THE EFFACEMENT OF PHILIP DRU
In the years since he had graduated from West Point General Dru had
learned to speak German, French and Spanish fluently, and he was
learning with Gloria the language of the Slavs at odd moments during the
closing months of his administration. Gloria wondered why he was so
intent upon learning this language, and why he wanted her also to know
it, but she no longer questioned him, for experience had taught her that
he would tell her when he was ready for her to know.
His labors were materially lightened in these closing months, and as
the time for his retirement drew near, he saw more and more of Gloria.
Discarding the conventions, they took long rides together, and more
frequently they took a few camp utensils, and cooked their mid-day meal
in the woods. How glad Gloria was to see the pleasure these excursions
gave him! No man of his age, perhaps of any age, she thought, had ever
been under the strain of so heavy a responsibility, or had acquitted
himself so well. She, who knew him best, had never seen him shirk his
duty, nor try to lay his own responsibilities upon another's shoulders.
In the hours of peril to himself and to his cause he had never faltered.
When there was a miscarriage of his orders or his plans, no word of
blame came from him if the effort was loyal and the unhappy agent had
given all of his energy and ability.
He had met every situation with the fortitude that knows no fear, and
with a wisdom that would cause him to be remembered as long as history
lasts.
And now his life's work was done. How happy she was! If he did not love
her, she knew he loved no one else, for never had she known him to be
more than politely pleasant to other women.
One golden autumn day, they motored far into the hills to the west of
Washington. They camped upon a mighty cliff towering high above the
Potomac. What pleasure they had preparing their simple meal! It was hard
for Gloria to realize that this lighthearted boy was the serious
statesman and soldier of yesterday. When they had finished they sat in
the warm sunshine on the cliff's edge. The gleaming river followed its
devious course far below them, parting the wooded hills in the distance.
The evening of the year had come, and forest and field had been touched
by the Master's hand. For a long time they sat silent under the spell
that nature had thrown around them.
"I find it essential for the country's good to leave it for awhile,
perhaps forever," said Philip Dru. "Already a large majority of the
newly elected House have asked me to become the Executive. If I
accepted, there would be those who would believe that in a little while,
I would again assume autocratic control. I would be a constant menace
to my country if I remained within it.
"I have given to the people the best service of which I was capable, and
they know and appreciate it. Now I can serve them again by freeing them
from the shadow of my presence and my name. I shall go to some obscure
portion of the world where I cannot be found and importuned to return.
"There is at San Francisco a queenly sailing craft, manned and
provisioned for a long voyage. She is waiting to carry me to the world's
end if needs be."
Then Philip took Gloria's unresisting hand, and said, "My beloved, will
you come with me in my exile? I have loved you since the day that you
came into my life, and you can never know how I have longed for the hour
to come when I would be able to tell you so. Come with me, dear heart,
into this unknown land and make it glad for me. Come because I am
drunken with love of you and cannot go alone. Come so that the days may
be flooded with joy and at night the stars may sing to me because you
are there. Come, sweet Gloria, come with me."
Happy Gloria! Happy Philip! She did not answer him. What need was there?
How long they sat neither knew, but the sun was far in the west and was
sending its crimson tide over an enchanted land when the lovers came
back to earth.
* * * * *
Far out upon the waters of San Francisco Bay lay the graceful yet sturdy
_Eaglet_. The wind had freshened, the sails were filled, and she
was going swift as a gull through the Golden Gate into a shimmering sea.
A multitude of friends, and those that wished them well, had gathered on
the water front and upon the surrounding hills to bid farewell to Philip
Dru and his bride Gloria.
They watched in silent sadness as long as they could see the ship's
silhouette against the western sky, and until it faded into the splendid
waste of the Pacific.
Where were they bound? Would they return? These were the questions asked
by all, but to which none could give answer.
THE END
WHAT CO-PARTNERSHIP CAN DO
BY EARL GREY
_(Governor-General of Canada,_ 1904-11.)
_One of the ablest champions of Co-partnership as a solution of the
industrial problem is Earl Grey._
_Below are some remarkable passages from his presidential address to the
Labor Co-partnership Association._
The problem before us is how to organize our industry on lines the
fairness of which will be generally admitted. Fairplay is the keynote
of our British character, and I am satisfied, if employers and employed
are properly approached, that wherever a feeling of mutual sympathetic
regard exists between them they will both be prepared to consider
fairly and to meet fully each other's requirements. This is the belief
on which we build our hopes of the future greatness of this country.
Remove this belief and the outlook is one of blackest gloom.
Now what is the cause of the wide feeling of labor unrest? At the same
time, while the average standard of living, as a result of better
education, has been considerably raised and the retail prices of food
have risen 9.3 per cent. since 1900, wages in that period have only
risen 3 per cent. Consequently the manual workers find themselves in
straitened, pinched, and most distressing circumstances. Their
difficulties have naturally given birth to a general belief, or at any
rate added strength to it, that they are not receiving their fair share
of the wealth their labor has helped so largely to create. Now, whether
this belief is justified or not, there can be no doubt of its existence.
LABOR AND CAPITAL IN OPPOSING CAMPS.
The great fact with which we are confronted in the industries of to-day
is that labor and capital are organized not in one but in opposing
camps, with the object not so much of promoting the common well-being
of all connected with industry as of securing whatever advantage can be
obtained in the prosecution of their common industry for themselves. The
members of each camp consequently regard each other with distrust and
suspicion. The capitalist is inclined to give the minimum that is
necessary to secure the labor which he requires, and the worker in
return considers that all that should be required from him is the
minimum of labor which will save him from dismissal.
Then not only have we to consider the limiting effect on the efficiency
of industry caused by the fact that capital and labor are ranged not in
one but in opposing camps, but we have also to consider the effect on
the attitude of the men towards the management caused by the growing
tendency of the small business to be swallowed up by the large combine.
In such cases the old feeling of mutual affection, confidence, and
esteem, which in the past bound together employer and employed, has been
destroyed, and it must be obvious that unless we can adopt methods which
will restore in a new, and perhaps in a more satisfactory manner, the
old spirit the efficiency of industry and the prosperity of the nation
will both suffer.
If you alter one part of any bit of machinery you must readjust all the
other parts in order to secure smooth working, and if by substituting
big businesses for small businesses you destroy the old intimate
connection which formerly existed between masters and men, it would
appear to be necessary, if you wish to maintain the old friendly
relations between employer and employed, that you should establish your
business on lines which will automatically create a feeling of loyalty
on the part of all concerned to the industry with which they are
connected.
How is that to be done? By co-partnership.
Now, what is the ideal of co-partnership?
Ideal co-partnership is a system under which worker and consumer shall
share with capitalists in the profits of industry.
THE SURPLUS PROFITS GO TO CAPITAL.
Under our present system the whole of the surplus profits go to capital,
and it is the object of capital to give the worker the least wage for
which he will consent to work, and to charge the consumer the highest
price which he can be persuaded to give; conversely it is the object of
labor to give as little as possible for the wage received.
Now, that is a system which cannot possibly satisfy the requirements of
a civilized and well-organized society. What we want is a system which
will safeguard the consumer, and also provide the worker with a
natural, self-compelling inducement to help the industry with which he
is connected. That system is provided by co-partnership. Co-partnership
insists that the workers have a right to participate in the net profits
that may remain after capital has received its fixed reward. In a
co-partnership business, just as the reward of labor is fixed by the trade
union rate of wages, so the reward of capital is fixed by the amount
which it is necessary for the industry to give. That amount will vary
corresponding with the security of the risk attending the industry in
question. If the industry is a safe one, it will be able to obtain the
capital required by giving a small interest; if the industry is a risky
one, it will be necessary to offer capital better terms.
Then, if there should be surplus profits available for division after
labor has received its fixed reward--viz., trade union rate of
wages--and after capital has received its fixed reward--viz., the rate of
interest agreed upon as the fair remuneration of capital; I say if,
after these two initial charges have been met, there should still be
left surplus profits to distribute, that instead of their going
exclusively to capital they should be distributed between labor and
capital on some principle of equity.
The way in which the principle of co-partnership can be supplied to
industrial enterprise admits of infinite variety. In some cases the
surplus profits are divided between wages, interest, and custom, in some
cases between wages and custom without any share going to interest, and
on some cases between wages and interest.
As an example of a co-partnership industry which divides all surplus
profits that may remain after 5 per cent. has been paid on capital
between custom and labor, one pound of purchase counting for as much in
the division as one pound of wage, let me refer to the well-known Hebden
Bridge Fustian Works. I commend to all interested in co-partnership
questions a close study of this industry. Started by working men in
1870, it has built up on lines of permanent success a flourishing
business, and is making sufficient profits to enable it to divide 9d. in
the pound on trade union rate of wages and the same amount on purchases.
The steady progress of this manufacturing industry over a period of
forty-two years; the recognition by trade unionist management of the
right of capital to receive an annual dividend of 5 per cent., and the
resolute way in which they have written down the capital of £44,300
invested in land, buildings and machinery to £14,800, notwithstanding
that a less conservative policy would have increased the sum available
for bonus to wages, all go to show how practicable are co-partnership
principles when they are applied by all concerned to productive
enterprise in the right spirit.
A BRILLIANT EXAMPLE.
I should also like to refer to Mr. Thompson's woolen mills of
Huddersfield, established in 1886, as another brilliant example of
successful co-partnership. It is frequently stated that in an industry
where men are paid by piecework or share in the profits there is a
tendency for the men to over-exert themselves. Well, in the Thompson
Huddersfield mills there is no piecework, no overtime, only the weekly
wage; no driving is allowed. The hours of labor are limited to forty-eight
per week. The workers are given a whole week's holiday in August,
and in addition they enjoy the benefits of a non-contributory sick and
accident fund, and of a 24s. per week pension fund. In these mills cloth
is made from wool and wool only, not an ounce of shoddy. Here again the
surplus profits, after the fixed reward of capital--viz., interest at
the rate of 5 per cent. per annum--has been paid, are divided between
labor and custom; and here again the capital sunk in the mills has been
written down from £8,655 to £1,680. Unprofitable machinery is
scrap-heaped. The mill has only the best, most up-to-date machinery, and
all connected with the works, shareholders and workers, live together like
a happy family.
As an illustration of a co-partnership industry which divides its
surplus profits between wages, interest, and custom, I might point to
the gas companies which are being administered on the Livesey
principle, which is now so well known. Since co-partnership principles
were applied to the South Metropolitan Gas Works in 1899 over £500,000
has been paid, as their share of the profits, to the credit of the
workers, who also own over £400,000 of the company's stock. The fact
that over £50,000,000 of capital is invested in gas companies
administered on co-partnership principles, which divide surplus profits
between consumers, shareholders, and wage-earners, encourages us to
hope that we may look forward with confidence to the adoption of
co-partnership principles by other industries.
As an illustration of a co-partnership industry which divides its
surplus profits between labor and capital alone, let me refer to the
Walsall Padlock Society, one of the 114 workmen productive societies
which may be regarded as so many different schools of co-partnership
under exclusive trade unionist management. In this society the rate of
interest on share capital has been fixed at 7-1/2 per cent., and should
there be any surplus profit after trade union rate of wages and the
fixed reward of capital, 7-1/2 per cent., have been paid, it is divided
between labor and capital in proportion to the value of their respective
services, and the measure of the value is the price the Walsall Padlock
Society pays for the use of capital and labor respectively. £1 of
interest counts for as much in the division of the profits as £1 of
wage, and vice versa. This principle of division, invented by the
Frenchman Godin, of Guise, has always seemed to me to be absolutely fair
and to be capable of being easily applied to many industries.
Now in these cases I have quoted, and I could refer to many others, a
unity of interest is established between labor and capital, with the
result that there is a general atmosphere of peace and of mutual
brotherhood and goodwill.
Capital receives the advantage of greater security. Labor is secured the
highest rate of wage the industry can afford.
WILLING AND UNWILLING SERVICE.
Now, what does the substitution of such conditions for the conditions
generally prevailing to-day in England mean for our country? Who shall
estimate the difference between the value of willing and unwilling
service? The Board of Trade will tell you that a man paid by piecework
is generally from 30 to 50 per cent. more effective than a man paid by
time.
If the co-partnership principle, which is better than piecework, because
it tends to produce identity of interest between capital and labor were
to increase the efficiency of time-paid workers from 30 to 50 per cent.,
just think of the result; and yet the fact that co-partnership might add
from 30 to 50 per cent. to the efficiency of the worker is urged by many
trade unionists as a reason against co-partnership. They seem to fear
that the result of making men co-partners will be to cause them to give
25 per cent. better labor and to receive only 50 per cent. more wage. No
system can be right which is based on the assumption that self-interest
calls for a man to give his worst instead of his best. When I compare
Canada with England I am struck by the fact, that, whereas Canada's
greatest undeveloped asset is her natural resources, England's greatest
undeveloped asset is man himself. How to get each man to do his best is
the problem before England to-day. It is because co-partnership
harnesses to industry not only the muscle but the heart and the
intelligence of the worker that we are justified in regarding it with
reverence and enthusiasm as the principle of the future.
[Transcriber's Note:
The following have been identified as possible typographical errors in
the original:
hands over the to-morrow
infringe upon the rights as nations
but with that her prescience
plead for Gloria]
End of Project Gutenberg's Philip Dru: Administrator, by Edward Mandell House