Second corollary: Since the amount of labor a man can do is necessarily limited by his strength, then the more of the proceeds of his labor is stolen from him, the less there is left for him and the worse off he becomes.
General conclusion: The more ladies and gentlemen we have, the harder we must work and the poorer we must become.
Sayler read this document through twice. Then he handed it back to Helm. He was smiling cynically to himself. Said he:
“Q. E. D. But—why did you show it to me?”
Helm’s gaze rested gravely upon that of the plutocratic chieftain for the Middle West. He replied:
“I see that you want to be friends with me. Why, I don’t know. I am willing—more than willing to be friends with you. But I want you to have no delusions. I want you to know just where I stand—where I shall always stand.”
“I hope so,” lied Sayler, with a generous manliness that half fooled himself. “I’m not a zealot like you. I don’t believe in men, in human nature. I think progress comes through the fierce struggle of brutality and cunning against the stupid shiftlessness and indolence of mankind. I admit there are arguments for another view. They happen not to convince me. But, believing as I do, I am more interested in the game than in principles. To me it is simply a game. And so, I like to see good players on both sides. I’d hate to have you come over to our side. God knows, your side is badly enough off for good players.”
Helm’s smile put into his rugged face a touch of fanaticism—as tremendous earnestness is called in these days when to be interested in anything but accumulation and appetite is regarded as eccentric. Said he:
“My side, as you call it, doesn’t need any players at all. It is simply—to change the figure—the irresistibly sweeping current. I am swimming with it, you against it.”
Sayler surprised him by saying reflectively: