smile when he was
angry and not let the other fellow know it, was a trick we had not
learned. That a bloodthirsty, cruel capitalist should be such a graceful
fellow was a shock to me. I saw from the start that the communist
picture of a capitalist as a bristling, snorting hog was the farthest
thing from the truth. The picture was drawn by malice and not from a
desire to tell the truth.

I learned that when Mr. Reid and his fellows gave their word they never
broke it. It was hard to get a promise from them, but once they made a
promise they always fulfilled it. If they said they would meet us at a
certain hour, they were always there on the minute. They were patient,
firm and reasonable, and they always treated us as their equals.

They always gave us the reasons for the stand they took. At first I
doubted their sincerity, but in the end I learned that the reasons they
cited were the true reasons. At first they thought that they would have
to guard themselves against roguery and double-dealing on the part of the
tin workers. This showed that they had had unpleasant experiences. For,
men who knew their business as well as they did must surely have
had some cause for their suspicion. Baseless suspicion is a trait of
ignorant men, and these men were not ignorant. A burnt child dreads the
fire.

I decided to take them as my models, to learn all their virtues and let
them know that I was as square in my dealings with them as they were
with me. I studied their business as thoroughly as I studied the case of
the men. I soon got from them all the concessions we had demanded
when we called the strike. It was fortunate for us that the strike was
cancelled, for we kept our jobs and in due course got all the things
that we were going to strike for.

In fact, I got so many concessions by dickering with those bosses that I
made life a burden for them at times. I knew the cost of every different
kind of plate the mill put out, and so I could demand a high rate of
wages and support my demands with logic. My midnight studies had not
been in vain. It all came back in cash to the working man; and yet it
was my own pals who had rebuked me for being too bookish. This did not
make me sour. I loved the fellows just the same, and when they showed
their faith in me, it more than paid me back.

But I had learned this general rule: The average working man thinks
mostly of the present. He leaves to students and to capitalists the
safeguardin