Page:King Camp Gillette - The Human Drift (1894).djvu/10

vi tarded to an extent almost inconceivable by the retention of this element of chaos as a means of producing and distributing the necessities of life.

In place of our present system of competition, I advocate material equality; and, if my intelligent and analytical readers will have the patience to hear my argument to the end, I feel convinced that I shall stand shoulder to shoulder with them in a common belief and with a common purpose in view,—the purpose of launching this reform with a determination to see it forwarded to a successful conclusion.

I advocate the formation of a united stock company by the people, of sufficient magnitude to gradually absorb and finally control production and distribution, such company having in view the destruction of all tributary industries of the present system which do not contribute or are not necessary to the production and distribution of the necessities of life. Tributary industries include all professions or industries which are not directly concerned in the production and distribution of the necessities of life, but which are the legitimate offspring of disorganization resulting from competition. These include many manufacturing industries, many professions, and many miscellaneous businesses, such as insurance, banking, law, etc.

The necessities of life are food, clothing, and habitation. In securing these necessities, there are two great avenues of manual labor,–production and distribution. These avenues, when considered broadly and grasped as a whole, can be called the machine of production and distribution. Now, a machine which is built for the purpose of producing something, should be conceived and carried forward to completion with the one idea in view of producing that something in the best and most economical manner and with the least possible friction. No unnecessary parts should enter into its construction. In trying to mentally grasp and see in our mind's eye our present machinery of production and distribution as a whole, we are bewildered with the magnitude of the loss of time and labor that is continually going on around us, which is offered up in sacrifice to the insane idea, "Competition is the life of trade."