The lock-out is not yet over, though the masters and
men have met. Both sides agree to leave the question of wages to arbitra- tion, but the masters demand, apparently as a matter of dignity, that the men shall enter at the reduced wages, which the men, also as a matter of dignity, refuse to do. Lord Lichfield has pro- posed "that the masters should open their works, and leave the question of wages entirely to arbitration ; pending the award, the men to draw wages on account," and it is believed this compro- mise will generally be adopted. In Scotland and the North of England work has already recommenced. The agreement, unless some permanent scheme is adopted for settling the rate of wages, will be rather a truce than a pacification, the paddlers in particular loudly asserting that after paying their assistants, whose allow- ances swell their apparent wages, they do not nett on an average 30s. a week. They want half as much again.
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