Being an Argument in Favor of Industrialized Government

PART I.

THE A. B. C. OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.

(Simplified for the Uninitiated.)

The one great desire uppermost in the minds of men is to get the greatest good from the earth, the source of all wealth, with the least possible labor and effort. In the so-doing, both experience and reason teach that economy is the watchword. It is the life blood of civilization—the essence of industrial prosperity. The basis of all philosophy is "I want," and in the pursuit of happiness and contentment, economy must be the watchword.

WASTE.

The destruction of the smallest useful atom is an injury to every living person; and the more useful the atom, the greater the injury. A great fire, a flood, a devastating cyclone, is not only a calamity to those immediately affected, but it is a universal loss; for, the great human family is just so much poorer, the world's progress has been retarded, and our onward march toward the perfect civilization has been checked. Likewise, every stroke of labor that does not go toward making the world better or richer is wasted energy. The man who insists on making shoes, or raising wheat, or digging coal, when he is mentally, physically and by nature ill-adapted to that calling, is a drone and a burden upon society. He is wasting energy and impeding the general progress, because he is doing something which others could do better or quicker, and he is therefore the cause of misplacing two persons in unproductive and unnatural callings.

MACHINES.

The labor saving machine is the personification of economy. It, and all great inventions, are welcomed by civilization as great economizers of the world's work. It is wasted energy for man to do by hand that which a machine can do as well and in less time. The machine economizes production and therefore lightens and lessens the toil of the human family. Ten men in a shop or industry, each assigned to that branch of the business to which he is best adapted, form a combination for economy identical with a machine. If a linotype machine, operated by one man, can do the work of say five type-setters, the world is richer to the extent of about what four men could create in other vocations,—allowances being made for the labor required to make the machine itself.

DEPENDENCE.

A person can no longer make his own hat, coat, shoes and house, and raise his own vegetables, as Crusoe did. Ten thousand men are co-operating to give him his shoes alone. There are the men who kill the animal which provides the hide, the men who carry it to the jobber, the men who strip it, the men who cure and tan it, the men who pack it, load it on the trucks, put it on the cars, unload it, carry it to the leather merchant, and the innumerable clerks, bookkeepers, advertisers and stenographers who help sell it to the shoe manufacturer, the additional transportation, the endless variety of hands it passes through in the factory, and the countless hands that handle the finished shoe before it reaches the consumer; and then,—the telegraph's part in the manufacture or sale or transportation of that shoe, and the mails and the advertising, each employing thousands. Even the linen thread used in the shoe has a similar history; likewise the pegs, the needles, the machines, the cloth lining and the metal eyelets. And the shoe is a small part of a man's necessaries. What does all this show? The inter-dependence of men, one upon the other.

CO-OPERATION.

We have come to that stage of human progress when we could not return to the Crusoe method if we desired. We must depend upon our brothers in distant parts. A vast industrial machine has been created, of which each member of the human family forms a part. A must look to B for his shoes, B must look to C for his meat, C must look to D for his coal, and all must look to one another for every needed thing. Even the savages in distant lands are at work procuring ivory and other commodities for us while we are creating suitable articles for them, and thus the human family are co-operating together for the common good.

If this system of co-operation or trade is not interfered with by unnatural and artificial devices, every man will sooner or later find his level and bend his energies in that calling to which he is best fitted by nature, education, training, and environment. A natural law is at work. To interfere with it is to divert commerce from its natural channels and cause friction in the great industrial machine. The machine needs no oiling or mending; it simply requires direction. It develops, expands and lubricates as it runs. It is not revolution that wears out a machine; it is friction.

COMBINATION.

Two or more persons can enjoy the heat of one stove, or the light of one lamp, or the shelter of one roof, as well as one person, and without depriving anyone of an equal quantity thereof. A printer can produce 1,000 circulars with but little more cost than 50. A truck or car can carry tons with but little more expense than pounds. Two fish can be fried in one pan as well as one. A professor can teach a class of 500 as well as of five. Hence the advantages of combination and co-operation, and hence the uneconomy of individual isolation. How much wiser for Crusoe to take Friday in his household and divide their labors, each doing that which best suits him, using,—so to speak—only one stove, one lamp and one frying-pan.

Suppose at Christmas a man has 100 presents to distribute in various localities. A messenger for each of the 100 presents would mean an expense of say $50 and much wasted energy. A single messenger could so systemize the work, by mapping out the shortest routes, that he could accomplish the work in far less time, comparatively, than the 100 messengers, and his bill would be only about $5. Now, suppose the man should ascertain that each of his 199 neighbors in the block also had 100 presents to deliver. That would make 20,000 presents in all. If each man should employ a separate messenger it would cost about $1,000. One messenger would go to First street and leave a package (little knowing that another messenger was to deliver a package at perhaps the very next door), thence to—say Nineteenth street, thence to a distant section of the city, thence to still another district, and so on. Each of the 200 messengers would have the same long journey to make, wearing out his shoe leather, making the cars do useless work, and wearing and wasting his own energy. But suppose the 200 neighbors should combine and co-operate. They would soon find that about five messengers could deliver their 20,000 presents in about the same time that 200 could; and, at $5 each, or $25 in all, with a saving of $975 to themselves. Mapping out the city in five districts and assigning one messenger to each, they would probably find that many presents were to be delivered in adjoining houses, and some to different residents of the same house. Witness the many steps that have been saved, and the time, and the labor of 95 men who have thus been freed to work in some productive vocation.

Method and system are parents of economy. They allay waste, eliminate useless labor, and lighten and lessen the toil of the human family.

ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION.

Some morning at break of dawn witness the confusion in the simple industry of delivering milk. A wagon rattles up to your door and leaves a bottle of milk. It clatters down the street and leaves a bottle to a neighbor in the next block. Then it turns down the avenue and leaves a bottle several blocks away, and thence perhaps to a distant section. But watch, and you behold another wagon coming. It stops at the next house to yours and deposits a bottle on the window-sill, then dashes down the block and leaves a bottle at some distant house, then to a house perhaps several blocks away, and so on until it has covered, in spots, a large territory. Soon, a third wagon appears and leaves a bottle at the second house from yours, and then dashes away to distant parts to cover its route.

And so on until nearly 200 different wagons, or grocer clerks, have visited the 200 houses in your block to deliver 200 separate bottle of milk. In every block the same scene is being enacted. Remember that every employer has horses, wagons, harness, drivers, a store, books, a cashier, advertising, fuel, light, and a plant to maintain.[1]Now compare the unsystemized milk delivery with the scientific, methodical system of delivering the mail. The letter-carrier leaves a letter or paper at your door, hurries on to the next house, then to the next and the next; then, he does likewise on the other side of the street until nearly every house in the block is visited; then he proceeds to the next block and continues his systematic, economical labors; and so on until he approaches the line where another carrier has been doing likewise in the adjoining district.

Suppose mail should be delivered in the unorganized, unmethodic manner that milk is delivered; it would require many times as many carriers to do it, and this additional work would be just as useless and wasteful to the world as if they were employed to dig holes in the earth only to fill them up again. If the milk business were to be organized similar to the letter-carrying business what an enormous amount of wasted energy and labor would be saved. What an immense amount of useful and wealth-creating work could those now useless extra milkmen perform in other callings.

THE FUTURE.

The question is asked: Will all of the milk dealers one day combine and form a Trust? And should they? My answer is, Yes. Competition will perhaps drive them to it; but if it does not, some day they will see the advantages and benefits of such a combination and they will wisely follow the example of the oil and steel magnates. If they never see it, then some of the larger and wiser milk dealers will, and they will perhaps enlist sufficient capital to control the market by buying up the milk supply at the farms, thus driving the smaller dealers out of the business or into the Trust.

What is true in the milk business is also true of nearly every other similar business, and that is the condition which this country has to face in the near future.

PARTNERSHIP.

A is engaged in the manufacture of shoes. B is a rival. They sell a certain shoe for $3. Each has a separate plant to maintain; a bookkeeper; a delivery wagon; and fuel, light, rent and advertising bills to pay. After a while A and B form a partnership under one roof, with only one delivery wagon, one bookkeeper, etc. With this great saving in expenses they find that they can produce as many shoes with the one enlarged plant as the two old plants produced and at much less cost. They can now pay a little higher wages, make a little more profit and still reduce the price of their shoes to, say, $2.90. C now comes to town and opens a rival establishment. He has difficulty in producing as good a shoe for $2.90 as does the firm of A & B, but he competes for a while until D comes to town and starts another shoe factory. Then C and D join their plants into one and the two firms go on competing, each spending large sums in advertising, etc. Finally they all get together and combine the several plants into one. They build an extension on A and B's building and move C and D's machinery therein. The new firm of A, B, C & D now have a large plant. Where formerly the individual manufacturers employed say six bookkeepers, they can now get along with but two. Where they once had ten delivery wagons they now require but two or three, because of the systemized routes mapped out. Instead of each manufacturer spending $10,000 a year for advertising, or $40,000 in all, the new firm now spends only say $15,000. The saving and economy is so great in nearly everything, that they can now pay still higher wages, make still greater profit and sell their shoes for perhaps $2.75—if they want to. Thus everybody is benefited by the enlarged partnership except those who have been thrown out of employment, and they shall presently be taken care of as we proceed.

Now, if four men by combining and forming a partnership can reduce the price of shoes from $3.00 to $2.75 and pay higher wages and make more profit than if they were operating separate plants, how great must be the advantages of 100 or 1,000 men and plants combining into a partnership. This would be a Trust. If two men can use the light of one lamp or the heat of one radiator without one depriving the other of any light and heat, so can 100 men do likewise, provided there is enough light and heat to go around, and on this simple principle is the great Trust founded. It economizes; it eliminates useless energy; it allays waste; it saves. Our letters are delivered by the Trust system; our milk is delivered by the old system of individual enterprise and is inconsistent with modern civilization.

ORGANIZATION.

If the industries were not organized, if Trusts and Combinations were unknown, if there were no corporations and no partnerships and everything was carried on by individual units, what would be our industrial condition? What an enormous amount of waste would there be and what a colossal volume of extra work would the human family have to perform to produce what we now have!

Organization is the key-note of the century. "Individual Enterprise" is a relic of past ages. A partnership of two or more is organization on a small scale. A corporation is practically a combination of two or more partnerships, or an enlarged legalized partnership. A Trust then is simply an organization of several smaller organizations. The greater and more perfect the organization, the greater the economy. The greater the economy the lower will be the cost of production, and the smaller will be the amount of work to be performed and, likewise, the cheaper will be the article—if! (See later).

ADVERTISING.

Most advertising is wasted energy. One of its purposes is to take trade from another and bring it to itself,—a snare set by A to attract B's customers. It creates nothing, and is only useful as a means of communication or notification, and it imposes an unnecessarily heavy burden upon the human family. While it does give employment, it is not much more useful employment than the hiring of men to shovel dirt into the river and then hiring them to shovel it out again. If employment is all we seek, why not tear down the public buildings and then hire men to build them up again? (The question of employment for labor will be dealt with elsewhere.)

This illustration is not intended to discourage advertising, for advertising has its uses, and under present conditions is almost synonymous with success. But suppose, for example, there were 100 telephone companies in New York instead of one. The competition would be bitter. Prices would come down to the lowest competitive margin. But, as prices and profits came down, so would wages. The rivalry would encourage dishonesty, hatred and envy, and result in various impositions, such as compelling every subscriber to have several 'phones.

Each company would have the expense of maintaining a separate plant, with its small army of employees, and wires strung over the city like a mosquito netting, and each would be spending large sums in advertising which would finally be paid by the consumers.

Now, contrast this unorganized confusion with the present single system with its one small advertising bill to pay, one system of wires, one set of canvassers and other employees, one engine room, one president, etc. Has not the burden of the world's work been lightened and lessened by this combination and organization?

THE WORLD'S WORK.

Given a population of 80,000,000 of which say 20,000,000 are working people, and given a certain amount of work required to provide the 80,000,000 people with food, clothes, shelter and the numerous minor conveniences,—how many hours a day must these 20,000,000 working-people labor to produce what we now produce, under the old unorganized system of individual enterprise? If there were 100 telephone companies in New York instead of one, here at once we require about ten times as many men in this single industry as are now required, and these hundreds of thousands of men required to operate the 100 telephone companies must be taken away from other industries. And so on, throughout all the trades, professions, factories and industries.

If the average day's work is now ten hours, and all those who want to work are now employed, and only one-half of the industries are now organized into Trusts, what would be the result if all the other industries were organized into Trusts? First, there would not be so much work to do, owing to the great saving and economy of combination as before explained; and second, several hundred thousand workers who are now employed would be thrown out of employment. Here we arrive at an apparent obstacle. One of two things must be done; either the great unemployed must leave the country, or be supported in idleness, or die of starvation, or, the hours of work must be reduced! If 20,000,000 can do the required work, working ten hours a day, with half the industries unorganized, and if organization (Trusts) would throw say 5,000,000 out of employment, then we must reduce the hours of daily work so as to give the 5,000,000 employment!

If the hours were reduced to say six, the remaining 15,000,000 could not do all the work in that time, and the 5,000,000 unemployed must be called in to help. A demand for the labor of the 5,000,000 would at once be created. Everybody would then be employed. Every industry would be organized. Useless work and wasted energy would be eliminated. Everybody would have shorter hours of work. The uneducated would have more time to study and develop. The arts would then be generously patronized. Paupers would disappear. Wealth would multiply. Ignorance and drunkenness would have received their death-blow, because their father—Poverty—would have been destroyed. But hold,—other difficulties present themselves: Who would compel the organized industries (Trusts) to reduce the hours of work? What would prevent them charging exorbitant prices? Who or what would prevent the captains of industry filling their own pockets and keeping the great profits to themselves? Who or what would prevent the rich from growing richer, and the poor poorer?

SYNOPSIS.

The informed reader might well have passed over the preceding pages, for they are purely rudimentary; but if he has been kind and patient enough to follow me thus far, so much the better, for he has refreshed his memory and will be more ready to grasp that which is to follow.

Before proceeding let me recite in synopsis these important truths which I have already illustrated:

PART II.

A SUMMARY AND EXPOSITION OF THE PRECEDING PAGES.

Having familiarized ourselves with the elementary truths concerning the Trust principle, we have now arrived at that point where we may begin to shape an intelligent argument, but before so doing, let us summarize. Perhaps we may now be able briefly to set forth the more important features of the Trust or Combination.

GOOD QUALITIES OF THE TRUST.

1. It eliminates useless labor and energy.

2. It allays waste.

3. It economizes and reduces to the minimum the cost of production.

4. It reduces the world's work.

5. It tends to lessen the hours of labor.

6. It makes it possible to raise wages.

7. It makes it possible to lower the prices of commodities, and thus reduce the cost of living.

8. It operates in harmony with the law of natural selection.

9. It destroys wasteful competition, and economizes by eliminating the useless and the unfit.

10. It includes all of the advantages of co-operation without altogether destroying the advantages arising out of the natural instincts of rivalry, contest and emulation.

EVIL QUALITIES OF THE TRUST.

1. It throws large numbers out of employment.

2. It destroys many small dealers, jobbers and middlemen.

3. It tends to create monopoly in private hands.

4. It creates power in private hands arbitrarily to fix exorbitant prices, to lower wages and to control the market.

5. It tends to create great wealth for the few at the expense of the many, widens the chasm between the rich and the poor, and causes concentration of wealth.

BALANCING ACCOUNTS.

We have, then, in the Trust, an immense commercial giant which is both good and bad at the same time. If one had a fine thoroughbred horse which balked, or shied, or kicked, should we destroy it because of these evil qualities, forgetting that it also has an equal percentage of good qualities? Or, should we try to cure it of its faults by training it to do our bidding? We do not condemn and destroy a great machine because it has a defective part, but we rather seek to remedy the defect.

The Trust is doing a wonderful work for the world. Like improved machinery, it is lightening and lessening the toil of the human family, and at the same time it is working a great injury. Labor-saving machinery is also working injury, in that it is making large numbers of men idle, but this is not sufficient reason to destroy it. Machinery and Trusts are brothers. To be consistent, if we destroy the one we must destroy the other. Before contemplating destruction of the Trust, let us see if we cannot find some way to train and to harness it, like the horse, so that it will be useful and beneficial. Let us try to devise a method whereby the good qualities of the Trust can be preserved and the evil qualities eliminated.

PART III.

FALLACY OF THE GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP IDEA.

The doctrine of socialism, which may be defined as government ownership and operation of the means of production, is attractive. Some of our ablest men are numbered among its exponents, and the political parties which advocate socialism, in whole or in part, are growing rapidly.

The theory of socialism is so beautiful and may be so cleverly stated that very few indeed have the acumen to withstand its assaults upon the reason, particularly when only one side of the question is heard. The great mass of our people have refused to accept it, not because they believe it unsound, but because they either do not understand it or are prejudiced and believe it to be some destructive, lawless scheme of the discontented.

The recent coal and railroad strikes, had they long continued and assumed really alarming proportions, would have furnished an almost unanswerable argument in favor of the government ownership idea; and a repetition in these or in some other important industry would perhaps so drive home the conviction that socialism was the only remedy, that for all we could do the elections would be carried by the party advocating those measures, and our present form of government overthrown.

The superficial thinker, upon reading the foregoing pages, will probably arrive at one or two conclusions as to the Trust; either it must be destroyed or it must be taken over by the government. The more thoughtful will conclude that it would not be wise or expedient, even if possible, to destroy the Trust, and his next thought will be in the direction of public ownership. He will say that if the government can operate the Post Office system so successfully it ought to be able to operate the coal mines, the oil fields, the factories and the railroads, just as the cities operate their water works, police department, and in many cases their railroads and gas plants. If he be not too thorough in his reasoning he will conclude that if the government operated the Trusts, all their evil qualities would be eliminated and their good qualities saved. It is a convenient conclusion, yet it is unsound as I shall presently proceed briefly to show.

COMPETITION.

Some writer has said, "Competition gluts our markets, enables the rich to take advantage of the necessities of the poor, makes each man snatch the bread out of his neighbor's mouth, converts a nation of brethren into a mass of hostile, isolated units, and finally involves capital and labor in one common ruin."

Successful competition denies competition, because the successful competitor must destroy his rival, before he can be successful. Competition is the antithesis of co-operation. The one means isolated units, the other an organized combination of units. The Trust method of co-operation, however, while it destroys competition among industries, does not destroy competition among men. Here lies an important distinction which will develop as we proceed.

INSTINCTS.

Contest and rivalry are inherent instincts in all living things,—in vegetable and animal life alike, and this struggle for existence determines which shall survive. The law of survival of the fittest determines which plant, which animal and which man shall succeed. All these are struggling among themselves for supremacy and nature is the supreme arbitrator of the contest. The law of natural selection cannot be overcome. It is as fixed and immutable as the law of gravitation. Men are not born equal. Nature never duplicates, and never creates two things alike. Men are unequal and different in nature, in stature, intellect, frugality, desire, industry, perseverance, hardiness and strength. A wise Creator hath made it so.

Were all men alike they would all want the same thing—to do the same thing, to create the same thing, and to consume the same thing—which would result in chaotic confusion. Again, the inequality of conditions has been one of Nature's greatest and most useful expedients in developing and perfecting the race. To assume an equality among men is to assume that which is impossible and that which would be unwise. It has ever been the struggle for existence which has urged men to move onward with vigorous, earnest and persistent effort. The desire to surpass, to outshine, his fellows has always been and will ever be a potent factor in his development, and when this rivalry is exerted in the struggle for the means of sustenance then does this desire develop into the power that moves the world. Emulation, that milder form of competition, is that which may be said to have for its object of attainment the applause and approval of our fellows. It has no influence in the struggle for bread. The primary desire to sustain life and perpetuate the species is the inherent instinct that gives power to the secondary desire to excel or emulate a rival, and hence bread is the one great objective point. Take away the necessity to struggle for food, clothing and shelter, and you destroy that dynamic power that moves the world.

PUBLIC OWNERSHIP.

If contest and rivalry are inherent instincts, and if the struggle for existence brings out men's best efforts, then, any system which destroys the opportunity for the free exercise of these instincts in such a struggle is at cross purposes with the basic principles of human nature, and is therefore unsound and unscientific.

Socialism presupposes the government's taking over and operating of every farm, factory, railroad, mine, telegraph, trade and industry. The Goulds, the Rockefellers, the Morgans and the Schwabs must then seek government positions with a fixed wage not to exceed the wages of their inferior officers and workmen. If they were then to exercise their marvellous organizing powers, it would no longer be the fear of poverty which now inspires them. They would know that they could no longer aspire to excel their fellows in wealth and social position, and there would no longer be a struggle for existence.

Existence would be for everybody alike who is willing to labor a few hours a day. Food, clothes and shelter would be in abundance for the rich and poor, regardless of one's abilities or attainments. The one great incentive that has always moved men to labor with energy, enthusiasm and persistence will have vanished. The world would soon go to sleep.

OBJECTIONS TO SOCIALISM.

1. It would create an enormous and dangerous power for the party in control, and would probably perpetuate its control over every industry in the land.

2. It would destroy the instincts of rivalry, contest and competition for the necessaries of life, and that desire to excel and surpass our fellows, which instincts now move the world.

3. It removes the incentives to progress by eliminating the opportunities to acquire individual affluence and social superiority.

4. It would result in stagnation of business.

5. It would cause deterioration in human character because of the removal of the incentive which makes men strive to better themselves mentally, morally and intellectually.

6. It is unscientific in that it does not comprehend the great inequality of men and the necessity for the inequality of conditions.

7. It does not rest upon the fundamental law of natural selection, because it diverts men from their natural callings, since it is the struggle for existence only that determines which is fit to survive, and which is best fitted for certain work.

8. It is impossible of attainment except by confiscation without just compensation to the owners of the enterprises confiscated, and to this, modern civilization would never consent.

9. It would create an industrial machine so colossal, so complicated and so complex that it would be entirely unmanageable.

10. It would result in chaos and confusion because of the assumed equality of very great inequalities.

ARGUMENTS FOR SOCIALISM.

There is much in socialism that is good and true. In fact, it may be that it is nine-tenths true; but the other one-tenth is fatal—it outweighs the other nine-tenths.

I have heretofore in my public life, and could now, set forth many convincing arguments in favor of the government ownership idea. If I did so now it would necessitate answering them by repeating and enlarging upon that which I have just set forth, which is not the purpose of this essay. In my opinion there has been no argument for socialism yet produced that can overcome the force of the foregoing truths.

As times and conditions change, so do opinions, and thus has it been with the writer. Change is the only thing that is constant—strange paradox—and mutability is the one immutable law of the universe.

PART IV.

CAUSES OF MONOPOLY.

Most people agree that the Trust is the result of an evolutionary development. If this be true, it is quite certain that the movement will continue and that the Trusts will multiply in number and in size, and thus even greater injury will be wrought than is now complained of, and the problem will become the more complex and the more pressing for solution. If the Trust is the result of a natural movement it is idle to talk of such manifestly inadequate suggestions as tariff revision, government ownership, the single tax, and publicity as Trust destroyers; for, if it is natural, the Trusts will grow and thrive in spite of these. But, should we listen for a moment to those who seek to exterminate the Trust?

OBJECTIONS TO DESTROYING THE TRUST.

1. It performs the same function in civilization as improved machinery—lightening and lessening the toil of the human family.

2. It organized the industries, eliminates useless labor, allays waste and economizes in the use of nature's materials.

3. It makes less labor necessary, and therefore tends to reduce the hours of work.

4. It makes enormously greater profits, comparatively, than individual enterprises, and therefore makes higher wages possible.

5. It reduces the cost of production to the minimum and therefore makes possible the lowest prices.

6. It is impossible to destroy the Trust without legislating against the co-operative and partnership principle, and this would be futile as well as demoralizing.

THE GREAT QUESTION.

If then we are not to destroy the Trust, and if we are not to adopt the government ownership idea, and if the Trust cannot safely be let alone because of the injuries it is now working, and because of the still greater injuries which it threatens to inflict upon society in the future, what shall be done with it? What can be done with this unmanageable monster to destroy its faults and yet not spoil its virtues? How can we conquer the giant without slaying him?

LOCALIZATION.

One more phase of the question requires consideration before proceeding with conclusions. In Gloversville, N. Y., and near vicinity, about three-quarters of the inhabitants are engaged in the glove industry, and in Troy, N. Y., the same conditions obtain as to collars and cuffs. All over the country, we find the inhabitants of certain localities devoted almost exclusively to one industry, such as pork-packing, manufacturing, fishing, and mining, and even in our cities we find certain sections devoted exclusively to banking, shipping, shopping, dry-goods, manufacture, and commission brokerage. The people of a certain town, having for generations devoted themselves exclusively to the manufacture of say, bricks, have become proficient and expert in that industry. They have invented or obtained control of the best machinery, they have trained their children from infancy to become proficient in the industry, and they have ever been alert to seize upon the best and newest ideas that always come to those who devote their lives and fortunes to the perfection of any one thing. Besides, natural advantages such as water power, accessibility to navigable streams, climatic or geological conditions, and geographical situation often attract and confine the people of a locality to one industry. Racial limitations and advantages also determine to some extent what calling a man shall follow. The thick-skulled negro would not be a success in the icy regions of Alaska, and the oily Esquimo would be a failure in the cotton fields of the South. Again, nature has adapted certain regions to the growing of cotton, or tobacco, or fruits, and in others it has deposited vast quantities of coal, or iron, or oil.

These, in brief, are some of the facts which render irresistible the conclusion that localization of industries and specialization of men is the natural and inevitable condition of the future.

Now, if every locality shall in the future have its specialty and other localities will not compete with it, as we have shown they often cannot, then locality monopolizes that specialty.

Thus the people of Gloversville will probably obtain a monopoly of the glove industry, likewise the people of Troy of the collar and cuff industry, the people of Wilkes-Barre of the coal industry, and the people of Omaha, Kansas City or Chicago, of the meat-packing industry, and the people of Haverstraw of the brick industry—not only because of their training and experience, but because of natural adaptation, or of geological or geographical advantages.

Here, then, are natural monopolies at many points, and we may as well legislate to stop the tides from rising and falling as to resist this natural economic movement. While not necessarily a Trust, it partakes of the nature of the Trust in effect, and it may properly be classed with the Trust for all present purposes.

Thus, monopoly results from two known causes: the operation of the laws of co-operation, and the operation of the laws of localization and specialization.

INTERDEPENDENCE OF MEN

Since one can no longer make his own shoes alone and must summon the aid of thousands of his fellows in this simple industry, so must he have the assistance of many more thousands of his fellows to supply him with the numerous other articles needed for his comfort. In exchange for their aid he gives his own labor in his chosen calling, and thus does he and every other man become a necessary unit in the vast universal organization. All men and all industries are interdependent. Without the steel industry, the shoe industry fails for want of nails, eyelets and machines. Without the paper industry the steel industry fails for want of paper, car-wheels, books, stationery, the mails and the telegraph. Without the silk and cotton industries the glove industry cannot thrive, and so on throughout the entire list.

SOME PARTY HISTORY IN PASSING.

Thomas Jefferson, the father of the present Democratic party, was an individualist. He was opposed to the expenditure of public money in repairing highways, to building state canals and to establishing even a national university. He was strongly opposed to the government ownership principle, and maintained that that government is best which governs least. The keynote of his philosophy was "free individual enterprise."

Alexander Hamilton represented the opposite school of political philosophy. He was for concentration, and centralization of power. At the root of the Hamiltonian theory is the belief that the people are not competent to govern themselves,—hence the idea of ruling from above. At the root of the Jeffersonian theory is the home rule principle and absolute confidence in the wisdom of the people. The Republican party today is somewhat consistent with the Hamiltonian philosophy, while the Democratic party is consistent with no one theory, and is composed of an heterogeneous collection of philosophers (?) from divers schools; but, assuming that the Democratic party is mainly Jeffersonian, it should be the last party seriously to suggest the government ownership idea. Yet, if we are to follow Jefferson's "Free individual enterprise" philosophy, we cannot consistently destroy the Trust, for that would be interfering with free individual enterprise. The word "free" was used by Jefferson in the sense of freedom from governmental interference. However, there are those who claim that the Trust destroys free individual enterprise because of special governmental favors, such as tariffs, patent and copyright laws and legislative discrimination, which contention is more or less well founded, and these persons therefore wish the government to refuse these favors, claiming that then the Trust cannot exist, and that then there will be free individual enterprise. But this appears to be an erroneous conclusion, in view of the enormous advantages and economies of co-operation, and by no manner of logical reasoning is it possible to construct a permanent remedy from such proposed action.

Briefly, there is nothing to be found in the traditions and philosophy of either the Democratic or the Republican party, nor the various socialist parties, to meet the situation.

Whether we approve of the collectivist school of philosophy, of which Karl Marx was the illustrious head, or of the individualistic school, of which Proudhon was perhaps the ablest exponent, whether we are followers of Hamilton or Jefferson, we find we must seek out a new ground or a middle ground somewhere, for the old theories will not meet the situation and solve the problem.

There is some truth and virtue in everything that is false and evil, just as there is some evil in everything that is good. We must discover and appropriate the virtues of Jefferson and Proudhon, Hamilton and Marx, and carefully discard their faults.

PART VI.

A PARABLE.

A family was once shipwrecked upon a large island. There were five members of the family all able to work, and by a proper division of their labor they managed to provide themselves with food, clothes, and shelter. After a time another family was shipwrecked upon the same island. The second family followed the example of the first, and each prospered independently of the other. During the next year a third and fourth family were also stranded upon the same island, for it was unmarked on the charts and many a ship had met its fate upon its rocky shores. As each family developed and multiplied, each having selected a different part of the island, four little villages, some distance apart, sprang up. During the daily hunts several other similar villages were discovered in the interior, each representing a shipwrecked family of previous years. As time wore on, and each village grew, and other shiploads of people from all nations were deposited upon the island, it came to pass that the island became quite densely inhabited, and the villages almost touched one another at their outskirts.

One day a philosopher mysteriously made his appearance; and after touring the island, he asked all of the inhabitants to meet him in an open field. When the appointed day came, the entire adult population was there, and the philosopher spoke as follows:

"You have a fine country here, and fine people. You are industrious and simple. Each little village is independent of the other villages, for each can provide itself with everything its people actually need. You never ask favors from your neighboring villages. Each village has its own corn field, its own carpenters, woods, cows, sheep, horses and stores. But I find that you have no music, no books, no art, no places of amusement and very little ingenuity. You all work from morn till night and you have no time for these things. It is a constant, ceaseless struggle for all of you to keep body and soul together. Each of you men and women is an isolated unit. Each village is an isolated unit. You are all isolated from the great commercial countries far beyond the seas. Now, in travelling through your island, I found that one village had a coal mine and all the people there used coal for fuel, while all the other villages have to hew great trees, chop them up, and burn wood, in order to get heat. In one village I found oil wells and the people there burn oil, while all the other villages have to use bullrush torches. In one village I found the soil of clay, so that the people made their houses of bricks, while the other villages have to use blocks of wood, or logs. In another village I found iron ore and their people have sharp tools, while other villages have to use sharpened stones. And so on, for I found each village has some peculiar and natural advantage over the other. Now, my friends, why do you keep these God-given advantages to yourselves? You villagers who have coal know that there is enough for all the island, and so with you who have the iron, bricks, or cotton, or fruits, or silks, or furs. Why don't you exchange what you make or raise for the products of your neighbors? The whole island must have so many hats, so many shoes, and so many houses, and if you divide your labors and freely exchange your products with one another, you will find that you will all have more comforts, and you won't have so long to work each day. And when you have more leisure, you will begin to invent, and plan, and enjoy yourselves, and write books, and visit one another to exchange ideas. The gross amount that all you people produce each year is really very, very small. If you should co-operate, you could create many times as many commodities as you now produce."

The philosopher disappeared. The people talked about it for weeks thereafter, and they finally began to adopt his plan. They built railroads, and they freely exchanged products with one another. Money then came into use. With money one could do almost anything. It represented bread and butter. Every man tried to get all he could,—not only to provide against future wants, but that he might outshine his neighbors. There was gradually a great division of labor on the island, and a great saving in work. The people no longer worked fifteen hours a day. They did not have to. Men who had strong arms moved to the village where they were doing something which required strength. Men who had thick skulls moved to the cotton fields to work under a hot sun. Men who had sharp eyes moved to the manufacturing village. Men with executiveness became foremen, and superintendents, and presidents. And so every village gradually became adjusted to the changed plans. Every man sought that village or field best adapted to his physique or abilities. Every man and every village finally became a specialist. In the coal village they did nothing else but mine and transport coal. In the oil village they only produced and shipped oil. In one village they had several swift streams running through to the coast, and this village was in the middle of the isle and not far from the iron and cotton villages. It became the manufacturing village. This village was divided into many different districts, and was very large. In one section, the Manchester-like climate and misty atmosphere, and nearness to the cotton fields, made it a natural cotton manufacturing center. Another section was adapted for making steel and iron goods. And so on.

As time wore on, every industry on the island, localized, and every man became specialized. Inventions and machinery multiplied. But every new labor-saving machine saved labor, of course, and produced better goods than hand labor. So every new machine took a job away from several workmen. There was much complaint about this but new inventions kept coming. There were now twenty different hat factories in the manufacturing village, each trying to undersell the other. One day they combined and built a large addition on the largest factory building. Then they moved most of the other hat factory machinery in, and destroyed the old buildings and the machinery they did not want. They also discharged nineteen engineers, nineteen foremen, fifty bookkeepers, two hundred drivers and packers and many other men, because they no longer needed them. These poor discharged workmen did not know what to do, for they had spent their lives at that business and knew no other. First, there was a great hue and cry raised by all the little villages, for they all felt sorry for the poor discharged workmen.

But soon, this big partnership concern began to sell the same hats for far less than formerly, and they told the people that they could afford to because they did not have so many men to pay, so much rent, so much advertising, and were running things more economically. Other big partnerships were formed all over the island, and after a while, so great was the economy of combination that many men could not get any work to do. Every big partnership soon took in all the little concerns on the island, or else it drove them out of business by competition.

Some men became discouraged and began to drink rum, and others even began to cheat and steal.

One day, some of the big partnerships had a banquet, and they talked things over and they said: "We're making money and getting rich, but we could do it faster if we did not have to pay so much wages. Let us raise prices and cut wages down." This they did, and finally the workingmen got together into a partnership of their own. They organized, and they all said they must have just so much wages or they would not work at all. This forced the big partnership people to pay better wages for a while, but the two partnerships, employer and employee, were always quarrelling. One day a very serious thing happened in the coal village. The workmen refused to work because they thought they were not getting enough wages. They stopped mining coal, and, while they were idle, all other workmen on the island sent them money and provisions out of sympathy. It was dead winter and people began to suffer and some of the factories had to shut down. Even the railroads could not run their engines. But the people made such an uproar that the coal owners finally surrendered a little, reluctantly, and again the mines were operated.

Not long after this, a similar disturbance took place in the cotton fields, and for a long while the whole island suffered for want of the hundreds of things which cotton goes to make, even to shoe strings and lampwicks.

For several years these outbreaks in the different villages were very frequent. First it was a cry of, "no oil;" then, "no milk;" then, "no iron;" then "no meat." Finally, as a last straw on the back of the already exhausted camel, all the railroads formed a partnership, and they too became tied up, and ceased operation. Without them, the people could scarcely get anything to eat, or drink, or wear, or burn, and famine threatened the island; because, every village had become devoted to only one thing, and it could not do or produce anything else. Each had learned to depend upon the other villages for every other article. Then there was a great public uprising. Meetings were held everywhere. Many people said that the trouble was because people formed partnerships. Others answered by saying that that was not the cause, for even if there were no partnerships, still one village would continue to have all the coal, another all the oil, and another all the cotton, on the island. There were no tariffs, no land monopoly, no special privileges, no government favoritism, no railroad discrimination, and no taxes, so those whose fathers had heard of such things in other countries could not advance such arguments. Nature had given certain villages a natural monopoly of certain industries. Nature had also given certain men a natural monopoly over certain trades and pursuits by making them apt and proficient therein. Therefore, Nature was the criminal, and she alone was to be blamed. But what were the forlorn islanders to do about it?

One fine day, when everything was in a turmoil of discontent and perplexity, the philosopher again made his appearance upon the island. Many thought him a Divine being sent from heaven to succor and advise them; and so, when he had called them all together, he addressed them thus:

"My friends, you have advanced and progressed and developed wondrously in one direction, but you have made a fatal mistake. You have specialized and localized your industries, and have affected an efficient system of division of labor, but, you forget that this means monopoly in private hands. You have overlooked the fact that now, every man is dependent upon every other man, and every industry is dependent upon every other industry. Again, when one hundred concerns combine into a partnership, or Trust, as we call it, and throw thousands out of employment, or when a new machine does so, you now have no way of providing for these unemployed thousands, and you cast them out upon the world to shift for themselves."

"O, Sir," cried one of the islanders, "why can we not return to the old way and not have all these modern ideas? We were getting along all right before we began to exchange commodities with each other. Why can we not go back to the old way?"

"Ah, too late, my friend, even if you all wished it," the old philosopher said.

"But, surely, you do not wish it," he added. "Do you remember when you worked from early morn till late at night and then had no stoves, no lamps, no blankets, no carpets, no crockery, no cooking utensils, no gas, no chairs, no wagons? Do you wish to return to that? Do you wish to isolate yourself from your fellow men and separately make and raise everything you eat and wear?"

Everybody saw the logic of this simple philosophy, and he was beseeched to show them what to do.

"What you must do, my friends, is to organize. Organization is all you require. You have as yet only organized into simple isolated groups. You must now organize all these groups. Every industry, every partnership, is a group. Each group is dependent upon all the others. This being true, you must form a whole. Let every man stick to his special work, let every locality remain in its special work, let every industry and every partnership stick to its special work,—don't disturb nature—but all these must stick to each other! How? By forming yourselves into one solid, compact, organized body. Call yourselves a nation. Have a convention at stated times, and let every industry, every labor organization, and every locality send representatives and delegates to this convention. It is foolish of you to let the coal villages send coal wherever, whenever, and in such quantities, as they wish. And so with every other industry. The law of demand is not always sufficient, as a guide to what is needed. All are demanding more coal now, yet the coal village is sending it out, here and there, without organized plan, system or method. The national convention should determine these questions, and all other national questions that do not adjust themselves naturally. When they do not adjust themselves naturally complaint should be and will be made to the national convention, and then the convention shall have power to settle the question in dispute. If one industry fails to do its duty and supply the others with its specialty, be it coal, oil, cotton, bricks or gloves, it is ground for complaint, and it then becomes a question for the national convention. If a partnership or industry fails to pay its employees suitable wages, and those employees refuse to work, it becomes a national question, and the national convention must direct that that industry must give to the workmen a greater share or proportion of the profits of that industry. Whether it shall be a raise in wages, or compulsory profit-sharing, is a question for the national convention to settle. Again when men cannot work, and they become a burden upon society, it becomes a national question, because their non-employment is caused by the organization of the industries, and it becomes the nation's duty to give these men an opportunity to earn a living. This it can do by lessening the hours of work in the industries. If all the workmen are required to work fewer hours each day, more men will be required to work, and thus employment can be given to all. Every national question can therefore safely be entrusted to the national convention; and, so long as that convention has power to act, you will have no trouble.

I believe, however, that so long as the national convention is known to be in existence, and that it has such power of direction, there will be little for it to do. Because, the great partnerships and industries and labor organizations, knowing of such a supreme judicial power, will usually so adjust their differences, and in a natural and peaceful way, that but few questions will come before the national convention. It is therefore the knowledge of the existence and power of such body that will urge all men to act honorably with one another. It is the fear of it which will be the potent factor, and not the thing itself."

After a few more remarks of explanation, the old philosopher disappeared as mysteriously as he had come. After deliberating upon his wise suggestion for a while, the islanders finally adopted his plan, and forever thereafter the island never had occasion to seek his counsel.

PART VII.

CONCLUSIONS.

Let us assume that in the preceding pages we have proved the following propositions:

1. That the Trust cannot and must not be destroyed.

2. That the government could not and should not own and operate the Trusts.

3. That the Trust, if not interfered with, will work great injury to society and that therefore some stringent action must be taken.

4. That such action must be such as will not destroy the many virtues of the Trust.

INTERDEPENDENCE.

Let us assume that we have also proven the following propositions:

1. That every man is dependent upon his fellows for all the necessaries and comforts of life.

2. That every industry is dependent upon other industries.

3. That the natural, proper and inevitable tendency is toward specialization and localization.

4. That, as men specialize, and industries localize, a natural monopoly results.

5. That each man and each industry becomes an integral part of an immense industrial machine.

6. That harmonious action of this machine must exist, for the reason that if a single wheel is misplaced here, or an engineer refuses to respond there, the action of the entire machine is impaired.

In the face of these two groups of premises but one conclusion can be drawn, and that conclusion may be expressed in a single word—ORGANIZATION! Men, localities and industries being interdependent, society must organize for the general welfare. A league or association must be formed, in which every man, every locality and every industry is represented. Like all other societies, this association must have a common head or center. It need not be altruistic (as against egoistic), because the welfare of one must be the concern of all, if for no other than purely selfish motives. The whole must see that every part properly performs its work. A man can no longer be an isolated unit, for he is now an integral and necessary part of society. He not only owes duties to himself, he owes duties to society. He must recognize the mutuality of all true human interests.

GOVERNMENT.

Can such an association or society be organized? Can so immense a collection of bodies meet and combine with unanimity? Fortunately, we need not speculate on the correct answer to these questions. We have an illustrious example at hand. Society has already organized. The organization is improperly called government. Government is simply organized society. We elect a President as a public servant, not as a governor. He does not, or should not, reign over us, but serve us, and do our bidding. This is not a monarchy, but a democracy.

And so the great machine is already organized. Unfortunately we are not in the habit of looking at government as a huge industrial machine, and our law makers are too prone to assume arbitrary and tyrannical power, regardless of the theory of democracy upon which all our institutions rest. Furthermore, our lawmakers are mostly lawyers, rather than industrialites.

NATIONAL DIRECTION.

Either organized society (government) is supposed to protect its members (citizens), or it is not. If it is, then it is its duty to see that the necessaries of life are not monopolized and placed beyond the reach of its people. If it is not, then the organization is a failure, for without the means of sustenance a nation cannot exist. If, then, we may be permitted to view government as an organization of society having for its aim the welfare and protection of its members, why shall not that society have power to DIRECT the industrial machine? If all men and industries in the nation are interdependent, why shall there not be a NATIONAL DIRECTION, so that every industry shall be made to do its duty toward society? If people must have coal, or oil, or meat, or transportation, or gloves, and one set of men or one locality has a monopoly thereof, why shall not the nation DIRECT that those men or those localities shall do right by all other men and by all other localities? That they will not always do so in the absence of national direction is evidenced by the recent strike. The labor unions of the country are probably able and willing to support the strikers for years when a vital principle is involved, and so thoroughly is labor organizing that serious conditions are likely to obtain in that most important of all industries, transportation, to which industry all others are so closely related and on which they are so helplessly dependent.

FIXING PRICES.

If government is to "promote the general welfare" by assuming the obligation of keeping the necessaries of life within the reach of its people, it must of necessity prohibit the fixing of prices of those necessaries beyond the purchasing power of the people. Thus, if the coal operators having a monopoly of coal choose to make the price of that necessary $50 a ton, the national board of arbitrators (be it Congress or some other body), must fix a reasonable price and if the employees of any industry have a grievance, they cannot be allowed to strike and stop work—their grievances must be arbitrated by the National Board. Probably such a course would never become necessary, when the industrial organization is perfected and the readjustment accomplished, but the power of national direction must be ever present, if for no other purpose than to act as a warning.

FIXING HOURS OF WORK.

What is true of prices is equally true of the hours of work. Government will not owe every man a living, but it will owe every man an opportunity to earn a living. As the principle of co-operation develops and is utilized, so great would be the economy that many would naturally be thrown out of employment. Thus, rather than create a public poorhouse, or "idle house," the hours of daily work must be reduced to include all who are able and willing to labor.

If the tobacco manufacturers by combining and organizing the Shoe Trust have thrust say 50,000 travelling salesmen and jobbers out of employment, it should not complain if they are nationally directed to contribute toward their support in the same or in some other more useful and productive industry by being directed to reduce the hours of work of all men who are employed by it, thus making room for all who desire to labor. Co-operation and combination carry their responsibilities, and the co-operators must be presumed to intend the natural consequences of their acts. Hence, the nation is justified in directing a reduction in the hours of work whenever occasion requires.

And this is not so radical as at first appears. Many of our State Legislatures have heretofore passed laws fixing the price of gas, telephone service and railroad rates, and they have even fixed the hours of daily work in certain industries. Again, witness the volumes of law in regard to buildings, sweat shops, hotels, mines and railroads, designed and passed for "public safety" and protection, and for "the general welfare."

Again, witness what was done by all governments during the Great War!

LABOR'S SHARE.

Those who claim that "labor creates all wealth" must concede that the foreman, the superintendent, the president and the manager is just as much a laborer as the man who wields a hammer or drives a truck. That the latter do not often get a fair share of the product or of "what he produces" is, of course, true, for "rent, interest and profit" eat up much of the proceeds of his toil. Without delving needlessly into the profound question of the relations between capital and labor, be it said that labor can, by a system of national direction such as is here suggested, obtain a fair and just reward for its toil through a system of compulsory profit-sharing. There are already many cases in America of voluntary profit-sharing with employes, and employers have found that their men work better, quicker and more faithfully when given an interest in the business. This is not urged as a necessary part of the national direction idea, but as a most desirable part, and I am of opinion that in compulsory profit-sharing with employes lies the real solution and adjustment of the differences between capital and labor.

COMPULSION.

The word "compel" is a harsh word. It strikes at personal liberty and individual freedom and attacks that spirit of independence which makes men brave, honest and noble.

The theory of democracy assumes that every man has an inherent and absolute right to freedom and liberty in so far as in exercising that right he does not impair the rights of his fellows. He is the sole judge of what he wants and of what is best for him, but in satisfying those wants he must not interfere with the rights of others.

Law and government are designed to protect those rights, and in so doing the right of compulsion is implied. All our institutions, courts, laws and legislative departments rest upon the power of compulsion, and without that power our form of government becomes ineffective. We compel a man to keep his contract by applying to the court for an injunction; we compel the vicious to obey certain laws or we imprison him; we compel railroads to charge not more than a certain fare; we compel house owners to clear their sidewalks of snow; we compel men to pay other men what they owe, and if they do not, we compel the sheriff to take away his property; we compel importers to pay a tariff; we compel husbands to support their families, and we compel all to help support the government by taxation.

The more civilization advances, the more society finds it necessary to organize; and the more organized society is, the more compulsion is necessary, until men become more perfect. Every individual now owes duties to the collectivity as well as to himself, and the power of compulsion must be vested in the collectivity so that those duties may be enforced.

If we have arrived at that stage of progress when every man can be depended upon to perform his whole duty by respecting the rights of others, keeping his contracts and doing only those things which will benefit society, and if the Trust can be depended upon to charge reasonable prices, pay just wages and in all things respect the rights of others, then the word compulsion may be stricken from the political dictionary. If we have not, if men are still selfish, dishonest and inconsiderate of the rights of other men, then the right to compel must be a part of the political machinery.

TAXATION.

The question may be asked, What power can compel the Trusts to do that which they have been directed to do by the nation? For example, suppose the coal mines remained idle,—what if the operators refused to obey the national directory? It is not the purpose of this brief writing to draw up a complete code, showing in detail how each and every man, industry and question shall be handled, but simply to show that such a code can be drawn and its regulations enforced. How do we now compel the electric lighting companies to charge not more than a certain rate, the importers to pay a tariff, the gas companies to supply us with gas at certain prices, the law-breaker to pay his fine, and the corporations to pay their taxes and penalties? These methods are well known, and they would perhaps be adequate if adopted by the nation to compel its members to keep its rules and regulations. If not, a certainly effective means of inducement would be found in a tax on land values; for then, if a Trust refused to obey, the land upon which it rests could be so taxed as to render it unprofitable to hold it idle, and the Trust managers would soon be compelled either to operate or sell the plant. The land monopoly evil is serious and threatening, since all our land is owned by about ten per cent. of our people, and, unfortunately, we are in the habit of inviting men to buy vacant land and hold it idle while waiting for a rise in values. The earth being the source of all wealth, those who monopolize the land have a first lien upon all production. There appears to be no immediately practicable remedy for this deplorable and unnatural state of affairs, yet it is quite certain that whether or not the contention of the Single Taxers is sound, national direction will be a step in the right direction; for it will mean a more compact and more perfect organization of society, and then we shall be able to see more clearly just where the evils exist, just what is at fault, and just what would remedy the defects in our present system. Besides, it would permanently fix the taxing power in the national collectivity, and when the various methods of taxation were being considered in the national councils, the law of cause and effect could more easily be traced and distinguished owing to the solidarity of society and the specific information and complaint that would be forthcoming from the most competent and well informed sources.

CONSTITUTIONS.

Must the constitution be amended in order that NATIONAL DIRECTION shall be put into effect? And, if so, would it take eight or ten years before this could be done? And is that constitution of ours, which has carried us so successfully through a century and a quarter, so sacred that it should be kept, with religious fidelity, unchanged and unaltered? Recent events seem to cry out No!

As times and conditions change, so do men, opinions and laws, and so should constitutions. It is superstitious bigotry to hold that our revolutionary forefathers were infallible and that they could and did foresee the conditions that are present in the opening years of the second century after theirs.

On November 15th, 1777, the thirteen original colonies were banded together under what was called the "Articles of Confederation." Article II thereof said in part: "Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom and independence." Article III said: "The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other." In the following articles they vested in the Congress full power to make such rules and regulations as it deemed best for the general welfare of all the people.

Now, if all of the industries and labor organizations of the nation were to meet and agree to do as did the thirteen States, each reserving the right to send delegates to an empowered convention, then that convention would have power to pass such laws as were necessary to carry out the remedies hereinbefore suggested.

If a constitution nearly a century and a half old, which has already been amended seventeen times, stands in the way of advancement and the general welfare, would any man say that the obstacle should not speedily be removed from that constitution?

The solution herein suggested does not necessarily require action by Congress, and therefore an amendment to the constitution may not be required. Nevertheless, a Congress could be empowered to act, and if it were properly constituted and contained business men and representatives from all industries and labor organizations, instead of lawyers and politicians, it would answer the very purpose. Perhaps in time the people will learn what kind of men to send to Congress. NATIONAL DIRECTION would not necessarily require an immense industrial department of government. NATIONAL DIRECTION is not national ownership. It does not embrace the idea of absolute control. It does not place the management of the Trusts in the hands of a department of government, or of a Congress, for each industry should continue to manage its own affairs, since it alone can be thoroughly conversant with the details of its own plant.

I have aimed to show:

1. That the Trust has as many virtues as faults.

2. That it can be so treated as to retain its virtues and to eliminate its faults.

3. That the Trust must not be destroyed.

4. That the government must not own and operate the Trust and Industrial Combinations.

5. That NATIONAL DIRECTION is the only scientific and practical solution.

The arguments herein are intended to show the advantages and practicability of NATIONAL DIRECTION of our industries, and the harmonious operation of those natural laws and forces which are incessantly working out their destiny. The inherent instincts of man, his nature, his desires, his ambitions, his weaknesses must all be considered in forming conclusions. That which is right will finally prevail. We may retard the onward march of civilization, but we cannot permanently check it. Not only does reason and logic urge the acceptance of the conclusions herein presented, as it appears to the writer, but unmistakable evidences of a natural movement in the direction indicated are now apparent.

If the premises given are sound, NATIONAL DIRECTION is desirable. If the conclusions are logical, NATIONAL DIRECTION is inevitable.