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The temper has not been good on either side, though

perhaps it would be more correct to say that there has been an absence of foresight and consideration for the public rather than bad temper. The employers, in ow opinion, ought not to have adopted such a stand-ofl and cavalier attitude when the dockers first wanted to negotiate ; nor should they have attempted to cut piece rates, for that is always an obscurantist and dis- astrous policy from an economic point of view. On the other hand, Mr. Bevin, on behalf of the dockers, might well have accepted the eleventh hour offer of the employers. The employers offered ls. a day, to take effect on March 3rd, out of the 2s. demanded, correspond. ing changes in piece rates, and arbitration on the demand for the second ls.

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