TOPICS OF THE DAY.
THE STRIKE. THE strike is over, and over in the best possible way. Here is a settlement w'aich does not maintain the profits of any individuals or give any set of capitalists more power over the men they employ, but which is a complete vindi- cation of the right of the community to live, and, what is more, a complete proof of their power to defend themselves and to overcome an oligarchical minority, however powerful and however apparently well placed to coerce the State.
We mean to let bygones be bygones as much as possible, and have no desire to rake up foolish things said by angry men to whose heads power, or the appearance of power, had gone like new wine. Still, we cannot but remind our readers of the formula used by one of the men's leaders.
He insisted that the would bring England to starvation within a week. Then, if not before, their full demands must be accorded. Inflamed by this thought, the men struck, and struck with all their strength at a moment which seemed to make victory certain. What was the result ? Instead of proving that they had the power, whatever were the rights of the matter, to coerce the State, the strike only proved that the nation, even when taken at a disadvantage, is, if it has a good cause, infinitely more powerful than any of the sections into which it is divided. The railway workers, in spite of the fact that they seemed able to arrest the flow of blood in the veins of the nation, went down before the will of the people, as in history did the King, the Baronage, the great ecclesiastical organizations, the Whig oligarchy, and all the other parties which in turn tried a grand exploitation of the nation in their own special interests. The strike has shown us what we hoped yet hardly dared to believe possible before, that the country cannot be overawed by the old highwayman's cry of " Your money or your life ! " " By heaven, you shall have neither ! " is the answer which can be given, and even given without any terrible suffering on the part of the people. We owe this saving fact .to three things. First, to the spirit of the British people. Once again they showed that they were willing to run any risk and to endure all things rather than be put upon and oppressed. That was great ; but still greater was their determination to meet the attempt to coerce them, not in panic or rage or with vindictiveness, not in a tumult or in despair, but with a quiet and orderly perseverance which was infinitely more deadly than any violent efforts to show the popular power. No one who saw. the crowds of men and women tramping along the streets to their work in the early days of the strike, noted the look in their faces, and heard their talk could doubt for a moment how the strike was going to end. These are not of the breed that yields to threats.
Secondly, though the spirit we have described was the main factor in preventing the nation from being coerced by the Railway Unions, must be reckoned the prepar- ations for meeting and defeating the strike made by the Government. These played a great part in the struggle. Though they were not the prime cause, they certainly enabled success to be achieved with the minimum of suffering and inconvenience. The Government had made complete plans and taken all proper precautions. There was no confusion when the blow fell, and everything was found to be in readiness.
Thirdly, due recognition must, on the material side, be given to the Lorry and the Road. The free and open road is in truth a great democratic leveller, and takes away from the transport organizations the power to strangle the nation. It was not by any accident, but through the national instinct for freedom, that our main roads were specially placed within "the Peace of God and of our Lord the King." Hence " the King's Highway." Motor road transport is now so swift and so certain and acts so directly—i.e., from door to door—that, granted. that the roads can be protected and kept open, and that the Government possess or can lay their hands . upon a sufficient number of vehicles, there is no insuperable difficulty in feeding the people and in maintaining essential supplies without recourse to the railways. No doubt our industrial life could not be maintained permanently without railways ; but then neither could the railway workers be maintained for any length of time without wages. For a short period the whole country, including of course the strikers, can be fed by lorry, and, remember, fed not with bread and water, but with milk, with meat, and even with fish. Nobody in the past fortnight has starved or even gone hungry. Best of all, the children in the great towns, whose condition naturally caused most anxiety, have never been without their necessary supplies of milk. God be praised ! there has been no harm done to those whom not even the wildest and most inflamed imaginations could denounce as cruel or callous capitalists. The forces which defeated the attempt to bring the nation to its knees must not only be noted but must be made use of. After what has just happened we shall be mad if we do not improve and develop our road system as much as possible, and do everything that can be done to make it easy to move even the heaviest goods in quick- moving self-propelled vehicles. We have done wonderfully well, even with the existing roads. But to make ourselves safe, and also to give adequate development to commerce and to rural life, we want, in the first place, a good many more roads ; next, a systematic widening of the present roads; and thirdly and most important of all, the cutting down of the steeper gradients on our hills. This cutting down of gradients is not really a very great job. There are many hills which involve enormous loss of power merely because there is an accidental hundred yards, or sometimes only fifty yards, of over-steep, and therefore highly waste- ful, gradient. The rest of the hill may be easily negotiable even by low-powered cars and lorries. Owing, however, to the bad link in the chain, the economic value of the road may be lowered a hundred per cent.
Another lesson of the strike is that the people, if properly organized, are able to guard public property and maintain order. The forming of Civic Guards and the swearing in of Special Constables, which were ordered last Saturday, were most wise precautions, and we are glad to say, although they were so sudden, they received the widest support throughout the country. One could not help feeling, however, that matters ought to be much better systematized, especially in rural districts. In the first place, it is very unfair that the strain, and it is often a great strain, of guarding railway lines and bridges should fall upon the willing men and not upon the whole com- munity. When the whole community is made responsible the obligation can be reduced to a couple of hours servi e every other day, or even less. It is the old story of com- pulsory military service. If everybody has to share it, it is a light burden. When it is a voluntary matter, A, B, and C, because they are good citizens, have to endure not only their own burdens but those of D, E, F, and se on to the end of the alphabet.
We should like to see restored the old system under which a Head Constable was chosen in every parish from among the capable citizens. Such Head Constable should have a retaining fee and be given certain privileges, and it should be his duty, when required, to raise a Town Guard or Village Guard from among the adult male population. If, however, he and the Local Authorities are not given the power to compel men to obey the summons to preserve order, then in our opinion those who volunteer for the " period of the emergency," to quote the oath of the Special Constables, should be properly paid. The matter is one which is well worth careful consideration. No one of course wants a new Constabulary for peace time All that is required is a skeleton organization which in an emergency—may such emergencies be as few as possible !- can be clothed with flesh and blood.
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