' Hitherto probably DOne of the American coalitions have succeeded In freeing themselves from the inconveniences of competilive bidding for labor, and very few hive achieved a purely monopolistic buying, either of materials or of any of the variouB kinds of services which the; re~ quire. With re^rd to raw materials alone have some, oa, e.g., the Standard Oil Company, been able to compaas an effectual monopoly. Something approaching this position baa been accomplisbed by a very lew other coalitions, as, e.g., the Sugar Refineries, the Cotton Seed Oil Company, the United Slates Steel CoipotAtion, and in a local way certain ooal, nmway, lumber, and wftrehonse oompanlat.
THE THEORY OF MODERN WELFARE 263
even in such a case the coalition which haa a monopoly is more fortunate as regards the stability of its balance sheet than the same traffic would be without the advantage of monopoly.
Barring providential intervention, then, the only refuge from chronic depression, according to the view here set forth, is thoroughgoing coalition in those lines of business in which coalition is practicable. But since this would include the greater part of those lines of industry which are dominated by the machine process, it seems reasonable to expect that the remedy should be efficacious. The higher development of the machine process makes competitive business impracticable, but it carries a remedy for its own evils iu that it makes coalition practicable. The ulterior effects of thoroughgoing monopoly, as regards the efficiency of industry, the constancy of employment, the rates of wages, the prices of goods to consumers, and the like, are, of course, largely matter of surmise, and cannot be taken up in this inquiry, the present purpose being merely to give in outline an economic theory of current business enterprise.