Bishop of Argyle-Mr. Deutsch-Sir Jas. Duke, Bart.-J. S. Mill-Major- Murray-Mr. G. Ormerod-Archdeacon Pollock-Count de Strzelecki-Lieut. Col. G. A. Vetch-Vice-Chancellor Sir J. Wickens-Mr. Baring-Lord Chief Justice Bovill-Hon. F. R. Forbes Mrs. J. Hamilton-Lord Lyveden-Mr. J. G. Nichols-Professor Agassiz-Sir J. Cowen-Gen. Sir P. E. Craigie-Mr. J. A. Galignani-Sir R. A. Glass-Vice-Admiral Gordon-The O'Grady--Mr. Mark Philips-Lord Chief Baron Pigot-Gen. R. S. Piper-Gen. Sir A. The Strike in the Iron Trade in South Wales-Scarcity of Coal-Speech of Sir W. THE year began ominously enough at home with one of the greatest strikes yet organized-a strike of the iron-workers in South Wales. The struggle embraced every large establishment in the South Wales district, from Blaenavon on the east to Cwmavon on the west. The origin was simple. The masters gave notice of a reduction of wages of 10 per cent. on the 1st of December last year. They stated that their reason for doing so was that the iron trade had become so bad that they could not book orders except at such a great reduction in price as rendered the operation of a reduction of wages absolutely necessary. To that the men replied by quotations from the price lists of trades journals, showing that Welsh bar-iron had during parts of the year 1872 been quoted at higher rates than the North of England bars, yet there was no talk of a reduction in the North, where wages were higher already than they were in South Wales. There was then a conference of the two parties at Cardiff, at which the masters produced statements of the prices actually received by them, and which were considerably below the quotations upon which the men relied to prove their case. The men then naturally asked how they were to have the figures proved, unless the masters would B consent to a reference to arbitration. The answer was that arbitration had been one-sided in its working, as shown by cases in South Wales, and the most recent instance of the workmen of the North, who insisted upon 5 per cent. more than the arbitrators awarded, and the masters were obliged to yield to avoid a fight. But the question of proof was pertinent, and they would submit their books and vouchers to attest the accuracy of their figures to any two workmen appointed by their fellows at the several works. The masters suggested that the men should go to work and continue at the reduction till the 1st of March, to await the result of the spring inquiry for iron, when it was hoped and believed there would be such an improvement as to enable the employers to give back the 10 per cent. with a possible addition. What they asked the men to do was to enable them to tide over the present difficulty until then. But at a meeting at Merthyr the workmen decisively rejected these proposals, and insisted upon old prices or arbitration. men. The difficulty was complicated by the action of the coal-owners, who raise coals for sale. The steam coal-owners bound themselves to rise or fall with the ironmasters' pits. A few days after the ironmasters had issued their notices, the steam coal-owners followed with a notice of reduction, and they were followed immediately afterwards by the house coal-owners with theirs. The angry attitude of the colliers led to the withdrawal of the notices at almost all the pits of these classes, leaving the ironmasters alone in antagonism with their It was not till the end of March that the strike was at last brought to a close, after many fruitless attempts at arrangement and negotiation. Meanwhile, the effect upon the supply and price of coal throughout the country was serious and alarming, and no sign of any material improvement in that respect followed upon the cessation of the strike. Meetings, in many instances of a violent character, were held in all quarters, and the effect upon some branches of trade was very depressing, the railway and great steamship companies, even those protected by large contracts, being unable to get their orders executed. In February the price of coal in London rose 20 per cent. to 50s. a ton. A speech, delivered at Newcastle by Sir William Armstrong, president of a mining and mechanical engineers' institute in the North of England, is deserving of record as pointing out the only true remedy-economy-and the wanton wastefulness with which the great resources of the country have been thrown away. "For many years past (said Sir William) the consumption of coal has been increasing at the rate of about 4 per cent. per annum, computed in the manner of compound interest. At this rate in eighteen years our present consumption would be doubled, in thirtysix years it would be quadrupled, and in fifty-four years it would be eight times greater than at present. It is clear, therefore, that our consumption has been increasing at a rate which could not possibly last. If nothing else was destined to arrest it, a failure of mining labour would have that effect; but a few years would probably have yet elapsed before the number of hands became inadequate to meet the required demand, had not the miners precipitated the event by restricting the hours of work. Hitherto the men in this district have worked eleven days a fortnight, but it seems doubtful whether more than ten can now be worked consistently with the limitations of the recent Coal Mines Act in regard to the labour of the boys. The full hours per fortnight will, therefore, at the most be sixty-six, or thirtythree hours per week of labour at the face of the coal; but as it is only the steadiest men that work full time, the average time will of course be considerably below the limit. I do not suppose that the average output per man has fallen off proportionately to the reduction of hours. The men work hard, even harder than formerly, while at their post; but it is impossible that so great a reduction of working time can have taken place without so lessening the output per head as to neutralize in a great degree the increase of production due to the numerical growth of the mining population. Under these two conditions of increasing consumption and restricted labour we have reached a point at which the demand has overtaken the supply. The situation is a grave one, and the public has not yet fully realized how grave it is. Taking the present consumption at 110 millions of tons (exclusive of exportation), and estimating the extra price to consumers at 8s. a ton over all, the annual loss to the community from the additional cost of fuel amounts to forty-four millions sterling. Had a Government-tax of forty-four millions been levied upon coal, in addition to existing taxation, the effect would have been regarded as utterly ruinous, not only in regard to its prodigious amount, but on account of its repressive effect upon every kind of production. Yet it is a fact that we are now paying the equivalent of such a tax, with this unfavourable difference, that the money does not go into the coffers of the nation. Whether it chiefly goes to coal-owners or coal-miners is a question which I need not discuss; but I may observe that the restrictive action of the men has benefited their employers as well as themselves, and that the public are the only sufferers. Coal-owners have long been aware that limitation of quantity was the only effectual mode of raising prices, but they have never been able by their own action to maintain a restricted production. At last their workmen have done it for them, and we see the result. It is vain to appeal for relief either to coal-owners or coal-workers. Self-interest is the ruling principle of trade. Speaking, then, as one of the public, and not as a coal-owner, I say we must strive to economize the use of coal; speaking as president of an institution of mining and mechanical engineers, I say we must endeavour to make up for the deficiency of human labour by a more extended use of machine labour. The consumption of coal takes place under three great divisions, each absorbing about one-third of the whole produce :First, domestic consumption; second, steam-engine consumption; and third, iron-making and other manufacturing processes. In the first two divisions the waste is simply shameful; in the third it is not so great, but still considerable, though in some processes, and especially in the smelting of iron, economy of fuel has been so diligently pursued that there remains but little apparent scope for further saving. It is impossible to conceive any system of heating a dwelling more wasteful than that of sinking the fire-place into a wall directly beneath the chimney, which carries off the products of combustion. Nothing can be clearer than the advantage to be gained by merely advancing the fire-place a little into the room, and constructing it with proper heating surfaces, as in the Gillstove,' and in many other stoves acting on the same principle. There is no occasion to shut out the fire from view. Neither is there any difficulty about ventilation, since fresh air can be easily introduced from the exterior by a pipe delivering its supply against the heated plates, so as to temper the air before it enters the room. By this simple and unobjectionable departure from the conventional fire-place, the quantity of coal required to produce a given heating effect might easily be reduced to one-half, and still greater economy would be effected by the use of hot water apparatus, which, however, has the objection of being too costly in first outlay to admit of very general application. For cooking purposes, also, the consumption of coal is in most houses equally extravagant, and, I may add, equally inexcusable, since the means of prevention are attainable by the adoption of known methods and appliances for concentrating the heat upon the work to be done. It is not alone in coal-mines that the extension of machinery is called for. The dearth of labour is being felt in every department of industry, and we have to fear on the one hand a ruinous collapse of trade, or on the other a continued rise in the price of all productions, threatening to neutralize the advantage of high wages, and impoverish persons dependent on fixed incomes. The only hope that I see of escaping one or other of these alternatives is by increasing the use of machinery and diminishing the direct employment of men." Though prices remained, however, almost at a famine-standard, things became quiet as the year advanced; and after this beginning there was a notable absence of remarkable strikes in comparison with the previous agitated years. In other respects the year 1873 throughout has been singularly uneventful as far as England is concerned. Allowing for a ministerial crisis at home, and a war abroad with some savages of the Gold Coast, the first public event of the year which excited attention in England was the death of the Emperor Napoleon at Chiselhurst, the circumstances of which we elsewhere record. The general impression created throughout the country was reflected in the long articles and reports which for some days appeared in all our newspapers, in singular contrast to the silence of France, where the news had no perceptible effect whatever. And indeed, allowing for the momentary impression produced upon us among whom the exile died, and the spontaneous exhibition of feeling at his funeral, very slight at all events was the sensation created really anywhere by the |