All through this week the cabmen of Paris have been
on strike. There are 3,000 of them, an employed; by the Compagnie des Petites Voitures, which. under an agreement with the city has a monopoly' of this means e conveyance. The men receive 3f. a day, and earn 2f. more by gratuities from passengers. But this amount is diminished more- than It a day by fines. They now demand the abolition of gratuities and of fines, and 6f. a day. This amount the company declares it cannot pay, and as it has held out, Paris has been driven to walk on foot. The company, however, still owns its cabs, and by dint of impressing its grooms, hiring stable-helpers, and bringing up drivers from the depart- ments, it is gradually defeating the men, who will probably in the end consent to a compromise. Many other trades are also striking, and the masters generally yield, but the hat-makers have fought, and are importing hats from London. The' Imperial Government holds steadily aloof from these contests, only inter- fering to prevent intimidation, and it seems certain that the men are thus far in the right, that profits have increased, and they can- not now live on their pay. It is suggested in Paris salons that the soldiery should strike next, in which case—chaos.
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