and paying for it in their own way. Some of the
citizens are makers of gas, or workmen; most of the citizens are users
of gas, or consumers; and all of the citizens are owners and managers
of the gasworks and of the gas supply."[673]

The suppression of the "unnecessary middleman" sounds so very
plausible that it is certain to prove an excellent election cry. But
has the middleman really disappeared when a city corporation takes his
place? Does the corporation-middleman supply gas gratis? Are the
private middleman's profits not distributed to a host of corporation
officials in the shape of substantial salaries? The transfer of
gasworks, &c., from private hands to a city corporation is no doubt
very beneficial to those who draw the corporation salaries. It may be
very profitable to the local politicians and their hangers-on. Jobs
may be had as a reward for political support. But the citizens may
find the gas to be no cheaper and the rates to be considerably higher
after the suppression of the "unnecessary middleman." And will it then
console him that he is the "owner and manager of the gasworks and of
the gas supply"?

Under the heading "The Justice of Abolishing the Private Trader" one
of the leading champions of municipal Socialism writes: "Is it unfair
to take away the living of the private trader? Then it is unfair to
take away the living of the unemployed, the twelve millions on the
verge of starvation, and the thousands slain annually by poverty and
preventable disease. I say that the welfare of the nation must be
considered before the profits of the monopolists and the wasteful
freedom of the small trader. Under the present system a large
proportion of the population have so deteriorated in health and
stamina as to endanger the existence of the nation. Private enterprise
and competition are responsible for nine-tenths of the misery and
suffering of our twenty million poor. But we must not attempt to alter
the conditions because the small private trader would be ruined.
Nevertheless the system is going to be altered, whether the small
trader likes it or not."[674]

The foregoing are typical Socialist arguments. In the first place, the
writer grossly exaggerates existing poverty by speaking of "twenty
million poor." Then he boldly asserts that all poverty is due to
private enterprise and that municipal enterprise will abolish it. So
far municipal enterprise has not even succeeded in diminishing
poverty. On the c