Thenegotiationsbetweenthemenandtheiremployers，inwhichthechiefexponentsoftheprinciplesofjusticeandfairplaywereMr。
McGinnisontheonehandandBrotherSimmonsontheother，brokedownatthesecondmeeting，whichendedinavigorouspersonalencounterbetweenthesegentlemen，without，however，seriousinjurytoeither。
Thefollowingdayageneralstrikewasdeclared。Allworkceasedinthefactoriesaffectedandbuildingoperationswhichhadbeguninamoderatewaywerearrested。GrantMaitlandwasheartilydisgustedwiththecourseofeventsandmoreespeciallywiththehumiliatinganddisgracefulmannerinwhichthenegotiationshadbeenconducted。
“Youwerequiteright，Jack，“hesaidtohissonthemorningafterwhichthestrikehadbeendeclared。“ThatmanMcGinnisisquiteimpossible。“
“Itreallymadelittledifference，Dad。Thenegotiationswerehopelessfromthebeginning。Therewasnochanceofpeace。“
“Whynot？“
“BecauseMcNishwantswar。“HeproceededtogiveanaccountoftheeveningspentattheMcNishhome。“WhenMcNishwantspeace，wecaneasilyendthestrike，“concludedJack。
“Thereissomethinginwhatyousay，doubtless，“repliedhisfather，“butmeantimethereisalottobedone。“
“Whatdoyoumeanexactly，Father？“
“Wehavealotofstockmadeuponhand。Themarketisdeadatpresentprices。Thereisnohopeofsales。Themarketwillfalllowerstill。Iproposethatwetakeourlossandunloadatthebestratewecanget。“
“Thatisyourjob，Dad。Iknowlittleaboutthat，butIbelieveyouareright。Ihavebeendoingalotofreadingintradejournalsandthatsortofthing，andIbelievethatabigslumpissurelycoming。ButthereisalottodoinmydepartmentattheMills，also。Iamnotsatisfiedwiththeinsidearrangementofourplaningmill。Thereisalotoftimewastedandthereisanalmostcompletelackofco-ordination。HereisaplanIwanttoshowyou。
Theideaistoimprovetheroutingofourwork。“
Maitlandglancedattheplanperfunctorily，moretopleasehissonthananythingelse。But，afterasecondglance，hebecamedeeplyinterestedandbegantoaskquestions。Afterhalfanhour’sstudyhesaid:
“Jack，thisisreallyavastimprovement。Strange，Ineverthoughtofagreatmanyofthesethings。“
“Ihavebeenreadingupabit，andwhenIwasonmytriptwoweeksagoIlookedinupontwoorthreeoftheplantsofourcompetitors。
Ibelievethiswillbemoreup-to-dateandwillsavetimeandlabour。“
“Iamsureitwill，boy。Andwewillputthisinhandatonce。
Butwhataboutmen？“
“Oh，wecanpickuplabourers，andthatisallwewantatthepresenttime。“
“Allright，goatit。Iwillgiveyouahandmyself。“
“Thenthereissomethingelse，Dad。Weoughttohaveagoodathleticfieldforourmen。“
Hisfathergaspedathim。
“Anathleticfieldforthoseungratefulrascals？“
“Father，theyarenotrascals，“saidhisson。“Theyarejustthesameto-dayastheyeverwere。Adecentlotofchapswhodon’tthinkthesameaswedoonanumberofpoints。Buttheyarecomingbackagainsometimeandwemayaswellbereadyforthem。Lookatthis。“
AndbeforeGrantMaitlandcouldrecoverhisspeechhefoundhimselflookingatabeautifully-drawnplanofathleticgroundssetoutwithwalks，shadetreesandshrubbery，andwithaplainbutcommodiousclub-houseappearinginthebackground。
“Andwheredoyougetthisland，andwhatdoesitcostyou？“
“Theland，“repliedJack，“isyourlandabouttheoldmill。Itwillcostusnothing，Ihope。Theoldmillsitecontainstwoandone-halfacres。Itcanbeputinshapewithlittlework。Themillitselfisaneyesore；oughttohavebeenremovedlongago。Dad，yououghttohaveseentheplantatVioletta，thatisinOhio，youknow。Itisajoytobehold。Butnevermindaboutthat。Thelumberintheoldmillcanbeusedupintheclub-house。Thetimbersarewonderful；nothinglikethemto-dayanywhere。Theoutsidefinishingwillbedonewithslabsfromourownyard。Theywillmakeaveryprettyjob。“
“Andwheredoyougetthemenforthiswork？“inquiredhisfather。
“Why，ourmen。Itisforthemselvesandtheyareourmen。“
“Voluntarywork，Isuppose？“inquiredMaitland。
“Voluntarywork？“saidJack。“Wecouldn’thavemenworkforusfornothing。“
“Andyoumeantopaythemfortheconstructionoftheirownathleticgroundsandclub-house？“
“Butwhynot？“inquiredJackinamazement。
Hisfatherthrewbackhisheadandbegantolaugh。
“ThisisreallythemostextraordinarythingIhaveeverheardofinallmylife，“hesaid，afterhehaddonewithhislaugh。“Yourmenstrike；youprepareforthemabeautifulclub-houseandathleticgroundsasarewardfortheirloyalty。Youpaythemwagessothattheymaybeabletosustainthestrikeindefinitely。“
AgainhethrewbackhisheadandcontinuedlaughingasJackhadneverinhislifeheardhimlaugh。
“Whynot，Dad？“saidJack，gazingathisfatherinhalf-shamedperplexity。“Theideaofathleticgroundsandclub-houseisaccordingtothebestmodernthought。Theseareourownmen。YouarenotlikeMcGinnis。Youarenotenragedatthem。Youdon’thatethem。Theyaregoingtoworkforusagaininsomedaysorweeks。Theyareidleandthereforeavailableforwork。Youcangetbetterworkfromthemthanfromothermen。Andyouwouldn’ttaketheirworkfromthemfornothing。“
Againhisfatherbegantolaugh。“Yourargument，Jack，“hesaidwhenhewasabletocontrolhisspeech，“isabsolutelyunanswerable。
Thereisnoanswerpossibleonanycount；butdidevermanhearofsuchascheme？Didyou？“
“Iconfessnot。But，Dad，youareagoodsport。Weareouttowinthisfight，butwedon’twanttoinjureanybody。Wearegoingtobeatthem，butwedon’twanttoabusethemunnecessarily。Besides，Ithinkitisgoodbusiness。Andthen，yousee，Ireallylikethesechaps。“
“Simmons，forinstance？“saidhisfatherwithanironicalsmile。
“Well，Simmons，justasmuchasyoucanlikeanass。“
“AndMcNish？“inquiredMaitland。
“McNish，“echoedJack，acloudfallinguponhisface。“IconfessI
don’tunderstandMcNish。Atleast，“headded，“IamsorryforMcNish。Butwhatdoyousaytomyscheme，Dad？“
“Well，boy，“saidhisfather，beginningtolaughagain，“givemeanighttothinkitover。“
ThenJackdeparted，notquitesureofhimselforoftheplanwhichappearedtogivehisfathersuchintenseamusement。“Atanyrate，“
hesaidtohimselfashewalkedoutoftheoffice，“ifitisajokeitisagoodone。Andithasgiventhegovernorabetterlaughthanhehashadforfiveyears。“
TheMayorofBlackwaterwaspeculiarlysensitivetopublicopinionandacutelysusceptibleofpublicapproval。Inaddition，hewaspossessedofasomewhatexaltedideaofhispowersastheadministratorinpublicaffairs，andmoreparticularlyasamediatorintimesofstrife。HehadbeensingularlyhappyinhismediationbetweentheconflictingelementsinhisCouncil，andmorethanoncehehadbeensuccessfulinthecomposingofdisputesinarbitrationcasessubmittedtohisjudgment。Moreover，hehadaneyetoasecondterminthemayor’schair，whichgubernatorialandmajesticalofficegavefullscopetotherulingambitionofhislife，whichwas，inhisownwords，“toguardtheinterestsandpromotethewell-beingofmypeople。“
Theindustrialstrikeappearedtofurnishhimwithanopportunitytogratifythisambition。Heresolvedtoputanendtothisunnecessaryandwastefulstruggle，andtothatendhesummonedtoapublicmeetinghisfellowcitizensofallclasses，atwhichheinvitedeachpartyintheindustrialstrifetomakeastatementoftheircase，inthehopethatafairandreasonablesettlementmightbeeffected。
Theemployersweremorethandubiousoftheissue，havingbutasmallideaofthemayor’spowerofcontrolandlessofhiscommon-
sense。BrotherSimmons，however，foreseeingamagnificentfieldforthedisplayofhisforensicability，athinggreatlydesiredbylabourleadersofhiskidney，joyfullywelcomedtheproposal。
McNishgavehesitatingassent，but，relyinguponhisexperienceinthemanagementofpublicassembliesandconfidentofhisabilitytoshapeeventstohisownadvantage，hefinallyagreedtoaccepttheinvitation。
ThepublicmeetingpackedtheCityHall，withrepresentativesofbothpartiesinthecontroversyinaboutequalnumbersandwithagreatbodyofcitizensmoreorlesskeenlyinterestedintheissueofthemeetingandexpectantofacertainamountof“fun。“TheMayor’sopeningspeechwasthoroughlycharacteristic。Hewasimpressedwiththeresponsibilitythatwashisforthewell-beingofhispeople。Likeallright-thinkingcitizensofthisfairtownofBlackwater，hedeeplyregrettedthisindustrialstrife。Itinterferedwithbusiness。Itmeantlossofmoneytothestrikers。
Itwasanoccasionofmuchinconveniencetothecitizensanditengenderedbitternessoffeelingthatmighttakemonths，evenyears，toremove。Hestoodthereasthefriendoftheworkingman。
Hewasaworkingmanhimselfandwasproudofit。Hebelievedthatonthewholetheyweregoodfellows。Hewasafriendalsooftheemployersoflabour。Whatcouldwedowithoutthem？Howcouldourgreatindustriesprosperwithouttheirmoneyandtheirbrains？Theonethingnecessaryforsuccesswasco-operation。Thatwasthegreatwordinmoderndemocracy。Inglowingperiodsheillustratedthispointfromtheirexperiencesinthewar。Alltheywantedtodowastositdowntogether，and，mantoman，talktheirdifficultiesover。Hewouldbegladtoassistthem，andhehadnodoubtastotheresult。Hewarnedtheworkingmanthathardtimeswerecoming。
Thespectreofunemploymentwasalreadyparadingtheirstreets。
Unemploymentmeantdisorder，rioting。This，heassuredthem，wouldnotbepermitted。Atallcostsorderwouldbemaintained。Hehadnowishtothreaten，buthepromisedthemthatthepeacewouldbepreservedatallcosts。Hesuggestedthatthestrikersshouldgetbackatoncetoworkandthenegotiationsshouldproceedinthemeantime。
AtthispointBrotherSimmonsrose。
“Themayorhurgestheworkerstogetbacktowork，“hesaid。
“Does’emeanathincreasedpay，ornot？’Esaysas’owthisstrikeinterfereswithbusiness。’Edoesn’ttelluswhatbusiness。
ButIcantell’imithinterfereswiththebusinessofrobberyoftheworkin’man。’Edeploresthelossofmoneytothestrikers。
Letmetell’imthattheworkin’menarepreparedtosufferthatloss。True，they’avenobigbankaccountstocarry’emon，buttherearethingsthattheylovemorethanmoney——libertyandjusticeandtherightsofthepeople。Whatarewestrikin’for？
Nothin’butwhatisourown。Theworkin’manmakesheverythingthatismade。Whatpercentageofthereturnsdoes’egetinwages？
Theywon’ttellusthat。Lastyearthesefactorieswerebusyinthemakin’o’munitions。Mr。McGinnis’erewasmakin’shells。I’dliketohask，Mr。Mayor，whatprofitMr。McGinnismadeoutoftheseshells。“
Mr。McGinnissprangtohisfeet，“Iwanttotellyou，“hesaidinavoicechokingwithrage，“thatitisnoneofyourhigh-explosivebusiness。“
“’Esaysasitisnoneo’mybusiness，“criedBrotherSimmons，joyouslytakingMr。McGinnison。“Letmehask’imwhopaidfortheseshells？Idid，youdid，allofusdid。Notmybusiness？
Then’osebusinessisit？HIf’ewaspaidafairpricefor’isshells，hallright，Isaynothin’againstit。If’ewaspaidmorethanafairprice，then’eisarobber，worse，’eisabloodrobber，becausethepricewaspaidinblood。“
Atonceadozenmenwereontheirfeet。Criesof“Order！Order！“
and“Puthimout！“aroseoneveryhand。Themayorrosefromhischairand，inanimpressivevoice，said:“Wemusthaveorder。Sitdown，Mr。Simmons。“Simmonssatdownpromptly。Unionmenarethoroughlydisciplinedinpointsoforder。“Wemusthaveorder，“
continuedthemayor。“Iwillnotpermitanycitizentobeinsulted。WealldidourbitinthistownofBlackwater。Someofuswenttofight，andsomethatcouldnotgotofight’keptthehomefiresburning’。“Ashoutofderisivelaughterfromtheworkingmengreetedthisphrase。Themayorwasdeeplyhurt。“I
wanttosaythatthosewhocouldnotgotothewardidtheirbitathome。Letthemeetingproceed，butletusobservethecourtesiesthatareproperindebate。“