IMPOSSIBLE SLOGANS.
IT must not be supposed however that these small movements really reflect the City's view of the crisis. Not only did the City realise that we were faced with something akin to a revolu- tionary movement, but it knew only too well that the gravity of the situation consisted in the fact that we were up against certain hard economic facts. These facts require for their solution, not strikes, nor revolutions—for these will only intensify the original problem—but a mutual co-operation along the lines of enlarged and cheapened production. It may be all very well to shout defiances at the coal owners or the Government and talk about " not a minute on " or " not a penny off," but to all such slogans Economic Laws are impervious.
To sum up, there is little doubt that the ultimate cost of the strike must depend upon the manner of the settle- ment. No one wishes the right form of Trade Unionism to be crushed, but it is for the " right form " to assert itself and achieve its own freedom. For unless the financial position of the country is to become impossible, it is imperative that the strike shall lead to conditions giving the country a definite and complete assurance of industrial peace. No financial or industrial recovery is possible without that assurance. It is due to the hope that those conditions will be attained that the City is preserving its equanimity.
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