PARTISAN REVIEW
would have to take a wage cut. Unless the shop accepted they
threatened to move to Jersey and the men would lose their Jobs.
"We can get plenty of hands in Passaic," the T oporovs
said. "The farmers and their children are willing to work for
anything. The returned soldiers are begging for jobs. My
brother-in-law has the mayor of a village working for him as
a seam presser," the younger T oporo\' added.
Max Silverberg was in favor of a strike. He urged the
workers to picket the shop and prevent it from going out of
town. But the others said his Bolshevik ideas would ruin the
firm. They said if he carried on his propaganda
~n
the shop
they would refuse to work with him. Some of the younger men
were against this threatened boycott of a fellow worker but
they were too timid to follow his lead.
The walking delegates came from the union in their tailor–
ed suits. After they collected the dues and told the bosses about
the bargain silk shirts at Wanamaker's, they warned the workers
not to rai se any issues and went away.
Max went to the president of the union. The president
smiled and explained, "These are cha.nging times. \Ve must
bow to circumstances." He finished with the same liquid smile.
"N
0,
we must not bow I" Max insisted. "We must fight."
"\Vell, go and fight," he waved an indifferent hand. "Don't
bow," he said contemptuously.
The workers accepted the wage cut. Max swallowed his
resentment. Work was scarce. He returned to the shop.
IV.
The Spring season lasted only twelve weeks and the Fall
season barely stretched to sixteen. The old guard plodded
listlessly through the streets while the bosses speculated in Wall
Street and spent their evenings in speakeasies.
Often, when the season was in full swing, the bosses lurch–
ed, into the shop, their eyes glazed and bleary. They cursed
the operators who often had to manage the shop themselves.
Rapidly, the old guard grew grey. Max's hair was all
38
