On  the  other  hand,  there  was  every  reason  why  the  men  could
be  expected  to  resist  energetically  any  effort  to  break  the  power
of  their  organization.  Those  who  had  misused  the  power  that  the
union  secured  for  them  would  resist  because  such  power  is  too
sweet  to  be  lightly  given  up.  The  better  class  of  workers,  however

123


THE    STEEL  WORKERS

greatly  they  might  have  deplored  the  unreasonable  actions  of
some  of  their  fellow  workmen,  would  naturally  stand  with  them
against  any  attack  from  outside;  for  with  all  its  defects,  as  busi-
ness and  government  are  now  constituted,  collective  action  is  the
workman's  only  sure  defense  against  injustice.  Especially  is  this
true  where  large  numbers  of  workmen  are  employed  by  a  great  cor-
poration, with  a  correspondingly  wide  gulf  between  the  source  of
authority  and  the  individual  employe.
