machine had been so carelessly done and with such light, cheap
wire that it seemed a good opportunity to rewire throughout.
The electrician--a very competent and quick workman he proved to
be--was so sure the trouble could not be in the coil that he did
not wish to carry out a new one.
When ready to start, we found the trolley line blocked by a Labor
Day parade that was just beginning to move. The procession was
unusually long on account of striking trades unionists, who turned
out in force. As each section of strikers passed, the electrician
explained the cause of their strike, the number of men out, and
the length of time they had been out.
It seemed too bad that big, brawny, intelligent men could find no
better way of adjusting differences with employers than by
striking.
A strike is an expensive luxury. Three parties are losers,--the
community in general by being deprived for the time being of
productive forces; the employers by loss on capital invested; the
employees by loss of wages. The loss to the community, while very
real, is little felt. Employers, as a rule, are prepared to stand
their losses with equanimity; in fact, when trade is dull, or when
an employer desires to make changes in his business, a strike is
no inconvenience at all; but the men are the real losers, and
especially those with families and with small homes unpaid for; no
one can measure their losses, for it may mean the savings of a
lifetime. It frequently does mean a change in character from an
industrious, frugal, contented workman with everything to live
for, to a shiftless and discontented man with nothing to live for
but agitation and strife.
It is easy to acquire the strike habit, and impossible to throw it
off. A first strike is more dangerous than a first drink; it makes
a profound and ineradicable impression. To quit work for the first
time at the command of some central organization is an experience
so novel that no man can do it without being affected; he will
never again be the same steady and indefatigable workman; the
spirit of unrest creeps in, the spirit of discontent closely
follows; his life is changed; though he never goes through another
strike, he can never forget his first.
In the long run it does not matter much which side wins, the
effect is very much the same,--strikes are bound to follow
strikes. Warfare is so natural to men that it is difficult to
declare a lasting peace. But some day the men themselves will see
Here's a piece of wisdom on driving or cute car quote to study:
Our national flower is the concrete cloverleaf. ~Lewis Mumford
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