n which I have just indulged, is that
after the war the world will have been deeply impressed by the
tremendous activity of Germany, whether she be victor or vanquished.

"What is the secret of her efficiency as manifested in the mobilization
of her vast army, in her use of science in new military devices, in her
holding of the elements of her national life together during the
struggle, in her keeping her industries going in the face of
unprecedented difficulties--all to a degree never before dreamed of?
will be a general query.

"Other nations will study the German plan, asking whether it is true, as
has been taught in America, that that Government is best which governs
least.

"It may be that this war will result, entirely apart from the urgency of
the labor problem which it will magnify, and wholly on the grounds of
general efficiency, in a general inquiry as to whether or not the time
has come for quasi-socialistic national developments.

"I think it unlikely that the war will give impetus to that proletarian
socialism which is founded on class consciousness and class struggle;
but it may urge forward a socialistic movement based upon the large and
fruitful idea that the best hope for the future is offered by the most
complete and highly organized co-operation of all elements, all
interests, all agencies which in their combination make up national
structures.

"As a matter of fact, I am an optimist, and I believe that this is about
what will come after this war ends.

"To put my theory in slightly different terms, I believe that the
conflict will greatly further the development of what perhaps may be
called 'public socialism,' and I mean by that the highest attainable
organization of whole peoples for the production of commodities, the
furtherance of enterprise, and the promotion of the general well-being.

"I think that when the world sobers up it will ask: 'How did Germany do
it?'

"Whether she wins or loses that must be the universal query, for whether
she wins or loses her achievement has been in many ways unprecedented.

"There can be but one answer to this query: She did it by an
organization which brought together in efficient co-operation the
individual, the quasi-private corporation, the public corporation, and
the Government upon a scale never before seen.

"The world is bound to take notice of this."

Will Fear Loss of Liberty.

I asked Prof. Giddings to go beyond economics and to conside