We must now consider the relationship of Government to industry in normal times. Whether or not any particular industries should be nationalized and thereafter conducted as State industries or under some other system than the present, are constitutional questions to be decided by the Government in power in accordance with what they believe to be the will of the people. That the author of this book is strongly opposed to nationalization as a general principle of industrial organization is sufficiently apparent from what has already been written and for the reasons given. Assuming, however, that there is no nationalization of an industry, but that it continues on a reformed basis of private ownership, it is important to discuss under what circumstances the Government ought to intervene in regard to any question affecting the administration and control of that industry, or, indeed, of all industries in general. Our recent experience of Government direction of industries, both during and after the war, assists us in answering that question. If, as during the war, a large supply of munitions has to be organized at a moment’s notice, and maintained irrespective of all considerations of economy and industrial efficiency, probably no other course would remain but for the Government of the day to control the industries concerned; but, in normal times, when economy of production is imperative, industrial efficiency essential, and enterprising and far-sighted administration of paramount importance, Government direction has shown itself to be quite hopeless. Employers and Trade Unions are in firm agreement on this point, that Government control of industry spells ineptitude, incompetence, extravagance, and confusion all along the line. We may, therefore, emphasize this as the first cardinal principle regulating the relationship of Government to industry: that the circumstances are few and seldom arise which justify intervention by Government in the economic administration and control of any industry. Regulation of Factory Conditions