prosperous. On the other hand, as a matter of practice I have tried to
work towards an ordered scheme of wages throughout the industry of the
community as a whole."[148]

If the above conclusions are accepted, it must be agreed that the scope
of any measure designed to help in the attainment of the desired
distributive outcome must be the whole field of industrial enterprise to
which the policy of wage settlement applies. The question that remains
is, whether it is possible to devise a principle of wage settlement by
which wages as a whole can be adjusted by reference to the profit
situation in industry as a whole. That is to say, whether any measure
can be elaborated by which all wages could be adjusted, according as
profits in industry as a whole exceeded, approximated, or fell below the
profits level that is taken to mark just and sound distribution of the
product of industry.

5.--It is plain that if the measure is of such a character that no great
harm can result from the possible error involved in the process of
calculation, it can be adopted with less hesitation than if the opposite
were the case. That is one of the considerations prompting the following
proposals.

Let us presume, in order that the proposals may be put in definite form,
that the profits return for industry as a whole which is agreed upon as
just is a 12 per cent. return. The next step would be the invention of
some method by which the profits return of industry as a whole at any
given time can be measured. This would be a matter of considerable
difficulty; yet it is, in my opinion, not beyond the range of practical
attainment.[149] The following method, for example, might not be too
unsatisfactory. Let a certain number of enterprises be selected in each
industry which comes within the field of wage regulation. The selections
should be representative of the industry. If there is a variety of types
of enterprises within the industry viewed from the standpoint of
productive efficiency, the selected enterprises should tend to represent
the more efficient sections of the industry. Then a valuation of these
enterprises should be made. A standardized method should then be devised
for keeping account of the profits of these selected enterprises. That
might necessitate the inauguration of standard methods of accounting
throughout all industry--which is a result to be favored. The profits
return from the selected enterprises in all industries should b