For the mayor of Herculaneum to refuse
me my rights would be a nice morsel for the Republican party."

Donnelly passed over this.

"I wish to protect the rights of the workman, just as you wish to
protect yours."

"What are the workman's rights?"

Donnelly did not reply.

"Well, I'll reply for you, then. His right is to sell his labor to the
highest bidder; his right is to work where he pleases; for what hours
he desires; his right is to reject abusive employers and to find those
congenial; his right is to produce as little or as much as he thinks
best; his right is to think for himself, to act for himself, to live
for himself."

"You admit all this, then?" asked Donnelly in astonishment.

"I have never so much as denied a single right that belongs to the
workman."

"Then what the devil is all this row about?"

"If the workman has his rights, shall not the employer have his?"

Donnelly mused. He would not be able to do anything with this
plain-spoken man.

"But the workman steps beyond. He has no right to dictate to his
employer as to what HIS rights shall be. Where there is no amity
between capital and labor there is never any justice; one or the other
becomes a despot. The workman has his rights, but these end where the
other man's rights begin. He shall not say that another man shall not
seek work, shall not sell his labor for what he can get; he has no
right to forbid another man's choosing freedom; he has no right to say
that a manufacturer shall produce only so much."

"Well, I've only to say," said Donnelly, hedging before this clear
argument, "I've only to say, if the men become violent, look out for
yourself."

"I shall appeal to you for civic or military protection; if you refuse
it, to the governor; if politics there interferes, I shall appeal to
Washington, where neither your arm nor McQuade's can reach. I
understand the causes back of this strike; they are personal, and I'm
man enough to look out for myself. But if politics starts to work,
there will be a trouble to settle in the courts. You may not know the
true cause of this strike, Mr. Donnelly, but I do. The poor deluded
men believe it to be the English inventor, but he is only a blind. Had
you really wished to do me a favor, you would have spoken to the men
before they went out on this silly strike. But I am master of what is
mine, and I shall tear down that building. I shall tolerate no
interference from any man. The workman has his