It comes, then, to this. Either the strike must go
on and Government intervention prove abortive, or else the Govern- ment must somehow or other induce the miners to accept their scheme, or, again, must give way to the men and accept their schedules or some modification of those schedules. A coin- promise with the miners might be enacted, but nothing can be enacted which is vetoed by the men. It is suggested in the Times that it might be possible to coerce the miners by making the trade-union funds liable to penalties if the Govern- ment terms were not carried out ; but this, of course, would mean a virtual repeal of the Trade Disputes Act, and must lead to open war with the Labour Party. Probably the Government will stand to their guns in the belief that ulti- mately pressure from inside will force the Miners' Federation to accept the Government proposal. .A. break-up of the Federation might conceivably take place, owing to first one English coalfield and then 'another breaking away.
