n
would still be a private function. The tasks of industrial direction
would still be carried out by the will of those who owned industry;
although, in many industries the power and duty of deciding some of the
important questions of direction, especially those which affect the
wage earners most directly, might be in the hands of a council or board
on which the wage earners are strongly represented.

It may be hoped that all wage earners, except those judged sub-ordinary,
would be in receipt of a wage at least sufficient to enable them to
maintain themselves (and in the case of men, their family) at a standard
of life which did not compare too unfavorably with the standard of life
of the rest of the community. By virtue of this, the way would be opened
for even the lowest grades of the wage earners to take advantage of the
opportunities that are provided for physical and mental life and
education. The ideal would be to ensure that the whole of the industrial
population had that original grant of health, security, and hope which
is required to give reality to the idea of equality of opportunity.

It is vain, perhaps, to attempt to predict whether the level of
production throughout industry would rise or fall; for that will be
affected in a decisive measure by influences over which the policy of
wage settlement will have little or no control. The proposals made would
give adequate encouragement to the accumulation of capital, and to the
carrying out of business ventures. It would succeed also, it may be
hoped, in securing the active interest of the wage earners in a high
level of production, by bringing about such a distributive outcome as
appears just to the wage earners, and by giving adequate expression to
the aspirations of the wage earners. In an industrial system, largely
dominated by the single motive of personal gain, it is not likely that
any one group or class will respond to a general need for high
production unless its interests are thereby directly served. If the
policy adopted brought about a broadening of the motives on which the
system rests and operates, there is much ground for the belief that the
level of production would be favorably affected. However, as was said
above, the possibility of such a result will be largely governed by
influences outside of the present field of study.

There remain the questions of the distribution of wealth and of
opportunity. Here, also, any conclusions that are venture