Looking Backward, 2000 to 1887

by Edward Bellamy

  Chapter 17

  I found the processes at the warehouse quite as interesting as Edithhad described them, and became even enthusiastic over the trulyremarkable illustration which is seen there of the prodigiouslymultiplied efficiency which perfect organization can give to labor. Itis like a gigantic mill, into the hopper of which goods are beingconstantly poured by the train-load and shipload, to issue at the otherend in packages of pounds and ounces, yards and inches, pints andgallons, corresponding to the infinitely complex personal needs of halfa million people. Dr. Leete, with the assistance of data furnished byme as to the way goods were sold in my day, figured out some astoundingresults in the way of the economies effected by the modern system.

  As we set out homeward, I said: "After what I have seen to-day,together with what you have told me, and what I learned under MissLeete's tutelage at the sample store, I have a tolerably clear idea ofyour system of distribution, and how it enables you to dispense with acirculating medium. But I should like very much to know something moreabout your system of production. You have told me in general how yourindustrial army is levied and organized, but who directs its efforts?What supreme authority determines what shall be done in everydepartment, so that enough of everything is produced and yet no laborwasted? It seems to me that this must be a wonderfully complex anddifficult function, requiring very unusual endowments."

  "Does it indeed seem so to you?" responded Dr. Leete. "I assure youthat it is nothing of the kind, but on the other hand so simple, anddepending on principles so obvious and easily applied, that thefunctionaries at Washington to whom it is trusted require to be nothingmore than men of fair abilities to discharge it to the entiresatisfaction of the nation. The machine which they direct is indeed avast one, but so logical in its principles and direct and simple in itsworkings, that it all but runs itself; and nobody but a fool couldderange it, as I think you will agree after a few words of explanation.Since you already have a pretty good idea of the working of thedistributive system, let us begin at that end. Even in your daystatisticians were able to tell you the number of yards of cotton,velvet, woolen, the number of barrels of flour, potatoes, butter,number of pairs of shoes, hats, and umbrellas annually consumed by thenation. Owing to the fact that production was in private hands, andthat there was no way of getting statistics of actual distribution,these figures were not exact, but they were nearly so. Now that everypin which is given out from a national warehouse is recorded, of coursethe figures of consumption for any week, month, or year, in thepossession of the department of distribution at the end of that period,are precise. On these figures, allowing for tendencies to increase ordecrease and for any special causes likely to affect demand, theestimates, say for a year ahead, are based. These estimates, with aproper margin for security, having been accepted by the generaladministration, the responsibility of the distributive departmentceases until the goods are delivered to it. I speak of the estimatesbeing furnished for an entire year ahead, but in reality they coverthat much time only in case of the great staples for which the demandcan be calculated on as steady. In the great majority of smallerindustries for the product of which popular taste fluctuates, andnovelty is frequently required, production is kept barely ahead ofconsumption, the distributive department furnishing frequent estimatesbased on the weekly state of demand.

  "Now the entire field of productive and constructive industry isdivided into ten great departments, each representing a group of alliedindustries, each particular industry being in turn represented by asubordinate bureau, which has a complete record of the plant and forceunder its control, of the present product, and means of increasing it.The estimates of the distributive department, after adoption by theadministration, are sent as mandates to the ten great departments,which allot them to the subordinate bureaus representing the particularindustries, and these set the men at work. Each bureau is responsiblefor the task given it, and this responsibility is enforced bydepartmental oversight and that of the administration; nor does thedistributive department accept the product without its own inspection;while even if in the hands of the consumer an article turns out unfit,the system enables the fault to be traced back to the original workman.The production of the commodities for actual public consumption doesnot, of course, require by any means all the national force of workers.After the necessary contingents have been detailed for the variousindustries, the amount of labor left for other employment is expendedin creating fixed capital, such as buildings, machinery, engineeringworks, and so forth."

  "One point occurs to me," I said, "on which I should think there mightbe dissatisfaction. Where there is no opportunity for privateenterprise, how is there any assurance that the claims of smallminorities of the people to have articles produced, for which there isno wide demand, will be respected? An official decree at any moment maydeprive them of the means of gratifying some special taste, merelybecause the majority does not share it."

  "That would be tyranny indeed," replied Dr. Leete, "and you may be verysure that it does not happen with us, to whom liberty is as dear asequality or fraternity. As you come to know our system better, you willsee that our officials are in fact, and not merely in name, the agentsand servants of the people. The administration has no power to stop theproduction of any commodity for which there continues to be a demand.Suppose the demand for any article declines to such a point that itsproduction becomes very costly. The price has to be raised inproportion, of course, but as long as the consumer cares to pay it, theproduction goes on. Again, suppose an article not before produced isdemanded. If the administration doubts the reality of the demand, apopular petition guaranteeing a certain basis of consumption compels itto produce the desired article. A government, or a majority, whichshould undertake to tell the people, or a minority, what they were toeat, drink, or wear, as I believe governments in America did in yourday, would be regarded as a curious anachronism indeed. Possibly youhad reasons for tolerating these infringements of personalindependence, but we should not think them endurable. I am glad youraised this point, for it has given me a chance to show you how muchmore direct and efficient is the control over production exercised bythe individual citizen now than it was in your day, when what youcalled private initiative prevailed, though it should have been calledcapitalist initiative, for the average private citizen had littleenough share in it."

  "You speak of raising the price of costly articles," I said. "How canprices be regulated in a country where there is no competition betweenbuyers or sellers?"

  "Just as they were with you," replied Dr. Leete. "You think that needsexplaining," he added, as I looked incredulous, "but the explanationneed not be long; the cost of the labor which produced it wasrecognized as the legitimate basis of the price of an article in yourday, and so it is in ours. In your day, it was the difference in wagesthat made the difference in the cost of labor; now it is the relativenumber of hours constituting a day's work in different trades, themaintenance of the worker being equal in all cases. The cost of a man'swork in a trade so difficult that in order to attract volunteers thehours have to be fixed at four a day is twice as great as that in atrade where the men work eight hours. The result as to the cost oflabor, you see, is just the same as if the man working four hours werepaid, under your system, twice the wages the others get. Thiscalculation applied to the labor employed in the various processes of amanufactured article gives its price relatively to other articles.Besides the cost of production and transportation, the factor ofscarcity affects the prices of some commodities. As regards the greatstaples of life, of which an abundance can always be secured, scarcityis eliminated as a factor. There is always a large surplus kept on handfrom which any fluctuations of demand or supply can be corrected, evenin most cases of bad crops. The prices of the staples grow less year byyear, but rarely, if ever, rise. There are, however, certain classes ofarticles permanently, and others temporarily, unequal to the demand,as, for example, fresh fish or dairy products in the latter category,and the products of high skill and
rare materials in the other. Allthat can be done here is to equalize the inconvenience of the scarcity.This is done by temporarily raising the price if the scarcity betemporary, or fixing it high if it be permanent. High prices in yourday meant restriction of the articles affected to the rich, butnowadays, when the means of all are the same, the effect is only thatthose to whom the articles seem most desirable are the ones whopurchase them. Of course the nation, as any other caterer for thepublic needs must be, is frequently left with small lots of goods onits hands by changes in taste, unseasonable weather and various othercauses. These it has to dispose of at a sacrifice just as merchantsoften did in your day, charging up the loss to the expenses of thebusiness. Owing, however, to the vast body of consumers to which suchlots can be simultaneously offered, there is rarely any difficulty ingetting rid of them at trifling loss. I have given you now some generalnotion of our system of production; as well as distribution. Do youfind it as complex as you expected?"

  I admitted that nothing could be much simpler.

  "I am sure," said Dr. Leete, "that it is within the truth to say thatthe head of one of the myriad private businesses of your day, who hadto maintain sleepless vigilance against the fluctuations of the market,the machinations of his rivals, and the failure of his debtors, had afar more trying task than the group of men at Washington who nowadaysdirect the industries of the entire nation. All this merely shows, mydear fellow, how much easier it is to do things the right way than thewrong. It is easier for a general up in a balloon, with perfect surveyof the field, to manoeuvre a million men to victory than for a sergeantto manage a platoon in a thicket."

  "The general of this army, including the flower of the manhood of thenation, must be the foremost man in the country, really greater eventhan the President of the United States," I said.

  "He is the President of the United States," replied Dr. Leete, "orrather the most important function of the presidency is the headship ofthe industrial army."

  "How is he chosen?" I asked.

  "I explained to you before," replied Dr. Leete, "when I was describingthe force of the motive of emulation among all grades of the industrialarmy, that the line of promotion for the meritorious lies through threegrades to the officer's grade, and thence up through the lieutenanciesto the captaincy or foremanship, and superintendency or colonel's rank.Next, with an intervening grade in some of the larger trades, comes thegeneral of the guild, under whose immediate control all the operationsof the trade are conducted. This officer is at the head of the nationalbureau representing his trade, and is responsible for its work to theadministration. The general of his guild holds a splendid position, andone which amply satisfies the ambition of most men, but above his rank,which may be compared--to follow the military analogies familiar toyou--to that of a general of division or major-general, is that of thechiefs of the ten great departments, or groups of allied trades. Thechiefs of these ten grand divisions of the industrial army may becompared to your commanders of army corps, or lieutenant-generals, eachhaving from a dozen to a score of generals of separate guilds reportingto him. Above these ten great officers, who form his council, is thegeneral-in-chief, who is the President of the United States.

  "The general-in-chief of the industrial army must have passed throughall the grades below him, from the common laborers up. Let us see howhe rises. As I have told you, it is simply by the excellence of hisrecord as a worker that one rises through the grades of the privatesand becomes a candidate for a lieutenancy. Through the lieutenancies herises to the colonelcy, or superintendent's position, by appointmentfrom above, strictly limited to the candidates of the best records. Thegeneral of the guild appoints to the ranks under him, but he himself isnot appointed, but chosen by suffrage."

  "By suffrage!" I exclaimed. "Is not that ruinous to the discipline ofthe guild, by tempting the candidates to intrigue for the support ofthe workers under them?"

  "So it would be, no doubt," replied Dr. Leete, "if the workers had anysuffrage to exercise, or anything to say about the choice. But theyhave nothing. Just here comes in a peculiarity of our system. Thegeneral of the guild is chosen from among the superintendents by voteof the honorary members of the guild, that is, of those who have servedtheir time in the guild and received their discharge. As you know, atthe age of forty-five we are mustered out of the army of industry, andhave the residue of life for the pursuit of our own improvement orrecreation. Of course, however, the associations of our active lifetimeretain a powerful hold on us. The companionships we formed then remainour companionships till the end of life. We always continue honorarymembers of our former guilds, and retain the keenest and most jealousinterest in their welfare and repute in the hands of the followinggeneration. In the clubs maintained by the honorary members of theseveral guilds, in which we meet socially, there are no topics ofconversation so common as those which relate to these matters, and theyoung aspirants for guild leadership who can pass the criticism of usold fellows are likely to be pretty well equipped. Recognizing thisfact, the nation entrusts to the honorary members of each guild theelection of its general, and I venture to claim that no previous formof society could have developed a body of electors so ideally adaptedto their office, as regards absolute impartiality, knowledge of thespecial qualifications and record of candidates, solicitude for thebest result, and complete absence of self-interest.

  "Each of the ten lieutenant-generals or heads of departments is himselfelected from among the generals of the guilds grouped as a department,by vote of the honorary members of the guilds thus grouped. Of coursethere is a tendency on the part of each guild to vote for its owngeneral, but no guild of any group has nearly enough votes to elect aman not supported by most of the others. I assure you that theseelections are exceedingly lively."

  "The President, I suppose, is selected from among the ten heads of thegreat departments," I suggested.

  "Precisely, but the heads of departments are not eligible to thepresidency till they have been a certain number of years out of office.It is rarely that a man passes through all the grades to the headshipof a department much before he is forty, and at the end of a fiveyears' term he is usually forty-five. If more, he still serves throughhis term, and if less, he is nevertheless discharged from theindustrial army at its termination. It would not do for him to returnto the ranks. The interval before he is a candidate for the presidencyis intended to give time for him to recognize fully that he hasreturned into the general mass of the nation, and is identified with itrather than with the industrial army. Moreover, it is expected that hewill employ this period in studying the general condition of the army,instead of that of the special group of guilds of which he was thehead. From among the former heads of departments who may be eligible atthe time, the President is elected by vote of all the men of the nationwho are not connected with the industrial army."

  "The army is not allowed to vote for President?"

  "Certainly not. That would be perilous to its discipline, which it isthe business of the President to maintain as the representative of thenation at large. His right hand for this purpose is the inspectorate, ahighly important department of our system; to the inspectorate come allcomplaints or information as to defects in goods, insolence orinefficiency of officials, or dereliction of any sort in the publicservice. The inspectorate, however, does not wait for complaints. Notonly is it on the alert to catch and sift every rumor of a fault in theservice, but it is its business, by systematic and constant oversightand inspection of every branch of the army, to find out what is goingwrong before anybody else does. The President is usually not far fromfifty when elected, and serves five years, forming an honorableexception to the rule of retirement at forty-five. At the end of histerm of office, a national Congress is called to receive his report andapprove or condemn it. If it is approved, Congress usually elects himto represent the nation for five years more in the internationalcouncil. Congress, I should also say, passes on the reports of theoutgoing heads of departments, and a disapproval renders
any one ofthem ineligible for President. But it is rare, indeed, that the nationhas occasion for other sentiments than those of gratitude toward itshigh officers. As to their ability, to have risen from the ranks, bytests so various and severe, to their positions, is proof in itself ofextraordinary qualities, while as to faithfulness, our social systemleaves them absolutely without any other motive than that of winningthe esteem of their fellow citizens. Corruption is impossible in asociety where there is neither poverty to be bribed nor wealth tobribe, while as to demagoguery or intrigue for office, the conditionsof promotion render them out of the question."

  "One point I do not quite understand," I said. "Are the members of theliberal professions eligible to the presidency? and if so, how are theyranked with those who pursue the industries proper?"

  "They have no ranking with them," replied Dr. Leete. "The members ofthe technical professions, such as engineers and architects, have aranking with the constructive guilds; but the members of the liberalprofessions, the doctors and teachers, as well as the artists and menof letters who obtain remissions of industrial service, do not belongto the industrial army. On this ground they vote for the President, butare not eligible to his office. One of its main duties being thecontrol and discipline of the industrial army, it is essential that thePresident should have passed through all its grades to understand hisbusiness."

  "That is reasonable," I said; "but if the doctors and teachers do notknow enough of industry to be President, neither, I should think, canthe President know enough of medicine and education to control thosedepartments."

  "No more does he," was the reply. "Except in the general way that he isresponsible for the enforcement of the laws as to all classes, thePresident has nothing to do with the faculties of medicine andeducation, which are controlled by boards of regents of their own, inwhich the President is ex-officio chairman, and has the casting vote.These regents, who, of course, are responsible to Congress, are chosenby the honorary members of the guilds of education and medicine, theretired teachers and doctors of the country."

  "Do you know," I said, "the method of electing officials by votes ofthe retired members of the guilds is nothing more than the applicationon a national scale of the plan of government by alumni, which we usedto a slight extent occasionally in the management of our highereducational institutions."

  "Did you, indeed?" exclaimed Dr. Leete, with animation. "That is quitenew to me, and I fancy will be to most of us, and of much interest aswell. There has been great discussion as to the germ of the idea, andwe fancied that there was for once something new under the sun. Well!well! In your higher educational institutions! that is interestingindeed. You must tell me more of that."

  "Truly, there is very little more to tell than I have told already," Ireplied. "If we had the germ of your idea, it was but as a germ."