The progress of the engineers' strike augurs ill for the
work- men. Already the funds for maintaining the labourers thrown out of employment begin to run low : the weekly allowance to the men has been much reduced, and even with the diminished ex- penditure the receipts fall short of the current outlay. The cir- cumstance, too, that non-members of the Amalgamated Engineers have been thrown idle, as well as members, by the masters dosing their establishments, has introduced dissension into the ranks of the workmen. The men are in a fair way of being starved out, and their funds of being exhausted before they can so much as begin the experiment of becoming their own employers. In this state of affairs, the combined masters are taking a higher tone, becoming even more harsh and uncompromising than they were at first. It is but too apparent that the men will have to surrender unconditionally. But even when the strike is at an end, the bad temper which it has engendered will keep smouldering and in a condition to generate future explosions. The French journals mention that orders have been already sent to engineering esta- blishments in France, as they Gould not at present be executed in England. It is easier to lose customers than to recall them. Had Frame been in a tranquil condition, this unlucky strike might have permanently transferred much of our engineering business to that country ; even as matters stand, it may retain a portion.
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