THE END OF LAISSEZ-FAIRE

mediaeval conceptions of separate autonomies.But, in England at any rate, corporations area mode of government which has never ceasedto be important and is sympathetic to ourinstitutions. It is easy to give examples,from what already exists, of separate auto-nomies which have attained or are approachingthe mode I designate—the Universities, theBank of England , the Port of LondonAuthority, even perhaps the Railway Com-panies. In Germany there are doubtlessanalogous instances.

But more interesting than these is thetrend of Joint Stock Institutions, when theyhave reached a certain age and size, to ap-proximate to the status of public corporationsrather than that of individualistic privateenterprise. One of the most interesting andunnoticed developments of recent decadeshas been the tendency of big enterprise tosocialise itself. A point arrives in the growthof a big institution—particularly a big railwayor big public utility enterprise, but also a bigbank or a big insurance company—at which4 2