A B C of modern socialism
74
If the State became more powerful than the Guild, Collectivism would result. If the Guild over-ruled the State, Syndicalism would be established.
What is to prevent one or the other result?
The necessity of each party to the other, and the relative equality of their powers.
What is the necessity of the Guild to the State?
The Guild possesses a monopoly of the labour and skill of its own industry.
What is the necessity of the State to the Guild?
Without the State as the organ of the whole the association of all associations, each of the Guilds would be an unco-ordinated unit. And as the Manchester doctrine of laissez faire applied to the individual broke down and required State action to regulate it, so the same doctrine applied to groups would break down unless controlled by an organ representing the whole.
What sanction would the Guild have for its just claims if they were disputed?
The power to strike.
What is the sanction of the State?
The control of State Guilds.
What are the relations into which a Guild might enter?
They are four; relations with the State, With its own members, with other Guilds, and with the public.
What would be the relations of the Guild with the State?
On the one side the State would let on a renewable lease the initial capital required by the Guild