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I'll never forget this German. He didn't stand up exactly, but he rose up in his seat as though there were springs under him and he was being pushed up. His hair didn't actually stand on end, but it looked as though it were standing on end. His face was pulled up and his eyes open wide. He said, “Vote! Vote! Vy should they vote? Vy should they vote?”, with the greatest tone of scorn as though this was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard of.

I remember that I felt my bile rising within me at the obvious scorn that he had of this simple process which all Americans are accustomed to when they go to school. In the first or second grade they take a vote as to where they want to go on the picnic, or so forth. It's as habitual to us as breathing. I could see Mr. Swope getting red under the collar too, but I knew Gerard very well. I knew he wouldn't lose his temper. He's not that sort. This man kept expostulating, saying, “Vy should they vote?” over and over again. Gerard in a very low tone of voice then said, “Because, ‘Mr. Schwartz' that's the way we do things in America. We take a vote on things that we are uncertain about and we let the majority control. That's why I suggest we take a vote in your mill.”

I'll never forget the sense of scorn with which Gerard said this - “That's the way we do things in America.”