ASHER (to BERT). Why did you leave?
BERT. I"m going to enlist, Mr. Pindar,--with the Marines. From what I"ve heard of that corps, I think I"d like to join it.
ASHER (exasperated). But why do you do a thing like this when you must know I need every man here to help turn out these machines? And especially young men like you, good mechanics! If you wanted to serve your country, you were better off where you were. I got you exempted--(catching himself) I mean, you were exempted from the draft.
BERT. I didn"t want to be exempted, sir. More than four hundred of the boys have gone from the shops, as well as Mr. George here, and I couldn"t stand it no longer.
ASHER. What"s Mr. George got to do with it? The cases are different.
BERT (stoutly). I don"t see that, Mr. Pindar. Every man, no matter who he is, has to decide a thing like this for himself.
GEORGE. Bert"s right, dad.
ASHER. You say he"s right, when you know that I need every hand I can get to carry out this contract?
GEORGE. He"s going to make a contract, too. He"s giving up all he has.
ASHER. And you approve of this, Timothy?
TIMOTHY. Sure, I couldn"t stop him, Mr. Pindar! And it"s proud I am of him, the same as you are of Mr. George, that he"d be fighting for America and liberty.
ASHER. Liberty! License is what we"re getting now! The workman thinks he can do as he pleases. And after all I"ve done for my workmen,--building them a club house with a piano in it, and a library and a billiard table, trying to do my best to make them comfortable and contented. I pay them enough to buy pianos and billiard tables for themselves, and you tell me they want still higher wages.
TIMOTHY. They"re saying they can go down to the shipyards, where they"d be getting five dollars and thirty cents a day.
ASHER. Let them go to the shipyards, if they haven"t any sense of grat.i.tude! What else do they say?
TIMOTHY. That you have a contract, sir, and making millions out of it.
ASHER. What can they know about my profits?
TIMOTHY. It"s just that, sir,--they know nothing at all. But they"re saying they ought to know, since things is different now, and they"re working for the war and the country, the same as yourself.
ASHER. Haven"t I established a system of bonuses, to share my profits with the efficient and the industrious?
TIMOTHY. They don"t understand the bonuses,--how you come by them.
Autocracy is the word they use. And they say you put up a notice sudden like, without asking them, that there"d be two long shifts instead of three eight-hour ones. They"re willing to work twelve hours on end, for the war, they say, but they"d want to be consulted.
ASHER. What business is it of theirs?
TIMOTHY. Well, it"s them that has to do the hard work, sir. There was a meeting last night, I understand, with Rench and Hillman and a delegate come from Newcastle making speeches, the only way they"d get their rights would be for you to recognize the union.
ASHER. I"ll never recognize a union! I won"t have any outsiders, meddlers and crooks dictating my business to me.
TIMOTHY. I"ve been with you thirty years, come December, Mr. Pindar, and you"ve been a good employer to me. I don"t hold with the unions--you know it well, sir, or you wouldn"t be asking me advice. I"m telling you what they"re saying.
ASHER. I didn"t mean to accuse you,--you"ve been a good and loyal employee--that"s why I sent for you. Find out what their game is, and let me know.
TIMOTHY. It"s not a detective I am, Mr. Pindar. I"m a workman meself.
That"s another thing they"re saying, that you"d pay detectives to go among them, like workingmen.
ASHER (impatiently). I"m not asking you to be a detective,--I only want you to give me warning if we are to have a strike.
TIMOTHY. I"ve warned you, sir,--if it"s only for the sake of beating the Germans, the dirty devils.
GEORGE (turning to BERT). Well, here"s wishing you luck, Bert, and hoping we"ll meet over there. I know how you feel,--you want to be in it, just as I do.
ASHER (turning). Perhaps I said more than I meant to, Bert. I"ve got to turn out these machines in order that our soldiers may have shrapnel to fight with, and what with enlistments and the determination of unscrupulous workmen to take advantage of the situation, I"m pretty hard pressed. I can"t very well spare steady young men like you, who have too much sense and too much patriotism to mix yourselves up with trouble makers. But I, too, can understand your feeling,--I"d like to be going myself. You might have consulted me, but your place will be ready for you when you come back.
BERT. Thank you, sir. (He turns his hat over in his hands.) Maybe it would be fair to tell you, Mr. Pindar, that I"ve got a union card in my pocket.
ASHER. You, Timothy Farrell"s son!
TIMOTHY. What"s that? And never a word to me!
BERT (to TIMOTHY). Why wouldn"t I join the union? I took out the card this morning, when I see that that"s the only way we"ll get what"s coming to us. We ain"t got a chance against the employers without the union.
TIMOTHY. G.o.d help me, to think my son would join the union,--and he going to be a soldier!
BERT (glancing at GEORGE). I guess there"ll be other union men in the trenches besides me.
ASHER. Soldier or no soldier, I"ll never employ any man again who"s joined a union.
GEORGE (perturbed). Hold on, dad!
ASHER. I mean what I say, I don"t care who he is.
BERT (who retains his self-possession). Excuse me, Mr. Pindar, but I"d like to ask you a question--I"ve heard the men talking about this in the shops. You don"t like it if we go off to--fight, but if we join the union you fire us, no matter how short-handed you are.
ASHER. It"s a principle with me,--I won"t have any outside agency dictating to me.
BERT. But if it came to recognizing the union, or shutting down?
ASHER. I"d shut down tomorrow.
(GEORGE, who sees the point, makes a gesture as if about to interrupt.)
BERT. That"s what I"m getting at, Mr. Pindar. You say you"d shut down for a principle, whether the government gets the machines or not.
And the men say they"d join the union for a principle, whether the government gets the machines or not. It looks to me as if both was hindering the war for a principle, and the question is, which principle is it that agrees best with what we"re fighting for?
ASHER. No man joins a union for a principle, but for extortion. I can"t discuss it,--I won"t!
BERT. I"m sorry, sir.
(He turns to go out, lower right.)
GEORGE (overtaking him and grasping his hand). So long, Bert. I"ll look you up, over there!