Page:The Case for Capitalism (1920).djvu/157

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public would be liable at any time to be directly interested in similar disputes and so would be unable to approach them with the detachment which is so necessary to impartiality. Mr. Snowden, following Schäffle, does not propose that all private enterprises shall be abolished under Socialism, but he does, as will be shown later, lay down conditions which seem most likely to abolish it. So that whenever there is a quarrel between any workers and the State, all the cther workers who, with their dependents, will be all the community except the ruling bureaucrats, will feel that it might be their turn next.

But even if all these difficulties were overcome and the workers worked with an enthusiasm and success that profit-making employers have so far failed to secure from their efforts, we are still faced by the very serious doubt as to the efficiency of official management. Ready work by the rank and file is of little or no use if it is ill directed, and if those responsible for leadership are not always eager to adopt new methods and to take risks by trying experiments which may cost them, or somebody else, dear in case of failure. We have to remember that in order to make the world that we want, a