which might be necessary in the fourth month after the settle-
ment. With regard to the permanent scheme the settlement pro-
vided that standard profits should be 17% of standard wages,
and that 83 % of the surplus proceeds should be applied to the
payment of wages above the standard rates. The duration of the
guarantee that the miners should receive a minimum percentage
addition of 20% to the standard wages, was extended from one
year to the whole period of the permanent scheme. In other
respects the permanent scheme was the one first outlined by the
owners before the beginning of the strike, but it included the
important modifications and safeguards introduced in the course
of the third series of joint negotiations:
The outbreak of the strike had led to the Government passing an Emergency Powers Act into law, to enable exceptional pro- vision to be made for the protection of the community when " any action has been taken, or is immediately threatened by any person or body of persons, of such a nature or on so extensive a scale, as to be calculated ... to deprive the community, or a substantial portion of the community, of the essentials of life." On March 3 1 a proclamation was made under this Act declaring a " state of emergency " to exist, and by successive renewals at monthly intervals the " state of emergency " was continued until the settlement of July i. Within this general period a state of more intense emergency occurred from April 8 to June 2. During this latter period the Reserves were embodied, and in addition to the enrolment of special constables, a Defence Force was enlisted with the object of supporting the police in providing protection to volunteers who were maintaining the mines in condition, or who might be required to carry on transport work in the event of the extension of the coal strike to railway and transport services. During the state of emergency, a series of emergency regulations were in force under which the Mines Department of the board of trade controlled the supply, consumption and movement of coal, and the police authorities in the various parts of the country were endowed with special powers for the suppression of sedition.
(B) FOREIGN COUNTRIES
A brief account is given bilow of the most recent statistics of the strikes and lock-outs in the principal European countries, other than the United Kingdom, available in 1921.
France. Detailed statistics of strikes and lock-outs for the years 1890 to 1912 and summaries for the years 1913 and 1914 had been published by the French Ministry of Labour. The following are the totals for the years 1907-14:
Year
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Number of Disputes
Number of Workpeople directly affected
Aggregate Duration in Working Days
1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913' 1914"
,279 ,104 ,036 ,5il ,474 ,120
,073 672
198,136 124,248 169,509 290,899
230,795 268,230 220,448 160,566
3,563,237 2,307,120 3,581,928 4,887,837 4,037,475 2,335,891 2,223,781 2,192,078
1 The figures for the years 1913 and 1914 relate only to strikes.
The principal groups of industries affected by the disputes were in 1907 the transport group involving 43,248 workpeople; in 1908 and 1909 the building trade group involving 56,691 and 42,658 workpeople respectively; in 1910 the transport group involving 83,025 workpeople, and the building group involving 75,695 work- people; in 1911 the building group involving 93,660 workpeople; and in 1912 the mining and quarrying group involving 137,602.
During the years 1907 to 1912, 46% of the total number of work- people affected were involved in disputes concerning wages, 19% in disputes concerning hours of labour, 10% in disputes concerning the employment of particular classes of persons, 1 1 % in disputes concerning working arrangements and the remaining 14% in dis- putes due to other causes. The results of disputes during the period under survey were as follows: disputes involving 12% of the total number of workpeople directly affected terminated in favour of the workpeople; disputes involving 44% in favour of the employers; those involving the remaining 44% in a compromise.
Germany. From 1899 statistics of strikes and lock-outs other than in agriculture have been published annually by the German Federal
Statistical Office. The figures for the period 1907 to 1918 are sum- marized below:
Year
Number of Disputes
Number of Work- . people directly or indirectly affected
1907
2,512
280,016
1908
1,524
119,781
1909
1,652
130,883
1910
3,228
390,706
1911
2,798
385,216
1912
2,834
493,749
1913
2,464
323,394
1914
1,223
98,339
1915
141
15,238
1916
240
128,881
1917
562
668,032
1918
772
1,325,897
The principal groups of industries affected by disputes in 1913 were the metal and engineering group involving 81,025 workpeople, the mining and smelting group involving 78,221 workpeople, and the building trades group involving 69,899 workpeople. In 1918 the principal groups were the mining and smelting group with 336,378 workpeople involved, and the metal and engineering group with 279,921 workpeople involved.
Of the total number of disputes occurring during the period 1907-18, 52% arose on questions of wages, 16% on questions of hours, and the balance on questions of the employment of particular classes of persons, working arrangements and miscellaneous matters. During the same period 15% of the total number of disputes were settled in favour of the workpeople, and 39 % in favour of the employers, while 46% were compromised.
Belgium. Statistics of strikes and lock-outs are published by the Belgian Ministry of Industry, Labour and Supplies. The table given below shows the number of strikes and lock-outs, and the number of workpeople directly affected, in the period 1908 to 1919; with the exception of 1914 to 1918.
Year
Number of Disputes
Number of Work- people directly affected
1908 1909 1910 1911 1912
1913 1919
118 123 no 162 206 167 372
17,085 23,469 27,257 57,203 63,772 23,752 164,030
The mining and quarrying and the textile industries accounted for 6,096 and 3,114 respectively of the workpeople affected in 1908, for 6,456 and 2,846 of the workpeople affected in 1909, for 21,103 and 2,388 in 1910, for 34,417 and 9,089 in 1911, and for 38,479 and 5,856 in 1912. In 1913 the textile industry accounted for 10,158 of workpeople affected, and in 1919 the mining and quarrying industry for 99,035 of the workpeople affected. The causes of the disputes during the period 1908-13 were mainly questions of wages, 52 % of the workpeople being involved on this account. Of the total number of strikes during the same period 13 % ended in favour of the; workpeople, 59 % ended in favour of the employers, and 28 % resulted in a compromise.
Holland. Statistics of disputes in Holland are published by the Central Statistical Bureau. The figures for the years 1907-19 are given in the table below:
Year
Number of Disputes
Number of Workpeople directly affected
Aggregate Duration in Working Days
1907
154
I5,!54
4,366,691
1908
135
7,i65
91,860
1909
189
8,455
272,013
1910
146
13,238
334,595
1911
217
20,005
435,992
1912
283
21,672
367,751
1913
427
30,161
787,876
1914
271
25,569
361,400
1915
269
15,179
165,247
1916
377
18,127
249,442
1917
344
31,317
526,507
1918
325
39,640
607,236
1919
649
61,667
1,051,884
During the period 1911-5 the proportion of disputes due to questions of wages was 55 %; it was 58 % in 1916, 55 % in 1917, 57 % in 1918, and 58% in 1919. The results of the disputes during the period 1910-9 were as follows: 22% ended in favour of the work- people, 28% ended in favour of the employers; 44% were com- promised ; and 6 % were either indeterminate or the result unknown.
