There has never been a more confused or more un-
satisfactory Labour situation than the one which is threatening to lead to a national lock-out in the ship- yards. We do not pretend to understand, still less to judge, of the merits and demerits of the cases of the various parties in the dispute. Roughly the position seems to be that the employers feel that they cannot tolerate any longer the unofficial strike which has been going on for some six weeks at Southampton, and have bluntly told the Executive Committee of the Federation of Engineering and Shipbuilding trades that unless it enforces discipline on its members and makes them abide by the principle of collective bargaining, they cannot carry on. The Unions themselves are at last making a vigorous effort to enforce their authority. On Wednesday they ordered the men back to work and the employers postponed the national lock-out for another twenty- four hours. *
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