The Miners' Ballot The national ballot of the miners taken
at the week-end resulted, as was expected, in a vote in favour of strike action against " company unionism " in the Notts coalfield ; but two features of the ballot are of special interest. The total number of effective votes cast was even larger than that recorded when a wage dispute was at issue ; and the majority, 383,101, was even larger than had been anticipated. In the Notts coalfield itself, where the ballot was held in unfavourable circumstances, there was a majority of 21,956 to 4,810. These figures certainly give the Federation every authority to press their claims to the extreme of calling a national coal strike ; but they would be unwise to take this step for the sake of securing " recognition " alone, and to continue to reject amalgamation with the Spencer union. Their leaders have shown themselves to be willing to con- ciliate on the question of " recognition " ; they cannot, and should not, be conciliatory on the " victimisation " issue. A concession by the owners on this point is the first necessary step to avoid the disaster of a strike ; if the owners refuse it, they will gravely antagonise public opinion. Both sides in this dispute might take a lesson from the settlement recently negotiated between the South Wales owners and the South Wales Miners Federation.
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