CONTROL OF LABOUR
SIR, —In discussions on the retention or removal of the controls after the war the Socialists advocate a contradictory and impracticable policy. They want to extend the present controls over the employers, but demand the removal of those which interfere with the freedom of the workers. In Socialist speeches and writings much is said about the need for Government control of all the means of production and distribution. The capitalist must, say the Socialist planners, be directed by the State regard- ing the location of his factory or workshop, and his use of material and financial resources must be determined by the State.
Now, if all the resources of production are to be either owned or controlled by the State, does it not follow logically and inevitably that the people engaged in making production use of those resources, whether employers or employees, must also be controlled and subject to direction by the State? A Marxian Socialist especially must agree that Labour must be controlled because the Marxist claims that all wealth is produced by labour. If, therefore, labour is the sole source of wealth and the State must control its production and distribution, how can Socialists logically object to the State control and direction of Labour, as some of them do at the present time?—Yours, &c.,
E. M. MARDON, Secretary,
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