Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 63.djvu/536

532 become equally evident that capital can not develop the industrial surplus source without labor. Indeed, one has not to examine the situation very closely to become convinced that the once disfranchised wage-earners are rapidly regaining as organized unions what they lost as individuals, viz., a claim—and a valid claim at that—to some share in the control of the industrial surplus source. To the extent that such claim can be established through association, to just such extent, therefore, can coercion be mitigated. On this account it does not appear to me at all unlikely that capitalists will tire in time of trying to enforce coercive measures, if for no other reason, because they will find coercion in the end too costly. That is to say, with diminishing returns staring them in the face because of the antagonism of trade unionism, I can readily see how capitalists may find it to their advantage to forego exclusive control of their surplus sources and admit their laborers into their monopolies by giving them shares in their companies. And if this movement—which is already well advanced—toward profit-sharing proceeds, ultimately the existing coercive relation between employer and employee will be replaced by the cooperative system, and the old guild organization will be reestablished on a very much larger scale. But supposing the coercive system between capitalists and laborers to be succeeded in this way by the cooperative system among producers, there is still another class to be considered, namely, the consumers. The new guilds, if established, would differ from the old guilds in this, that they would actually control the headwaters of the industrial surplus, while their predecessors only controlled a few incipient streams. If they chose—and as their profits would be increased thereby they might very well so choose—they could coerce consumers by demanding monopoly prices for their products. Under the existing regime we have had a taste of this sort of coercion as applied by the capitalists alone, we can well imagine, therefore, what it would mean when applied by capitalists and laborers combined. But here again, in spite of present appearances, coercion must in the long run prove unprofitable. The consumers do not represent a particular class, as do the laborers and the capitalists, nor are their interests divided, as are those of the producers. On the contrary, the consumers represent the entire community, and public opinion is always united for fair prices and efficient service. Monopoly prices and poor service touch the public's pocket, as we say, and arouse resistance at once. When things go well enough the consumers are satisfied, but let pressure be exerted on any side by producers, it is remarkable how vigorously they resist. Agitation quickly leads to association, and when combined consumers can readily bring recalcitrant producers to terms, either by boycotting their products, or, if this is not enough, by assuming control of the surplus source themselves. This latter plan has been adopted to a considerable extent in