ful and well-organised State is a further question. For the political ascendancy which Japan now enjoys in the Far East would obviously in that event be, to say the least, gravely jeopardised.

In these circumstances, one can hardly be surprised that Japanese influence should appear at times to pull in opposite directions, and that the Japanese Government itself should have seemed disposed at first to go to considerable lengths in supporting the Throne, and at a later stage should have been perhaps unduly anxious to right itself with the powers that be at Nanking. But in all essentials Tokio has abided throughout by its expressed determination to act in complete accord with the British Government. That Government, in its turn, singularly well-served in the crisis by our Minister in Peking, Sir John Jordan, whose wise sympathy and intimate knowledge of China command the confidence and respect of all parties, has steadfastly maintained an attitude of complete neutrality without unfriendliness. To non-intervention all the Powers have indeed pledged themselves. But let us give credit where credit is due. A less prudent Government than that of Tokio might have been sorely tempted to use China's necessity for the extension or the consolidation of the Japanese position in Manchuria and elsewhere. To the statesmanlike self-restraint of Japan the world owes therefore a considerable debt of gratitude, for any onesided attempt at intervention would have rendered the intervention of other Powers almost inevitable; and the one really hopeful feature of the present situation is that, so far, foreign intervention has been kept within the narrowest possible bounds. It is no little gain that the destructive work of a great revolution should have been carried through in such a country as China without provoking grave international complications. But the work of reconstruction has yet to come. The first phase of the revolution which Prince Ito foresaw three years ago is now consummated, but it is as hard to-day as he found it then to see any definite indication of the constructive forces which China needs if this phase is not to be merely the prologue to a long-drawn and perilous drama.

VALENTINE CHIROL.

Art. 13.-THE COAL STRIKE.

THE origin of the present struggle in the Coal Trade is to be found in the strike which occurred at the Cambrian Combine Collieries in the winter of 1910. In 1909 & seam of coal, known as the Upper 5ft. Seam, was being worked at the Ely Pit on day-work; and in December of that year the owners gave notice to the workmen that they wished a tonnage price fixed for the working of this seam. The owners and the men being unable to agree on a rate, the matter was referred to the Conciliation Board, it being the practice in Wales that when a colliery company is unable to agree upon a price with the workmen for the hewing of coal, or for any general rates of wages, the matter in dispute is referred to the Conciliation Board, who appoint two representatives of the owners and men to consider the merits of the case. The Conciliation Board, for the purpose of settling this dispute, appointed two referees; but after long negotia tions they failed to come to an agreement, and in December 1910 a strike began.

Mr D. A. Thomas, the Managing Director of the Cambrian Combine Collieries, despite his recognised ability, is generally regarded as one of the extreme men; but in my opinion this is very far from being the truth. Had Mr Thomas not been a member of the South Wales Conciliation Board, the strike would probably not have taken place. When the referees appointed to consider the dispute at the Ely Pit failed to agree, he offered to refer the whole matter to the consideration of an impartial arbitrator; but, as arbitration is not provided for under the rules of the Board, and as the general body of owners are opposed to that method, they refused to adopt his suggestion. This refusal was prohibitive, for under the rules of the Board an owner is precluded from making any agreement with his men unless the same is approved by the members; consequently, in the case of the Cambrian dispute, Mr Thomas was not allowed to effect a settlement, which he would doubtless have done if he had had a free hand. Hence the strike.

As to the points ostensibly in dispute at the Ely Pit, I have no doubt that the men were misled, and that the

real object of the movement was not economic but revolutionary. The Strike Committee issued a statement that the rates offered by the owners of the Ely Pit would only yield the men a 'starvation wage'; but the actual average earnings of all colliers at the coal-face one month after the mine re-started work were 98. a day. The demand was forced on by the extreme men, who are also the younger, among the leaders or agents. The fact is that there are too many of these, and this is one of the chief sources of trouble in South Wales. In this coalfield, which produces less than one-sixth of the total output of coal in the United Kingdom, there are no less than forty Miners' Agents, besides a small army of other officials. These officials have to justify their existence; they fall out amongst themselves; and during the last two years a general attack has been made by the younger upon the older leaders. I am acquainted with many of these agents; and, writing quite impartially, I believe no men have been better served than have the Welsh miners by their old leaders, who fully recognised that the proposals put forward by the extreme party were economically impossible. On the other hand, the old leaders, having been displaced by the extreme socialists, now refuse to allow the latter to modify their programme; consequently for some time past an active dispute has raged between the two sections, and the extremists have gradually been getting the upper hand.

This process, it must be confessed, has been fostered by certain changes on the owners' side. During recent years many Combines, Trusts and Amalgamations have been formed in South Wales. This has been done for financial purposes purely; and I look upon such developments with the greatest possible alarm. We live in an epoch when industry is carried on by large limited companies; and this has certain unhappy results, for the old friendly and intimate relations, which formerly existed between masters and men, have to a great extent passed away. Every amalgamation and combine accentuates this difficulty, for it is impossible in these large concerns to maintain any personal relationship between employers and their workmen. From the men's standpoint it may be argued that the owners acted unjustly in locking out the men working at the other

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the smaller nu means of bringing ndred men, if they go o pported by the funds of the whole thousand are out and O support them, their natural desire edy settlement. Further, the owners if the men insist on collective bargaining, Je regarded as subject to collective treatment; The eral lock-out is only the counterpart of the dis pathetic' strike. On the other side, it should be timbered that in South Wales, when a strike or lockIt takes place, the owners of a mine are entitled to ceive a subsidy from the owners' fighting fund, while ne men are supported by their Federation. By these arrangements the incentive to either party to arrive at a speedy settlement is largely taken away.

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I have written at some length about the South Wales dispute because of its far-reaching consequences. During the strike the Welsh socialist party sent delegates into all the mining centres of the United Kingdom to address meetings of English and Scottish miners. These delegates endeavoured to enlist the sympathies of the miners on the ground that the price-list offered at the Ely Pit was one which would only enable the men to earn 'starvation wages,' and that the lock-out was a brutal attack of capital upon labour. The leaders of the Miners' Federa tion of Great Britain strongly resented the action of these Welsh emissaries, who openly flouted the Councils of the different Mining Associations, and held meetings denouncing not only the South Wales employers but also the English Federation leaders. Strenuous efforts were now made to bring about a general strike, ostensibly to

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n be little doubt that the profits be largely increased by better generally, I am sure (though tions) that less intelligence is nagement of mines than on otland, as was pointed out Tommission on mines, the vages than the miners. salaries varying from laries paid to some of 9 wholly inadequate 7olved. Moreover, have an intimate t of their con

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e complete confidence lso respected and esteemed recognise that his integrity of ith are undoubted. A quiet and re erts a great influence over the Federati = January 24, 1911, he issued a circular to the Eners stating that there are a number of men t ales who do not want a settlement of the strike ombine Collieries,' the revolutionary party reg ea during the dispute, however, now bore fruit; and a The seeds sown by the Welshmen in the Federate e Southport Conference of Miners' Delegates in October, -11, a claim was put forward for a minimum wage. itherto no general demand for such a concession had en laid before the owners in the Federated area, though it had been claimed that where, owing to bad anagement or abnormal places, a man failed to earn a y's wage, his remuneration should be made up to the strict rate of wage. At the Southport Conference this nited demand was superseded by that for a minimum age all round. The following resolution was submitted y the Executive and passed unanimously:

That the Federation take immediate steps to secure an dividual minimum wage for all men and boys working in ines in the area of the Federation, without any reference to e working places being abnormal. In the event of the nployers refusing to agree to this, the 21st rule to be put to operation to demand assent.'

It was further agreed that the delegates should report a second Conference on November 14 the result of