The general proposition, not always easy to define exhaustively, that
the reign of the capitalist will be the reign of the cad--that is, of
the unlicked type that is neither the citizen nor the gentleman--can
be excellently studied in its attitude towards holidays. The special
emblematic Employer of to-day, especially the Model Employer (who is
the worst sort) has in his starved and evil heart a sincere hatred of
holidays. I do not mean that he necessarily wants all his workmen to
work until they drop; that only occurs when he happens to be stupid as
well as wicked. I do not mean to say that he is necessarily unwilling to
grant what he would call “decent hours of labour.” He may treat men like
dirt; but if you want to make money, even out of dirt, you must let
it lie fallow by some rotation of rest. He may treat men as dogs, but
unless he is a lunatic he will for certain periods let sleeping dogs
lie.
But humane and reasonable hours for labour have nothing whatever to do
with the idea of holidays. It is not even a question of ten hours day
and eight-hours day; it is not a question of cutting down leisure to
the space necessary for food, sleep and exercise. If the modern employer
came to the conclusion, for some reason or other, that he could get most
out of his men by working them hard for only two hours a day, his whole
mental attitude would still be foreign and hostile to holidays. For his
whole mental attitude is that the passive time and the active time are
alike useful for him and his business. All is, indeed, grist that
comes to his mill, including the millers. His slaves still serve him in
unconsciousness, as dogs still hunt in slumber. His grist is ground not
only by the sounding wheels of iron, but by the soundless wheel of blood
and brain. His sacks are still filling silently when the doors are shut
on the streets and the sound of the grinding is low.