Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 9.djvu/698

 674 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

if a federated relationship is to exist at all. The perfectly fede- rated state has, therefore, been described as the one which in its relation to other states essentially in its military relation- constitutes an absolute unity, while its members in their relation- ship to each other possess complete independence.

In view of the incomparable utility of a unified organization for the purpose of war, it would be supposed that each party would have the utmost interest in the absence of that unity in the opposing party. Yet there are certain cases of the oppo- site. The form of the centralization into which the military situation forces the party grows beyond the party itself, and gives to this party occasion to prefer that the opponent should present himself in this form. In the struggles of recent decades between laborers and employers this has been most unmis- takably the case. The Royal Labor Commission in England reached the conclusion, in 1894, that firm organization of laborers was favorable for the employers in an industry, and in like manner organization of employers for the laborers. This is for the reason that, although outbreaking struggle might reach large extension and duration, yet this is nevertheless for both parties more advantageous and more economical than many local quarrels, losses of labor, and petty conflicts which, in the absence of a firm organization for the parties, never ceased. This is parallel with a war between modern states, however destructive and expensive it may be. It still presents a more favorable balance than the incessant petty struggles and frictions in periods in which the governments were weaker and less centralized. In Germany also the laborers have recognized that a close and effective organization of the employers, precisely for the purpose of fighting out conflicts of interest, is entirely to the advantage of the laborers themselves ; for only an organization of that sort can furnish representatives with whom one can treat with full security. Only in dealings with such an organization are the workmen in the given case sure that the result reached will not be at once jeopardized by the independent operators. The dis- advantage which a party suffers through the unified organization of its opponent because this organization is an advantage for