or
legislation; the system or lack of system of arbitrating labor
disputes was badly in need of repairs; workingmen were being
imprisoned in some of the States for the crime of striking; the
power of government was often used to oppress and overawe strikers,
even when they had been perfectly orderly and their cause was
absolutely just. These with many other evils of the workingman's
condition were pushed aside in order to perfect the defense system
and get the small arms factories in good working order, for such
were the plain indications of the game that the Labor Party had
started out to play. 'We're in; let us stay in.'

"Meantime there remains this awkward fact about the condition of
the working class. It is no less exploited than before. It is as
far, apparently, from the day of justice under the rule of the
Labor Party as it was under the rule of the Liberal Party. What are
you going to do about that? Why, there is nothing to be done about
that as yet. The country, you see, is not ready for any radical
measures on that subject. If we undertook to make any great changes
in fundamental conditions, we should be defeated at the next
election and then we should not be in, but should be out. True, the
cost of living is steadily increasing, and that means that the
state of the working class is inevitably declining. True, under the
present system, power is steadily accumulating in the hands of the
exploiters, so that if we are afraid to offend them now, we shall
be still more afraid to offend them next year and the next. But the
main thing is to keep in. We're in; let us stay in.

"Hence, also, the Labor administration has been very careful not
to offend the great money interests and powerful corporations that
are growing up in the country. These influences are too powerful in
elections. Nothing has been done that could in the least disturb
the currents of sacred business. It was recognized as not good
politics to antagonize business interests. Let the administration
keep along with the solid business interests of the country,
reassuring them for the sake of the general prosperity and helping
them to go on in the same, safe, sane, and conservative way as
before. It was essential that business men should feel that
business was just as secure und