The Journeymen Bakers of London, or rather 8,000 out of
12,000 of them, have resolved on a universal strike, to begin on some day not yet fixed. They want a day of 12 hours, to begin at 4 a.m., a free Sunday, and a rise of 3s. per week a man ; but the masters refuse all their demands, offering, however, a day of 12 hours, if they may fix the hour of beginning work. As this would enable many of the masters to work all night, the proposal is considered inadmissible; but the men offer, if their terms are granted, to withdiaw all men from dishonest shops, that is, to strike against adulteration,—one of the most acceptable offers the public ever received. Considerable alarm is expressed as to the possible effect of the strike in London, and it may be very serious, particularly among the classes who have not time to cook their own flour, but it is more probable that it will be unexpectedly alight. Unskilled hands cannot make good bread, but they can make bad bread, and bad bread prevents hunger as well as good. The men have not reckoned sufficiently on the number of country- folk who know how to bake, or on their own powerlessness to deter them from baking. They may win by worrying the masters, who want good hands, and not louts, but worrying the public will not help them.
