In 1865 the output of tonnage was lessened considerably through what appears to have been but the natural course of commerce in its reactionary stage. This lessened activity was much aggravated when 1866 was reached, and in that year a serious interruption to the trade was caused by a lock-out of the workmen consequent on a partial strike made to enforce what the employers considered an unreasonable demand on the part of the men. In 1867 the output was as low as 108,000 tons, but thereafter it took an upward tendency, its rise to the previous level being sudden, but thereafter very gradual, and spread over a number of years. The output kept steadily improving each year, outreaching former totals, until in 1874 the curve, or, as it may be called, the output wave, formed a crest of exceptional altitude. For that year the aggregate output reached the unprecedented figure of 262,430 tons, a result which made natural all subsequent references to 1874 as the “big year.” The year 1875, although showing an increase in the number of vessels built, yet fell considerably short of 1874 in the matter of tonnage, thus giving to the output curve a decided downward turn. Matters continued to grow worse during 1876, and many of the Clyde firms had painful experiences of “bare poles” until about the beginning of the year 1877, when a slightly improved state of matters set in. Then there was a general desire amongst the workmen for an advance in wages, which ultimately resulted in the great shipwright strike of midsummer, 1877. This strike, it may be remembered, lasted twenty-four weeks, and was one of the most determined struggles which ever took place in this country, both parties having evidently made up their minds to hold out to the last. The strike culminated in the general lock-out of workmen in the autumn of the same year, which, when withdrawn in favour of arbitration as regards the shipwrights, settled down into a keen fight with the ironworkers. The shipwrights’ claim was settled by arbitration, the umpire (Lord Moncrieff) deciding in favour of the employers, and the men accordingly resumed work. The ironworkers’ dispute was likewise a difficult matter to decide, but ultimately the men resumed work on the understanding that their claim for an advance upon their wages of 10 per cent. would be considered six months subsequently. The struggles were exceedingly costly alike to masters and workmen, one of the results being seen pretty distinctly in the diminished output of tonnage during 1877.