A great strike began on Monday morning in the American
steel industry. The Steelworkers' Union asked the Steel Corporation to recognize the Union and to grant an eight-hours day with higher wages and other concessions. When the Corporation refused, mainly on the ground that it desires to maintain the " open shop," and to employ suitable men whether or not they belong to the Union, the Union by a majority decided to strike. President Wilson proposed a conference, and urged delay. The Union rejected his advice and called out its members. It is reported that the steelworkers of alien origin obeyed, but that the American-born workers desired to remain at work. The strikers tried to prevent their fellow- workmen from entering the mills, and there was rioting with some loss of life in the Pittsburg region. The numbers of men on strike are variously estimated, but the agitation has not affected the whole industry. The truth is that the members of the Union are only a minority of the men employed in the trade, and the minority is divided. The strike has been tried as a short cut to a goal which, as British Trade Unionists know, can only be reached by long and patient effort.
