“You can write. You know the right words.”
That was good enough from Christy, hard critic, and honest as death. He asked Bertram to let him send the book to Heatherdew, the literary agent, and his friend. He would find a publisher, if any man could, and take a personal interest in it, as a hater of war.
Bertram wanted to know how many weeks he would have to wait before the book appeared, and what payment he was likely to get, an impatience which amused Christy, who had more experience.
“It can’t be out till the autumn, at earliest.”
“Not till the autumn! Good Heavens!”
“It’s not accepted yet, old man. Hang on to patience.”
He conveyed a suggestion to Bertram from Bernard Hall of The New World. Why not write an article, dealing generally with the threatened strike? Hall suggested a title: “The Mind of the Men,” on the lines of Bertram’s talk about the Comrades of the Great War and their point of view. What Bill Huggett had told him, and so on. It would be a valuable contribution, with knowledge at first hand, not easy to get.
“I’ll have a shot,” said Bertram. “Do you think the strike is likely?”
“Inevitable, I’m told. Nat Verney knows.”
For some time Christy discussed the possibilities of trouble. The Government seemed to be asking for it. It was true about calling out the Army Reserves. They also proposed to recruit the Middle Classes for self-defence. That would divide England into the Haves and the Have-nots. A short-sighted policy at such a time, when all such clear-cut distinctions ought to be avoided. Big Business, with the Government in league with it, was out to smash organised Labour. The plan was to defeat it in sections, first the miners, then the railway men, then the engineers, then the other great trades. It was to be a general campaign to bring down wages to pre-war rates. A sound policy, if prices came down to the same level, but there was about as much chance of that as of friendship between France and Germany!