Our great engineering and shipbuilding industries may look forward to
a revival of trade now that the workmen, on a ballot., have agreed to the abolition of the " munitions " bonus of 121 per cent. thoughtlessly granted to skilled workers by Mr. Churchill. In the ballot 170,471 men voted for the withdrawal of the bonus in three monthly instalments, while 147,636 voted against it. The Amalgamated Engineering Union showed an adverse majority of nearly 18,000, and the Engineers and Ship- builders' Unions were narrowly divided, with a majority of only 2,200 for the proposal. But the vote of the General Workers' Federation, mainly composed of unskilled men, decided the issue in favour of removing the bonus. Less than 10 per cent. of the trade unionists affected took the trouble to vote. It is to be inferred that the vast majority of the workmen knew that a reduction of their wages from the artificially high war standard was inevitable if their employers were to obtain fresh orders in the markets of the world. It is useless to maintain high rates of wages if there.is no work to be had.
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