver as you may direct.

Yours truly,

RICHARD ROE..... Acceptance

HOME PLACE, February 4, 1919.
Richard Roe,

Troy, Minn.
Dear Sir:

I accept your offer of one hundred bushels of select seed wheat,
No. 1 Dura, at four dollars a bushel, to be delivered at my place,
March 4, 1919.

Yours very truly,

JOHN DOE....

. . The foregoing letters constitute a valid written contract, and taken together, contain all the essential elements of a valid contract.

1

57. The forms of competition 1 It has often been pointed out that desirable goods and services are scarce, that is to say, their supply is small relatively to the de

mand for them. And because there are not enough goods and services to go around, men compete for them. Professor Carver has enumerated the various ways in which men may compete with one another, and has pointed out that capitalism attempts to shunt individuals into the most useful form of competition, i.e. productive competition. The relation of this to other forms of competition he explains in the following passage: The forms of conflict, or the methods of struggling for existence, Professor

Carver's may be classified as follows:

diagram

of the War

forms of Robbery

conflict. Destructive Dueling

Sabotage
Brawling
Thieving

Swindling
Deceptive

Adulteration of goods

False advertising METHODS OF

Courting for royal favors STRUGGLING

Political Courting the sovereign people

Campaigning for office EXISTENCE

Polite social intercourse

Erotic
Persuasive

Courting

Advertising
Commercial

Salesmanship

“Leaving it to the crowd” Judicial

Litigation before courts

Rivalry in producing goods
Productive

Rivalry in rendering service

FOR

{

... It will be apparent to anyone who will study the diagram Competithat among animals the destructive and deceptive methods are the tion among

the lower characteristic forms of struggle. They kill, maim, injure, rob and animals

compared deceive one another with no moral or legal restraints. They may

with comsometimes rise to the level of persuasion, as in the courting process, petition but never to the level of production; that is, no animal ever tries among men. to beat its rival by producing a larger or better product or rendering a greater or better service. Among human beings who have no moral sense, and who are unrestrained by law and justice, the destructive and deceptive methods of struggle will be followed, as well as the

Significance of competition.

persuasive and productive methods; but the destructive and decep-
tive methods are precisely the things that morals and laws are designed
to prevent. In any civilization worthy of the name, and under any
government worthy to stand overnight, men are actually restrained
by their own moral feelings, by the respect for the good opinions
of their fellows, and by the fear of legal penalties, from attempting
to promote their own interests by destruction or deception. ...

During the entire life of man on this planet he has had to struggle
in one way or another. The reason why we are here to-day is be-
cause our ancestors were successful in their struggles. . One
reason why they struggled so successfully was that they were valiant
enough to wage their fight with vigor and with spirit. That spirit
we have inherited to such an extent that we cannot even amuse our-
selves without some kind of competition or struggle. It is as the
breath of life to our nostrils. It will be well for us if we can harness
this spirit to productive work rather than allow it to waste itself
in destruction, deception, or even in some fruitless kinds of persuasion.
The nation which succeeds best in so harnessing this spirit to pro-
duction is the nation which should normally grow rapidly in wealth,
prosperity, and power.

In assuming the universality and permanence of competition in some form it is not necessary to exclude such things as love, friendship, neighborliness, and cooperation. Competitors in a friendly game may be none the less friendly because they are competing. It is only when they care more for victory or the prize of victory than they do for friendship that there is any conflict between competition and friendship. The cure for this, however, is not the abolition of competition, but the learning to care for the right things and to evaluate things properly. . .

Friendly competition is possible.

a

58. Kinds of economic freedom 1

The growth of economic freedom.

The citizens of modern industrial countries are so accustomed to a large measure of economic freedom that this type of liberty is generally taken as a matter of course. And yet it is only a few centuries ago that business was impeded and repressed by numerous

1 From Edwin R. A. Seligman, Principles of Economics. Longmans, Green & Co., 1905; pp. 165-170.

laws and regulations. In the Middle Ages, for example, the industrial activities of the individual were relatively restricted. After that period, however, economic freedom developed rapidly, until to-day it is one of the dominant characteristics of capitalistic industry. The various kinds of economic freedom are described by Professor Seligman in the following language:

(1) The first and most obvious form of freedom is that of marriage The freeand divorce. ... Freedom of marriage especially is a product of

dom of

marriage the modern economic life. Restrictions on the right of marriage and divorce. were in the Middle Ages an attribute of personal subjection, and were utilized as fiscal resources by the lord. Even with the advent of physical freedom, however, we find the right of marriage dependent on certain property qualifications, as in Southern Germany at the beginning of the nineteenth century. This also was merely a survival of aristocratic traditions, - like the still existing property qualifications for marriage in the case of army officers in continental Europe.

(2) Next we have freedom of movement. In the Middle Ages the Freedom of right of internal migration was often restricted. Under the settle- movement. ment laws in England, for instance, it was virtually impossible for a workman to leave his native parish. In modern times the growth of freedom has brought the right not only of internal but of international migration. ...

(3) We come next to the freedom of occupation. The right of Freedom of choosing one's profession was in former times hedged in by all manner

occupation. of barriers. At its worst the system of caste and custom prevented progress because it put men into vocations for which they were not fitted. Freedom of occupation insures as far as possible the right man for the right place, and this leads to enhanced production and better distribution. The only restriction which modern society permits is the evidence of fitness, in those occupations where incompetence would imply irresponsibility and involve injury to others as well as to oneself. The certificates required from doctors, dentists, engineers, plumbers, pilots and the like are not a hindrance, but an aid, to true liberty. .. (4) Another kind of freedom is the freedom of association. The Freedom of

association. chief forms of association for economic purposes are combinations

1