result will be that combinations of employers must follow the
combination of employes, and those who have always been strong in the
past will be stronger in the future, as has appeared to be the case in
many contests that have already taken place. If there are any real
abuses of power by the employers, such as requiring work for unusual
hours or at less than living rates, the first thing to do is to
correct these abuses, so that complaints will not be upon a sound
foundation. Some men, when the labor epidemic strikes their places,
have sufficient force of character and influence with their men to
avert the blow for some time. Others find it is policy to compromise
with the representatives until a plan of action, conciliatory,
offensive, or defensive, can be determined upon. The whole matter must
be considered one of policy rather than of principles. The class of
men to be dealt with do not talk principles except as an excuse to
secure their ends.

In spite of everything, there will be times when no compromise is
possible and you will be called upon to take part in defending your
employers' interests against what is called a "strike." You can do so
with heart when you know the employes are all well paid, and
particularly, as is frequently the case, when the labor organizers and
walking delegates claim that some old, tried foreman shall be
dismissed because they do like him, really because he has not been a
tool in carrying out their plans, and they defiantly acknowledge that
their war is against non-union labor, and that they have organized
your men and forced a strike to require your establishment to become
as it is called a "union shop." If your deluded employes were
permitted simply to go away and let you alone, and you were permitted
to employ others at the reasonable wages you were paying, the problem
would be a simple one. The principal labor organizations claim that