se brave and alert
pilots as guides in and out the ever-changing harbor channels.
The gong in the engine-rooms again signaled "full speed" and the live,
escaping steam was turned through the triple-expansion engines, and
the "Majestic" gathered her full strength for a powerful effort, a
record-breaking passage to Queenstown.
The life on board the transatlantic ferry is decidedly English, and Mrs.
Harris closely studied the courtesies and requirements. She soon came to
like the ship's discipline and matter-of-fact customs. The young people,
some newly married, and some new acquaintances like Leo and Lucille, had
moved their steamer chairs on the deck, that they might watch the return
of the pilot's boat.
Loving letters were read, the leaves of latest magazines were cut, and
many words were exchanged before the big "66" disappeared entirely with
the sun that set in gold and purple over the low New England shores.
Quite apart from the young people sat Mrs. Harris and Alfonso. They
talked earnestly about the ill-timed strike of the millmen at home. "Why
did the men strike at the very time when father wanted his mills to glow
with activity?" queried Mrs. Harris.
"Oh, mother," said Alfonso, "that is part of labor's stock in trade. Some
labor organizations argue that the 'end justifies the means.' Our men
were probably kept advised of father's plans, and strikes often are timed
so as to put capital at the greatest disadvantage, and force, if
possible, a speedy surrender to labor's demands. 'Like begets like,'
mother, so the college professor told us when he lectured on Darwin. It
was Darwin, I think, who emphasized this fundamental principle in nature.
"See, mother, how this labor agitation works. Labor organizations
multiply and become aggressive, and so capital organizes in self-defense.
One day our professor told the class that he much preferred citizenship
in a government controlled by intelligent capital, to the insecurity and
uncertainty of ignorant labor in power. The professor inclined to think
that the British form of government rested on a more lasting basis than
that of republics.
"Usually the more of values a person possesses, the more anxious he is
for stable government. Labor has little capital, and so often becomes
venturesome, and is willing to stake all on the throw of a die. But labor
in the presence of open hungry mouths can ill afford to take such
chances. Labor with its little or no surplus s
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