THE ENGLISH STRIKE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 915, 13 September 1889, Page 28

THE ENGLISH STRIKE.

A startling lesson is to be learned from the strike that is convulsing England, It forcibly demonstrates thetremend-

ous stride taken by democracy during the last decade ; the comparative perfection to which trade-unionism has been brought, and the marked advance of socialism all along the line. It also throws a gleam of light upon the obscurity of that vexed question —Federation. The growth of socialism has been singularly well marked, and the movement itself, in its more elevated aspects, is iu the highest degree commendable, while the name is hateful, so closely is it linked with discord, anarchy, and unreason. Like the term “ spiritualism,” “ socialism ” has been made to represent the very worst phases of a movement, the true object of which is sublimed benevolence, just as spiritualism, which should be a term of the very greatest significance and veneration rto searchers after truth, is simply repellant through the fraud and rascality with which it has been associated. Socialism as a name is scarcely recognised now by the better elements of the organisation, and “ altruism ” has been adopted in ifa etcad. .At the saiae time Socialism holds ils own among the lower grades of the great army of reformers, who are striving for the amelioration of the miseries of humanity, and with them it is synonymous with plot, counterplot, violence, and any means to the end. But as the "movement advances and expands, and is purged of some of its grossness, the name will give place to the more harmonious and beneficent designation “ altruism.” How the votaries of the latter have been stirred by the great strike is evident in the sympathy and 'support extended to it in unexpected quarters. We are told that nearly all classes are in accord with the strikers, and that their cause has been openly advocated from the pulpits of the land. Wo cannot imagine a more suitable or stirring text for a forcible and eloquent pulpit discourse. And' the more we hear of the strike the greater thereason for the action of the strikers becomes apparent. The meagre wage they were earning is even less than it seems, because of the uncertainty of the emplovment. Five pence an hour in the Old Country might pass if the emplovment were constant, but when it is intermittent, when a bread-winner may perhaps only work two or three davs out of the six, it means nothing more nor less than semi-starvation.

Such a result, placed iu close juxtaposition with the luxury of the profits of that same half-starved labour, may well madden the workers and drive them to desperate extremes. The time when men and women could be patient under excessive poverty is fast drifting away into the dense obscurity of an imperfect past. The sentiency of the people of this age will not brook the startling anomalies and grave injustice of the very extremes of wealth and poverty. It insists that something approaching a reasonable adjustment shall be come to, and to that end it is prepared to sacrifice present gain, convenience and comfort for the sake of social regeneration in the future. And the hands of all and sundry are put out to do this work. Tens of thousands of men and women, far removed from the humble dock “ lumper ” by status and occupation, are eagerly tendering assistance and uttering words of encouragement. Their “ altruism ” gard for others ” —is stirring them mightily, and it i 3 not to say that the Empire has throbbed throughout its vast extent in sympathy with these men. It was regard for self that caused individual trade societies to come into being ; it is regard for others that has compelled those units to coalesce iu support of an oppressed section of them. It is regard for others that is galvanising the societies and unions at the uttermost ends of the earth, and all over the earth where they exist, to put

their hands out to assist in the good Iwork. The unanimity displayed has been wonderful, and as far as Australasia is concerned, Queensland will ever appear in bold and creditable relief for being the first ,to move to the rescue, iler excellent example has been followed in all the other colonies with substantial and gratifying results. The accounts of the great strike supplied by telegrams are necessarily meagre, but, for all that, it appears to us that the people, this time, have been truer to themselves than ever before. There does not seem to have been the same readiness on the part of labour to fill the vacuum caused by the strike as in past occurrences of the kind. Organisation is very much more perfect,.and the men have responded with more heartiness and loyalty to each other and the great cause of human advancement, to the call made upon them. Driven by stern, necessity they have paraded tbeir forces, disclosed their discipline, and their opponents stand aghast at the perfection of both. The signs of the times are not to be mistaken, and they who are wise will note them well and shape their course accordingly. The labour of the world is. occupying a position and entrenching, and if labour is true to itself tho position is impregnable. Autocratic to a degiee the House of Hohenzollern has ever been noted for shrewd observation, and the present head of it does not appear to be one whit behind his predecessors in this respect. His utterance the other day was startling in its liberality, aud fell like a dynamite bomb upon European society : “ Labour must be protected against capital.” This, from the lips of the Emperor of Germany is unmistakable. It has but one meaning. He perceives the tremendous force of the people's organisation, the impossibilityof suppressingit. aud the vital necessity of controlling and directing it. It is possible the idea is dawniug upon him that some dav Slavs and Teutons, Gauls and Anglo-Saxons will issue a fiat that war shali cease, and, when that fiat ia issued, it will find effect. But, so far as our own race is particularly concerned, it has been made very evident by the strike that the federation of the Empire will be brought about by co-operation and sympathy in the labour of the Empire. Trade and labour organisations of all kinds will be in accord on main questions. Electricity has brought every part of the great British Empire into close touch now, and social needs and expediencies will unite in serried phalanx the working bees of all those parts, tho so-termed oi polloi, but under reclamation from its brutishness and urged forward and upward by the highest considerations for kindred humanity. Not senselessly iconoclastic, but swayed by righteous motives, judicially striving after reform. That this is not a Utopian idea is apparent in an incident of the great strike. The “ Socialists ” were not permitted to take part in it, except on tradeunion principles. And thus in their dire extremity the great mass of the people gave sterling testimony of their adherence to law and order. They recoiled from socialistic anarchy, and would have none of it. It is not too much to expect that the outcome of the strike will be a further consolidation of the forces of labour. Altruism is about to still further assert itselfAn establishment of a central altruistic society in England and branches right through Anglo-Saxon dominions is very likely to happen, and when it does Anglo Saxon unity will have been accomplished. And from this gigantic federation the United States of America will not be excluded. They will as surely be attracted to it as iron by a loadstone. We believe that a bloodless and the most beneficent revolution the world has ever seen is at hand if the people are only true to themselves and cultivate constitutionalism and moderation in their council chambers.