Too much stress should not be laid on the telegram which appears in another column forecasting a large strike majority in the miners' ballot. In view of last year's railway strike and its miserable failure it is to ba anticipated that Mr. Robert Smillie will hesitate to advise direct action unless he has in the whole support of Trades ionists in the United Kingdom either in the nature of subsidiary strikes or in the shape of outside contributions to the miners' war chest. The suggestion that the Government might in the last resort appeal to the country is interesting as an indication of the Government's estimation of the attitude of those unconnected with the Unions. There can be no doubt that prior to last year the middle classes—not yet—_ the negligible quantity that alarmists would have us believe—were, in the main, sympathetically disposed towards Labour. Probably, in principle, they are even now so disposed, though they detest the means suggested by Labour to attain its ends. Should the Government appeal to the country it would be taking a bold step, but this attempt to subordinate the interests of the whole to those of the few, needs drastic measures. A general election in the circumstances would be no. more an open''declaration of class warfare than is the threat of direct action, and if gov. ernment. by a section of the proletariat is to come in Great Britain its introduction through—constitutional methods would certainly he by far the best method. But. this is taking far too pessimistic a view of the matter. No one has succeeded yet in bludgeoning the masses in Great Britain and it is more than doubtful whether the Miners' Federation, the Triple alliance and subsidiary unions wil prove any exception to the rule.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.