Page:The Case for Capitalism (1920).djvu/118

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adventurer, it can do so by saving capital for itself and risking it in industry, so becoming its own employer and provider. "A few shillings per head from the working class would quickly raise the capital necessary to make a trial of democratic management in any industry." So says Mr. Stirling Taylor, in the Guild State, the latest contribution to the literature of Guild Socialism.

If the wage-earners determined to make themselves masters of industry by providing their own capital, they could gain a power that would be overwhelming. The process would be gradual and slow, but if half that we are told is true about workers who stay at home instead of going to work as soon as they have earned enough to satisfy their immediate wants, steadier work would give them a big margin for this purpose of strengthening their position. The wonderful success of the co-operative movement has shown what can be done. If labour provided its own capital, the idle capitalist with no labour to work for him would find the flank of his position most effectively turned.

Concerning the proportion of the joint product that is taken by capital, it may be interesting to quote a statement made by