If  these  only  represented  occasional  outbursts  of  pas-
sion, we  might  not  see  so  much  danger  in  them,  but  we
hear  reasonably  well  educated  American  young  men  tell-
ing their  fellow  workers  on  the  street  corners  that  they
have  no  country  and  the  laws  of  this  country  were  not
made  for  them  nor  in  their  interests  and  they  are  under
no  obligation  to  obey  them.  They  should  not  do  military
service  to  maintain  them,  or  enthuse  over  the  flag  that
stands  as  their  symbol.  They  should  have  no  fear  of
jails  or  workhouses  but  should  fill  them  gladly  until  such
time  as  the  capitalists  get  tired  of  supporting  them  in  jail
and  turn  them  out.  Their  attitude  toward  industry  is
briefly  this :  "  Find  out  what  your  boss  wants  you  to  do
and  do  the  opposite.  Sign  any  contracts  that  promise
well  but  remember  they  are  forced  upon  you  by  threats  of
hunger  and  are  not  morally  binding."  "  You  are  bound
only  by  the  ethics  of  war,  and  your  one  object  should  be
the  destruction  of  the  present  industrial  system,  which  is
oppressive  and  unjust/'  Such  people  cannot  be  produc-
tive workers.
On  the  other  side,  we  find  capitalists  who  recognize  no
obligation  to  obey  the  laws  because  they  are  laws,  but
keep  in  their  employ  men  to  teach  them  how  to  skillfully
avoid  the  law  and  elect  public  officials  with  the  deliberate
intention  to  nullify  the  law  and  have  no  more  respect


3o         PERSISTENT  PUBLIC  PROBLEMS

for  the  flag  than  the  workers  I  have  just  described.
Social  welfare  will  not  flow  from  their  activities  as  if  by-
accident.
