cannot Madame fit like that? Her charges are enormous. What do they charge in England for making a dress like this?' 'I paid ten guineas for it,' said the Englishwoman coolly. 'About two hundred marks.'

'Herr Je, two hundred marks! How? You pay two hundred marks for a gown! But you are a teacher. How can a teacher pay two hundred marks for one gown?'

The Frau Doctor looked up.

It is a charming gown, Mrs. Carr. I have heard before that English tailor-made gowns are very expensive.'

'It is a ridiculous price to pay, two hundred marks!' said Anna Löser rather acrimoniously.

'Not for a well-made gown,' returned the Englishwoman. ‘I cannot afford to be shabbily dressed.'

'What is shabby?' Ah, schäbig, so. But why not? You must have many pupils to pay two hundred marks for a single gown.' Oh no. I am very careful with my dresses. With care this one will last quite two years.'

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'But you cannot wear a tailor-made gown in the evening. What do you wear

'My dear Erna,' Frau Doctor protested. Do let us talk a little English. The afternoon is gone, and I cannot stay this evening.' Marion Carr remarked with alacrity, 'I am quite at your service, Frau Doctor. Shall we read?'

'No, no, no. I will not read. Mrs. Carr shall talk to us. Tell me about your travels, please? You can speak in English, for I understand very well. Only I will not talk.'

'My travels, Frau Jorgon?'

'I have heard that you have travelled much.' Frau Jorgon bent forward and touched the Englishwoman's hair approvingly. It is nice hair. I like it. Then you have had many adventures, Mee-sis Carr?'

'Adventures?'

'Ach, you know quite well what I mean. And Anna, you need not listen. You are a girl. You can play to us. Mee-sis Carr is fond of music. Play-play-'

Not waiting for a second invitation, Anna Löser gladly escaped to the salon and began playing Liszt, without a light. This was an excellent opportunity for Frau Flink, who, with loving fingers and an ecstatic sigh, took up her blue silk bodice.

'Now tell me '-Frau Jorgon settled herself comfortably in a corner of the causeuse, and folded her arms, and riddled the Englishwoman with looks- now tell me, what have you seen and where have you travelled? You are quite young and quite, quite nice, I

find.'

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'You are very kind,' was the ironical reply. If you will put

the questions, Frau Jorgon, I will endeavour to answer them to the best of my ability. It will be easier for both of us.'

Frau Jorgon bent forward and whispered, 'Tell us first, why have you not married again? You are a widow, I believe-very sad.'

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Marion Carr's face and figure took the coldness and immobility of stone. Frau Jorgon laughed: Now,' she said triumphantly, 'you are a real Englishwoman, cold and proud and shy. Why are you offended with me? Your eyes are angry, nice eyes. I will you all about my husband. I am not stiff and cold and reserved. You may ask me any questions you like.'

tell

The Englishwoman maintained a dead silence.

'Ach! now I see why you will not tell me. You have secrets. Ah! yes, yes, yes. You blush. I am curious. Why do you blush? But it is very becoming. Ach well, you shall tell me all your secrets another day when the Frau Doctor is not here. She has no secrets. Neither has Hedwig secrets. Hedwig, Hedwig, put down those stupid crewels and say, have you any secrets? Only one, Mee-sis Carr, and I will tell you it. She is (in a loud whisper) an authoress. But she will not acknowledge it. Ach, here comes my husband.'

Marion Carr took a deep breath, and the Frau Doctor rolled up her stocking and consulted her watch. Frau Jorgon's brilliant eyes were laughingly fixed on the door, when it presently opened and a tall, foreign-looking man, with broad shoulders and a clean-shaven face, entered. His wife jumped up and introduced the two who were strangers to each other in her own off-hand way.

'Conrad, Mee-sis Carr-my husband, and now '—waving her hands- you can talk as much English as you please.'

'Madam,' said Herr Jorgon-he came forward and shook hands heartily with the Englishwoman, his wife watching him- Madam, I am pleased to welcome an Englishwoman to my house. I have lived in England, and received much hospitality at the hands of your compatriots; therefore I bid you welcome.'

There was a mocking laugh, and Frau Jorgon laid her two jewelled hands heavily on Marion Carr's shoulders.

There, is not that a fine speech? Did not I say that my husband was very clever, and could talk English like a book?'

'Erna,' said her husband quietly, but with a heavy look of entreaty in his kind eyes. Then he turned to Marion Carr, who was looking and feeling excessively uncomfortable. On the contrary, Mrs. Carr, I have much forgotten. But I am very pleased to talk English again.'

You will have plenty of opportunity now. And, Conrad, what do you think? You say I am an extravagant wife. But Mrs. Carr is extravagant. She pays two hundred marks for a gown, and she is not rich.'

Conrad Jorgon looked distressed, and excessively ashamed of his wife. But here a diversion was created by the opening of the folding doors which faced the salon where Anna Löser was still playing in the dark, and a well-spread supper table was displayed with two maids in attendance.

Ach, I am hungry.' Frau Jorgon darted a keen glance at the supper table. Come, Mee-sis Carr, you shall sit by me,' and she linked her arm within that of the Englishwoman, calling to the others but not waiting for them. Anna, come! Marie, lower the lamps.'

One by one the ladies passed on into the supper-room, followed more slowly by Conrad Jorgon, who left the door ajar, for the maid was extinguishing the lamps in his wife's boudoir.

The

And the meal began with much energetic play of knives and forks and everybody talking at once-as a matter of course. inquisitorial conversation was necessarily of a hybrid nature, shrewdly directed by practical housekeeping minds, each intent on its own particular bargain. It is needless to state that throughout the meal, and although she was looking fagged and wan, and her voice was growing hoarse and her throat ached, Marion Carr was furiously assailed with appeals and questions on a hundred and one different topics, to all of which she made answer with slow, clear, careful enunciation of every syllable. Herr Jorgon alone it was who at last put in a plea in behalf of the unfortunate Englishwoman.

'You are looking extremely tired, Mrs. Carr. Do rest a little. My wife is a perfect magpie.'

At this juncture Marion Carr was compelled to consult her watch. It was ten o'clock. She had been hard at work since four o'clock. How she managed to make her escape that night was never afterwards quite clear to her. But escape at last she did, descending the great stone staircase which led from Frau Jorgon's apartment on the first étage to the courtyard below, preceded by a sleepy maid carrying a lamp which she held high above her head. The great house door opened, then closed and locked behind her. With a stolid Gute Nacht from the maid, Marion Carr passed out into the deserted street. She breathed quickly and walked passionately, with her grave eyes fixed

on the eternal stars.

Another day's work done,' she murmured. But am I any nearer to my goal?'

KATHARINE BLYTH.

1896

ARBITRATION IN LABOUR DISPUTES

AMONG the hardy annuals' of the House of Commons, one of the most regular is the Bill for promoting arbitration in labour disputes. Every important strike, moreover, brings a whole crop of leading articles in which the journalists, of one party or another, either blame the Opposition for obstructing, or praise the Government for introducing, so beneficent a measure. Let us examine this panacea

for industrial disturbances.

The essential feature of arbitration as a means of settling the condition of employment is that the decision is not the will of either party, or the outcome of negotiation between them, but the fiat of an umpire or arbitrator. It is distinguished from that organised negotiation between trade unions and employers' associations which is now termed collective bargaining, in that the result is not arrived at by bargaining at all, the higgling between the parties being, in fact, expressly superseded. On the other hand it is not legal regulation, though it bears some resemblance to this form, because the award is not obligatory on either of the parties, and their refusal to accept it, or their ceasing to obey it even if they have promised to do so, carries with it no coercive sanction.

These characteristics of arbitration, as a method of settling the conditions of employment, come to the front on every typical occasion. We see the employers and workmen at variance with each other. Negotiations, more or less formally carried on, proceed up to a point at which a deadlock seems inevitable. To avert a stoppage of the industry, both parties agree to 'go to arbitration.' They adopt an impartial umpire, either to act alone or with assessors representing each side. Each party then prepares an elaborate case,' which is laid before the new tribunal. Witnesses are called, examined and cross-examined. The umpire asks for such additional information as he thinks fit. Throughout the proceedings the utmost latitude is allowed. The 'reference' is seldom limited to particular alternatives, or expressed with any precision. The umpire, in order to clear up points, is always entering into conversation with the parties. Practically no argument,

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however seemingly irrelevant, is excluded; and evidence may be given in support of claims founded on the most diverse economic theories. Finally, the umpire gives his award in precise terms, but usually without stating either the facts which have influenced him or the assumptions upon which he has made up his mind. The award-and this is an essential feature-carries with it no legal sanction, and may at any moment be repudiated or quietly ignored by any capitalist or workman.

Yet arbitration has one characteristic feature in common with the higgling of employers and workmen, which it supersedes. The arbitrator's award is a general ordinance, which, in so far as it is accepted, puts an end to individual bargaining between man and man, and thus excludes, from influence on the terms of employment, the exigencies of particular workmen, and usually also those of particular firms. It establishes, in short, like collective bargaining, a common rule for the industry concerned. We can therefore understand why the trade unionists from 1850 to 1876 so persistently strove for arbitration, and so eagerly welcomed the gradual conversion of the governing classes to a belief in its benefits. At a time when the majority of employers asserted their right to deal individually with each one of their 'hands,' habitually refused even to meet the men's representatives in discussion, and sought to suppress collective bargaining altogether by the use of ambiguous statutes and obsolete law, it was an immense gain for the trade unions to get their fundamental principle of a common rule adopted. During the last twenty years arbitration has greatly increased in popularity among the public, and each ministry in succession prides itself on having attempted to facilitate its application. Whenever an industrial war breaks out, we have, in these days, a widespread feeling among the public that both parties should voluntarily submit to the decision of an impartial arbitrator. But however convenient this solution may be to a public of consumers, the two combatants seldom show any alacrity in seeking it, and can rarely be persuaded to agree to refer their quarrel to any outside authority. Although arbitration has been preached as a panacea for the last forty years, the great majority of captains of industry' still resent it as an infringement of their right to manage their own business, whilst the leaders of the organised workmen, once enthusiastic in its favour, now usually regard it with suspicion. The four years 1891-95 saw, in Great Britain, four great industrial disputes in as many leading industries. But neither in cotton manufacture nor in coal-mining, neither in the great machine industry of boot-making nor in engineering, could the capitalists and workmen agree to let their quarrels be settled by an impartial umpire. What happened in each of these instances-and they were typical of many others-was the breaking off of collective bargaining, a prolonged stoppage and trial of endurance, ending, not

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