The Engine-Drivers and Firemen of the Brighton and South- Coast
line struck on Tuesday. The Company had conceded the question of hours, reducing them to ten per diem, and the wages, giving 7s. 6d. a day to every competent driver, but the men insisted that every man who had served eighteen months should be con- sidered competent. The Directors met the crisis with great pluck, reduced the trains, lowered the speed, and put foremen, station- masters, and outsiders on the engines. Six drivers, too, it is said, stayed at work, and the line was never closed, though there was much delay and inconvenience. The men were a good deal shaken by the apparent ability of the Company to do without them, and a happy compromise brought them back to their work. The Super- intendents are to decide on competence, but if a man is passed over or neglected too long he may appeal to the Board. Prepa- rations are said to be making for strikes on the Midland and other lines, but mischief will,.we trusts be averted by timely compro- mise, recognizing the men's claims to leisure and fair pay, and refusing their pretension to regulate promotion.
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