ABSTRACT
John Stuart Mill realized of course that from a public standpoint acts performed in concert are of a different order of magnitude from the identical acts committed by individuals. The areas of human conduct in which the issue of freedom and control is discussed by Mill are those of taste, thought, expression and association. Organization necessarily involves freedom to seek and use power and at some point freedom and power are antithetical. The changes in Mill’s views reflect the tensions of a mind embroiled in unresolved conflict between adherence to the wage theory of classical economics and a growing sentimentalism towards working class causes. Mill’s opposition was grounded at first not only upon the principle of the freedom of voluntary association but, also, upon considerations concerning the futility of labor combinations in raising the general wage rate. Anyone who believes in civil freedom should agree with Mill that the freedom of workers to form unions should not be legally prevented.
