NEWS OF THE WEEK.
WE describe below the course of the strike. Here we must. say a word of protest, however discordant or unpalatable it may seem It the moment, against the pleasant and easygoing view that in the case of the recent crisis honours are easy, that everybody did well all round and acted in the way they ought to have acted, and that in fact we can be proud of the incident as a whole. That is an optimistic view of the situation which is in essentials wholly false's. We are not going to use irritating language about victory and defeat, but we must put on record the true facts, however disagreeable. The strike was as cause- less, and therefore as wicked, a strike as has ever taken place. It was not due to any attempt to impair the material prosperity of the workers either now or in the future. It was not due to anybody claiming more wages at the moment. It was in fact the seizure by the extremists in the Railway Trade Unions of what they thought a favourable moment for showing their strength, and obtaining a victory over the Government so com- plete that in future none would dare stand up against their demands.
