the table of wealth and authority, trying to
bring about peace and harmony between Capital and Labor, might greatly
profit by the history of trade-unionism and the various economic
struggles it has fought.

Only ignorance can account for the birth of such superficial stuff on
the labor question as the book of John Mitchell that has been launched
upon the market through loud and vulgar advertisement. Nothing could
have disproved the fitness of Mr. Mitchell for a labor leader so
drastically as this book.

As already stated, the violent attempt to kill trade unionism or its
organizations have proven futile. The swelling tide of the labor
movement could not be stopped. The social and economic problem brought
to light by modern industry demanded a hearing, produced various
theories and an extensive literature on the subject--a literature that
spoke with a tongue of fire of the awful existence of the oppressed
millions, their trials, their tribulations, the uncertainty, the dangers
surrounding them; it spoke of the terrible results of their conditions,
of the lives crippled, of the hopes marred; a literature that demanded
to know why it is that those who toil are condemned to want and poverty,
while those who never produced were living in affluence and
extravagance.

Well-meaning people have even attempted to prove that Capital and Labor
are twins, and that in order to maintain their common interests they
ought to live in harmony; or, that if Sister Labor had a grievance
against its big brother it ought to be settled in a calm and peaceful
way. Meanwhile the dear sister was fleeced and bled by Brother Capital,
and every time the abused and slaved and outraged creature would turn to
her brother for justice the dear fellow would whip the rebellious child
into submission.

Along with the forcible subjection of organized labor, the minds of the
people were confused and blurred by the sugar-coated promises of
politicians who assured them that the trade unions ought to be organized
by the law, and that all labor quarrels ought to be settled by political
and legal means. Indeed, legislatures even discussed a few
labor-protective laws that either never saw the light of day, or, if
really enacted, were set aside or overridden by the possessing class as
an obstacle to profit-making.

Every government, no matter what political basis it rests upon, acts in
unison with wealth, and therefore it never passed any legislation in
behal