olice competency, and to general municipal
common-sense. In Chicago and St. Louis, this strike lasted several days;
in Brooklyn, it was settled in a few hours. The deliverance left us
facing the problem whether the differences between capital and labour in
America would ever be settled. I was convinced that it could never be
accomplished by the law of supply and demand, although we were
constantly told so. It was a law that had done nothing to settle the
feuds of past ages. The fact was that supply and demand had gone into
partnership, proposing to swindle the earth. It is a diabolic law which
will have to stand aside for a greater law of love, of co-operation, and
of kindness. The establishment of a labour exchange, in Brooklyn in
1886, where labourers and capitalists could meet and prepare their
plans, was a step in that direction.

I said to a very wealthy man, who employed thousands of men in his
establishments in different cities:

"Have you had many strikes?"

"Never had a strike; I never will have one," he said.

"How do you avoid them?" I asked.

"When prices go up or down, I call my men together in all my
establishments. In ease of increased prosperity I range them around me
in the warehouses at the noon hour, and I say, 'Boys, I am making money,
more than usual, and I feel that you ought to share my success; I shall
add five, or ten, or twenty per cent. to your wages.' Times change. I
must sell my goods at a low price, or not sell them at all. Then I say
to them, 'Boys, I am losing money, and I must either stop altogether or
run on half-time, or do with less hands. I thought I would call you
together and ask your advice.' There may be a halt for a minute or two,
and then one of the men will step up and say, 'Boss, you have been good
to us; we have got to sympathise with you. I don't know how the others
feel, but I propose we take off 20 per cent. from our wages, and when
times get better, you can raise us,' and the rest agree."

That was the law of kindness.

Many of the best friends I had were American capitalists, and I said to
them always, "You share with your employees in your prosperity, and they
will share with you in your adversity."

The rich man of America was not in need of conversion, for, in 1886, he
had not become a monopolist as yet. He had accumulated fortunes by
industry and hard work, and he was an energetic builder of national
enterprise and civic pride, but his coffers were being dr