The  town  boys  would,  of  course,  go  in  some
rotation  to  the  educational-industrial  establishments
in  the  country,  so  as  not  to  be  taken  away  from
their  homes,  and  it  might  be  well  to  provide  a
certain  amount  of  industrial  work  for  the  elder  ones
during  the  periods  when  they  were  at  home.  The  State
could  make  arrangements  with  private  firms  for  them
8


58  LECTURE    II

to  work  certain  hours  with  them,  on  some  system
of  shifts,  and  pay  the  educational  organisation  in  kind
for  their  labour,  in  articles  useful  to  it,  and  to  the  boys'
parents,  at  a  fair  cost  of  production,  and  at  trade
prices  if  they  were  firms  of  merchants.  With  a  shift
system,  well  organised,  employers  would  know  which
boys  they  would  get  in  succession.  Under  this  plan,
it  will  be  seen  that  the  boys  would  work  on  the
socialistic  principle,  having  its  economic  advantage,
but  using  the  machinery  of  the  individualistic
system.  The  war  has  so  familiarised  us  with
the  plan  of  utilising  individualistic  machinery  for
public  purposes,  that  it  is  conceivable  that  this  might
be  done  at  the  start.  The  State  might  also  make
firms  do  the  same  thing  for  educational  establish-
ments organised  by  private  individuals.  To  encourage
the  boys  to  work  well,  the  firms  might  give  them
some  extra  remuneration  as  a  gratuity,  introducing
thus  a  useful  individualistic  element.
If  we  are  inclined  to  look  ahead  of  present-day
problems,  we  can  foresee  great  after-war  develop-
ments in  connection  with  the  problem  of  our  return-
ing soldiers.
Another  very  obvious  way  of  applying  the  principle
of  socialism  after  the  war  is  to  the  Army,  to  reduce
military  expenditure  to  a  fraction  of  what  it  used  to  be.
