dynamics, and we shall
study them in due time. The organization we have here in view is the
earlier one which takes place within the several establishments. It
obeys a law of survival in which competition is the impelling force,
though it leads to a condition in which an effort is made to bring
competition to an end. This earlier organization is most beneficent in
its general and permanent effects; and what has been said of the
results of progress in the technique of production may, with a change
of terms, be said again of progress in the art of cooerdinating the
agents employed. It is a source of temporary gain for _entrepreneurs_
and of permanent gains for laborers and capitalists. It adds to the
grand total of the social product and leaves this to be distributed in
accordance with the principle which, in the absence of untoward
influences, would treat the producers fairly--that which tends to give
to each producer a share more or less equivalent to his contribution.
In its nature and in its results it is the opposite of that other type
of organization which seeks to bring competitive rivalry to an end,
and in so far as it succeeds divorces men's contributions to the
social product from the shares that they draw from it.

CHAPTER XXII

INFLUENCES WHICH PERVERT THE FORCES OF PROGRESS

Thus far we have been dealing with what we have called natural forces.
The phenomena which we have studied have not been caused by any
conscious and purposeful action of the people as a whole. They have
not been brought about by the power of governments nor by anything
which savors of what is called collectivism. Individuals have done
what they would, seeking to promote their own interests under
conditions of great freedom, and the effect has been a system of
social industry which is highly productive, progressive, and generally
honest. Production has constantly increased, and the product has been
shared under the influence of a law which, if freedom were quite
complete and competition perfect, would give to each producer what he
contributes to the aggregate output of the great social workshop. We
have claimed that, in the world as it is, influenced by a great number
of disturbing forces, these fundamental laws still act and tend to
bring about the condition of productiveness, progress, and honesty
which is their natural result. If the actual condition falls short of
this, the fact is mainly due to curtailments of freedom and