第206章

Britain should belong to the British people, not to a few selfish individuals.As for the railways, they have already been nationalized in some other countries, and what other countries can do we can do also.In New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Japan and some other countries some of the railways are already the property of the State.As for the method by which we can obtain possession of them, the difficulty is not to discover a method, but rather to decide which of many methods we shall adopt.One method would be to simply pass an Act declaring that as it was contrary to the public interest that they should be owned by private individuals, the railways would henceforth be the property of the nation.All railways servants, managers and officials would continue in their employment; the only difference being that they would now be in the employ of the State.As to the shareholders -'

`They could all be knocked on the 'ead, I suppose,' interrupted Crass.

`Or go to the workhouse,' said Slyme.

`Or to 'ell,' suggested the man behind the moat.

`- The State would continue to pay to the shareholders the same dividends they had received on an average for, say, the previous three years.These payments would be continued to the present shareholders for life, or the payments might be limited to a stated number of years and the shares would be made non-transferable, like the railway tickets of today.As for the factories, shops, and other means of production and distribution, the State must adopt the same methods of doing business as the present owners.I mean that even as the big Trusts and companies are crushing - by competition - the individual workers and small traders, so the State should crush the trusts by competition.It is surely justifiable for the State to do for the benefit of the whole people that which the capitalists are already doing for the profit of a few shareholders.The first step in this direction will be the establishment of Retail Stores for the purpose of supplying all national and municipal employees with the necessaries of life at the lowest possible prices.At first the Administration will purchase these things from the private manufacturers, in such large quantities that it will be able to obtain them at the very cheapest rate, and as there will be no heavy rents to pay for showy shops, and no advertising expenses, and as the object of the Administration will be not to make profit, but to supply its workmen and officials with goods at the lowest price, they will be able to sell them much cheaper than the profit-making private stores.

`The National Service Retail Stores will be for the benefit of only those in the public service; and gold, silver or copper money will not be accepted in payment for the things sold.At first, all public servants will continue to be paid in metal money, but those who desire it will be paid all or part of their wages in paper money of the same nominal value, which will be accepted in payment for their purchases at the National Stores and at the National Hotels, Restaurants and other places which will be established for the convenience of those in the State service.The money will resemble bank-notes.It will be made of a special very strong paper, and will be of all value, from a penny to a pound.

`As the National Service Stores will sell practically everything that could be obtained elsewhere, and as twenty shillings in paper money will be able to purchase much more at the stores than twenty shillings of metal money would purchase anywhere else, it will not be long before nearly all public servants will prefer to be paid in paper money.As far as paying the salaries and wages of most of its officials and workmen is concerned, the Administration will not then have any need of metal money.But it will require metal money to pay the private manufacturers who supply the goods sold in the National Stores.But - all these things are made by labour; so in order to avoid having to pay metal money for them, the State will now commence to employ productive labour.All the public land suitable for the purpose will be put into cultivation and State factories will be established for manufacturing food, boots, clothing, furniture and all other necessaries and comforts of life.All those who are out of employment and willing to work, will be given employment on these farms and in these factories.In order that the men employed shall not have to work unpleasantly hard, and that their hours of labour may be as short as possible - at first, say, eight hours per day - and also to make sure that the greatest possible quantity of everything shall be produced, these factories and farms will be equipped with the most up-to-date and efficient labour-saving machinery.The people employed in the farms and factories will be paid with paper money...

The commodities they produce will go to replenish the stocks of the National Service Stores, where the workers will be able to purchase with their paper money everything they need.

`As we shall employ the greatest possible number of labour-saving machines, and adopt the most scientific methods in our farms and factories, the quantities of goods we shall be able to produce will be so enormous that we shall be able to pay our workers very high wages -in paper money - and we shall be able to sell our produce so cheaply, that all public servants will be able to enjoy abundance of everything.