And his comrades called him a calamity howler.
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.