MUDDLING THROUGH

Organized labor is giving a gigantic exhibition of its power in England. At one swoop, the leaders of the trade unions are able to paralyze the circulatory system of an industrialized country to function. With the funds now at the disposal of the unions, this strength may be maintained for a month, and if no settlement be reached at the end of that time, the workers will have only a bleak prospect to look forward to.

In the interim, rising prices, incidental disputes, and jangled nerves increase the difficulties of a solution. The strike is essentially a human protest against the ruthlessness of economic law. The English coal industry is suffering from that anathema of Thomas Carlyle, "overproduction". More capital is invested, more men are employed in coal mining than can possibly be supported on its profits. And in this age of specialization, the transfer of either capital or labor to another occupation requires time and initiative precluding the possibility of a quick readjustment Quite the brightest spot in the whole situation is the unobtrusive announcement that the British birthrate has dropped toward the French level. If continued, this decline offers automatic insurance against similar troubles recurring in the next generation. But in the present must come the inevitable sacrifice accompanying a return to normal conditions.

Even from the laborer's point of view, it is difficult to understand the advantage of a general strike whose full weight must be borne by the working men themselves. Strikes in a single industry have time and again proven beneficial to labor, shortening hours and increasing pay. But a deliberate paralysis of industrial necessities would seem to threaten the very existence of the present form of society, to attempt the imposition of the will of the Trade Union Congress on parliament. It makes little difference in the final outcome whether a revolution be accomplished by bloodless starvation or gory bayonets.

The British government has set itself against economic coercion for political ends. And the volunteer Organization for the Maintenance of Supplies probably has sufficient efficiency to provide a tenuous connection with the necessaries of life.

The first stubborn difficulty surmounted, the Conservative cabinet will have a narrow course to steer between the twin perils of repressive fascism and belligerent communism. In the next few weeks, the English capacity for muddling will receive a thorough test.