MARSTEN went to work with an energy and singleness of purpose which
probably no organizer of labour ever felt before. Chance, or destiny,
had placed him in exactly the position he had long hoped to attain. At
first there was little to be done but wait until the Union had recovered
from the wounds received in the late fruitless struggle; nevertheless,
while he waited, he planned and gradually developed the scheme which he
hoped would revolutionize the labour of the world. He saw in the future
one vast republic of workers--not bounded by nationality, but spreading
over the entire earth--with its foothold wherever one man toiled with
his hands to enrich another. He had no delusions regarding the immediate
success of his project, and did not flatter himself that his ideas would
spread with anything like the rapidity of the cholera, for example;
but he hoped first to place the Union on a firm footing in England, and
then, with a brilliantly successful strike--conducted as a general of
genius conducts a battle--to show what might be done by a thoroughly
well-organized force against a rich and powerful firm like that of
Monkton & Hope. He looked forward to the time when every worker in
England would be a member of the Union; after that he hoped to affiliate
all the workers in all English-speaking countries; finally, the benighted
foreigner would be included. Then, when the whole was united like an
electric installation in a city, the unfortunate capitalist who placed
a finger on one point would receive the combined current of the entire
system, and die without knowing what hurt him. The equipment of the
workers would be so complete that strikes would become fewer and fewer,
and finally cease; just as war will cease when weapons of offence reach
such a state of perfection that no nation will dare to pick a quarrel
with another.
This great republic of labour would be divided into various states,
and these states would be again subdivided into as many sections as
experience showed to be most practicable. Each section would elect its
secretary, the secretaries would elect a governor of the state, the
governors would elect a president of the whole organization. Every
official should be paid a salary, sufficient, even in the lesser
offices, to keep the incumbent and his family without the necessity of
manual labour, so that each officer’s whole time could be given for the
benefit of the Union.
Marsten gave much thought to the problem of reconciling deserved
promotion with popular election, and, perhaps, if he had known more of
the results of universal suffrage in a city like New York, he might have
reconstructed his whole plan; but he had full belief in the adage that
the voice of the people coincides with that of the Almighty, and so,
perhaps, did not quite appreciate the practical difficulties which lay
in wait for a scheme that looked beautiful on paper.
Early experience convinced him that he could hope for no active
assistance from the men themselves, and he promptly eliminated that
factor from his calculations. He thought of beginning his fight with
an educational campaign, using in this way the time which must elapse
before the treasury of the Union was once more in funds; but he found he
could never get more than half a dozen of the men together at one time,
and those who came to the meetings he called seemed to take but slight
interest in what he had to say. This did not discourage him, as he was,
in a measure, prepared for the indifference he met; and he remembered
that his great model, Napoleon, took no one into his confidence.
Napoleon struck unexpectedly,--struck quick and struck hard,--and
Marsten resolved to do the same the moment he had the power. Failing
to interest the men collectively in the desirability of a close and
universal Union, Marsten tried to win their separate confidence; but he
soon discovered that in attempting this he was travelling a dangerous
road. He was amazed to find that there existed a latent sullen
opposition to him; that many of the men seemed to regret the generous
impulse which had caused them to place him where he was. They could not
see what he did to earn the money he received; some thought they were
giving him too much, as he had no work to do; and more than one advised
him to keep quiet and leave the men alone, to know when he was well off,
and not to turn the thoughts of the members to the fact that they were
supporting him in idleness and luxury.
Marsten resolved to let nothing stand in the way of success. He believed
he could more than earn any salary they gave him, and no man in London
had a greater incentive for making and accumulating money than he had;
nevertheless, he desired above all things to hold the good opinion of
the men and to convince them that he was working for them and not for
himself. He realized that alone he was powerless, but with their united
support he was invincible.
He called a meeting to reconsider the salary of the secretary, and that
meeting was well attended; for the subject to be discussed had more
interest than his abandoned educational campaign, the purpose of which
was to teach them the principles of combination. Most of the men thought
him a fool in not knowing his own good luck.
Marsten, addressing them, said that his whole object in taking the
secretaryship was to bring about an amalgamation of labour which would
make the results of future strikes a certainty. All the rights mankind
possessed had been won by battle; but the battles must be successful,
and success was only possible when there was no dissension in the camp.
He frankly stated that he had learned there was some dissatisfaction
because he got more money than was earned by many who laboured in the
ranks, and he had made an estimate of how little he could live upon,
which was less than the poorest paid employee of the works received.
He was willing to accept this sum, and would devote his whole time and
energy to the cause of labour as faithfully as if he were given ten
times the amount.
Gibbons, who had at last found employment in the neighbourhood, here
rose to his feet. He said he thought the office of secretary could be
still more economically filled. He was sure they had men among them, now
in employ, who would act as secretary without salary from the Union, and
perform all the duties quite acceptably to the majority of the men.
“Why didn’t you propose that when you were secretary yourself, Gibbons?”
asked one of the audience, at which there was some laughter.
“I did not do so because I was at that time out of work,” replied
Gibbons, warming to his theme. “I don’t wish to say a word against the
present secretary, but I would like to ask him a question or two. He
seemed once of opinion that Sartwell was a very shrewd, far-seeing man.
I would like to know, Mr. Marsten, if you are still of that opinion?”
“I am,” answered Marsten.
“Then can you explain to the meeting why Sartwell has taken no further
steps to cripple the Union, which we all know he desired to smash, and
in fact did threaten to smash? Why did he not, in taking back the men,
make it a condition that they should leave the Union?”
“How should I know? I may say, however, that I believe Sartwell to be an
essentially just man, although he may be mistaken in some things, and
I don’t think he would interfere with the personal liberty of his
employees.”
“It is very generous of the secretary of our Union to speak well of
the honesty of a man who looted our treasury, and we won’t forget that
Sartwell has at least one friend among us. It is a little remarkable
that that one friend should have been the only man, of all Sartwell’s
employees, who was suddenly dismissed, and, as far as we know, without
cause. One more question, Mr. Marsten. Do you know why Sartwell
discharged you?”
Marsten was silent, the colour rising in his face.
“Of course,” continued Gibbons, calmly, “you are not compelled to
answer. I am merely asking what many of us have been thinking. You
either know, or you do not. You have called this meeting, and I think
you should have the courtesy to answer any question--any reasonable
question--asked you. You say you want the support of the men, whose
servant you are. That is a reasonable desire; but to bestow that
confidence we must have full knowledge of our man. I ask for the second
time, do you know why Sartwell discharged you?”
“I do.”
“Why?”
“On account of a personal quarrel between him and me with which this
meeting has nothing to do.”
“Oh, indeed! Then you had personal dealings with the man we were
fighting, which you would prefer us to know nothing about. I will
not press for a more specific answer. No man is bound to incriminate
himself. I have given Mr. Marsten a chance to explain certain obscure
points that have puzzled some of us, and I think the answers wrung from
him, with only too evident reluctance, have not bettered his position,
nor made any thinking man among us the more ready to bestow that
confidence which our secretary seems so much to desire. I would like
now to call your attention to one or two points. Rightly or wrongly, the
committee with which I acted had grave doubts of the loyalty of Mr.
Marsten during our late contest. Before the strike began, he himself
admitted that he had been closeted with Sartwell, and we know that while
the fight was on he was the only man who had a conference with the
enemy, and the only man who was able to tell us of the enemy’s
plans--unfortunately when it was too late to make that knowledge useful
to us. Whenever there was a crisis we found Mr. Marsten eloquent on the
side of giving in--all through affection for the men, of course. I am
making no accusations; I am merely stating facts that Mr. Marsten
himself admits, and if I am mistaken in anything I say, the young man is
here to set me right. These facts had a certain influence with the
committee, causing a distrust to arise in their minds--a feeling that
Mr. Marsten, for some reason, was more anxious to please Sartwell than
to see his fellow-workers win. Now, what happens? The strike ends, and
we are surprised to see that the only man dismissed is Mr. Marsten. The
next move is that the young man is made secretary of the Union by a
practically unanimous vote. I say that vote was to the credit of the
men, and, had I been present, I would have voted for Mr. Marsten. But
let us look into the matter a little closer. Who agitated the election
of our new secretary? I now come to a difficult point, and I want to
make myself perfectly clear, and to speak with absolute justice. ‘Say no
ill of the dead’ is a noble motto, and I have nothing but good to say of
that hero, Braunt. Greater praise hath no man than this, he gave his
life to save others.”
There was tremendous cheering at this, and it was some time before
Gibbons could proceed. Marsten sat silent in his chair, with the
helpless feeling of a criminal in the dock. He felt the chain of
circumstance tightening around him.
“Braunt was a hero in death and a hero in life. He was frankly and
honestly against us from the first, and he fought us with an uprightness
that I wish Sartwell had emulated. He took no strike pay, and used
language against us which I hope has been forgotten, and which I know
has been forgiven. There was nothing underhand in his opposition, and
he broke the back of the strike by hitting from the shoulder when we
had reached the desperation of utter exhaustion. But, while giving full
credit to the splendid character of Braunt, we must not forget that he
was throughout our staunch opponent, and that it was he who elected Mr.
Marsten secretary of this Union.
“Now, gentlemen, I am a plain man, who does not think himself any
better than the average. I do not look for angels with wings among my
fellow-workers; I look for plain, every-day motives when trying to trace
cause from effect. It is not natural for a man to beg for a reduction
of his screw unless that man is an angel, or unless there is some hidden
cause for his doing so. We strike to increase our wages, and I have
never heard of a deputation of workingmen waiting on an employer to ask
for a reduction. Mr. Marsten does what we know to be most unusual, and
what we believe to be unnatural. What is his motive? Who is going to
make up the deficiency in his salary? These are questions for you to
answer. I have tried to state nothing but facts, and no statement I
have made has been contradicted. The result is a chain of circumstantial
evidence that would convict a man in any court in the land. Men have
been hanged on evidence less complete.”
Gibbons sat down amidst universal applause. Marsten rose to his feet
slowly. He knew the meeting was solidly against him, and that he had to
bring it around in his favour or lose the race before it began. There
flashed through his mind the sentence, “It is not the capitalist who
will defeat you, but the men you are fighting for.” He remembered
Braunt’s utter lack of faith in the rope of sand. Then he spoke:
“I have listened attentively to what has been said, and I have listened
without interruption because I have sat spellbound by the cleverness of
the speech, admiring its force and logic, and deeply regretting the fact
that I have not the eloquence and gifts of the speaker who has just sat
down. Two things are at this moment uppermost in my mind. First, that if
some stranger were in my place, and I were sitting among you, I should
believe him guilty. Second, there has come over me a feeling of sympathy
with any man who has been condemned on circumstantial evidence. I know
now, as I never did before, that many a poor wretch has gone to an
undeserved death. Gibbons, you have throughout referred to me as _Mr._
Marsten. I disclaim the ‘Mr.’ as doubtless you do, so I shall call you
plain Gibbons. Gibbons, you have defeated me. The meeting I have called
together is against me and for you.”
There were cries of dissent at this.
“Oh yes, it is. I will prove it in a minute by putting it to vote, if
you like.”
“Hold on!” cried Gibbons; “that is not fair. I protest against a vote
being taken after such a declaration.”
“I am going to take no unfair advantage, and only spoke of a vote
because my assertion seemed to be doubted. Now, Gibbons, you asked me
several questions; I claim the right to put a few to you, and I charge
you to answer as honestly as if you were on oath. Do you actually
believe that I am in the pay of Sartwell?”
“I didn’t say so.”
“Do you believe I am?”
“Yes, I do.”
“What object could Sartwell have in buying me?”
“Oh, that’s too self-evident. If he controls you he controls the action
of the Union.”
“Please explain how. No action can be taken without a majority vote.”
“That’s it exactly. That’s why you are begging for our confidence and
support, so that when the time comes you can deliver to Sartwell what he
pays for.”
“I see. Did Sartwell ever offer to buy you?”
“He never did. He knew better.”
“Did you ever offer to sell yourself to Sartwell?”
“What’s that? What do you mean?”
“I’ll put the question in another way. Did you write a private letter to
Sartwell a few days before the strike ended?”
Gibbons rose to his feet in such evident confusion that several of the
crowd laughed, and all were in a state of tense excitement. This was the
kind of thing they liked. Marsten was carrying the war into Africa.
“What are you accusing me of?” cried Gibbons.
“Like yourself, I am making no accusations. Did you send such a letter
or not?”
“As leader of the strike I may----”
“No, no. Answer, yes or no.”
“Let me explain. I say----”
“First answer the question, Gibbons.”
“I refuse to be coerced in this manner. I am willing to answer anything,
but I must be allowed to answer in my own way.”
“No man is bound to incriminate himself, Gibbons, as you remarked a
while ago. Since we cannot get an answer to that question, I will ask
another. Will you give me permission to read your Sartwell letter to
this meeting?”
Gibbons was dumbfounded, and forgot entirely, in his agitation, that the
letter had been returned to him, remembering only that its contents were
not for the general public. His attitude was that of conscious guilt.
“Read it, read it!” cried the crowd, and the shouts seemed to rouse
Gibbons to a sense of the situation.
“I protest against the reading of a private letter in public,” he
stammered.
“And quite right, too,” said Marsten. “I protested against the public
discussion of a private quarrel; and the protest was held against me.
Now I have no desire to push my opponent to the wall, and I will say
at once that the letter in question may be as innocent as ‘Mary had a
little lamb.’ I never read it and never saw it. I heard of it through a
chance remark, but I know nothing of its contents. You see now how easy
it is to ask a question a man may hesitate to answer, and you see of how
little value circumstantial evidence is. Now, Gibbons, we are quits,
and I am willing to let bygones be bygones if you are. I give you
my word--and that is all I have to offer, for I’m the poorest among
you--that I am not in the pay of any one on earth except yourselves.
I swear to you that I have only one object in view, and that is the
bettering of our condition. All I ask is fair play. Perhaps I can’t do
what I think I can, but I want to try. If I fail, then let the next man
come on and have his try, and he will have no more earnest supporter
than I will be. With dissension in our ranks, nothing can be done; so I
want the backing of every man in the Union, and more especially of the
man who thinks I have been a traitor,--which I declare to him and to
you I was not. Now, Gibbons, this has been an open question-and-answer
meeting. There has been a free-for-all give and take here tonight. I
have a last question to ask you: are you going to be my friend or my
enemy?”
There were cries of “Toe the mark, Gibbons!”
“Time!”
“Speak up, my boy!”
“Show your hand, Gibbons!”
Gibbons, who had now recovered his equanimity, rose to his feet, and
said: “I move, gentlemen, that Marsten be confirmed in his secretaryship
of the Union, and I hope the vote will be unanimous. We will give him
what he asks--a fair chance--and as long as he deals squarely with us,
we will deal squarely with him. As far as my friendship or enmity is
concerned, I may say that I’m a friend to any one who is loyal to the
cause, and an enemy to those who are against it. I think that is all
that can be asked of me or any other man present.”
The motion was seconded and carried unanimously, and the object for
which the meeting was convened was lost sight of entirely.
Marsten went on with his work of organization, and met with
much encouragement from the societies with which he entered into
correspondence. Whatever opposition there was to him in his own Union,
it at least did not show itself openly; but Marsten did not make the
mistake of thinking Gibbons was his friend.