ORGANIZATION OF EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES 167 



the unionists nor the stockholders are going to ask too closely of the 

 manager or the walking delegate concerning the methods he has employed 

 to secure the returns. It is the size of the return that interests them. 

 This it is and this alone. 



This condition of things is very much like that which prevailed before 

 the state had enacted any factory legislation. When the employment 

 of children might be carried on without restriction, the employer who 

 did not hesitate to employ them was able to drive his more scrupulous 

 competitor to the wall. At the present time the corporation manager 

 and the walking delegate are tempted to use unscrupulous methods. 

 It has been said that in certain lines of industry the corporation man- 

 ager who does not hesitate to bribe the city alderman nor to make a bargain 

 with the walking delegate to call strikes in all jobs except his own, is 

 frequently able to earn large dividends for his stockholders. It has 

 been shown that the managers of some of the construction companies 

 in the city of New York have not hesitated to use all the means of corrup- 

 tion known to the modern lobbyist, in order to secure contracts for the 

 erection of public buildings at a larger sum than was just. In this way 

 the returns to the stockholders have been increased. Such a condition 

 of industry is one which tends to put a premium on the worst traits in 

 the business world. 



The same conditions confront the walking delegate. It has been said 

 that as at present managed the union is a thing that makes it possible 

 for the worst of walking delegates to rule and make large sums in a dis- 

 honest way. Recent magazine articles claim that it has been customary 

 for some of these delegates to ascertain what contractors are under 

 bonds to complete their work within a certain time and find out if they 

 are in any way behind, and then for some trifling excuse call out their 

 men. In a case of this kind the strike is likely to be a success. It is 

 also said that some of the most successful strikes have been ordered by 

 the worst of walking delegates. This has been illustrated by the career 

 of the notorious Sam Parks in New York. 



It is quite clear that, left entirely alone, the organized conditions of 

 modern industry are such that they tend to prevent the managers of 

 corporations and the leaders of the labor unions from considering the 



