NEWS OF THE WEEK.
AS we write on Thursday the question of the strike still hangs in the balance. It is practically certain that nothing definite will be announced before we go to press in regard to the final negotiations now proceeding. All we know is that a strike of the Triple Alliance—i.e., the Railway and Transport Workers—is ordered to begin at ten o'clock on Friday right. This order is absolute in form. There is no " unless a settlement is previously reached." In spite of that, however, the strike can always be countermanded. At the same time, to avoid a struggle so disastrous, potent forces are at work. The whole of the moderate men among the Labour leaders— and they are very influential and unquestionably represent the majority of the Society men—are doing their best to mediate and to prevent the miners forcing matters to the extreme point. But though this is a favourable indication, there is another which threatens not only to counteract it but to over- whelm it altogether. The revolutionaries are urging the necessity for a general strike—that is, for the cessation of all labour—in order to support the Triple Alliance in supporting the miners in forcing the Government to yield on the issue of pooling profits.
