New-York tribune., 1893-12-03
NOTES FROM LONDON.
THE TRUCE BETWEEN COAL OWNERS
AND MINERS-MR. ASQUITH AND THE
ANARCHIsTs-THE RADICALS AND
THE LORD CHANCELLOR.
THE lord CHANCELLOR


pute. everybody rejoices at the success OF the
conference of coal owners and of coal miners
presided over by Lord Rosebery Few trouble
themselves to consider what the effect OF such a
precedent may be. what kind OF ac'oh d
future Ministry may take in the next great
strike Sufficient for the day is the evil thereol
and also the good. Ministers are taunted by
their opponents with having delayed their inter-
vention till matters had gone so far that WIN or
without their help. the struggle was nearing 's
end. Compromise was i'm the air; set'e'heh'
inevitable 1t may be The taunt is rather Il
eu,opv than a criticism 1t is the business OF
craftsmanship to choose the right moment LOT
action.
The right man was chosen also. Lord Rose
berry is perhaps the only Minister whom po'h
sides would have been disposed to accept as
arbitrator He was not arbitrator; ne hao no
authority except as presiding officer over con-
florence composed of fourteen on each side; he
had not even a vote. But he has tact. and a
knowledge of men, and familiarity with bus-
ness. and a power of rapidly mastering sub
iect. So far as he allowed himself to be inhu-
enced by sympathies, his sympathies were prop
ably on the side Of the men.
Both parties claim the victory. 1t is one Of
the advantages Of a good compromise that it
allows both parties to claim the victory. Each
gains something, each surrenders something, and
each dwells on what it gains and on what the
other surrenders. The men had said they would
never return to work at a reduced wage, ana
they do not The old rate is to be paid till
February. The masters had refused with energy
to bind themselves to pay fixed minimum
wage in the future. and they do not bind them
selves. The rate after February 1 is to be
determined by Board of Cancellation, whose
decision is to hold good for at least year
The principle Of arbitration, which the miners
rejected, is thus affirmed and adopted. The piin-
ciple, If it can be called principle OF the
living wage" is put aside.
The long struggle turned upon that. The men
and their champions in the press nailed that
flag to the mast. Over and over again The
Chronicle proclaimed in its hysterical way that
the men would fight to the death for the living
wage They have fought, but not to the death,
and are beaten 1t suits this same paper now
to say that Labor has won great triumph.
greater than ever before That paean is sung on
the strength of their return to work with
pledge of the old wages for little more than
two months. But the living wage is surrendered.
1t could hardly be otherwise. Few capitalists
could be found anywhere to agree that they
would pay labor at fixed minimum rate for
all time to come irrespectvely Of the price they
obtained for the product of this labor.
The term living wage was clever invention.
The public were expected to understand it as
meaning the least a miner could live on. The
fact that he had lived on much less was ignored.
So was the other fact that the average rate
had been for some years higher than this mini
mum. and would have remained higher under
the proposed reduction. So was the third fact
that, If the men earned less, it was because they
did not choose to work more than three or four
days week So was the fourth fact that the
sum per week fixed by the miners as the least
they could live on is double, or nearly so. the
average earned by agricultural laborers all
over the kingdom The well-meaning ecclesias-
tics who assembled in Jerusalem Chamber to
demand the living wage in the name Of religion
and of humanity and of sentiment, took no ac-
count Of these facts. But the public takes
account of them. 1t takes account Of the further
fact that neither the miner nor the owner foots
the bill which is the result Of the contest the
two parties carried for nearly four months
The consumer pays, he always does. The
producer calls the tune and the public pays the
piper.
Giving the Government every credit for devO-
tion to the public interest, one may nevertheless
see that politics had something TO do with their
calling of this conference. Lord Rosebery is one
Of their prize young men.-he is forty-four years
of age, which in English politics is mere youth
funess. But the other prize young man is Mr..
Asquith who is forty-one 1t had fallen TO Mr..
Asquiths lot. as Home Secretary, to protect lives
and property by force at Featherstone and else
where. The strikers called it taking sides with
the owners. 1t was not, but the accusation was
damaging to a Ministry dependent largely upon
labor votes. To refute it by argument and proof
lively by--not, of course, taking sides with the
miners, but doing something for them.
Lord Roseberry is known a friend to the
masses and to the laborers. To put him for
ward as President of the Conference was to
assure the masses that the Ministry a friend
to the masses and to the laborers. The Foreign
Office is the set off to Featherstone. and Lord
Rosebery's smooth words to the miners in his
private room, and the luncheon, and finally the
compromise, TO silence the echo of those
rifle shots at Ackton Colliery. Nothing is more
convenient to a Prime Minister than to be able
to invest a colleague on each side and TO con-
cliate friends while considering and truly pro-
noting the public interest.
The week has not been a good one for Mr. AS
Quith. He has sustained his first important
check being beaten for Lord Rector of Glasgow
by Sir John Gorst who comes in by
some 800 majority. Sir John Gorst. though able,
Is not in the front rank, nor very sympathetic
personality. His success is the success Of Con-
servatve Unionsm. as Mr.. Asquith's defeat Is
the defeat Of Gladstonian Home Rule and Rad
icalism. The Universities-even in Scotland
where the fierce democracy of youth prevails
are not the homes Of Irish Nationalism or Of
the Newcastle Programme.
Mr.. ASuuith Is not rosnon sible for this mis-
fortune. but he is responsible for the mistake in
Trafalgar Square. He allowed a meeting of
to assemble in the square to denounce
the hanging Of the Chicago assassins and to
canonize the Barcelona assassin who threw a
bomb at Marshal Campos. Then he defended
his action in the House of Commons and the
defence Xas less defensihIa than tho actinn