nting fear
that your brogress will be inderrubted--berhaps ad a most cridical
juncture--by a `sdrike,' The greadt quesdion which, above all others,
do-day agidades the British mind is: `Do whadt cause is the bresendt
debression of drade addribudable?' And, in my obinion, gendlemen, the
answer to that quesdion is thad id is very largely due do the consdandly
recurring sdrikes which have become almosdt _a habid_ with the Bridish
workman. The `sdrike' is the most formidable engine which has ever been
brought indo oberation do seddle the differences bedween embloyer and
embloyed; and, whilst I am willing to admid thad in certain cases id has
resulded in the repression and redress of long-sdanding oppression and
injusdice, id has been used with such a lack of discrimination as do
have almost ruined the drade of the goundry. With the invention of the
`sdrike' the workman thoughd he had ad lasd discovered the means of
enriching himself ad the expense of his embloyer, or of securing his
fair and righdful share of the brofids of his labour, as _he_ described
id; and, udderly ignorand of the laws of bolidigal egonomy, recognising
in the `sdrike' merely an insdrumend for forcing a higher rade of wages
from his embloyer, he has gone on recklessly using id undil the
unfordunade gabidalist, finding himself unable do produce his wares ad a
cost which will enable him do successfully gompede with the
manufagdurers of other goundries, has been gombelled to glose his works
and remove his gabidal and his energies to a spodt where he gan find
workmen less unreasonable in their demands. There is no more capable or
valuable workman in existence than the English artisan, if he gould only
be induced to do his honest _best_ for his embloyer; there is hardly any
branch of industry in which he is nod ad leasd the equal, if not very
greadly the suberior of the foreigner; and id is even yet in his power
to recover the command of the world's market by the suberior excellence
of his broductions, if he could only be brevailed upon do abandon
sdrikes and do be satisfied with a wage which will allow the cabidalist
a fair and moderade redurn for the use of his money and brains and for
the risks he has do run. If the British workman would gollecdively make
up his mind to do this, and would acquaindt the gabidalist with his
decision, we should speedily see a revival of drade and embloymend for
every really capable workman. Bud in the meantime there unfo