Mr. Mundella in relinquishing his attempt at mediation has made
a suggestion to the masters from which we should have hoped somethiug, if the struggle had not now entered on a new phase, a phase in which it will be difficult, for a time at least, to induce either party to talk of compromise. Mr. Man- della proposes as the normal working time fifty-four hours per week,—" the nine hours' day,"—the rate of wages to be
adjusted by a board of arbitration (consisting of equal numbers of employers and workmen, with a referee as arbiter between them in case of equal division) ; but he proposes an agreement that overtime shall be worked whenever the exigencies of trade require it ; that any loss of ordinary time through a workman's unpunctuality, intemperance, or neglect shall count against his over- time in the week in which it occurs ; and that the first arbitration shall be binding on both parties for six months, and shall bind for a whole year unless a month's notice be given by either party before the end of the six months. Mr. Mandella's suggestion seems to us fair and well considered, and to contain the elements of a per- manent understanding ; but we fear the struggle must go on now for a time, before any new solution will be considered seriously by either side.
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