Grand Forks herald., 1917-03-09

ner In which citl1ens manage their In
dividual aAffirs. Individual doctors de-
eide whether q child has measles OF
scarlet fever. and 1t IL seen how rtdic-
ulous 1t would be to vote upon 1t. Of
hcials should be chosen in the govern
ment ~ they are in efficient corpora
themselves BY their work. making
their own duties and deciding their
promotion by their accomplishments.
The nations Of the world thus organ
lied should organize the worlds in
dustries N the corporations now do
within Germany. Production for proflt
should be stopped. Production for
consumption should be substituted.
prostration would be avoided. Either
the United States will enter the field
Of universal cooperation for universal
benefit. or the government will per-
sist in its endeavors to revive compe-
tition. In the latter case we shall cease
to export manufactures. and will ex-
port natural products. as In the earlier
generations Of our affairs. He con-
cludes:
Either we enter the coming coop
erative era Of the worlds history. and
industrial nations organized for the
highest efficiency possible under CO.
operative industrial production. or we
fall by the wayside. cease to be one
of tho worlds leading nations, and
merely become a field Of exploitation.
sphere Of European influence. to be
parceled out like China"
| That is the conclusion to which his
experience leads him. and which he is
unable to reject. although he dislikes
/ <Hanx Ol,L,
In an era of Industrial reorganization
comparable to the political reorgani-
| xation Of the French revolution. That
was economic in its origin, like the
present war. That was the death
struggle Of feudalism. Of . social sys-
tenn based on land. The world in Its
present revolution is throwing of
competition and substituting a social
system based on cooperative indus
trtaltsm. He bears testimony from
my acquaintance with the inside work.
tngs of numerous large corporations
that the industrial corporation Is not
the greedy monster of popular mis-
conception. bent only on exploitation" /"
On the contrary, he asserts that ''even
as crude and undeveloped as the in
dustrial corporation of today still is
in its social activities. il I were an
unknown and unimportant employe I
would far rather take my chances
with the impersonal. huge industrial
corporation than with the most we'll
meaning individual employer"
The student Of economic conditions
has lily observed the trend Of affairs
in this country, who fails to note that
big Business" so-called. Is now in the
ascendency, and that 1t is working
along the lines that Mr.. Steinmetz
says it must work in order to keep in
the front ranks Of progress. The big
business" involved. however. is not
the little business of making steel.
running railroads, organizing trusts,
and controlling the capital Of the
country; nor is 1t the socialistic propa-
ganda and demagogic oratory so ia
miliar to the people. That sort Of big
business" is fairly under control. state
and federal legislation having "regu-
lated" it. until the present condition
is not far removed from actual gov
ernment ownership.
Government ownership then. or
naturalization. as it is frequently
termed. is the basis of the real big
business that thousands Of wise and
far-seeing men are predicting rs the
consequence Of the war in Europe. Co.
ordination, cooperation, efficiency
guided by the central control of the
state. everything for the common
good, and the nation over all-those
of men all over the world. Shall the
individual with all his interests be
submerged in the commonwealth for
the common veal? That is the living
question Of the hour. Shall the de-
mocracy for which men have fought
and struggled and suffered so long be
erected into an impersonal autocracy
that shall count the citizen as a mere
unit of a vast aggregation Of units
a part Of the social structure but in
nowise indispensable or necessary to
It?
That is the kind Of big business"
that this nation must meet in trade
competition, political relationship and
social readjustment. The new era
seems to be dawning, and the Ameri-
can people must speedily decide what
they will do. Individualism, personal
liberty, the freedom of the citizen. the
very principles of democracy are at
| stake In the new game Of nationalism.
At present the movement Is all in
the interest of the politicians and the
economic feature of the new dispensa-
tion has scarcely developed. That will
| come with the inevitable pressure
from the outside. We cannot tell how
OuT HllASu pOpuldIlOn Will respond TO
the assault upon their governmental
system. It is certain. however, that
with the imposition of new and vast
problems consequent upon the re-or-
ganization Of Europe and the desper-
ate struggle of those peoples to
achieve their political, social and in
dustrial regeneration, the American
people will be called upon to make
the most momentous decision in their
history decision that will affect the
history Of the nation for q millennium.
or until the next worlds cataclysm
takes place in the distant future
While Mr.. Steinmetz is thinker
along socialistic lines. he is also a
practical business man. He speaks in
dustrially where others are speaking
in terms of politics. war and diplom-
acy. The, volume is stimulating, and
should be carefully read by every
thoughtful citizen.
ENGLISH ROLLING