"You are exactly right," agreed the Interpreter. "And I can tell you a
thing to match the truth of your statement. Your combinations of
employers will never straighten anything out with the help of such men
as McIver and his hired gunmen and his talk about driving men to work
at the point of the bayonet. But McIver and his principles are not
endorsed by our American employers," continued the Interpreter, "any
more than Jake Vodell and his methods are endorsed by our American
union employees. The fact is that the great body of loyal American
employers and employees, which is, indeed, the body of our nation
itself, is fast coming to recognize the truth that our industries must
somehow be saved from the destruction that is threatened by both the
McIvers of capital and the Vodells of labor. Our Mill, Adam Ward, that
you and Pete Martin and I built together and that, whether you admit it
or not, we built for all mankind, our Mill must be protected against
both employers and employees. It must be protected, not because the
ownership, under our laws, happens to be vested in you as an individual
citizen, but because of that larger ownership which, under the
universal laws of humanity, is vested in the people whose lives are
dependent upon that Mill as an essential industry. The Mill must be
saved, indeed, for the very people who would destroy it."
"Very fine!" sneered Adam; "and perhaps you will tell me who is to save
my Mill that is not my Mill for the very people who own it and who
would destroy it?"
The voice of the Interpreter was colored with the fire of prophecy as
he answered, "In the name of humanity, the sons of the men who built
the Mill will save it for humanity. Your boy John, Adam Ward, and Pete
Martin's boy Charlie represent the united armies of American employers
and employees that stand in common loyalty against the forces that are,
through the destruction of our industries, seeking to bring about the
downfall of our nation."
Adam Ward laughed. "Tell that to your partner Billy Rand over there; he
will hear it as quick as the American people will."
But the man in the wheel chair was not disturbed by Adam Ward's
laughing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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