A most serious strike has broken out in the great
coal- mining district of Germany, of which the centre is Essen-on- Ruhr. The men complain of their wages, of the tyranny of their foremen, of the " insolence " of employers, of the breach of an old custom under which miners received coals without pay, and of the deduction of all stones brought to the pit's mouth from the weight to be paid for. That, the men say, is "to fine them for a geological formation which they cannot help." By the latest accounts, nearly a quarter of a million workers are on strike, and the great body of Socialists have taken np their cause. The revolt, for it has reached those proportions, has, of course, raised the ,price of coal, and in many places is closing the ironworks and others dependent upon coal supply. As yet the disorder has not been serious, though there is a disposition to punish "blacklegs," which, if the employers bring in Poles as they threaten, may produce serious consequences. The Government has instituted an inquiry, and will, it is supposed, suggest a compromise, putting pressure on the employers to accept it•; but the latter are in an angry mood, thinking that their authority is at stake, and believing that the men must speedily yield, as they have little money saved. The bitterness of feeling is said to be terrible, and will not, we fancy, be quoted by Tariff Reformers as evidence of the happiness and content which Protection has diffused among German industrials.
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