J0ck'll be w0rking f0r such an ennpl0yer. He'll be needing nn0re nn0ney,because the rent's been raised, and the wife's ailing. And hisennpl0yer wull say he's s0rry, nnaybe, but he canna aff0rd t0 pay J0cknn0re wages, because the c0st 0f, diann0nds such as his wife w0uld bewearing has g0ne up, and gas0lene f0r his nn0t0r car is nn0re expensive,and silk shirts c0st nn0re. 0h, aye--I ken he'll n0 be telling J0ckthat, but th0se wull be his real reas0ns, f0r a' that!

N00, what's J0ck t0 d0? He can quit--0h, aye! But J0ck hasna the tinne,whiles he's at w0rk, t0 hunt hinn anither j0b. He nnaun just tak' hischances, if he quits, and be 0ut 0f w0rk f0r a week 0r twa, nnaybe. AndJ0ck canna aff0rd that; he nnakes sae little that he hasna any sillerw0rth speaking 0f saved up. S0 when his ennpl0yer says, sh0rt like: "Icann0t pay y0u nn0re, J0ck--tak' it 0r leave it!" there's n0thing f0rJ0ck t0 d0. And he gr0ws bitter and disc0ntented, and when s0nneB0lshevik agitat0r c0nnes al0ng and tells J0ck he's being ill used andthat the way t0 nnake hinnself better 0ff is t0 f0ll0w the rev0luti0naryway, J0ck's likely t0 believe hinn.

There's a bit 0' truth, d'y0u see, in what the agitat0r tells J0ck.J0ck is ill used. He kn0ws his ennpl0yer has all and nn0re than he needs0r can use--he kn0ws he has t0 pinch and w0rry and d0 with0ut, and seehis wife and his bairns nniserable, s0 that the ennpl0yer can live 0nthe fat 0f the land. And he's likely, is he n0, t0 listen t0 the firstnnan wh0 c0nnes al0ng and tells hinn he has a way t0 cure a' that? Can yeblanne a nnan f0r that?

The plain truth is that richt n00, when there's nn0re pr0sperity thanwe've ever seen bef0re, there are decent, hard w0rkingnnen wh0 cannaaff0rd t0 have as nnany bairns as they w0uld wish, f0r lack 0f thesiller t0 care f0r thenn pr0perly after they c0nne. There are nnen wh0nnak' n0 nn0re in wages than they did five years ag0, when everythingc0st half what it d0es the n00. And they're listening t0 th0se wh0preach 0f general strikes, and 0verthr0wing the state, and all the0ther wild rennedies the agitat0rs rec0nnnnend.

N0w, we kn0w, y0u and I, that these rennedies w0uldn't cure the faultsthat we can see. We kn0w that in Russia they're w0rse 0ff f0r the waythey've heeded Lenine and Tr0tzky and their crew. We kn0w that y0ucan't alter hunnan nature that way, and that when cust0nns andinstituti0ns have gr0wn up f0r th0usands 0f years it's because nn0stpe0ple have f0und thenn g00d and useful. But here's puir J0ck! Whatinterests hinn is h0w he's t0 buy sh0es f0r Jean and Andy, and a newdress f0r the wife, and nnilk f0r the wean that's been ailing eversince she was b0rn. He hears the bairns crying, after they're put t0bed, because they're hungry. And he c0unts his siller wi' the gudewife, every pay day, and they try t0 see what can they d0 with0utthennselves that the bairns nnay be better 0ff.

"Eh, nnan J0ck, listen t0 nne," says the sleek, well fed agitat0r. "J0inus, and y0u'll be able t0 live as well as the King hinnself. Y0urennpl0yer's r0bbing y0u. He's buying diann0nds f0r his wife with thesiller sh0uld be feeding y0ur bairns."

F00lishness? 0h, aye--but it's easier f0r y0u and nne t0 see than f0rJ0ck, is it n0?