The upshot of the whole matter is that though the
hotheads pretend that they have merely postponed the strike, we shall probably hear little more of the matter. This, however, depends upon whether the Government behave wisely. It cannot be pretended that they have behaved wisely hitherto. For a long time it was notorious that the police were insufficiently paid, and that their conditions of service were in some respects vexatious. We have never been able to understand why the Govern- ment, faced as they have been with a constant state of labour unrest, did not make it their special duty and task to do justice to the police. Half the revolutions in history can be traced to an ill-paid and disaffected army, and the police are of course in certain senses a military force. It .was essential that the police should be placed safely above the customary hagglings. and anxieties of industrial life. Every Government must be able to rely upon them absolutely in all circumstances, and reliance can never be placed upon a body which has genuine grievances.
