BERT (gazing at him). All right, Mr. George.
GEORGE. Goodbye, Timothy. Don"t worry about the boy.
TIMOTHY. It"s proud I am to have him go. Mr. George,--but I can"t think why he"d be joining the union, and never telling me.
(He stands for a moment troubled, glancing at ASHER, torn between loyalty to his employer and affection for his son. Then he goes out slowly, upper right. All the while DR. JONATHAN has stood in the rear of the room, occasionally glancing at GEORGE. He now comes forward, un.o.btrusively, yet withal impressively.)
ASHER. I never expected to hear such talk from a son of Timothy Farrell,--a boy I thought was level-headed. (To DR. JONATHAN) What do you think of that? You heard it.
DR. JONATHAN. Well, he stated the issue, Asher.
ASHER. The issue of what?
DR. JONATHAN. Of the new century.
GEORGE. The issue of the new century
ASHER. You"re right, we"ve got to put these people down. After the war they"ll come to heel,--we"ll have a cheap labour market then.
DR. JONATHAN. Humanity has always been cheap, but we"re spending it rather lavishly just now.
ASHER, You mean that there will be a scarcity of labour? And that they can continue to blackmail us into paying these outrageous wages?
DR. JONATHAN. When you pay a man wages, Asher, you own him,--until he is turned over to somebody else.
ASHER (puzzled, a little suspicious for the first time). I own his labour, of course.
DR. JONATHAN. Then you own his body, and his soul. Perhaps he resents being regarded as a commodity.
ASHER. What else is labour?
DR. JONATHAN. How would you like to be a commodity?
ASHER. I? I don"t see what that has to do with it. These men have no consideration, no grat.i.tude, after the way I"ve treated them.
DR. JONATHAN. Isn"t that what they object to?
ASHER. What?
DR. JONATHAN. To being treated.
ASHER. Object to kindness?
DR. JONATHAN. To benevolence.
ASHER. Well, what"s the difference?
DR. JONATHAN. The difference between self-respect and dependence.
ASHER. Are--are you a Socialist?
DR. JONATHAN. NO, I"m a scientist.
(ASHER is standing staring at him when the MAID enters, lower right.)
MAID. Your long distance call to Washington, sir.
ASHER. Very well.
(As he starts to go out he halts and looks at DR. JONATHAN again, and then abruptly leaves the room, lower right, following the MAID.)
GEORGE (who has been regarding DR. JONATHAN: after a moment"s hesitation). You seem to think there"s something to be said for the workman"s att.i.tude, Dr. Jonathan.
DR. JONATHAN. What is his att.i.tude, George?
GEORGE. Well, you heard Bert just now. I thought he had poor old dad on the hip when he accused the employer of holding up the war, too. But after all, what labour is after is more money, isn"t it? and they"re taking advantage of a critical situation to get it. And when they get money, most of them blow it in on sprees.
DR. JONATHAN. George, what are you going to France to fight for?
GEORGE. Germany"s insulted our flag, murdered our people on the high seas and wants to boss the world.
DR. JONATHAN (smiling). The issue, then, is human freedom.
GEORGE. Sure thing!
DR. JONATHAN. And you think every man and woman in this country is reasonably free?
GEORGE. Every man can rise if he has the ability.
DR. JONATHAN. What do you mean by rise?
GEORGE. He can make money, set up for himself and be his own boss.
DR. JONATHAN. In other words, he can become free.
GEORGE (grinning). I suppose that"s one way of putting it.
DR. JONATHAN. Money gives him freedom, doesn"t it? Money gave you yours,--to go to school and college until you were twenty four, and get an education,--such as it was.
GEORGE. Such as it was!
DR. JONATHAN. Money gave you the choice of engaging in an occupation in which you could take an interest and a pride, and enabled you occasionally to go on a spree, if you ever went on a spree, George.
GEORGE. Once in awhile.
DR. JONATHAN. But this craving for amus.e.m.e.nt, for excitement and adventure isn"t peculiar to you and me. Workingmen have it too,--and working girls.
GEORGE. You"re a wise guy, I guess.