"The millionaires are a product of natural selection, acting on the whole body of men to pick out those who can meet the requirement of certain work to be done. In this respect, they are just like the great statesmen, or scientific men, or military men. It is because they are thus selected that wealth—both their own and that entrusted to them—aggregates under their hands. . . . They may fairly be regarded as the naturally selected agents of society for certain work."
-Source: William Graham Sumner, The Challenge of Facts: and Other Essays, 1914
Arguments similar to those expressed in the excerpt were employed earlier to oppose which of the following?
a. the government’s commitment to a laissez-faire economic policy
b. the increased immigration from European and Asian countries
c. the establishment of government programs to aid the poor
d. the consolidation of smaller railroad lines by Cornelius Vanderbilt