"One thing's sure. If a man hurts his friend, he hurts himself too in the long run, whether he sees it or not. The masters can't do wrong to the men without injuring themselves, and the men can't wrong the masters without hurting themselves; for each depends on the other."
"I suppose it would be a happy thing if the two sides could come to an agreement as to their exact rights, and so put a stop to all disputes. But that's a thing more easy said than done; for the fact is, there's no one spot where you can say the rights of one side begin, and the rights of the other end. Or if there is such a spot, it's always moving."
"I'll tell you what—it's like what the children call a see-saw, you know. The masters with their capital are seated on one end of the board, and the men with their labour are seated on the other end. The plank is supported on a narrow edge, and the very least change in the quantity of gold at one end, or in the number of men at the other end, makes a re-adjustment needful to keep the balance."
"Nell, and the re-adjustment can't come about in a moment. If both parties keep quiet, the board 'll swing a little, and presently they'll see what the true balance is—whether the masters or the men weigh heaviest. But sometimes they won't wait. They fidget, and they get excited; and the plank swings harder, and maybe they end in an upset altogether, which puts off the settling for a good bit longer. I think we've had something of that sort lately."
"I'm inclined to believe that the upset don't make much difference in the long run. The plank 'll find its balance just the same, whether those at each end sit quiet or whether they don't. It may swing more or less; but nothing on earth can keep the heavier end from being lowest, nor the lighter end from being highest, when it does come to rest."
"Matters are something like that in the labour-market."
"You've had a lot of fine words said to you of late by Pope, which maybe some of you believe. He'd teach you to think that everything is in your own hands; that you only have to strike and strike again to get higher and higher wages, and that the masters all keep you wilfully down, and don't give you your dues."
"Well, I've had a good lot of spare time lately, and I thought I couldn't do better than read about these questions, and get up some information."
"I've one fact to give you, as a result of my reading. Facts are stubborn things you know; and I'm not sure as this isn't a specially stubborn fact. Any way, here it is. Whatever you and the masters do or don't do, and whether so be that you like it or not, labour, as a general rule and in the long run, is always paid at its worth."
"You don't see that, eh?"