334 
CHATTER XVIII, 
As the figures of working days lost depend mainly on the pre- 
sence or absence in any year of one or two big strikes, the two other 
columns give a better indication of the general prevalence of industrial 
strife. These show the widespread turmoil of 1921 and the diminution 
of strife thereafter until the appearance of a second wave of unrest in 
1928. Some particulars of the approximate causes of these strikes are 
available, as the statistics tabulated by the Government of India give the 
classification of the disputes according to the principal demand of the 
workers. This shows that in 976 disputes the principal demand related 
to the question of pay or bonus and in 425 to the question of personnel. 
In the latter cases, the demand was normally for the reinstatement or 
dismissal of one or more individuals, and the proportion under this head 
appears tous to be high. 74 strikes were primarily concerned with ques- 
tions of leave or hours of work and the remaining 382 are unclassified in 
respect of the demand made. In the official returns two-thirds of the 
strikes are classified as unsuccessful 
Wider Economic Causes. 
Behind immediate causes such as these, it is possible to trace the 
wider influences which have been at work. The great outbreak of strife 
after the war had obvious economic causes; a rise in wage levels was 
overdue, and the workers awoke to the disabilities from which they suf- 
fered in respect of long hours and other matters. By the end of 1922 
the position was again more or less stabilised, hours had been reduced, 
conditions had improved and wages had risen, prices had fallen consider- 
ably from the peaks attained in 1920 and 1921, and the post-war boom 
was over. During the ensuing five years prices showed only small 
variations ; the Bombay working class cost of living index number, for 
example, neither fell below 152 nor rose above 161 in any month after 
October 1922 and before October 1927. The State, the employers and 
the public now co-operated in introducing certain ameliorative measures. 
In consequence of all these factors, the quinquennium 1923-1927 was one 
of comparative peace, in spite of a steady growth of consciousness and 
cohesion among the workers and the survival of many sources of dis- 
content. By the end of this period prices showed signs of falling again 
and, although industry did not cease to expand, profits steadily con- 
tracted and, in a number of cases, disappeared. Endeavours to meet the 
depression by improved methods of production, retrenchments of staff, 
or reductions of wages had a large share in the fresh outbreak of strife 
in 1998 
Causes Unconnected with Industry. 
Causes unconnected with industry play a much smaller part in 
strikes than is frequently supposed. The employer who is faced with a 
strike and is uncertain as to the cause is inclined to lay the blame on 
“ agitators ”. There are, of course, some strikes which are not due to 
economic causes. Examples of these are the stoppages known as hartals, 
which are often meant as protests against acts in which the employer 
may have had no share, e.g., action by Government or by the police. In