THE MORALITY OF STRIKES. [To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—It is not surprising that politicians have refrained from drawing a clear distinction between strikes directed against private employers and such as are contrary to the public weal, e.g., general strikes of miners or transport workers. If they were to maintain that, while the former are sometimes justifi- able, the latter can never by any chopping of logic be made so to appear, they would be accused of denying the sacred " right to strike." But what really matters is that the simple morality of the business should be clearly apprehended.
Stated quite baldly, the miners are on strike to put more money into their pockets. Their work may or may not be worth more than the owners are able or willing to pay, on that I express no opinion; but, in any case, a man's desire to increase his income, if perfectly natural, cannot be considered a lofty aspiration, however much we may sympathize with it. Let us suppose that " A," following this impulse, tries to get money out of "B." " B" refuses; whereupon "A " proceeds to put the screw upon " C." This, I maintain, is an immoral act, even if it were a just debt that "A" was seeking to recover. In the present case "C " happens to be the long-suffering public. The only remedy is the compulsory submission of disputes in all key industries to a judicial, not political, tribunal; to be followed, in the event of the men refusing to submit to an adverse decision, by impounding the union's funds.—I am,
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