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Croly, Herbert David, 1869-1930

"The Promise of American Life"

The friends of
commission government who expect to discipline the big corporations
severely without injuring their efficiency are merely the victims of an
error as old as the human will. They "want it both ways." They want to
eat their cake and to have it. They want to obtain from a system of
minute official regulation and divided responsibility the same economic
results as have been obtained from a system of almost complete freedom
and absolutely concentrated responsibility.
The reader must not, however, misinterpret the real meaning of the
objection just made to corporation reform by means of commissions. I can
see no ground for necessarily opposing the granting of increased power
and responsibility to an official or a commission of officials, merely
because such officials are paid by the government rather than by a
private employer. But when such a grant is considered necessary, the
attempt should be to make the opportunity for good work comprehensive
and commensurate with the responsibility.


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