CHAPTER LV1 



THE SYNDICATE 



I DO not wish to take credit for things which 

 gave me pleasure in the doing, or to appear altru- 

 istic in my dealings with the people employed at 

 Four Oaks. I tell of our business and other re- 

 lations because they are details of farm history 

 and rightfully belong to these pages. If I dealt 

 fairly by my men and established relations of 

 mutual confidence and dependence, it was not 

 in the hope that my ways might be approved 

 and commended, but because it paid, in more 

 ways than one. I wanted my men to have a 

 lively interest in the things which were of im- 

 portance to me, that their efforts might be intel- 

 ligent and direct ; and I was glad to enter into 

 their schemes, either for pleasure or for profit, 

 with such aid as I could give. Cordial under- 

 standing between employee and employer puts 

 life into the contract, and disposes of perfunctory 

 service, which simply recognizes a definite deed 

 for a definite compensation. Uninterested labor 

 leaves a load of hay in the field to be injured, 

 just because the hour for quitting has come, 



342 



