the responsibility
that was his for the well-being of his people. Like all right-thinking
citizens of this fair town of Blackwater, he deeply regretted this
industrial strife. It interfered with business. It meant loss of
money to the strikers. It was an occasion of much inconvenience to the
citizens and it engendered bitterness of feeling that might take months,
even years, to remove. He stood there as the friend of the working man.
He was a working man himself and was proud of it. He believed that on
the whole they were good fellows. He was a friend also of the employers
of labour. What could we do without them? How could our great industries
prosper without their money and their brains? The one thing necessary
for success was co-operation. That was the great word in modern
democracy. In glowing periods he illustrated this point from their
experiences in the war. All they wanted to do was to sit down together,
and, man to man, talk their difficulties over. He would be glad to
assist them, and he had no doubt as to the result. He warned the working
man that hard times were coming. The spectre of unemployment was already
parading their streets. Unemployment meant disorder, rioting. This,
he assured them, would not be permitted. At all costs order would be
maintained. He had no wish to threaten, but he promised them that the
peace would be preserved at all costs. He suggested that the strikers
should get back at once to work and the negotiations should proceed in
the meantime.

At this point Brother Simmons rose.

"The mayor (h)urges the workers to get back to work," he said. "Does 'e
mean at (h)increased pay, or not? 'E says as 'ow this strike interferes
with business. 'E doesn't tell us what business. But I can tell 'im
it (h)interferes with the business of robbery of the workin' man. 'E
deplores the loss of money to the strikers. Let me tell 'im that the
workin' men are prepared to suffer that loss. True, they 'ave no big
bank accounts to carry 'em on, but there are things that they love more
than money--liberty and justice and the rights of the people. What are
we strikin' for? Nothin' but what is our own. The workin' man makes
(h)everything that is made. What percentage of the returns does 'e get
in wages? They won't tell us that. Last year these factories were busy
in the makin' o' munitions. Mr. McGinnis 'ere was makin' shells. I'd
like to (h)ask, Mr. Mayor, what profit Mr. McGinnis made out of these
shells."