The New York herald., 1921-05-23
If consumers
should organize
MODERN ECONOMIC TENDENCIES: A,
ECONOMIC HISTORY OF AMERICA. 3
Sidney A. Reeve T.. r. Dutton & Co.
Reviewed by II. L. PANGBORN.

Reviewed by II. L. PANGBORN.
TT HE bulk of Mr.. Reeves study is taken
up with detailed, painstaking
analysis and outline history of eco
nomic growth in America from the primitive
pre-factory, pre-machinery days to the
present and with the statement of his
conceptions of elemental economic laws. 1t
is impossible to summarize his work briefly,
beyond stating that the result of this eco
nomic evolution. to the present, is the
building up of society based upon COM
mercialism, which has drawn, and is draw
ing, effort 'away from productive walks of
life into the more lucrative ones of COM
mercial combat over the produce and upon
profit taking" involving the endless
cumulative issue of interest bearing COM
mercial Indebtedness against the Ultimate
Consumer
out of this evil state of things he foresees
a revolution must come; not a political, but
an economic revolution. He fears 1t is too
late to avoid this, but he feels that If we
succeed in understanding it the upheaval
may be modified its cataclysmic currents,
possibly, to some extent, directed rms
book is a valiant attempt TO speak warn
ing. to direct attention of thinkers to the
dunger points. Says he:
1--WE have already accumulated this vast
magazine of explosives and have reared our
entire political and economic structures
thereon. AS yet no way even to
check its irresistible and accelerating in
crease. It's disposal is the one most vital
problem of modern sociology Yet these
pages are the only -socialistic ones CIV
ing warning of the danger involved IN us
existence; and not even the socialists COM
oI1 10
ual. peaceful removal"
He will have none of conventional social
ISM of the Hillquit or John Spargo type, or
OF the Rand School His central thesis is
that the ultimate Consumer supports the
whole industro- commercial system" and that
this is diametrically opposed to basic tenets
OF political socialism, He argues that, in
equity. the consumer is really the owner of
all that is produced, or in some sense, or
all that exists. The labor of the factory
hand, plus the directing intelligence of su-
perintendents, of distributors and middlemen,
has, in reality, produced nothing unless
there is a consumer ready to acquire the
article Without the consumer the thinS
made Is mere rubbish
What is needed, he thinks, is a recogn1-
ton of the natural economic sovereignty OF
the Ultimate Consumer" which he considers
analogous to the equally basic sovereignty
of the individual voter over matters poliu-
cal" 1t took the Revolutionary War and
the Declaration of Independence and vast
deal of turmoil to bring about the full rec
ognition of individual political sovereignty.
He is emphatic that it is not our political
institutions that are at fault. They are not
merely not responsible for existing evils but
quite powerless to correct them. There eX-
lists nowhere" says he, "any government
having the power to restrain these g1ganuc
economic phenomena. That power does
,l,o-o 18th Va
not yet even attempted, let alone accom-
plished the organization of the only au-
thority truly sovereign over commercialism,
namely, that of the Ultimate Consumer"
Thus he sees way out in the develop
ment of what he calls Consumersm, thing
quite different to any kind of socialism, al
though it will doubtless be confused with
socialistic ideals in many minds 1t is truly
an economic revolution that he contem-
plates-a complete remaking of the whole
fabric of modern society. He admits the
difficulty of any detailed plan and, indeed,
offers none concentrating on preaching the
central idea. The proposal is briefly stated
as based on the following principles:
The Ultimate Consumers, suitably aggre-
gated. are to own all plant and stock in
volved in supplying themselves with what
they wish from the time the latter leaves
the hands of its original producer until il
reaches the premises of it's Ultimate Con-
sumer. In other words. there to be in
tho entire industro- commercial system only
two transfers Of ownership for each article,
namely (a) from the producer to the Con-
sumers-in Aggregate, at the point of orig
hal productive effort; (b) from the Con-
sumers-in Aggregate TO the individual"
This aims to cut out all bargaining and all
profit taking. at least in the "unearned in
crement' category The argument is in
genious and carefully worked out.
Mr. Reeve will be denounced as visionary
by some critics. especially by such do not
take the trouble to understand his proposal
But whether one agrees with all his deduc-
tions or not. the book Is forcefu entirely
earnest and is based on a careful. intelligent
examination OF incontrovertible facts. It
win give any sincere reader a good deal to
think about.