No--I don't think so. I think they'll be quite satisfied
this time.
GERALD. Why this time? Is there going to be a next time--every-day-
has-its-to-morrow kind of thing?
JOB ARTHUR. I don't know about that. It's a funny world, Mr. Barlow.
GERALD. Yes, I quite believe it. How do you see it so funny?
JOB ARTHUR. Oh, I don't know. Everything's in a funny state.
GERALD. What do you mean by everything?
JOB ARTHUR. Well--I mean things in general--Labour, for example.
GERALD. You think Labour's in a funny state, do you? What do you
think it wants? What do you think, personally?
JOB ARTHUR. Well, in my own mind, I think it wants a bit of its own
back.
GERALD. And how does it mean to get it?
JOB ARTHUR. Ha! that's not so easy to say. But it means to have it,
in the long run.
GERALD. You mean by increasing demands for higher wages?
JOB ARTHUR. Yes, perhaps that's one road.
GERALD. Do you see any other?
JOB ARTHUR. Not just for the present.
GERALD. But later on?
JOB ARTHUR. I can't say about that. The men will be quiet enough
for a bit, if it's all right about the office men, you know.
GERALD. Probably. But have Barlow & Walsall's men any special
grievance apart from the rest of the miners?
JOB ARTHUR. I don't know. They've no liking for you, you know, sir.
GERALD. Why?
JOB ARTHUR. They think you've got a down on them.
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