of industry was further weakened.  The average workman had less opportunity of becoming a master, an employer.  In the days of the old hand industry, master, journeyman, and apprentice worked side by side at the same bench.  Almost every apprentice might hope to become some time a master, and many a one did so.  To-day most wage-workers in large establishments have no hope of rising out of their positions.  The mere largeness of an establishment forbids also the personal acquaintance of employer and workman.  As a result of these changes, the workmen become more “class-conscious” of their position as wage-workers and the employers in many establishments take the attitude of buyers of labor as a mere ware.  When the employer then feels the pressure of competition he is more likely to force the lowest wage that is possible and to compel the workers to accept less favorable conditions than if he were in more personal relations with them.  Where the immediate direction of an establishment is intrusted to paid managers who are responsible to stockholders, the managers’ success is judged almost exclusively by the dividends they succeed in earning.  Hence they are under stronger and more persistent temptation than are active owners to drive hard bargains with their employees.  Many examples might be found where managers and resident directors have wished to pursue a more liberal policy than absentee shareholders would permit.

Sec. 2. #Need of common action among wage-workers.# These same industrial changes caused employers, even earlier than it did employees, to have something of a “class-conscious” feeling, which tempered the spirit of their mutual competition, especially in bidding for the services of workers.  The smaller the number of employers the easier it is by an understanding to suppress competition on their side.  If there is only one factory of a kind in a town the employer is able at times to drive a harder bargain with his employees.  Especially in times of industrial depression is a change of employment difficult for the laborer, involving for him much trouble and loss of time and money in moving.  But it is possible to exaggerate the degree to which competition among employers of labor is weakened to-day.  In the long run and at many points competition must be felt in all such cases.  The notoriously unfair employer will find his workmen drifting away, his working-force reduced in number and quality at times of greatest need, and his evil reputation going abroad among workmen.  A better realization of this fact has led many employers to pursue a farther-sighted policy that fosters a better understanding and a kindlier feeling on both sides of the labor-contract.