It must not be forgotten that by no means all
the men capable of hewing coal in the country are in the unions or under union influences. There are literally thousands of men who are not now miners but who have at some time in their lives hewn coal, and who could do so again, and there are also plenty of men with strong arms who, though they have never worked in mines, would very soon learn how to do the work. Though no doubt great skill and great experience are required to obtain the best possible results in mining work, there is no actual mystery about it. Prentice work might be slow and in a sense costly, but it would win the coal, and if the mines were to be opened under the conditions we have named, the object for the moment would not be profits and dividends but the supply of the essential needs of the country. We need hardly say that no sane person desires to see such an end to the strike, for it would be bound to cause great bitterness and great suffering ; but if the miners think that they are to dominate the whole situation because the Government and the natiou are naturally unwilling to inflict that pain and misery, they are under the direst of delusions. In the last resort the nation will not be held back from getting the coal it needs by any such punctilios or by any superficial humani- tarianism
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