PIRATIANS BEGONE

Chapter 41

But the system itself made men selfish," I ventured to say.

"To be sure it did," he replied. "But why did they not then abolish thesystem before it had brought upon them its long train of evils? It hadto go at last."

"But," I asked again, "was not competition a good thing for the largenumber of people not directly engaged in business? Did it not keep downthe prices on all kinds of commodities?"

"Certainly not in the main. It increased prices, because it increasedthe cost of everything. But let us suppose a case where it had theeffect you suggest. Could a man with a heart wear a coat, for example,with any pleasure, if he knew that rivalry between the manufacturers hadforced the people who made the garment to accept starvation wages? Andthis was done, not from humanitarian motives, to furnish the poor withcheap clothing, but for the purpose of getting more business and so ofmaking more money."

I could hardly resist the temptation at this point of asking Harodif he had not been reading up on the current history of the earth, but Iknew well enough that was not possible, for we had brought no books withus. And then I did not care to tell Harod just yet how near hewas coming to our experience. But I could not endure having the propsknocked from under our social structure without another effort to saveit. So I said:

"But were not the great majority of business men honest, and were notthese instances that you have cited extreme cases?"

"They were the natural results of a bad sy

stem. A great many men wereas honest as their environment would permit, and they tried to convincethemselves that they were not responsible for the environment."

"Were they?" I asked eagerly.

"When they at last discovered that they were, then began a radicalchange. I am not exaggerating the evils of the times. I am merelysetting them forth to show you how our race has improved with itsmaturity. If my purpose required it, I could detail many good things inthe life of that people. One bright point in their character, to which Ijust now referred, I will illustrate. My boy, who is also my studentin drawing, will never be able to make a straight line until he cansee that the line he has already made is not straight. His improvementdepends upon more than a steady hand. So with this people. Deep down intheir being, planted by a divine hand, were the instinct of truthand the principle of growth, and when, in the natural course of theirdevelopment, they came to realize how unworthy they were of their betternature, they set about the work of improvement.

"But they came to that knowledge through many sad experiences. I havenot begun to tell you the number and extent of the evils they endured.

"The desire for money affected all classes. The general prosperity hadbettered the condition of the wage-earners, creating many artificialwants which could not be satisfied without good pay. Hence arose anatural and constant effort to obtain higher wages, while competitionamong the employers operated just as constantly to keep them down, andthe result was a sharp and increasing antagonism between capital andlabor. The general public shared in the blame for this state of thingsby reason of the almost universal demand for cheap goods.

"While the introduction of machinery was a real advance, whose benefitswe are reaping to this day, other conditions had not become adjustedto it at the time of which we are speaking, so that there was often asurplus of workmen, especially in the lower grades of labor. This hada tendency to reduce wages, of course; and the want of employment,improvidence in the use of small wages, intemperance and otherimmoralities, ignorance and misfortune, all combined to keep part of thepeople in poverty. On the other hand, it was a time of great wealth andluxurious living, and these two classes, so far apart in their manner oflife but often so near each other in all their selfish aims, seemed tohave a strong mutual attraction, for they were always found together,crowding upon each other in every large city.

"One of the most difficult things for us of the present day to imagineis, how persons of refinement and sensibility, living in comfort andwithout a care, could take any pleasure in life when they knew thatwithin a stone's throw of their doors were human beings who, very oftenthrough no fault of their own, were so destitute that a crust wouldrelieve their want, or so friendless that a kind word would make themshed tears of joy. Oh! I cannot comprehend it, and yet the record tellsus there were cases of just that nature, where such people, withoutlifting a finger to alleviate the distress, actually laughed and werehappy. Happy! What could they know of happiness? The word must havechanged its meaning wonderfully, if we think of what it signifiesto-day."

Harod continued as follows:

"The unpleasant relations existing between the employers and theemployees created a host of troubles. It was an unreasonable feeling,because the interests of the two classes were identical. But as capitalwas consolidated and great corporations were formed for extensiveoperations in transportation and manufacturing, the relation between thetwo became very impersonal and difficult to control. In order to protecttheir interests the wage-earners organized into unions, brotherhoods,etc., almost every trade and calling having its own organization.

"When these associations were first formed much stress was laid upontheir incidental benefits, such as assistance in time of sickness,care of the families of deceased members, the holding of meetingsfor discussion and mutual improvement, and the establishment ofreading-rooms and libraries. These commendable objects would have beena sufficient excuse for the existence of these bodies, and otherlegitimate ends might have been sought, but the labor unions did notstop there. They instituted and set in motion the powerful machineryof the strike, as it was called, making it effective by binding theirmembers, under severe penalties, to stop work when they were orderedto do so by their leaders. They also practiced the severest measuresof intimidation upon non-union men, to prevent them from gettingemployment.

"Thus the trades-unions, too often governed by incompetent men, becamea mighty power for evil. Strikes and lockouts were common, and werefollowed by loss of wages and consequent suffering, while the bitternessof feeling between the two classes constantly increased. To meet therising power of the labor organizations, the employers felt obliged toform combinations among themselves and sometimes also to employ bodiesof armed men to protect their property. Then, when a strike came,conflicts would follow so serious that appeal had to be made to the lastresort, the military arm of the nation. Here another evil threatened,for the individual soldiers would sometimes prove to be in deep sympathywith the workmen who were making the trouble. At such crises, also,there would appear on the scene the anarchist, who wanted to overthrowsociety at once in the hope of bringing himself out nearer the top, andwho was kept comparatively harmless in quiet times.

"You can imagine something of the disorder and apprehension causedby these troubles. No