28 THE SCIENCE OF POWER 



pronounced of all aspects of legality in the West 

 had been the accepted sanctity of agreements. 

 But in the course of the labour struggle it began to 

 be a subject exciting profound feeling that in the 

 agreements made by organized labour on the one 

 side, and organized capital on the other, this principle 

 was often no longer observed. The Times, surveying 

 in England the labour movement for a number of 

 years, 1 laid great stress on this remarkable feature, 

 maintaining that in a long series of crises legal 

 contracts deliberately entered into by labour had 

 been " continuously violated as if they had meant 

 nothing at all." 



In these violations of agreements, moreover, 

 remarkable features were pointed out. They were 

 all ultimately condoned. The enormous voting 

 power of labour in the State rendered any other 

 action impossible. A still more striking feature, 

 showing the retreat on the ultimate principles of 

 force which was taking place, was the nature of the 

 defence coming to be urged for these breaches 

 of contract by labour. The proletariat, in a state 

 of war, it was said, had often no option but to 

 accept for the time being the terms of capital. 

 But, as it began to be characteristically put on be- 

 half of labour, " a defeated nation may have to sue 



1 Times, 26 January 1912 and 27 March 1912. 



