Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 8.djvu/72

 60 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

annual jeremiads of the Interstate Commerce Commission set forth the actual results. The " community of interest" device was soon invented, and this has since developed into community of ownership. Consolidation has been steady and continuous, and the organization of the Northern Securities Co. was neither an exceptional occurrence nor a climax. The commission does not hesitate to say that railway combination cannot and ought not to be obstructed, and that the only way to prevent abuse and oppression of the public is to recognize the futility of legislation designed to secure competition in transportation and legalize pooling under certain restrictions. The chairman of the com- mission, Mr. Knapp, is beginning to discuss government owner- ship and operation of the railways as a feasible alternative.

What is called "municipal socialism" has almost become orthodox and practical politics, for even conservative councils and mayors are now insisting, if not upon immediate assumption by municipalities of the functions now discharged by public-service corporations, then upon explicit reservation in all grants or con- tracts with such corporations of the privilege of taking over their properties after a certain limited term. The leading Republican newspaper of the country, the New York Tribune, objects to the application of the term "socialism" to municipal ownership and operation, and states sententiously that " public ownership of public utilities is not socialism." In view of these illustrative facts, Mr. Knapp is amply warranted in predicting the early appearance of definite demands for government operation of rail- roads in political platforms. Telegraphs, telephones, and all other "public utilities" (what a vague and elastic term !) will fol- low or accompany the railroads. Can there be any reasonable doubt as to the origin of this remarkable change in public senti- ment with regard to natural monopoly ? If competition is to disappear, and combination is to become general, the argument for state control and management can hardly fail to appear over- whelming to the general mind.

But it must be recognized that, philosophically as well as popularly, the problem of natural monopoly is distinct from the broader question of industrial combination. Few now advocate