Eddy, Arthur Jerome: The new competition: an examination of the conditions underlying the radical change that is taking place in the commercial and industrial world ; the change from a competitive to a cooperative basis (New York [u.a.], 1912)

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THE NEW COMPETITION

made necessary by variation in load must be provided and
is, therefore, normal.
If the demand for manufactured goods were constant
from year to year, there would be no need for over-capacity,
but as the demand is not constant in any industry the over-
capacity necessary to meet the peak load is a normal condi-
tion.
Railroads must have tracks, cars and equipment to take
care of “bumper crops”; if they fail, farmers make their
complaints heard in legislatures and by railroad commis-
sions—laws are passed, fines imposed.
Iron and steel companies must maintain hundreds of
millions in idle furnaces and mills, waiting for the “boom”
that is years in coming; if they do not, and prices soar as
the result of unexpected demand, the consumer complains
and makes his complaints heard in the press and before in-
vestigating committees.
XII
So far we have spoken of the over-capacity normally
necessary in every industry to meet the peak-load as if it
were simply a question of plant and equipment capacity—of
idle capital during the long periods when the maximum out-
put is not demanded; but the matter is more serious, it is
not simply a question of idle capital, but also of idle labor.
To a certain extent—though only to a certain extent—*
the capitalist, the plant owner, can look ahead and provide
against the certain coming of dull and bad times, then when
such times do' come he shuts down and reduces his cost of
maintenance to the two items of interest on his investment
and depreciation, but how about labor? It cannot shut
down, it cannot reduce expenses very much, it must live,
and everybody knows how hard it is for labor to get along
during the long periods of depression while waiting for