In spite of all that has been accomplished, however, we must increase enormously our efforts along these lines, and so open up new avenues of progress. The question of the hours of labor requires adjustment; child labor, sweating, the home industries, the standardization of wages on a “living” basis, are but a few of the problems which must be settled; and the only way to settle them is by means of legislation. We must not forget, however, that laws are of little use unless they are enforced. We already have laws on our statute books which would quickly put an end to some of our abuses were they to be applied adequately. This teaches us that, unless legislation is supported by public opinion, it will be practically useless. Until public sentiment forbids, laws are evaded; and a statute that is a “dead letter” is a pretty sterile “reform measure.” It is here that we find the next duty of the worker. Personally, and through his organization, he must carry out a campaign of education that will help to develop a more alert social conscience--that will arouse all good citizens to the justice of his demands, and so frustrate the efforts of the rascals who, greed-inspired, exist chiefly to set the moral laws at naught. To-day, this program can be carried out more easily than ever before in human history. The social conscience is already awakening and in his efforts to win more support for his righteous cause, the worker will derive aid from the churches as well as from the many organizations that have come into existence during the past decade solely to cast their influence in behalf of social-welfare movements. The social question to-day includes the industrial question. Moreover, it is more than an economic and political question. It has its moral and religious phases and so appeals directly to all public-spirited men and women. By organization, legislation and education, a still wider and ever-widening interest can be excited, until one by one the merciless evils--now the source of so much woe--have been eliminated. The objection may be raised that the program outlined is anything but a simple one. I will admit that this is so; but I can assure you, John, that the difficulties presented by the remedial measures I have suggested are really not as great as those which we should experience were we to attempt to carry out the plan which the Socialists have arranged for us. The program I have outlined represents a sane solution of our industrial problems; and the better acquainted with Socialism you become the more firmly you will be convinced that the so-called “palliatives” afford the only safe remedy for existing evils. There can be no short-cut to the end we seek. Many forces operate to produce present conditions and they must be considered and co-ordinated. It is because the Socialists have failed to recognize this fact and make provision for it that they have lost their way and wandered into such a tangle of absurdities. INDEX