Evening star., 1936-05-30

Of the existence there Of 0 very subtly
organized. very elastic and yet power
ful governing class which this country
could not, II II wished to, duplicate
In suficient time. It has survived In
France, because the average French
man is still In larger measure than
elsewhere, his own boss. It has sur
vived In the Scandinavian countries,
either because they are predominantly
agragriap, or because, as In Sweden,
the people have. by great act of
will, reversed the tendencies Of the
last decades toward the concentra-
ton Of wealth in powerful monopolies
and revived in modern form, through
cooperative enterprise, the competi-
tive system. Political freedom still
exists precariously In some other OF
the small European countries. It has
not survived elsewhere in the Western
world. This is the outstanding fact
Of this century.
How can political. freedom go hand
in hand with the concentration of
economic power? Power follows prop
erty." That statement cannot be con-
tradicted. The wage-worker who has
no control whatsoever over his job
that Is to say, over his life, who can
be dismissed at will, from one day
to the next-is he q free man? The
farmer whose single cash crop depends
upon a foreign market over which he
has no control or upon free domes-
tic price In q market where the prices
and production of all he buys are
strongly controlled by trusts and COM
binations-is he a free man? Ask
the employe of United States Steel
whether he is q free man. and he will
laugh at you. These are facts of
American life. No one does his coun-
try q service who pretends that they
are not. If, as Senator Borah pointed
out. prices. wages, the means and the
standard of living are controlled in
vast fields by powerful combinations
Of capital, no argument in reason
continues to exist for their not being
controlled by an all-powerful state.
Confronted by one menace in reality.
the people will either plop for State
control or they will bring immense
mass pressure upon Congress for miti-
eating their plight by . vast extension
Of social services. This extension can
become so heavy. so irresponsible, can
so overweight the economic system
with rigid requirements, that it can
run ahead of production. ahead of
the increase In actual wealth. When
hat hn 10 90 Ia,
the cry: Parliamentary government
under pressure groups is running in
dustry! The masses must be taken
in hand!
Growth OF Monopoly.
The growth of private monopoly
moves inevitably toward some form
Of collectivization. The whole of
Socialist theory presumes that SUCH
a tendency is inevitable in capitalism.
But 1t also presumes that economics
are not subject to acts Of political
will In Germany Mr.. Hitler was
preceded by an epoch of trusts and
cartels on the one hand, confronted
on the other by a labor trust, who
between them controlled most of in
dustrisl life. As the depression grew
and markets became more restricted
one or the other had to give way. So
the labor trust was dissolved and the
capitalist trust turned into the state
Or the state into the capitalist
trust. And, of course, political de-
mocray was abolished. Does any one
think that II the state Is one big
trust it can be run by popular vote
and political parties? Neither in
Fascist countries nor in Russia Is
there any such idea.
Political and social freedom cannot
endure in the long run without eco
nomic freedom. Economic freedom
means that workers must organize
themselves not primarily to protect
the interest Of each little group of
craft workers. but for the protection