There is no practical difficulty in the way of the management of
the ordinary productive industries, large or small. The Trusts and
Co-operation have, between them, solved, or put us in the way of
solving, all problems connected with these. But there are difficulties
in connexion with the industries concerned in the production of such
commodities as books and newspapers. During the transitional stage
these difficulties will not arise; but when all industries are carried
on by the Commune, or the Nation, how will books and newspapers be
produced? I only throw out the following suggestions. Printing, like
baking, tailoring, shoemaking, is a communal rather than a national
industry. Suppose we had printing offices controlled by the Communal
Council. The printing committee might be left free to accept any
publication it thought valuable, as a private firm to-day may take the
risk of publication, the arrangement with the author being purchase
outright, or royalty on copies sold, in each case so much to be put to
his credit at the Communal Bank. But there are many authors whose goods
are desired by no one: it would be absurd to force the community to
publish all minor poetry. Why not accept the principle that in every
case where the printing committee declines to print at the communal
risk, the author may have his work printed by transferring from his
credit at the Communal Bank to the account of the printing committee
sufficient to cover the cost of printing? The committee should have
no power to refuse to print, where the cost was covered. Thus liberty
of expression would be guarded as a constitutional right, while the
community would not be charged with the cost of printing every stupid
effusion that its fond composer might deem worthy of publicity.
Newspapers might be issued on similar terms; and it would always be
open to individuals, or to groups of individuals, to publish anything
they pleased on covering the cost of publication. With the comparative
affluence which would be enjoyed by each member of the community,
anyone who really cared to reach the public ear would be able to do so
by diminishing his expenditure in other directions.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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