The Progrkss of the World. 



603 



F.dward's award came out, approving five out 

 of the seven points in the men's case. The 

 Gov^ernmcnt intervened, and invited both 

 sides to a conference. 



The men came. The 



Masters and Doctors ^^jfgrg^ including the 



Revolt. quasi-State Port of 



London Authority, refused 

 to come, thereby putting themselves 

 publicly in the wrong. If they persist, the 

 Government will apparently have to resort 

 to legislation to compel their submis- 

 sion. Great Britain has by no means a 

 monopoly of this form of social trouble. 

 A strike of anthracite miners in the United 

 States has led to serious rioting. Chicago 

 has passed through two strikes, one of 

 freight handlers, the other of press machine 

 men, which almost stopped the issue of 

 nevvsi)apers for a day or two. Weavers on 

 strike in Lisbon have rioted and been shot 

 down in the streets. A general strike took 

 place in Budapest in support of universal 

 suffrage ; troops were called out, several 

 lives were lost on both sides, and more than 

 a hundred were wounded. Another form 

 of political strike is threatened by the 

 British Medical Association. Unless the 

 terms demanded from tlic Chancellor of 

 the Excliequer are granted, the doctors are 

 called on to be ready not merely to refuse 

 to work under the Insurance Act, but also 

 to cease all contract or " club " work. 

 Medical nun have always been close trade 

 unionists; they seem to be advancing to 

 Syndicalism. Our most notorious Syndi- 

 calist, Mr. 'i'om Mann, received from the 

 authorities the further free advertisement 

 of a sentence of six months* imprisonment 

 for inciting soldiers " not to shoot " if caik-d 

 to fire on strikers; and his position has been 

 additionally strengthened by the Govern- 

 ment reducing the sentence to two months. 



Ail these Labour troubles 



Sources ^j-g symptoms of a deep- 



Discontent seated social restlessness. 



Too generally the cost of 

 living has risen far in excess of the rise in 

 wages, owing, in a measure, to the increased 

 output of gold, while at the same time the 

 standard of living has gone up in the minds 

 of the workers immensely higher still. The 

 resolve to resist further restriction, and the 

 demand for a fuller life, together with the 

 growing intelligence of a school-taught 

 proletariat, have driven the wage-earners 

 into ever larger and more compact com- 

 binations. There is a movement on foot 

 for the complete amalgamation of all 

 unions in each great industry, as well as 

 for federation between the several industries. 

 The moral discipline of these combinations 

 of masters as of men is a magnificent 

 training in democratic citizenship. But 

 there will be many throes before the new 

 State is fidlv born. 



There sccnis to be a con- 



The Passing stant drain in the reverence 



Reverence for Law. ^nd respect for law and 



laws which used to be so 

 marked a characteristic of the people ot this 

 country. Formerlv laws and institutions 

 established by laws were sacred, now they 

 are much less so. Ministers to-day seem to 

 have no hesitation in revising sentences, 

 especially where any political question is 

 concerned. In this they are putting them- 

 selves above the law of the land and casting 

 contempt upon the courts. We do not 

 pro|)osc here to go into the right ^ or wrongs 

 of the various cases, but feci impelled to 

 record what seems to us a very serious 

 breach in the bulwark of British liberty. 

 If the Ministers do not show reverence for 

 the laws and those who in open court execute 

 them, is it to be woiulered that the |)ower 



