The Guild State To the craftsmen, both professional and amateur, who will provide the foundation of the Christian Guild State of the future. GSTATE uild The its principles and possibilities by G. R. Stirling Taylor Norfolk, VA 2006 The Guild State. Copyright © 2006 IHS Press. First published in 1919 by George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., of London. Preface, footnotes, typesetting, layout, and cover design copyright 2006 IHS Press. All rights reserved. The Guild State was originally published in 1919 by George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., of London. The spelling, punctuation, and formatting of the original edition have been largely preserved. The text has been slightly abridged and corrected editorially. Images of guild seals and other illustrations are taken from The Guilds of Dublin by John J. Webb, M.A., Ll.D. (New York/London: Kennikat Press, 1970, originally 1929). The image of Stirling Taylor on the back cover is taken from the stained-glass “Fabian Window,” designed by G. B. Shaw and executed by Caroline Townshend in 1910, and now located in the Shaw Library at the London School of Economics. ISBN-13 (eBook): 978-1-932528-40-4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Taylor, George Robert Stirling. The guild state : its principles and possibilities / by G. R. Stirling Taylor. p. cm. Originally published: London : G. Allen & Unwin, 1919. ISBN 1-932528-00-8 1. Guild socialism. I. Title. HD6479.T3 2004 335’.15--dc21 2003013270 Printed in the United States of America. IHS Press is the only publisher dedicated exclusively to the social teachings of the Catholic Church. For more information, contact: IHS Press 222 W. 21st St., Suite F-122 Norfolk, VA 23517
[email protected] www.ihspress.com 877-IHS-PRESS Table of Contents page Publisher’s Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 by the Directors, IHS Press Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 by Roger McCain, Ph.D. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 by Anthony Cooney Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 by G. R . Stirling Taylor The Guild State I. The Historical Basis of the Guild System. ......... II. The First Principle: Organization by Function. ..... 44 ......... 57 III. The Second Principle: Self-Management.. IV. The Third Principle: Decentralization and Small Units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........ 67 .......... 79 ............ 91 V. Consequent Results of Main Principles.. VI. Relations Between Guilds and State. . VII. A Guildsman’s Philosophy of Life.. 27 ............. 107 Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 ST. AUDOEN’S ARCH o ONE OF THE OLD GATES OF DUBLIN WHERE MANY GUILDS HAD THEIR MEETING PLACE Publisher’s Preface “I am glad, therefore, that I said and wrote what is before the public, even though for a time some men have called me a Socialist and a revolutionist, and have fastened upon a subordinate consequence, and neglected the substance of my contention in behalf of the natural rights of the poor.” —Henry Edward Cardinal Manning, 1888 t is not surprising that “true believers” in the free-market heresy reject the notion that all economic life is bound by ethics, and should be limited by the regulations of a guild system like that of the Middle Ages. They defend a social order an