The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1904-02-20
Copyright. 1893. by Herbert S. Stone q Co.
CHAPTER Xv.-CoSrIsuEp.

Isl commenced.
# MY friends" said our new chief,
I've got a little move to propose that
should put a thousand pounds into each
OF our pockets. You know, of course,
that there's a big dock strike on.
M Well, no less a sun than $4,000 has
been subscribed by the working men
N OF Germany, and this money has been
sS sent over 10 their fellow-workmen in
M England to enable them to carry on
NJ the wal which is being waged against
E capital.
u AT least, we are told that the money
has been subscribed by the working
men of Germany, and some of the pa
pers have prophesied the coming of the
millennium on the strength of it. The
gush about universal brotherhood in
which they are INDUCING is quite pref
ty to read.
Germany give us $4,000 for moth
ing! | knew better than that, so | sci,
to work to get the truth, and what do
You think 1t is? Not 600 pence of that
money has come from German work.
men. 1t has come-almost the whole
OF it-from German employers, and is
sent to furnish sinews of war to tho
agitators who are feTmenting mischief
between the masters n men. But
why? Because every day the strike
lasts sees our trade drifting into the
hands of Germans, who, when they
have once got it, will take care to keep
it, | don't say that the strike leaders
aren't honest men. They are honest,
hut they're fools, for all that, for if
they knew how much the German en-
ployers have had to do with starting
the strike, and what it Is worth to Ger
man trade, they'd advise the men to 60
back to work tomorrow on any terms.
But I'm not here to talk politics;
I'm here for us to consider how wo
can turn what's going on to our W
advantage. Well, gentlemen, Int
known in the commercial world as Mr..
Richardson Hall, the secretary of the
Anti-Capitalist Association for the
Protection of Labor, and the money
has been sent to me to pay over to
the strike leader. The question is,
how is that money to find It's way into
our pockets, instead of into the pock- |
cts of the agitators? | tell you frankly
that even If | were an honest man, in
stead of being a swindler and a thief, |
I'd make no bones about laying hands
upon that money. Rogue as | am, I'd
rather chuck 1t into the sea tomorrow
than that it should go to the strikers,
when | know that it has been sent over
by Germans only because they know
that while the English workman and
the English employer have their hands
on each others threats, the trade is
being diverted to Germany. That the
wife and children of the men are starv.
ing, and the masters are being ruined,
doesn't trouble these Germans, so long
as they can pocket the coin. So, as
| say, although | am appointed to re-
Ceiye the money and to hand it over to
the strikers, I'm ready to tumble to
any plan that will put the cash into
our own pockets. I'm not without a
conscience, though | an a thief, but
on that matter | confess I've no more
conscience than a spider. The question
is. how is it to be done?"
Have you got the money!" asked
Number Six.
Yes, it is in my possession at this
moment"
Then don't let it go out of your
possession. Let's share it between us
and make ourselves scarce"
My good fellow, don't talk like a
madman!" said Number Two. "A seat
on the council is worth thousands a
year to each of us, and to do as O
propose would be to kill the goose that
lays the golden egg, and for a paltry
thousand apiece. Why, if these Ger
man employers thought there was n
chance OF the strike coming to an end
through the men being too reduced to !
carry on the war, 1t would be an easy ,
thing to squeeze another $4,000 out r
OF them. No, no; we must have the p,
money, but we must work the business I
so that our-or rather m~y-honesty 6
can't be called into question. g
Now listen to my plan, and if any :
OF you think of a better one, I'll be
glad enough to hear it. I've arranged 9,
that there shall be something of a cere- \
mony on the occasion of the handing =
over of the money to the strike com =
mittee. I've got the loan of a big hall 4
at the East End for the purpose, and :
| intend to make a bit of a splash. The :,
editors of all the democratic papers y
VIII be invited, and all the M. P.'s and =
other public men who talk tall about "
the sacredness of labor, and all the -
rest of it. They'll come readily -
enough If they think there's a chance -
of a good advertisement, and we'll ar y
range that. The hall | am taking will y
hold a couple of thousand people. It. =
has a window right behind the plat :,
form, which in winter is covered by a "
thick plush curtain, but in summer =.
can be left open, and so keep the place y,
cool, which is a consideration, for If v
the weather is as hot as it is now the :,
place will be precious stuffy. The a,
chairman will sit at the table, with y.
on his right, and the members =.
OF the strike committee, the NJ. P.'s and -,
so on around us. After the usual pre- =.
liminaries, the chairman will call upon n,
to hand over on behalf of the Ger @,
man working people the noble sum y
have so generously and self-sacri-
subscribed to assist the work. =.
in England. | rise, make my "
speech, work it up we'll, present the -
Satchel containing the money-gold -
small banknotes-and then resume ~
my seat. The satchel will, of course, -
be accepted on behalf of the British a.
workman by the chairman. But when "
he enth usiasm is at its height. the
light will suddenly be turned