The reason is not far to seek. Unionism is opposed to efficiency, it destroys the _esprit de corps_ that is so important in getting the best results from a large body of men. It prevents promotion according to merit. In its very essence it is antagonistic to the employer; it sets labor and capital into two distinct and constantly armed camps; it would make war between capital and labor. And the management of the Corporation believes that the only workable solution of the whole industrial problem is to bring labor and capital into friendly coöperation, to give labor a part in the earnings of industry, making the interests common. This cannot be accomplished in a hurry. A movement of so vast a magnitude must necessarily take time. But had the Corporation’s employees been organized it is doubtful if the betterment of conditions of its workers, and consequently of the steel workers of the country, would have progressed as rapidly as it has. The labor union, if used to help the oppressed worker, is unquestionably a beneficial factor in industry. Used as it too often is, to promote the selfish interests of its leaders, and to impinge upon the rights of the public at large, it is just as surely a great evil. The logical result of union labor as preached by its principal exponents is to cripple initiative, and to oppress the worker who prefers to stand on his own feet. And, in America at least, the majority of the workers are of this independent type. And in maintaining its policy of the open shop the Corporation has been fighting the battles of this class of workers. The writer has tried to show that loyalty and coöperation permeate the United States Steel Corporation. That it is the result of the endeavor on the part of the big company to give to the men who make up its organization absolute justice, the square deal; its effort to make the worker, even the poorest, an independent, self-respecting citizen, and to give to every man in its mines, mills, offices, etc., an opportunity to share in the profit derived partly from his efforts. All this to promote efficiency, the “spirit of the Corporation,” to increase the value of the worker to himself, to his employer, and to the community. He believes that the facts justify the statement made in an earlier chapter that the organization of the United States Steel Corporation was the greatest step that has ever been made toward the highest form of socialism. CHAPTER VIII THE CORPORATION’S IMPLEMENTS We live to-day in the “Age of Steel.” The metal probably plays a more important part in our civilization than any other product made by the hands of man. Our big buildings, our navies (both war and merchant), our trains and the rails they run on, machinery of all kinds, tools for every trade--all steel. Furniture, watch springs, even wire hair for stuffing mattresses and other uses--steel again. And new uses for the metal are being discovered almost every day.