property is probably innate in humanity, and American conservatism in
this regard is, according to certain modern economists, undoubtedly
sound. A man should be permitted to acquire at least as much property
as is required for the expression of his personality; such a wise
limitation, also, would abolish the evil known as absentee ownership.
Again, there will arise in many minds the question whether the funds for
the plan of National finance outlined in the program may be obtained
without seriously deranging the economic system of the nation and of the
world. The older school denounces the program as Utopian. On the other
hand, economists of the modern school who have been consulted have
declared it practical. It is certain that before the war began it would
not have been thought possible to raise the billions which in four years
have been expended on sheer destruction; and one of our saddest
reflections today must be of regret that a small portion of these
billions which have gone to waste could not have been expended for the
very purposes outlined--education, public health, the advancement of
science and art, public buildings, roads and parks, and the proper
housing of populations! It is also dawning upon us, as a result of new
practices brought about by the war, that our organization of industry was
happy-go-lucky, inefficient and wasteful, and that a more scientific and
economical organization is imperative. Under such a new system it may
well be, as modern economists claim, that, we shall have an ample surplus
for the Common Good.

The chief objection to a National or Democratic Control of Industry has
been that it would tend to create vast political machines and thus give
the politicians in office a nefarious power. It is not intended here to
attempt a refutation of this contention. The remedy lies in a changed
attitude of the employee and the citizen toward government, and the fact
that such an attitude is now developing is not subject to absolute proof.