Remember the old phrase "you reap what you sow"? Teddy sure does, and he drops this phrase:

But if they did succeed they would find that they had sown the wind and would surely reap the whirlwind, for they would ultimately provoke the violent excesses which accompany a reform coming by convulsion instead of by steady and natural growth. (87)

In case it's a little bit dated, it basically means you harvest what you plant, or that you get back what you put into the world. What TR is saying is that if businesses press down reform, then they're sowing the seeds of their own destruction when the workers' frustration finally boils over.

In other words, don't tick off the karma fairy.