The house of Industry : a new estate of the realm

96 THE HOUSE OF INDUSTRY

The next stage was the capture of Congress by the Socialists, largely engineered by Tom Mann and the new Unionists.

Later came the Labour Party, to which most of the Congress Unions became affiliated.

This, in its turn, resulted in Congress returning with a sigh of relief to its own industrial mission.

What is that mission ?

Nothing more and nothing less than the conquest of industry by Labour.

Congress has long since discovered that it must win its victory in its own way. And that way is, in the first instance, to secure a monopoly of labour power. With that monopoly it can then proceed to democratic control of the industrial machine. Beyond that, and as yet untouched by Labour organisation, are the Banks, the great financial corporations, notably the insurance companies, and innumerable merchanting concerns.

How can Labour control industry unless it can also control finance ?

It cannot.

Nor can it co-ordinate industry without the requisite powers and without control of commerce.

If there had been no Trades Union Congress, no suggestion of a House of Industry would have come from me.

The final stage in the history of Congress is that it shall lead in the struggle for the House of Industry.

In particular, it must impress the Labour politicians with the obvious fact that the Trades