.
But it would not be the authority of the individual who imposes rules
in virtue of his economic power for the attainment of his economic
advantage. It would be the authority springing from the necessity of
combining different duties to attain a common end. There would be
discipline. But it would be the discipline involved in pursuing that
end, not the discipline enforced upon one man for the convenience or
profit of another. Under such an organization of industry the brain
worker might expect, as never before, to come to his own. He would be
estimated and promoted by his capacity, not by his means. He would be
less likely than at present to find doors closed to him because of
poverty. His {165} judges would be his colleagues, not an owner of
property intent on dividends. He would not suffer from the perversion
of values which rates the talent and energy by which wealth is created
lower than the possession of property, which is at best their pensioner
and at worst the spend-thrift of what intelligence has produced. In a
society organized for the encouragement of creative activity those who
are esteemed most highly will be those who create, as in a world
organized for enjoyment they are those who own.

Such considerations are too general and abstract to carry conviction.
Greater concreteness may be given them by comparing the present
position of mine-managers with that which they would occupy were effect
given to Mr. Justice Sankey's scheme for the nationalization of the
Coal Industry. A body of technicians who are weighing the probable
effects of such a reorganization will naturally consider them in
relation both to their own professional prospects and to the efficiency
of the service of which they are the working heads. They will properly
take into account questions of salaries, pensions, security of status
and promotion. At the same time they will wish to be satisfied as to
points which, though not less important, are less easily defined.
Under which system, private or public ownership, will they have most
personal discretion or authority over the conduct of matters within
their professional competence? Under which will they have the best
guarantees that their special knowledge will carry due weight, and
that, when handling matters of art, they will not be overridden or
obstructed by amateurs?

{166}

As far as the specific case of the Coal Industry is concerned the
question of security and salaries