A grand International Congress of Miners is being held in
Paris, but does not get on very well... The debating is heavy, as every foreign speech has to be translated into French, and there are, moreover, serious international difficulties. The Continental miners are jealous of the English, and a proposal of the latter to take all votes according to the numbers repre- sented has been rejected in favour of voting by States, which the English consider preposterously unfair. The great business as yet has been to decide on a general strike on behalf of an Eight-Hour Law, but the nations are disagreed also upon that. The English are of two minds, the French are violently in favour of the proposal, and the Germans, who fear a collision with the State, say their followers will not obey the order. Mr. Burt, the leading English representative, is evidently as angry as it is in his kindly nature to be ; and it may be doubted whether labour in Europe is yet prepared for inter- national agreements. The nationalities do not think alike even on abstract points, and as regards practical measures, they have no coherence at all.
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