a lumber baron or a railroad king, had he been born a few years
sooner. As it is, he remains in his class, is secretary of the
United Garment Workers of America, and is so thoroughly saturated
with the class struggle that he speaks of the dispute between
capital and labor in terms of war,--workmen FIGHT with employers; it
is possible to avoid some CONFLICTS; in certain cases TRUCES may be,
for the time being, effected.

Man being man and a great deal short of the angels, the quarrel over
the division of the joint product is irreconcilable. For the last
twenty years in the United States, there has been an average of over
a thousand strikes per year; and year by year these strikes increase
in magnitude, and the front of the labor army grows more imposing.
And it is a class struggle, pure and simple. Labor as a class is
fighting with capital as a class.

Workingmen will continue to demand more pay, and employers will
continue to oppose them. This is the key-note to LAISSEZ FAIRE,--
everybody for himself and devil take the hindmost. It is upon this
that the rampant individualist bases his individualism. It is the
let-alone policy, the struggle for existence, which strengthens the
strong, destroys the weak, and makes a finer and more capable breed
of men. But the individual has passed away and the group has come,
for better or worse, and the struggle has become, not a struggle
between individuals, but a struggle between groups. So the query
rises: Has the individualist never speculated upon the labor group
becoming strong enough to destroy the capitalist group, and take to
itself and run for itself the machinery of industry? And, further,
has the individualist never speculated upon this being still a
triumphant expression of individualism,--of group individualism,--if