下载辰思小说免费APP
“Buthowcantheyknow？Whatcheckhavethey？“
“Well，theyarealwaysabout，Mr。Jack，andkeeptheireyesonthingsgenerally。“
“Isee，“saidJack。“Anddoyoufindthatworksquitesatisfactorily？“
“Well，sir，wehavenevergoneintodetails，youknow，Mr。Jack，butifyouwish——“
“Oh，no，Wickes，Iamjusttryingtogetthehangofthings，youknow。“Jackwasunwillingtoevensuggestacriticismofmethodatsoearlyastageinhismanagerialcareer。“Iwanttoknowhowyourunthings，Wickes，andatanytimeIshallbegladofassistancefromyou。“
Theoldbookkeeperhastenedtogivehimalmosttearfulassuranceofhisdesiretoassisttotheutmostofhispower。
ThemeetingofLocal197oftheWoodworkers’Unionwaslargelyattended，aspecialwhiphavingbeensentoutaskingforafullmeetingonthegroundthatamatterofvitalimportancetounionisedlabourwastobeconsidered。
ThematterofimportanceturnedouttobenothinglessthanapropositionthattheWoodworkers’Unionshouldjoinwithallotherunionsinthetowntomakeauniteddemandupontheirrespectiveemployersforanincreaseinwagesandbetterconditionsallaround，inconnectionwiththeirvariousindustries。Thequestionwasbroughtupintheformofaresolutionfromtheirexecutive，whichstronglyurgedthatthisdemandshouldbeapprovedandthatajointcommitteeshouldbeappointedtotakestepsfortheenforcementofthedemand。Theexecutivehadmattersthoroughlyinhand。BrotherSimmonsandthemoreradicalelementwerekepttothebackground，thespeakerschosentopresentthecasebeingallmoderates。Therewasnosuggestionofextrememeasures。Theirdemandswerereasonable，anditwasbelievedthattheemployerswerepreparedtogivefairconsideration——indeed，membershadhadassurancefromanauthoritativequarterontheothersidethatsuchwasthecase。
Notwithstandingthemoderatetoneadoptedinpresentingit，theresolutionmetwithstrenuousopposition。Thegreatmajorityofthosepresentwerequiet，steady-goingmenwhowantedchieflytobeletaloneattheirworkandwhowerehostiletothesuggestedaction，whichmightfinallylandthemin“trouble。“Theold-timeworkersintheMaitlandMillshadnogrievancesagainsttheiremployer。They，ofcourse，wouldgladlyacceptanincreaseinwages，forthecostoflivingwassteadilyclimbing，buttheydislikedintenselytheproposedmethodofmakingageneraldemandforanincreaseinwagesandforbetterconditions。
ThesportingelementinthemeetingwerefranklyandfiercelyantagonistictoanythingthatwoulddisturbthepresentfriendlyrelationwiththeiremployersintheMaitlandMills。“Theoldman“
hadalwaysdonethesquarething。Hehadshownhimselfa“regularfellow“inbackingthemupinalltheirgamesduringthepastyear。
Hehadalwaysgiventhemafairhearingandasquaredeal。Theywouldnotstandforanyhold-upgameofthissort。Itwasalow-
downgame，anyway。
Thepromotersoftheresolutionbegantobeanxiousfortheircause。Theyhadnotanticipatedanysuchastrongoppositionandwererathernonplussedastothenextmove。BrotherSimmonswasinafuryandwasonthepointofbreakingforthintoapassionatedenunciationofscabsandtraitorsgenerallywhen，totheamazementofallandtheintensedelightofthesupportersoftheadministration，McNisharoseandgaveunqualifiedsupporttotheresolution。
Hisspeechwasamasterpieceofdiplomacy，andrevealedhislongpracticeintheartoforatoryinthatbestofalltrainingschools，thelabourunionoftheOldLand。Hebeganbyexpressingentiresympathywiththespiritoftheopposition。Theopposition，however，hadcompletelymisunderstoodtheintentandpurportoftheresolution。Noneofthemdesiredtrouble。Thereneednotbe，indeed，hehopedtherewouldnotbetrouble，buttherewerecertainveryuglyfactsthatmustbefaced。Hethen，interse，forcefullanguage，p
