"Well, well, 'tis easy to see you don't all agree with me! Not surprisin', neither, it isn't! For why? There's lots o' bad workmen to every good workman. 'Tis natural the bad workmen an' the lazy chaps should want to put themselves on a level with the best an' the most diligent. But what's natural ain't always fair, nor it don't always work well in the end. If I was you, I'd learn to look ahead a bit. I can tell you, shorter an' shorter hours, an' higher an' higher wages, an' easier an' easier work, sounds mighty pleasant. But it may mean some'at in the future as won't be pleasant. It may mean trade driven away from English shores to foreign countries. It may mean less work to do and too many men to do it, in our land."
"Well; I've given my warning; an' that's all I can do. Anybody got any questions to ask?"
[CHAPTER XIII.]
A DISCUSSION.
"I'VE a question to ask," said Roger Stevens, rising. "Holdfast said awhile since that labour is paid always at its true value. Now I don't agree to that."
"I didn't say 'always.' I said that as a rule it is," remarked Holdfast.
"Comes to pretty much the same thing, don't it?"
"No. You have to allow a time before each rise and fall, when it's not paid at its exact market value. Sometimes it's paid over its worth, and then it must soon fall. Sometimes it's paid under its worth, and then it must soon rise. But it finds its true level in time either way, and competition alone will send it up or down, without the help of strikes."