as well as by the
representatives of corporate capital or a single owner. It is a life
of change. It does not seem so to the operative who turns out the same
kind of a machine product day after day, sometimes by the million
daily, but the personnel of the workers changes, and even the machines
from time to time give way to others of an improved type. It is a life
that has its peculiar weaknesses. The relations of employer and
employee are not cordial; the health and comfort of the worker are
often disregarded; the hours of labor are too long or the wages too
small; the whole working staff is driven at too high speed; the whole
process is on a mechanical rather than a human basis, and the material
product is of more concern than the human producer. These weaknesses
are due to the concentration of control in the hands of employers. The
industrial problem is, therefore, largely a problem of control.

196. =Democratizing Industry.=--When the modern industrial system
began in the eighteenth century the democratic principle played a
small part in social relations. Parental authority in the family, the
master's authority in the school, hierarchical authority in the
church, official authority in the local community, and monarchical
authority in the nation, were almost universal. It is not strange that
the authority of the capitalist in his business was unquestioned. Only
government had the right to interfere in the interest of the lower
classes, and government had little care for that interest. The
democratic principle has been gaining ground in family and school,
state and church; it has found grudging recognition in industry. This
is because the clash of economic interests is keenest in the factory.
But even there the grip of privilege has loosened, and the possibility
of democratizing industry as government has been democratized is being
widely discussed. There is difference of opinion as to how this should
be done. The socialist believes that control can be transferred to the
people in no other way than by collective ownership. Others
progressively inclined accept the principle of government regulation
and believe that in that way the people, through their political
representatives, can control the owners and managers. Others think
that the best results can be obtained by giving a place on the
governing board of an industry to working men alongside the
representatives of capital and permitting them to work out their
probl