The duty of the State in the present crisis was
so well ex- pressed by Lord Haldane in his speech at the Fishmongers' dinner on Thursday night that we must find space to quote it verbatim :—
" There is another duty, besides the duty of reform, which rests with the State, and that is the elementary duty of preserving law and order. Fortunately—and it says much for the good sense and good feeling of those concerned in this dispute—it has been re- markably and singularly characterized by freedom from disorder. Our business is, if a different situation arises, to be able to dis- charge the elementary duties of the State. We have no right, and we have no power, to make 850,000 miners go to work; it is for them to choose. On the other hand, if there are those among them who desire to go to work, it is our duty to secure to them the liberty to do so."
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