On Saturday last the morning papers contained much bluster from
the strikers' leaders and hints from other quarters that tho strike would spread. But the situation was much better than it looked. There were divided counsels in the strikers' camp. We may note, for instance, that while Mr. Thomas said that it was " mischievous as well as absurd to pretend that our railway system is a public service," and suggested that the dispute was between poor railwaymen and rich shareholders, the publicity department of his own Union announced the same day that " no one has ever denied that the railways are a public service." The railwaymen's leaders did not know which leg to stand on. Meanwhile the motor transport service was working splendidly, the service of trains both for passengers and goods was rapidly growing, and the railwaymen were returning to their employ- ment in increasing numbers. The fact was that the stoke had failed.
