The Log of the Flying Fish | Page 5

has no other good result it will at least afford
employment to a few of the unfortunate fellows who are now hanging
about idle day after day."
The professor looked up sharply.
"What!" he exclaimed. "Of whom are you sbeaging, my dear Sir
Reginald?"
"I am speaking of the unfortunate individual known as `the British
Workman,'" was the baronet's quiet reply.
"Am I do understandt thad you make the embloymend of English
workmen a gondition of the underdaking?" asked the professor
somewhat sharply.
"By no means, my dear sir," answered Sir Reginald; "I shall not attempt
to impose conditions of any kind upon you. But I should naturally
expect that, if English workmen are as capable of executing the work as
foreigners, the former would be given the preference in a matter
involving the expenditure of say a hundred thousand pounds of an
Englishman's money."
"Quide zo," concurred the professor; "and you would be perfectly
justified in such an expegdation if the Bridish workman was the steady,
indusdrious, reliable fellow he once was. Bud, unfordunadely, he is nod
the same, zo var ad leasd as reliabilidy is concerned. You gannod any
longer debend ubon him. Id is no longer bossible to underdake a work
of any imbordance withoudt the gonsdand haunting fear that your
brogress will be inderrubted--berhaps ad a most cridical juncture--by a
`sdrike,' The greadt quesdion which, above all others, do-day agidades
the British mind is: `Do whadt cause is the bresendt debression of drade
addribudable?' And, in my obinion, gendlemen, the answer to that
quesdion is thad id is very largely due do the consdandly recurring
sdrikes which have become almosdt a habid with the Bridish workman.
The `sdrike' is the most formidable engine which has ever been brought
indo oberation do seddle the differences bedween embloyer and

embloyed; and, whilst I am willing to admid thad in certain cases id has
resulded in the repression and redress of long-sdanding oppression and
injusdice, id has been used with such a lack of discrimination as do
have almost ruined the drade of the goundry. With the invention of the
`sdrike' the workman thoughd he had ad lasd discovered the means of
enriching himself ad the expense of his embloyer, or of securing his fair
and righdful share of the brofids of his labour, as he described id; and,
udderly ignorand of the laws of bolidigal egonomy, recognising in the
`sdrike' merely an insdrumend for forcing a higher rade of wages from
his embloyer, he has gone on recklessly using id undil the unfordunade
gabidalist, finding himself unable do produce his wares ad a cost which
will enable him do successfully gompede with the manufagdurers of
other goundries, has been gombelled to glose his works and remove his
gabidal and his energies to a spodt where he gan find workmen less
unreasonable in their demands. There is no more capable or valuable
workman in existence than the English artisan, if he gould only be
induced to do his honest best for his embloyer; there is hardly any
branch of industry in which he is nod ad leasd the equal, if not very
greadly the suberior of the foreigner; and id is even yet in his power to
recover the command of the world's market by the suberior excellence
of his broductions, if he could only be brevailed upon do abandon
sdrikes and do be satisfied with a wage which will allow the cabidalist
a fair and moderade redurn for the use of his money and brains and for
the risks he has do run. If the British workman would gollecdively
make up his mind to do this, and would acquaindt the gabidalist with
his decision, we should speedily see a revival of drade and
embloymend for every really capable workman. Bud in the meantime
there unfordunadely seems do be very little chance of this; and in so
delicade a madder as the gonsdrugdion of this ship of ours, it would be
nod only unwise, but also unfair to you to run the risk of a failure
through the embloymendt of untractable or unreliable workmen; and if,
therefore, you had insisted on my embloying Englishmen, I should
have been relugdandly gombelled do wash my hands of the whole
affair. Ad the same dime I feel id due do myself do say thad, even had
you nod mendioned the madder, I should have done my best to secure
Englishmen for the work, as of course I shall now; bud I do nod feel
very sanguine as do the resuldt."

"My dear professor!" exclaimed the baronet, smiling at the intense
earnestness of the German, "are you not laying on the colour rather
thickly? I admit with sorrow that your portrait is only too truthful--as a
portrait--still I cannot help thinking it rather highly coloured.