a model
to the rest of the world. I would go so far as to say that the winning
of self-government in such industries as railways and mining is an
essential preliminary to complete Communism. In England, especially,
this is the case. The Unions can command whatever technical skill they
may require; they are politically powerful; the demand for
self-government is one for which there is widespread sympathy, and
could be much more with adequate propaganda; moreover (what is
important with the British temperament) self-government can be brought
about gradually, by stages in each trade, and by extension from one
trade to another. Capitalists value two things, their power and their
money; many individuals among them value only the money. It is wiser
to concentrate first on the power, as is done by seeking
self-government in industry without confiscation of capitalist
incomes. By this means the capitalists are gradually turned into
obvious drones, their active functions in industry become nil, and
they can be ultimately dispossessed without dislocation and without
the possibility of any successful struggle on their parts.

Another advantage of proceeding by way of self-government is that it
tends to prevent the Communist regime, when it comes, from having that
truly terrible degree of centralization which now exists in Russia.
The Russians have been forced to centralize, partly by the problems of
the war, but more by the shortage of all kinds of skill. This has
compelled the few competent men to attempt each to do the work of ten
men, which has not proved satisfactory in spite of heroic efforts. The
idea of democracy has become discredited as the result first of
syndicalism, and then of Bolshevism. But there are two different
things that may be meant by democracy: we may mean the system of
Parliamentary government, or we may mean the participation of the
people in affairs. The discredit of the former is largely deserved,
and I have no desire to uphold Parliament as an ideal institution. But
it is a great misfortune if, from a confusion of ideas, men come to
think that, because Parliaments are imperfect, there is no reason why
there should be self-government. The grounds for advocating
self-government are very familiar: first, that no benevolent despot
can be trusted to know or pursue the interests of his subjects;
second, that the practice of self-government is the only effective
method of political education; third, that it t