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206 John Galsworthy
Anthony. I have been Chairman of this Company
since its inception two and thirty years ago. ... I have
had to do with
"
men "
for fifty years; I ve always stood
up to them ; I have never been beaten yet. I have fought
the men of this Company four times, and four times I
have beaten them. . . . The men have been treated
justly, they have had fair wages, we have always been
ready to listen to complaints. It has been said that times
have changed; if they have, I have not changed with
them. Neither will I. It has been said that masters
and men are equal! Cant! There can only be one mas
ter in a house! Where two men meet the better man
will rule. It has been said that Capital and Labor have
the same interests. Cant! Their interests are as wide
asunder as the poles. It has been said that the Board is
only part of a machine. Cant! We are the machine;
its brains and sinews ; it is for us to lead and to determine
what is to be done; and to do it without fear or favor.
Fear of the men! Fear of the shareholders! Fear of
our own shadows! Before I am like that, I hope to die.
There is only one way of treating "men" with the
iron hand. This half-and-half business, the half-and-half
manners of this generation, has brought all this upon us.
Sentiments and softness and what this young man, no
doubt, would call his social policy. You can t eat cake
and have it! This middle-class sentiment, or socialism,
or whatever it may be, is rotten. Masters are masters,
men are men! Yield one demand, and they will make
it six. They are like Oliver Twist, asking for more.
If I were in their place I should be the same. But I am
not in their place. ... I have been accused of being a
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