The captains of industry became heads of departments.  It was found that civil engineers, for instance, worked just as well in government employ as before, they had worked in private employ.  It was found that men of high executive ability could not violate their nature.  They could not escape exercising their executive ability, any more than a crab could escape crawling or a bird could escape flying.  And so it was that all the splendid force of the men who had previously worked for themselves was now put to work for the good of society.  The half-dozen great railway chiefs co-operated in the organizing of a national system of railways that was amazingly efficacious.  Never again was there such a thing as a car shortage.  These chiefs were not the Wall Street railway magnates, but they were the men who formerly had done the real work while in the employ of the Wall Street magnates.

Wall Street was dead.  There was no more buying and selling and speculating.  Nobody had anything to buy or sell.  There was nothing in which to speculate.  “Put the stock gamblers to work,” said Goliah; “give those that are young, and that so desire, a chance to learn useful trades.”  “Put the drummers, and salesmen, and advertising agents, and real estate agents to work,” said Goliah; and by hundreds of thousands the erstwhile useless middlemen and parasites went into useful occupations.  The four hundred thousand idle gentlemen of the country who had lived upon incomes were likewise put to work.  Then there were a lot of helpless men in high places who were cleared out, the remarkable thing about this being that they were cleared out by their own fellows.  Of this class were the professional politicians, whose wisdom and power consisted of manipulating machine politics and of grafting.  There was no longer any graft.  Since there were no private interests to purchase special privileges, no bribes were offered to legislators, and legislators for the first time legislated for the people.  The result was that men who were efficient, not in corruption, but in direction, found their way into the legislatures.

With this rational organization of society amazing results were brought about.  The national day’s work was eight hours, and yet production increased.  In spite of the great permanent improvements and of the immense amount of energy consumed in systematizing the competitive chaos of society, production doubled and tripled upon itself.  The standard of living increased, and still consumption could not keep up with production.  The maximum working age was decreased to fifty years, to forty-nine years, and to forty-eight years.  The minimum working age went up from sixteen years to eighteen years.  The eight-hour day became a seven-hour day, and in a few months the national working day was reduced to five hours.