RED HOT DIAMONDS

"Carry on" as a slogan has so worked itself into the minds of the British that they cannot even forget it in peace times. After five months in which to think out a solution to the coal strike, miners, operators and government officials are still doing their bit to make matters a little more tense. With the advent of winter, and what is likely to be a serious crisis, the success of their prolonged campaign approaches realization.

The Conservative administration was slated for a long period with the reins of government securely in its hands. A feeling of general security and prosperity seemed to cement it firmly in office. But the inability of the regime to cope with a grave problem of national importance, as that of last May, other than by merely "muddling through" for the time being, has surely shaken the confidence of the people. A delay such as this is an actual loss no matter from what angle it is viewed. Idle manpower, expense of maintenance of the mines without production from them, an increasing feeling of discontent and anxiety for the future are about as potent a group of destructive forces as one can imagine.

It is inconceivable that a government with a reputation to maintain should procrastinate as long as Mr. Baldwin's has, as it was early made clear that the coal strike was a matter for governmental intervention. With the alternative either of forcing owners to pay higher wages, or of lowering the pay of the miners, either to be accomplished with the aid of a gradually decreasing subsidy, the British government seems to be in almost as grave a position as the donkey which starved between two bales of hay. It is probable that there will be no starving in Great Britain this winter but there is liable to be an astounding number of cold donkeys.