The Cartel organization of the mining industry in Germany has
not, after all, prevented a strike, though it must be noted that the strike of the lignite miners is very orderly and is likely to end soon. Both employers and miners have submitted themselves to arbitra- tion in Berlin. Probably the strikers have learned something from the coal strike here. At all events, they are extremely anxious to keep the strike apart from politics, and to avoid inspiring in the com- munity any sense of grievance. They have organized emergency staffs for keeping power-stations and other essential machinery at work. The general feeling, which is shared by most of the employers, is that the miners' claim for higher wages is reasonable. The Minister of Economic Affairs, however, recently refused to let the price of lignite be raised, and the strikers find it barely possible to quarrel with the argument that if the price carMot be raised the industry cannot afford higher wages.
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