The trades in which the greatest number of strikes occurred were the following:

The numbers for the two years cannot, however, be compared with each other, owing to the different arrangement adopted for recording the strikes. In 1889 it was found difficult to distinguish between the number of separate and distinct strikes and the number of establishments affected; whereas in 1890 a strike, whether general or local, is made the unit. For example, the strike of seamen and firemen at the beginning of 1889 affected 17 ports, and counts in the total for 17 strikes; while the coal miners' strike in 1830 only counts as one, although the number of localities affected was 50. A more accurate comparison may be made by saying that in 1889 3,164 distinct establishments were affected, and in 1890 4,382, supposing, where no information is given, that only one establishment is concerned.

The distribution of strikes, according to the county in which they took place, is as follows:

*Including the strikes which affected more than one county.

One of the most noteworthy features in the returns is the number of unsuccessful strikes during 1890 as compared with 1889, the percentage of unsuccessful strikes having advanced from 18.1 to 313 per cent. The coal miners' strike in 1890 adds over 100,000 to the number of successful workpeople, and thus raises their average abnormally.

TO LV. PART 1.

K

The object of most of the strikes was an advance in wages, this reason by itself causing 436 out of the whole 1,028 strikes, or more than 42 per cent. The causes of the strikes, with their results, may be classified thus:

The average duration per head of all strikes was 19.88 days. The methods by which the strikes were settled is interesting, and a comparison brings out the fact that over 50 per cent. were settled by conciliation or arbitration :

It is difficult to estimate the loss of money incurred, owing to the absence of information concerning some of the establishments affected. In 373 strikes, affecting 1,785 establishments, the weekly loss of wages by work people is put down at 261,2961., while 193 strikes laid idle 680 establishments, having a fixed capital of 32,113,2637. The outlay of the employers of 853 establishments (affected by 181 strikes) in payment of fixed charges, such as rates, rent, salaries, &c., and in cost of stopping and re-opening the works, was 151,343. As regards the work people, the estimated loss of wages during strike was 578,895.; the total weekly gains in wages to those affected were 17,974, and the losses 1,0687. Employers' associations spent 41,780. in fighting thirteen strikes, whereas trade unions spent 88,809l. in support of strikes.

So far as ascertained the lock-outs numbered only twelve. In seven of these the employers were successful, and in another they were partially successful. In ten of these cases (the only ones for which particulars are given) the total number of men locked out amounted to 264 only.

The information as to foreign strikes is obtained from the public press and from occasional publications of the Foreign Office. With the exception of the United States, however, the returns are so meagre, only the more important finding their way into the newspapers, that it is useless giving them here. The United States returns are collected by Bradstreets, and are fairly reliable, so that the following comparison is useful:

Strikes in Great Britain and the United States, 1890.

[THE following is taken from the Twentieth Annual Report of the Local Government Board.]

Pauperism, during the year ended Lady Day, 1891, has again decreased in England and Wales, and this in spite of the exceptionally severe weather during the winter. The total number of persons relieved on the 1st January, 1891, was 780,457, against 793,246 in January, 1890, and in July, 1890 and 1889, the numbers were respectively 739,003 and 757,189, these numbers being, as is always the case, less than the numbers for January. The decrease has however by no means been continuous (though, as will be seen in the second table, the ratio per 1,000 to the estimated population has with few exceptions declined steadily): the minimum number relieved on the 1st July was 701,375 in 1876, and on the 1st January 732,532 in 1877. After this period the number has oscillated considerably, and the decline has been continuous since 1888. The two following tables show the pauperism on the 1st January and 1st July in England and Wales, at intervals of five years, and the ratio per 1,000 of estimated population. In the second table the "mean number" of paupers is the arithmetical mean of the numbers relieved on the 1st July and 1st January of the particular year (ending Lady Day) to which the numbers refer.