THE most important sentence in the King’s Speech is the statement that while there are signs of improving trade, “the growth of confidence on which revival depends is being arrested by the fear of industrial strife.” It is clear, indeed, that Mr. Baldwin [the Prime Minister] thoroughly recognizes that his success or failure depends on whether or not he is able to save the country from the peril of what would probably develop into something like a general strike if the miners were to cease work in May. We still believe that with the good will of the country he will succeed. Lord Londonderry, a considerable part of whose wealth is derived from coal, has made a distinct step towards a Locarno pact in industry, and has, as Mr. Cook [general secretary of the Miners’ Federation] himself has recognized, shown an entirely different spirit to that of the coal owners who appeared before the Commission. There is evidence, too, in Mr. Cook’s speeches — professed extremist though he is — of a desire to avoid conflict. The Government can, of course, take no action until the Commission reports. But meanwhile it may be assured that there is a definite public opinion, shared by men of all parties, that there can be no general decrease in wages or increase in working hours while it is widely felt that it is unreasonable to demand from the miners the abandonment of the particular form of bargaining which has in the past secured them considerable advantages.

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