Trade after trade was heard from, offering service and making suggestions, until finally a pompous but somewhat anxious voice inquired:
“But where do we come in?”
“Who are ‘We?’” was asked.
“The bankers and brokers, capitalists and men of means,” replied the voice.
There was a general laugh from the working crowd. “Oh,” some one said, jocularly, “you can all put your labor in along with the rest; so speak up and say what you want to do.”
“We want our morning paper back,” some one cried. “We’re all willing to work for the printers and editors if they’ll work for us.”
And so the plans were laid and the wheels of the great city began to move again. The mills were again in operation, the cars carried passengers about the city, traffic was resumed; the great law of supply and demand, rightly applied at last, was working peace and harmony in the industrial system of the city. The example spread, and prosperity dawned upon the land. The labor token of every man and every woman was good for his or her daily needs, for it was backed by the only real value in the world—human power.
The capitalists and politicians fared rather badly at first, but as time went by they began to fall in line and take their places in the life of the industrial commonwealth. After a few months, there being no particular reason why the government should flood the country with useless gold, any more than with lead or iron tokens, the coining ceased and gold was only used in the arts and manufactures. Labor was the wealth of the country, and labor was owned by The People.
THE SICK MAN.
A FABLE FOR GROWN-UP BOYS AND GIRLS.
Once upon a time, somewhere, not so very far away, nor a time so very long ago, there lived A Man. He was young, strong and full of enterprise. Opportunities lay within his reach, for a career such as no man had ever before been able to seize. His fellows were all watching him, studying his progress, some with disapproval, some with envy, but all with interest, admitting, without exception, that his future promised brilliantly. He was such an all-round, capable fellow. His promise was so splendid, and he had had such a capital start in life.