The “shareholders” as such had no knowledge of the lives, thoughts or needs of the workmen employed by the company in which he held shares, and his influence on the relations of capital and labour was not good. The paid manager acting for the company was in more direct relation with the men and their demands, but even he had seldom that familiar personal knowledge of the workmen which the employer had often had under the more patriarchal system of the old family business now passing away. Indeed the mere size of operations and the numbers of workmen involved rendered such personal relations impossible. Fortunately, however, the increasing power and organization of the trade unions, at least in all skilled trades, enabled the workmen to meet on equal terms the managers of the companies who employed them. The cruel discipline of the strike and lockout taught the two parties to respect each other’ s strength and understand the value of fair negotiation.
59. It’s true of the old family firms that__.
[A] they were spoiled by the younger generations
[B] they failed for lack of individual initiative
[C] they lacked efficiency compared with modem companies
[D] they could supply adequate services to the taxpayers
[答案] C
[解题思路]
