A B C of modern socialism

49 inter-Guild relations. For the problems, though smaller, are infinitely more numerous, intricate and personal. Any trade union official will understand that. By way of analogy, he will tell you that he spends far more time and experiences greater trouble in solving the internal problems of his union than in preparing his case, say, for a demarcation dispute with another union or a resolution for the Trades Union Congress.

To organise and co-ordinate a National Guild, with a potential membership of a million, were surely a stupendous task. It means (or it means nothing) to create a million new personal relationships. Remember that the wage nexus is broken; the workers have become partners; they can no longer be ordered about or exploited. The whole million must be consulted, and the vast majority, if not ‘all, must enter willingly into the new organisation. After all, why not?

There is not one single man or woman, functionally adapted, who does not stand to gain unheard-of benefits. To begin with, bang goes the wage envelope. No nice calculation down to the last penny, no scratching of the head trying to remember ‘time lost” or a lag in piece rates. Instead a Guild cheque book. All that is needed is a little petty cash in the pocket; everything else can be paid by cheque. During unemployment, too, the cheques can still be drawn. And when the years have silvered the hair and grandchildren gather round, there is still the cheque book, still the credit at the Guild Bank. Grandad is no longer a burden on the family. His grandchildren know that! The scarcity

4