The general Coal Strike is to end to-day, having, so
far as we can see, benefited nobody but the great coal-distributors, who got their fuel at contract rates, and cleared their sheds at an average advance of 10s. a ton. The freeholders have got nothing, the lessees next to nothing, and the men a heavy fine, —viz., a whole week's wages, or, say, £500,000. A stupider in- surrection against the consumer was never organised, and it is impossible to believe that its secret motive has yet been revealed. The Durham miners, 80,000 in number, are still holding out against a reduction, but no partial coal strike can ever be successful. The men have a perfect right to strike if they like ; but if they want public support, they must consider the poor consumers a little, and be a little less sensitive to criti- cism. Nearly lynching a reporter because big journal is unfavourable—as happened to an agent of the Newcastle Chronicle—is not the way to get wages. The masters do not care, and the public loses all sympathy.
