The desperate efforts to obtain a general strike are, properly
understood, a sign of weakness. The Triple Alliance was first used as a bogy-man. When that failed, the general strike was brought into the field. That must fail even more certainly, because not only the-Government but the nation are aware that matters will not really be rendered any worse by the partial cessation of labour, which is all that will result from a general strike. No coal and no transport must temporarily paralyse most of the industries of the country, and of themselves create the conditions of a general strike. The only difference between cessation due to the Triple Alliance strike and a general strike ia that in the latter ease the men will have no right to unemploy- ment pay and can make no demand on their employers to be
kept on as loyal partners in the industry. At a moment like the present a general strike would mean financial relief, not financial injury, to thousands of businesses.
