to the great mass of the people. The capitalist, and the public, in the sense of the consumer, will be benefited by each new invention; but the greatest gainer of all, in the long run, will be the workman. At the outset men are often displaced, they have to seek employment elsewhere. In effect it resembles a surgical operation; a limb is amputated to save life; pain is inflicted, but health is restored. So with the body politic, the individual sometimes suffers, but the mass improves. As anæsthetics are administered to deaden the sense of pain, so some method of relief is required to soften the effect of suffering often caused by the use of labour-saving appliances and of machinery on its first introduction. How this can be best accomplished, cannot now be discussed.

CHAPTER IX.

I. STRIKES-THEIR OBJECTS, COST, AND RESULTS.

II. FOREIGN COMPETITION.

I. STRIKES-THEIR OBJECTS, COST, AND RESULTS.

§ 1. So much has been said, either directly or incidentally, in other parts of this work, touching the question of strikes, that it is needless in this chapter to do more than refer briefly to some points which have been inadequately discussed elsewhere, and to give a bird's-eye view of the whole matter in its several aspects and bearings, by adding such further observations as may seem to be necessary in order that every phase of the labour question may be seen and understood. If we were called upon to pronounce an opinion with regard to strikes, with no other evidence before us than their frequency, it would appear that they were an absolute necessity of the times in which we live. They certainly appear to be an essential part of the economy of capital and labour, and the natural and inevitable outcome of the relationship now subsisting between employers and employed. Neither reasoning nor denunciation has been sufficiently effective to get rid of this state of chronic industrial warfare; the utmost that has been done has only diminished the friction, and rendered the collision of the opposing forces less destructive to themselves, and ruinous to the public.

§ 2. It is easy enough to define the object of strikes, but it is far from easy to estimate their cost, or trace with any degree of accuracy the results which follow in their train. The issues raised by any particular strike are usually clear and distinct. There are, however, behind these, and emanating from them,

others which are not at all times apparent, but which arise as naturally from the first cause, as the falling of the apple does from gravitation. It is this "unknown quantity" which makes some of the labour struggles so obstinate, costly, and prolonged. Shrewd men on both sides can see the tendency of this or that course of action, and the effect which must follow a concession or victory, and consequently they contend, resist, or concede, as the case may be. In general terms, the objects of strikes may be stated as follows:

I. Wages: to secure an advance or resist a reduction, whether by the day or piece.

II. Hours of labour: to effect a reduction, or oppose an extension of the working hours.

III. To limit apprentices, and hinder the employment of unskilled and non-unionist workmen.

IV. To regulate the methods of working, such as piece-work, overtime, etc.

§ 3. Morally considered, the rights or wrongs of a strike depend very much upon circumstances, and upon the means employed to compass the ends sought. Economically they are justifiable or the reverse, according to the conditions of the "labour market." Practically the whole question is reduced to a simple matter of expediency or prudence, as to time, place, and demands; and to the possibility or probability of success or failure, in the particular instance where a strike is attempted or contemplated. The object in itself might be right, and the means employed may be unobjectionable, but neither, nor both combined, would at all times justify resorting to a strike. There are many things which may be theoretically right, but which in practice are unattainable. The question of right is therefore relative, and must be circumscribed accordingly. Apart altogether from conciliation and arbitration, there are other and very important matters to be considered before a strike is resorted to; these comprehend the resources at the command of the union; the unanimity of the workmen; the state of trade, not only in the district, but in the country generally, in so far as it affects that special industry; the proportion of society to non-society men, and the possibility of the latter, under pressure or from necessity,

taking the places of those on strike. In the better-organised societies, all these things are carefully weighed beforehand; and even then they sometimes fail in their attempts; but the worst failures and greatest misery attend those where these precautions are neglected; and, what is still worse, in these very trades strikes are more frequent than they are in those where the workmen are in a better position to cope with them.

§ 4. The cost of strikes has exercised the arithmetical ingenuity of many economists, and others, who imagine that they can terrify the workmen by an array of figures which, on the surface, seems to tell against them. The unionists, on the other hand, appear as though they sometimes made a boast of their immense expenditure, for they will quote the figures prepared by their opponents in proof of their strength, and of the inexhaustible resources of the union. It might be said of figures, what is said of hard words, they break no bones; they produce very little effect upon the parties engaged in the contest, until they come home to their own doors in the shape of a stoppage of supplies. They will then begin to reason, by the aid of the new light that has dawned upon them, or to rail at the course which events have taken. It may at once be conceded that the cost of a prolonged strike is enormous, and that the distress which it occasions is ofttimes appalling; but workmen would not undergo all this suffering, and contribute their hard earnings week after week, in support of those engaged in the struggle, if there were no corresponding advantages to be gained from the outlay. It would be tedious to attempt to tabulate the estimated cost of strikes during the present century; and it would serve no useful purpose, unless we were able, at the same time, to estimate the commercial value of every successful one, and strike a balance of profit and loss. This could not possibly be done, even if the calculations employed were as profound and difficult as those used in astronomy, for there is no rule in mathematics, or standard of computation, in any of the known tables, by which to arrive at any definite result or satisfactory conclusion. There is, in fact, absolutely no comparison between the cost in pounds sterling, and the gain, material and moral, which has accrued to the working classes from some of those

labour struggles, comprehended in the term "strikes." The whole question resolves itself into one of sociological statics and dynamics. The full value of this or that force or movement must be estimated, if at all, by results which are not seen, and therefore cannot be calculated, and not merely by those only partially seen, even by the closest observers.

Estimates went the round of the press to the effect that during the lock-out on the Clyde, £150,000 were spent by the unions in support of the men out of employment, and that £312,000 were lost in wages. Again it was stated that the Manchester strike cost the unions some £80,000 and the employers £300,000; whether these estimates were true or false, the actual results of the outlay were the only true test of value. It is, however, certain that if the Manchester employers could afford to spend £300,000 to resist the demands of the men, they could not, with any show of reason, argue that they were unable to pay the extra rates claimed by the workmen. During the builders' strike and lock-out in London in 1859-60-61, many similar calculations were hazarded. Some of them were probably not far wide of the mark, in so far as the money actually spent was concerned, and also the possible loss in wages and profits, to those engaged in that obstinate and prolonged contest. But who can estimate the value of the increased pay since that time, or of the boon of the Saturday half-holiday, which resulted from that strike and lock-out? Some of the struggles of the agricultural labourers were attended with great expense, and much suffering, but the results compensated them for every penny of the outlay, and repaid them for all the trouble and temporary privation. This is the justification for every strike in the minds of those who take part in them. The fallacy which lies at the root of all those laborious financial computations is, that it is possible to make a debtor and creditor account with regard to any particular strike, in so far as it affects individual men, and it would not be difficult to show that, in many cases, these suffer an almost irrecoverable loss. The lost time is gone for ever; his domestic comforts have been interrupted; the home itself perhaps is broken up; long associations are severed; and suffering has been