But this failure to get possession was not the chief danger that Ernest
had in mind. What he foresaw was the defection of the great labor unions
and the rise of the castes.

"Ghent has taught the oligarchs how to do it," Ernest said. "I'll wager
they've made a text-book out of his 'Benevolent Feudalism.'"*

* "Our Benevolent Feudalism," a book published in 1902 A.D.,
by W. J. Ghent. It has always been insisted that Ghent put
the idea of the Oligarchy into the minds of the great
capitalists. This belief persists throughout the literature
of the three centuries of the Iron Heel, and even in the
literature of the first century of the Brotherhood of Man.
To-day we know better, but our knowledge does not overcome
the fact that Ghent remains the most abused innocent man in
all history.

Never shall I forget the night when, after a hot discussion with half a
dozen labor leaders, Ernest turned to me and said quietly: "That settles
it. The Iron Heel has won. The end is in sight."

This little conference in our home was unofficial; but Ernest, like the
rest of his comrades, was working for assurances from the labor leaders
that they would call out their men in the next general strike. O'Connor,
the president of the Association of Machinists, had been foremost of the
six leaders present in refusing to give such assurance.

"You have seen that you were beaten soundly at your old tactics of
strike and boycott," Ernest urged.