ATTEMPTS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
It was not till the next day that we sat down together again to continue
the conversation. Remembering what the doctor had said, Thorwald began:
“In sketching for you the history of that age of activity and change in
our career, I was in such fear of wearying you with dry details that I
hurried along and omitted the very things to which you refer, Doctor.
This people did try all the experiments that suggested themselves,
and if you think your patience will endure it I will speak of a few of
them.”
We both assured him that we would gladly listen, and that we considered
ourselves fortunate in having such an instructor. He was merely telling
us about a certain period in the history of Mars, but if he had known
how nearly he had been coming to the course of events on the earth he
would not have wondered that we were so eager to hear all he had to say.
“Quite early in the labor difficulties,” he resumed, “state arbitration
had its day; a short one, however, for the appointment of the
arbitrators soon became a matter of partisan politics, and their
influence was gone. Whichever side was in power could appoint a board
that would be prejudiced in favor of that side from the start, and when
the trouble came the other party would not have confidence enough in
their judgment to accept their decision.
“Next, laws were passed making arbitration compulsory, but allowing the
arbitrators to be chosen at the time of the strike, the employer to name
one, the workmen one, and these two to find the third. This did some
good as long as only first class men were selected, but a few flagrant
cases occurred where the arbitrators, who were allowed to inspect the
books of the concern, made public the private affairs of the business,
to the great injury of the owners. This brought the law into disfavor,
and, as there was no provision for enforcing the decisions, it came to
pass that they were often disregarded, and so, before long, this plan of
settling disputes was also abandoned.
“For a good many years no other subject so completely filled the public
mind as this very troublesome one, and people of all professions were
continually suggesting remedies. It was held by many to be a good
working theory that the employees in every business, whether industrial,
mercantile, or financial, were entitled to some share in the profits
over and above their compensation in wages. This was disputed by the
large majority of the employers, who claimed that their contract with
the workmen was a simple one, by which they agreed to work so many hours
for so much pay, and as this was their due even if the business proved
a losing one, so they had no just claim to anything more if it were
successful the employees had nothing to do or say about the question
of profits. On the other hand, where a number of men had, by long and
faithful service, a strict regard for the welfare of the business, and
loyalty to all of the employer’s interests, helped to build up a great
industry, an increasing number of people, not only the wage earners but
many others not directly interested, felt that the workmen had
fairly gained, if not a share in the proprietorship, at least some
consideration from the owners. This feeling was especially strong in
cases where the laws of the land had materially aided the success of the
business, and where the profits were unusually large.
“I want to say, in passing, that it is by such indications as the
existence of this sentiment that we can see, all through those troublous
times, the gradual improvement of the race.
“As some of the employers came to be impressed with the same thought,
they began in a quiet way trying the experiment of giving their men a
bonus at the end of the year, proportioned to the amount of wages they
earned. In some cases this gave place after a time to the plan of making
the workmen regular partners, and giving them a certain percentage of
the profits in lieu of wages. But when a time of general depression came
and the percentage did not amount to as much as their old pay had been,
the men felt as though they had been led into a trap, and after they had
endured the situation for a time they were glad to return to the former
system.
“Another scheme that was extensively tried was cooperation among the
workingmen, both in manufacturing and mercantile business. The argument,
which was a plausible one, was that the expense of big salaries for
management, together with the enormous profits, would all be available
for dividends. The results showed that in the long run the profits, in
all but exceptional cases, were not more than a fair interest on the
investment, and as to the salaries, it was found that financial and
business ability was scarce and costly, and yet necessary to success.
The associations of workingmen were willing to put their money into
buildings, machinery, and stock, and the men were ready to work hard
themselves, but they were not willing to pay for skill in management,
and so their failure was inevitable. At the same time they still held
to the opinion, which was at the bottom of these experiments, that under
the old system the owners and managers of the business got too much
of the profits and the operatives too little. Is there anything else,
Doctor, that you think these people might have tried?”
“I am not satisfied,” the doctor answered, “with their efforts
at profit-sharing. It seems to me that that scheme, under proper
management, ought to have brought the two classes together by giving
them a common interest in every enterprise, and so to have gradually
done away with all bitterness and strife. Employers might have used a
part of their surplus profits in building better houses for their men,
in giving them instruction as to a nobler way of living, in opening
libraries and bath-houses and cooking schools and savings banks, in
keeping them insured against sickness and death, and in doing a thousand
things to show the men that they were thoughtful of their comfort and
welfare. If the workmen could discover by such means that the employers
were really their friends, I think it must have disarmed their hatred
and antagonism. Then if, with these benefits, they could have received
in money a small percentage above their usual wages, they would
certainly have repaid such friendliness by a service so faithful and an
industry so constant as to more than make up, in increased profits, for
all the philanthropic expenditures.”
“Doctor,” said Thorwald, “I am pleased to see you take such an interest
in this subject. You talk as though you had thought of it before, and
you have outlined almost the exact course pursued by the people of whom
we are speaking. Hundreds of such experiments were tried and persisted
in for a long time, both before the serious labor troubles began
and after. Among their strongest advocates were men of theory in the
professions, who were actuated by high motives but did not appreciate
the practical difficulties. They were pretty sure they could get along
with the workingmen without so much friction. But the profit-sharing
scheme also had the aid of many excellent men among the employers, as I
have said. However, for one reason or another, the experiments all
came to naught. In some cases great expense was entered into to provide
comforts for the workmen, and after a few prosperous years depression
followed and the proprietors found they had undertaken too much. Several
large failures, brought about by such lack of judgment, helped to
produce disappointment and discouragement. Then it was found by
experience that the evil-disposed among the workmen were not to be
converted into honest, industrious, and faithful employees in any such
wholesale manner. Making men over could not be done in the block. There
never had been any difficulty in dealing with the sober, reasonable,
well-intentioned men. The trouble had all come from the vicious, the
incompetent, and the shiftless ones. And the more privileges this class
obtained, the more they demanded. If their working day was made shorter
in order to give them the opportunity of taking advantage of the free
facilities for improving their minds, they loudly demanded another
hour each day and frequent holidays, with the liberty of spending their
leisure time as best suited their tastes. If they were given a share
of the profits, they complained because it was so small a share, and
thought they were being cheated when the proprietors would not let
them inspect the books to see if the profits were not larger than
represented. Then as partners they claimed the right to be consulted
in the management of the business. Such demands brought on disputes, of
course; and the natural result was that strikes were not unknown even in
these humanitarian establishments. As the labor organizations were then
in full blast the better class of men were drawn into the strikes, which
sometimes became so serious that the owners were compelled to give up
their philanthropic efforts and go back to the old system of giving what
they were obliged to and getting what they could in return.
“In general, employers found they had still an unanswered problem on
their hands. An undue spirit of independence had been fostered among a
class of uneducated, ill-natured, and thick-headed workmen, and society
was rocked to its foundation in the effort to keep them within bounds.”
“Will you let me make another suggestion, Thorwald?” asked the doctor.
“Why did not all classes approach this difficulty in a businesslike way
and work together to remove it? Why did not the state see that the right
of private contract was a safe and useful one for all sides, and
cease to infringe on it by law? Why did not the public teachers make a
combined and continued effort to instill a conciliatory spirit into both
sides, and to show how peace and brotherly feeling would be a mutual
blessing? Why did not the employers--not one here and there, but all of
them--treat their men as they would like to be treated in their place,
make friends with them, talk reason even to unreasonable men, speak
kindly to the unfriendly ones, urge the value of sobriety upon the
intemperate, teach the incompetent, sympathize with the unfortunate, try
to reclaim the vicious instead of turning them off harshly, and in every
way strive to prove themselves to the men as beings of the same flesh
and blood with them? And why did not the workingmen receive what
was done for them with the right spirit--give up their envious and
suspicious feelings, improve every precious chance of getting knowledge,
work for their employers as they would for themselves, cease to use
the power of the unions unjustly, cultivate amicable relations with
everybody, and try in all possible ways to make true men of themselves?
If the men had worked along this line they would have found they were
bettering themselves in every way faster than they could by strikes and
conflicts.”
“Ah! Doctor,” replied Thorwald, “you have now the true solution. Such
action would have annihilated the difficulties in a day. But to suppose
every employer and every workman capable of following such good advice
is to suppose that the world had then reached an almost ideal condition.
The very existence and character of the troubles show how imperfect men
were. It was a common saying then that human nature was the same as it
had been in the earliest days and that it would never change while the
world should stand. This was a mistaken view, for there had been a great
change. The heart had lost much of its selfishness and had begun to
grasp in some slight measure a sense of that distant but high destiny to
which it had been called.”
“If the world,” said the doctor, “was not good enough for these troubles
to be cured by kindness, I am anxious to know how they were healed. I
am sure you can tell us, for those people were your remote ancestors and
you are far removed from such vexations now.”
“That is true,” said Thorwald. “I can tell you how this social problem
was solved, and how our race has found release from the many dangers
that have threatened us. It has not been by man’s device or invention.
But God, whose arm alone has been our defense, has always called men
to his aid, and thus, in his own time and way, help has come in every
crisis. The most important changes in society have been brought about
gradually and without violence, and with that hint I think we had better
leave this subject for the present. Some day I want to go over with you
briefly the history of the work and influence of the gospel of Jesus in
the world, and it will then be fitting to refer again to the period of
which we have just now been speaking.
“I am sure you will find it a great relief for me to change the subject,
or stop talking.”
“We will not object to your changing the subject,” said I, “whenever you
think it best, but we shall try to keep you talking till we know a great
deal more about Mars than we do now.”