Detroit evening times., 1945-06-12
BEHIND
NEWS
BY Paul
MaIIon

WASHINGTON. June IL
w They say Mr.. Churchill
blundered when he claimed So
.ciahSm would bring gestapo 10
the British, rob the individual OF
his rights and make hlm a slave
10 the state-at least the pollti-
cal experts say it in chorus here
and abroad.
The very day he spoke, a Brit
ish spirited province in Canada
voted on socialism. In Ontario,
Straight-cut Socialist move
ment, called the Cooperative
Commonwealth Federation. had
won astonishing success last
time, gaining "a seats, more
than a third of the provincial
parliament.
,Fife program was government
ownership of banks, insurance
companies, railways and certain
heavy industries. This was 10
be the new rising political move
ment of the postwar Canadian
world-but II was nlpped far
below the bud. and in fact.
frost killed. when the people of
industrial Ontario twhere labor
is strong cut It's power last
Monday TO an insignificant six
seats in parliament of 80
votes.
THIS Monday all Canada is
l. furnishing another test Of
socialism and you can check the
results tomorrow, but If CCF
cannot win in the British labor
center Of Ontario il cannot hope
for much anywhere outside the
radical far west farming prov
inCeS.
The war experience of people
has not been favorable 10 social
ism. The lack of competition
among sellers has destroyed the
interests Of the consumers to-
day and government manage
ment has nowhere been salts
factory to the people.
|
COMPETITION is the only
~ thing which protects the
consumers. who are all the peo-
| pie. Government ownership and
| operation Is as non-competitive
as trust, cartel or business
monopoly. Once any single
force gets the power of eXclu-
sive operation, the buyer must
accept the terms. Where com
petition is most active, the
buyer is best protected.
Consider the service the. pub
lie gets on those western rail-
roads where some are bemoan-
ing the parallel lines. 1t is much
better than upon eastern roads
which control monopoly of
travel. This is true of the buy
ing of all goods or services. 1t
is true of hotel accommodations.
of buying cigarets, or renting a
house or buying a dress.
If one power government or
private) owns all the business,
or is in control of the operation
for any reason, the public inter
eStS are not we'll served. OF
course. they attribute our eX-
periences TO shortage Of goods
or help. That is true. but the
economic effect has been the de-
struction of competition. The
consumer could be told what 10
buy and at how much. He could
not get il across the street,
cheaper or better
IN MY opinion, government
Il ownership is in the public
interest only when II is in itself
competitive - competing with
private interests 10 serve the
public better Consider the two
Canadian railroads, one private
and one government owned. The
public gets much better service
than if the government owned
both and rallroading became a
business of government bureauc-
raCV.
IVA is good only when it can
he contrasted against living
private operation. because, if
you extend socialism TO every
thing, socialism itself becomes
monopoly with all the de-
teriorating effects on the pub
lie interest.
If YOU extend socialism 10 a
whole country, you merely
transfer labor to a government
pay roll-at government fixed
wages 49, and by the elimina-
tion of competition. allow the
government 10 become the mo-
nopoly which offers you what
ever service its political d
rectors decide, under its terms.
Economically. socialism can
not generate buSinesS-like COM
petition. In a competitive econ
omy great portion OF business
develops from the necessity Of
one concern 10 get ahead of an
other.
I SUSPECT Churchill (who
was never much of a poll
tician) may have seized upon
the most popular valid issue he
could present. The labor lead
erS who took up proposal 10
go halfway to communism
have certainly not chosen the
best time to 60 in that direction
for popular effect.
There was NaZi socialism in
Germany. so fresh in all minds
and so repugnant TO all people
Then there is the socialism ot