Should I denounce the banding together of
men for the promotion of fun and good fel-
lowship? Were these men hastening the
downfall of America as the communist pre-
dicted? Is not good fellowship a necessary
feeling in the hearts of civilized men?

Love of comrades had always been a ruling
passion with me. I joined my union as soon
as I had learned my trade, the Amalgamated
Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers of
North America. It was a long name, and we
liked every word in it. We felt the glow of
brotherhood, and as I said before, we used to
share our jobs with the brother who was out
134



THE PUDDLER HAS A VISION

of work. The union paid a weekly benefit
to men who had to strike for better working
conditions. At that time there were no death
benefits nor any fund to educate the children
of members killed in the mills. When such
a death happened, the union appointed a
committee to stand at the office window on
pay-day and ask every man to contribute
something from his wages. There is a chari-
table spirit among men who labor together
and they always gave freely to any fund for
the widow and orphans. This spirit is the
force that lifts man above the beasts and
makes his civilization. There is no mercy in
brute nature. The hawk eats the sparrow;
the fox devours the young rabbit; the cat
leaps from under a bush and kills the mother
robin while the young are left to starve in the
nest. There is neither right nor wrong among
the brutes because they have no moral sense.
