Page:Harvey O'Higgins--Silent Sam and other stories.djvu/175

163  hire—or by any feudal-system sort of loyalty? Is it? Or is it the joy of the work, of the game, that makes us break our backs in it? You asked me whether I thought Larsen typical. I tell you 'Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!' We could get employees 'worth their salt' if we had work to give them that was worth its salt. We appropriate all the joy of the work, all the interest of the achievement, and we leave them nothing but the tasteless labor."

The lawyer interrupted: "Are you arguing for socialism?"

The engineer turned to him, surprised. "Socialism? I don't know. I never have time to read up about those things. I 'm telling you what I 've seen; that 's all."