14 SEPTEMBER 1872, Page 2

It seems probable that the threatened Bakers' Strike will be

averted by a very fair compromise between masters and men, suggested at a conference held on Wednesday. The masters are willing to agree to the twelve-hours day, to begin at 4 a.m., with this proviso, that in all shops where the hour of commencement shall be earlier than 4 a.m., the journeymen bakers shall be en- titled to extra wages, the minimum excess to be five shillings a week above the scale of wages in the ordinary shops. There has been an adjournment to allow the men time to deliberate on this proposal, but there seems to be at present every chance of its acceptance. The men have behaved very well throughout, and their case for improved conditions of labour has been an enormously strong one.