The strike of the Goods Guards on the Midland has
ended in the defeat of the men. They have not avowedly surrendered, but they have " gone in " in groups, and will, we hope, be all re-employed. The threatened strike of the signalmen has also been averted, the Directors, while refusing to withdraw their general order of reduction, having granted some new rules of payment for the heavier signal-stations and for long service which will make up the difference. The resistance, in fact, was nearly hopeless, as the employers were willing to run the neces- sary risks, and men could be found, in the general dearth of employment, to take any posts on any wages. The victory, however, does not prove that the Midland Company were right, or that it can ever be just to pay men by the piece for work over the dura- tion of which they have little or no control. It is usual to talk of the excessive wages of workmen now-a-days, but while highly- skilled men can be found to do the dangerous work of a goods guard for 25s. a week, there is not much ground for that com- plaint. The men lodge in large cities, are not fed at home, and when the rent has been paid and the guard himself fed, there is not too much left for the general support of the household.
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