I’ve nothing to say about an out-and-out union labor fight.  I’ve been oot on strike maself and I ken there’s times when men have to strike to get their rights.  They’ve reason for it then, and it’s another matter.  But some of the new sort of leaders of the men think anything is fair when they’re dealing with an employer.  They’ll mak’ agreements they’ve no sort of thought of keeping.  I’ll admit it’s to their credit that they’re frank.

They say, practically:  “We’ll make promises, but we won’t keep them.  We’ll make a truce, but no peace.  And we’ll choose the time when the truce is to be broken.”

And what I’m wanting to know is how are we going to do business that way, and live together, and keep cities and countries going?  And suppose, just suppose, noo, doctrine like that was consistently applied?

Here’s Mr. Radical.  He’s courtin’ a lassie—­supposing he’s no one of those that believe in free love—­and maybe if he is!  I’ve found that the way to cure those that have such notions as that is to let the right lassie lay her een upon them.  She’ll like him fine as a suitor, maybe.  She’ll like the way he’ll be taking her to dances, and spending his siller on presents for her, and on taking her oot to dinner, and the theatre.  But, ye’ll ken, she’s no thocht of marrying him.

Still, just to keep him dangling, she promises she wull, and she’ll let him slip his arm aboot her, and kiss her noo and again.  But whiles she finds the lad she really loves, and she’s off wi’ him.  Mr. Radical comes and reminds her of her promise.

“Oh, aye,” she’ll say, wi’ a flirt of her head.  “But that was like the promise you made at the works that you’d keep the men at work for a year on the new scale—­when you called them oot on strike again within a month!  Good day to you!”

Wull Mr. Radical say that’s all richt, and that what’s all sound and proper when he does it is the same when it’s she does it tae him?  Wull he?  Not he!  He’ll call her false, and tell the tale of her perfidy tae all that wull listen to him!

But there’s a thing we folk that want to keep things straight must aye remember.  And that’s that if everything was as it should be, Mr. Radical and his kind could get no following.  It’s because there’s oppression and injustice in this bonny world of ours that an opening is made for those who think as do Trotzky and Lenine and the other Russians whose names are too hard for a simple plain man to remember.

We maun e’en get ahead of the agitators and the trouble makers by mending what’s wrong.  It’s the way they use truth that makes them dangerous.  Their lies wull never hurt the world except for a little while.  It’s because there’s some truth in what they say that they make so great an impression as they do.  Folk do starve that ask nothing better than a chance to earn money for themselves and their families by hard work.  There is poverty and misfortune in the world that micht be prevented—­that wull be prevented, if only we work as hard for humanity now that we have peace as we did when we were at war.