Either organized society (government) is supposed to protect its members (citizens), or it is not. If it is, then it is its duty to see that the necessaries of life are not monopolized and placed beyond the reach of its people. If it is not, then the organization is a failure, for without the means of sustenance a nation cannot exist. If, then, we may be permitted to view government as an organization of society having for its aim the welfare and protection of its members, why shall not that society have power to DIRECT the industrial machine? If all men and industries in the nation are interdependent, why shall there not be a NATIONAL DIRECTION, so that every industry shall be made to do its duty toward society? If people must have coal, or oil, or meat, or transportation, or gloves, and one set of men or one locality has a monopoly thereof, why shall not the nation DIRECT that those men or those localities shall do right by all other men and by all other localities? That they will not always do so in the absence of national direction is evidenced by the recent strike. The labor unions of the country are probably able and willing to support the strikers for years when a vital principle is involved, and so thoroughly is labor organizing that serious conditions are likely to obtain in that most important of all industries, transportation, to which industry all others are so closely related and on which they are so helplessly dependent. FIXING PRICES. If government is to "promote the general welfare" by assuming the obligation of keeping the necessaries of life within the reach of its people, it must of necessity prohibit the fixing of prices of those necessaries beyond the purchasing power of the people. Thus, if the coal operators having a monopoly of coal choose to make the price of that necessary $50 a ton, the national board of arbitrators (be it Congress or some other body), must fix a reasonable price and if the employees of any industry have a grievance, they cannot be allowed to strike and stop work--their grievances must be arbitrated by the National Board. Probably such a course would never become necessary, when the industrial organization is perfected and the readjustment accomplished, but the power of national direction must be ever present, _if for no other purpose than to act as a warning_. FIXING HOURS OF WORK. What is true of prices is equally true of the hours of work. Government will not owe every man a living, but it will owe every man an opportunity to earn a living. As the principle of co-operation develops and is utilized, so great would be the economy that many would naturally be thrown out of employment. Thus, rather than create a public poorhouse, or "idle house," the hours of daily work must be reduced to include all who are able and willing to labor.