RAILWAYS CRISIS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 36, 6 November 1907, Page 7

RAILWAYS CRISIS.

' v- <> — ■ STATEMENT BY THE SOCIETY'S SECRETARY.' bt telegraph—ritESs association—corrniGiiT. (Roc. Nov. 5, 10.20 p.m.) London, November 5. Mr. Richard Bell, secretary of the Amalgamated Stfciety. of Railway Servants, unofficially learns that ■ the proposals of tho President of tho Board of Tratlo (Mr. LloydGeorgo) for a sottloment of tho railway troublo may suggest a Conciliation Board or compulsory arbitration. It is hard toseo where compulsory arbitya-, tion would crime in unless a special session;of Parliament was called and a special Act was passed. The Board, of. Trade may appoint conciliators at'tho request of the. parties,, but it has no power to enforco a settlement. In the coursa of an article discussing probable oft'ects of a railways strike, tho "Daily Mail" says:— "The traffic on the railways may be roughly divided into express long-distance, suburban, and goods. Taking the last of the three first, tho whole economic lifo of this country is so organised' as,'to depend upon the railways. Largo stocks'of articles are no longer maintained by (he. shopkeeper and tho merchant; what is required is ordered from day to day from tho factory or from the producer. Tho railways deliver heavy goods ia from one to two days, whereas on Continent usually a week is demanded for railway goods transit. Thus any interruption of railway traffic would be instantly felt by (ho public. The mero fact that a strike was imminent would send up all priccs in the largo towns, especially rdiqrq tJ)eso are at some distance from the sch. Coal, food, and all bulky articles would rise' most in prico; though the rise woiild always -bo limited by the possibility of sea transport. Tho canals do not count seriously, as thoy havo not: facilities for taking the enormous traffic in question. The rise in tho cost of coal would, of course,, afi'oct every British industry, aud would.be equivalent to a hostile tariff imposed on British ■goods within tho country of their production. Tho blow to trado would be severe. "During the Russian railway strikes it was quite a common occurrence for trains suddenly to come to a stop at some wayside station, through the ignoranco of the provisional staff or tho conduct of the strikors in removing rails or placing obstructions on tho lines, and passengers might bo held up for some days. There were instances in which train-loads of people came within measurable distance of starvation. Again, tho great railway centres of Russia were congested with passengers seeking to get. forward to their destination, and many of these had not tho funds needed to obtain provisions and lodging. Thoy had consequently to camp out in tho waiting-rooms aud on the platforms. Their sufferings wero oxtrome, though in some cases the Government organised a distribution of food to them, where food could be obtained. "In Italy, where two years-ago the railway workers of setpurposo impeded traffic by putting into forco .obsolete instructions, the nuisance aud annoyance caused by this form of strike were intenso, and led to violent protests iu tlio Press. Trains were hours lato; goods failed to arrive; engines nre,crndibiy reported to havo actually vanished by the dozen; porters handled luggage in so lesiurely a fashion that trains liad to wait indefinitely in the stations. The public, which at first had sided with the men, at last became exasperated. A month was required to move goods from liomo to 'Milan, while accidents becamo a matter of daily occurrence. So enormous was the iiiconvoiiionce, so grave a matter tho loss to all classes, that tho Government gave its support to the companies, put down violence on . the part of- the strikers with an iron hand, and, finally, at the instance of the Chamber, allowed the companies to turn tho tables on,tho servants by enforcing remorselessly the very regulations which tho men had inado their weapon. The result was that tho men capitulated, and by a'ballot voted for surrender. But they had cr.uscd losses to tho community which were estimated at ,£20,000,000. "Tho cost of a railway striko to a highly organised commercial community living largely bv its foreign fl-adc, such as tho people of the United Kingdom, would be. infinitely greater. It would benefit no one but tho foreign rivals of this country. The suffering and loss which it would cause would fall with special weight upon tho workers themselves, for in. labour' wars tho labourer always suffers most. 'The duration of any strike would' bo limited by tho funds at tho disposal of the Union, which are not large, and which, even if supplenmented by contributions from other labour organisations, could not prololig tho conflict much beyond a month, in view of the rise in the price of coal and food which, as has already been raid, would be certain to occur. But, oven so, a general strike would bo so great a calamity to all that it is to bo hoped both companies and men will do their ijtniost to avert it. The injury which it would inflict upon trade at a time when a great depression seems to bo' approaching cannot be over-estimated. Am! British industry is riot in such a prosperous position that it can endure heavy blows without widespread dis.ister following."