(3) The great scale of monopolistic production tends to still further
economies. Raw ported in larger quantities, and so at lower cost; less
need be kept on hand at a given time. The utilization of by-products,
made feasible by large-scale production, has proved, in many cases,
a striking addition to human wealth.
(4) Monopolistic production means that more money can be put into
improved processes, into plant and machinery, into making factories
sanitary, and working conditions pleasant. The conspicuousness of the
plant makes it more open to public criticism and more likely to awaken
a sense of pride in the owners. Conditions are seldom tolerated in
the big concerns that go unheeded in the little shops.
Surely our attempt, then, must be to retain "big business," and cure
its evils, rather than to turn the hands of the clock backward by
reverting to the wasteful competitive system. If this proves possible,
we should work for the organizing of the as yet unorganized industries.
Half of human effort is still wasted, through lack of such
organization. If the innumerable butcher shops, grocery stores,
apothecary shops, dry goods stores, etc, throughout the country, were
consolidated locally, and then for some considerable section of the
country, we could have greatly reduced prices and greatly improved
shops. Mr. Woolworth's chain of five- and ten-cent stores offers a
familiar contemporary example of the efficiency and saving to the
consumer of such consolidation.
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