THE CONDUCT OF INDUSTRIES 315 



public disorder, not infrequently by destruction of life and 

 property. The whole tendency is toward the production of 

 lawlessness, lack of respect for legal authority, and general 

 demoralization. Where such violence and compulsory evasion 

 of competition and a fairly complete monopoly of power are 

 not observed the outcome is always simply that which natural 

 industrial laws would bring about. If labor be plentiful, and 

 its value, therefore, reduced, a strike will fail; when the class 

 of labor needed is scarce, and its value, therefore, is high, a 

 strike will generally succeed. But these results are simply 

 the ordinary and normal outcome of the ultimately controll- 

 ing principle in any case. Prices rise or fall as the supply is 

 less or greater than the momentary demand. Employment 

 being ample for all, prices of labor rise; the call for labor fall- 

 ing off, wages fall. If the wages are held constant by an 

 artificial system or by brute force, the numbers employed 

 will be less in hard times than the normal, and more people 

 will suffer. In good times no more than all can be employed. 

 The net result is probably a loss to the individual and to the 

 country. 



The nature and method of compulsory interference with 

 the rights of any individual or body of men seeking a mu- 

 tually agreed-upon contract are thus antagonistic to the 

 principles of good business. They are usually resultant in 

 harm, and in many ways. The employees have a legal 

 and sometimes a moral right to retire from employment, 

 precisely as has the individual, — no more, no less. The 

 employer has the legal and sometimes the moral right to 

 close an establishment and go out of business either tem- 

 porarily or permanently; but when the legal right is exer- 

 cised by either for the purpose of exercising compulsion 

 in the making of a bargain, the moral right is exceeded. 

 Either party may exercise this right in self defence or in self 

 protection; but neither has the moral right to so act in com- 

 pulsion of the other. Either side has a right to place a 

 value on the article offered for sale, but neither has a right 

 to compel the other to accept that valuation. If an agree- 

 ment cannot be reached, the only proper course is for the 

 two parties to separate and seek better terms elsewhere. 



