A ROAD TO PROGRESS.

Every day brings with it a deeper unrest, a growing antagonism between capitalists and laborers, between radicals and conservatives. Neither side is willing to meet the other; the radical leader is afraid to discuss the situation with the conservative because he thinks it impairs the confidence placed in him by his constituents, the conservative avoids intercourse with the radical because he has decided against radical ideas per se or because his reputation may suffer. He is likely to be called a Bolshevik sympathizer, and with that, all his opportunity for constructive criticism ceases. And the two factions drift so far apart that they scarcely speak the same language.

Each faction must realize that it can live with the other. Both have a common bond. Whether they like it or not, they are parts of the same community. What affects the one inevitably affects the other. Of course, there are radicals who do not stop short of murder. But this does not mean that every man who advances a liberal idea is to be branded a "red" and shunned accordingly as a bomb-throwing anarchist. Nor must the radicals continue to believe that, just because one capitalist exploits his workmen, that all employers are bent on exploitation.

The demand for class solidarity and direct action on the part of some labor leaders has done much to bring about the present mistrust. But the capitalist, who has turned his back on abuses which have occasioned this solidarity, has not helped the situation. Both are like blind men, thinking they perceive an enemy and thrashing about wildly in mutually destructive combat. Only when the energy thus wasted can be turned to a sane recognition of true facts, can we avoid revolution and attack the abuses which obstruct the road to progress.