It is believed that the threatened strike of miners in
South Yorkshire, which, from the number of men implicated, would have been a great calamity, will be avoided. This result will be due in the main to the efforts of Mr. Mundella, whom the men know to be their friend, while the masters know that he is among the most reasonable of mankind. In a letter of the 11th inst., addressed to the Miners' Association, Mr. Mundella pointed out that the masters had this time accepted arbitration, which the men had previously demanded in vain, and that having accepted it to settle a reduction, they could hardly refuse it to settle a future rise. Moreover, even if the men won, the masters' proposal was a reduction of 12i per cent., which would be lost in a strike lasting six weeks ; while if the men lost, a strike of that duration would involve the reduction plus the waste, or a loss of 25 per cent. on the wages of the whole year. This Cobden-like way of putting it has greatly struck the men, and though naturally most reluctant to consent to an addition to reductions already very severe, they are inclined to accept an arbitration which, whatever its other merits, enables both parties to compromise with honour. The greatest difficulty is that the men believe the price of coal to be rising.
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