2i8 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



first jjlea appears to be sound in principle, thongli it may often 

 liave been applied to cases not properly coming within it. As to 

 the second, the convenience of giving to an all bnt universal cus- 

 tom the force of law is incontestable, but it is at least doubtful 

 whether this is sufficient to deprive individuals who deliberately 

 wish to put themselves outside it of the liberty of doing so. Un- 

 less their action could be brought within the first line of argu- 

 ment, sufficient reason for restraint does not appear. 



These limitations of individual liberty are familiar to us, and 

 have obtained a firm hold in our legislation ; but we enter upon 

 comparatively new ground when we turn to the proposals that an 

 increasing number of industries should be undertaken and directed 

 by state or municipality, and that a minimum &Tidi not inadequate 

 subsistence should be assured to all those engaged in such indus- 

 tries, if indeed the princii)le be not presently extended outside tho 

 monopolies so established. The ideas which are clothed in the 

 jjhrases"the socialization of the instruments of industry" and 

 " the guarantee of a minimum wage to all workmen " appear to 

 involve a complete reorganization of society and an absolute 

 abandonment of the theories of the past. This is not enough to 

 justify their immediate rejection or their immediate acceptance. 

 The past has not been so good that we can refuse to look at any 

 proposals, however strange in appearance, offering a better prom- 

 ise for the future. It has not been so bad that we must abandon 

 its methods in despair, as if no change could be for the worse, if 

 not for the better. No one could now be found to deny the possi- 

 bility, and few to question the utility, of the socialization of some 

 services. The post office is in all civilized countries organized as 

 a national institution, and the complaints that are sometimes 

 heard as to defects in its administration never extend to a demand 

 for its abolition. Some of our largest municipalities have under- 

 taken the supply of water and of gas, or even of electric light, to 

 the inhabitants, and a movem.ent has begun, which seems likely 

 to be extended, of undertaking the service of tramways. Demands 

 have also been made for the municipalization or nationalization 

 of the telephone service. 



New considerations of great difficulty arise when we pass to 

 the suggestion of the undertaking by local authorities of produc- 

 tive industries not in the nature of monopolies. In monopolies 

 direct competition, often competition in any shape, is practically 

 impossible ; in other industries competition is a general rule ; and 

 it is by virtue of such competition that the members of the com- 

 munity do in the long run obtain their wants supplied in the most 

 economical manner. When commodities are easily carried with- 

 out serious deterioration, the constantly changing conditions of 

 production and of transport induce a constant variation in the 



