THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  UNEMPLOYED

158
latter  to  throw  up  their  posts  in  order  to  qualify  by
“unemployment”  for  work  in  the  municipal  bakery.  If
the  municipal  bakery  stood  by  its  theory  and  admitted
all  qualified  applicants,  it  would  be  compelled  to  enlarge
its  operations  until  it  had  absorbed  the  whole  local  trade.
If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  municipal  wages  were  much
lower  than  the  wages  outside,  and  no  profits  were  required
for  the  public  capital  and  management,  it  is  conceivable
that  the  municipal  loaf  might  undersell  the  outside  loaf.
In  any  case  the  increase  of  the  supply  of  bread  by  the
addition  of  the  municipal  loaves  would  bring  down  the
price  of  bread,  and  increasing  the  congestion  of  supply
would  make  trade  impossible  for  the  weaker  bakers.  Thus
it  appears  that  the  establishment  of  a  municipal  bakery
could  not  reduce  and  might  easily  increase  the  unemployment ­
  of  bakers:  it  could  only  absorb  the  unemployed
by  absorbing  the  whole  trade.  Some  socialists  acknowledge
this  and  base  their  advocacy  of  municipal  workshops
chiefly  on  the  supposition  that  they  would  lead  to  the
organisation  of  the  several  industries  by  the  municipality.
More  thoughtful  reformers,  however,  repudiate  this  line  of
movement,  because  they  perceive  that  to  try  socialistic
experiments  with  workers  who  are  selected  for  incapacity
in  trades  which  are  lowly  organised,  will  ensure  prompt
and  signal  failure.  This  lesson  has  been  taught  in  history
over  and  over  again,  one  of  the  most  dramatic  illustrations
being  afforded  by  the  attempt  to  establish  public  works
in  Paris  under  the  Commune  of  1848.
§  25.  True  and  False  Ideas  of  Public  Industry
and  Employment.
If  it  is  desirable  to  extend  the  area  of  State  or  mu-