The house of Industry : a new estate of the realm

16 THE HOUSE OF INDUSTRY

We may say of politics and economics that they are the obverse and reverse of the same coin. Where the coin goes both go; where one goes the other goes. That is to say that where life is we have both the one and the other, separate yet allied, distinct yet closely related. And we may say the same of the House of Commons and the House of Industry. The problem is to distinguish them in a functional sense. The obvious way is to define the functions—or, if you will, the duties, rights and scope—of the House of Industry, leaving all else to the House of Commons.

That must be the task of the constitutional lawyers; it suffices here briefly to delimit the territory. To the House of Industry must be conceded full authority to control and co-ordinate all the industrial processes. This means also the control of banking, finance, credit and insurance. Without these, control and co-ordination would be empty words. The key to present discontents, which are plainly rooted in economic maladjustments, is control and co-ordination—effective control, relentless co-ordination. Capitalism, developing logically and inevitably on its own lines, has brought us to the stern necessity of transferring power and authority from private capitalism to the House of Industry. The immediate struggle is on the economic front. It is indeed fast becoming a question whether Capitalism can save its ventier class from extinction.

Observe, please, that this stupendous task to be