THE TRUST PROBLEM RESTUDIED 69
zation. Modern socialism has abandoned the doctrine that "small reforms are the enemies of great ones," and is quite ready to accept concessions from the bourgeoisie. But with reference to trusts and monopolies even the self-styled Fabian socialists proceed upon the old idea that it is futile, unwise, and reactionary to resist the industrial tendency of the day. Competition, they say, is bankrupt, self-condemned. It has become economically "impossible," and industry is reorganizing itself on the basis of monopoly. The only question is : Shall this monopolized indus- try remain under private control, substantially if not formally so, or shall the state take charge of it and conduct it in the inter- est of the whole people?
Says Mr. Henry W. Macrosty, Fabian socialist, in his Trusts and the State (pp. 317, 318):
Competition came into the world to free trade from feudalism, and, hav- ing done that work, played havoc with the lives of men. It called into existence the great opposing principle of association, by which a series of bulwarks against individualism has been built up in the trade union, the co-operative society, the municipality, and the central government. Finally, competition, turning against itself, has ended in combination, and private monopoly threatens to overwhelm the state by economic and political oppres- sion. We cannot turn back the march of economic progress ; for good or for evil we must now face the concentration of industry In the collectivi- zation of industry lies the future hope of society, and it will be obtained by the gradual transfer of one branch of production after another under the control of the municipality or the government
Industrial society is now in course of providing itself with a new organi- zation which will exclude competition and yet be motived by the desire for private gain. Will the community consent to become the serf of a small class of shareholders, or will it take the new organization into its own hands, and by scientific management make both the system and the workers capable of responding to the complex needs of a higher form of civilization? That is the problem of the trust.
It will be seen that this statement of the case admits every- thing that has been asserted in behalf of the trust on its indus- trial side. It admits that trusts effect great saving ; that they introduce efficiency and scientific management into industry, and that they subserve a pressing economic need. We know that these admissions are by no means reluctant or forced ; they are
