240 THE FAT OF THE LAND 



the rest of you. He is, therefore, an interested 

 party, and he is more than likely to be biassed by 

 what seems to be his interest. He has made no 

 argument ; he has simply asserted things which 

 are not true, and played upon your sympathies, 

 emotions, and passions, by the use of the stale war- 

 cries l oppression,' < down-trodden working- 

 man,' < bloated bond-holders,' and, most foolish 

 of all, < the conflict between Capital and Labor.' 

 You have not thought this matter out for your- 

 selves at all. That is why I ask you to join 

 hands for a little while with the Order of 

 Thinkers and see if there is not some good 

 way out of this dilemma. McGinnis said that 

 the Company has no right to charge you for 

 keeping your tools sharp. In one sense this is 

 true. You have a perfect right to work with 

 dull tools, if you wish to ; you have the right to 

 sharpen your own tools ; and you also have the 

 right to hire any one else to do it for you. You 

 work by the ton,' you own your pickaxes and 

 shovels from handle to blade, and you have the 

 right to do with them as you please. 



" There are three hundred of you who use tools ; 

 you each pay ten cents a week to the Company 

 for keeping them sharp, that is, in round num- 

 bers, $1500 a year. There are two smiths at work 

 at 150 a month (that is $1200), and a helper at 

 $25 a month ($300 more), making just $1500 paid 

 by the Company in wages. If you will think 

 this matter out, you will see that there is a dead 



