COLLIERIES THROWN IDLE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1212, 22 August 1911, Page 5

COLLIERIES THROWN IDLE.

MUCH WANTON DESTRUCTION. STRIKE INSURANCES. London, August. 2(1. The paralysis dno to I ho strike caused twelve thousand men in tho collieries and iron and steel works in Cumberland to be idle, and thousands in Derbyshire. At Middlesborough eight thousand colliers have ceased work, at . Nottingham ten thousand, at Durham forty thousand, and in North Cumberland two thousand. It is thrc-alencd that within two days two hundred thousand men will be kilo in Wales. Four thousand dockers at. Bristol have struck in sympathy with the railway men. Acts of wanton destruction have rapidly increased in many directions, but the lines on the whole are well controlled. The continual dispatch of troops to the threatened areas has had an important influence in securing peaceful methods. 'J-lic Howe Office reported tliat the Port

of London employment list is almost full, and great activity prevails.

Strike Pay for Non-Unionists. Tlio Amalgamated Society estimated tho number of strikers last evening at a quarter of a million. Its executive made a gratuitous allowance of Gs. per week to non-unionist striker?, who numlier six thousand in all trades.

Some lawyers and doctors bavo volunteered to act as special constables in London, hundreds of whom havo been sworn in. Tho London and North-Western Railway Company gave the men who had remained loyal double pay. The London and Brighton Company has also promised to reward non-strikers. Tho passengers on many of tho trains made collections for the men at work. Lord Derby insured Knowsley Hall, his seat in Lancashire, for .£191,000 against strike riots, at a premium of ono shilling per cent, monthly. Numerous insurances have been made of warehouses and shipping. THE RIOT ACT. "WHAT ITS READING MEANS. Any justice or sheriff can read the Riot Act whenever twelve or more persons aro unlawfully, riotously, and tumultuously assembled to the disturbance of the public praoe—or, more briefly, any twelve. Whoever reads the Riot Act is then required to go among the rioters, or as nc-nr them as ho can safely come, and to make tho following proclamation in a "loud voice":—"Our sovereign lord the King chargeth and commandcth all persons, Jjeing assembled, immediately to disperse themselves, and peaceably to depart to tlreir habitations or .to their lawful business upon tho pains contained in the Act iuade in the first year of King George tlio First for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies, God save the King." ji Discussing a warming notice posted in the borough of Salford as to the reading of tlio Riot Act and its effects, tho "AlanGuardian" remarked last month:— These awful words hare not, however, the effect attributed to them in the Alayor of Salford's proclamation. Ho warns tho public that after tJiey havo been read twelve or more persons assembling, together are an.unlawful assembly. It is much worse than that. An hour after tho reading they are felons, and, under the special provisions of the Ifiot Act, aro in danger of being shot. Aji unlawful assembly* is a trifling affair by comparison. It consists of a congregation of persons who meet 'with an intention to make_ a riot, but neither carry their purpose into effect, nor mako any endeavours towards it.' Unlawful assemblers aro only guilty of a misdemeanour. Tho whole point of tile Riot Act nroclamatinn is that it turns-them into felons, punishable with pe.naA servitude for life, and outlaws. You may shoot an unlawful but you must prove afterwards that you had to. The Riot Act dispenses with that necessity." A WONDERFUL ORGANISATION. TRANSPORT WORKERS' FEDERATldN. • 4 n foresting statement regarding tho industrial upheaval in England and elsewhere was made yesterday by Mr. D. M'Laren, AI.P., organising secretary ot tho New Zeuland Waterside Workers' federation, to a Dominion reporter. "1 am very gratified with the result of the strike in the Old Country," said Mr. At Laron, "and with the settlement that has been arrived at between tlio railwaymen and the companies. There is one lesson from the action of tho railwaymon that should l)c tuke.i to heart by those engaged in tho same calling in New Zealand. As soon as tho trouble broke out the Locomotivo Engine Drivers' Organisation and the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants joined forces for their common defence, 'l'bc movement was one of working-class solidarity, comprehending all classes cf transport workers. The plan of organisation ot these unionists at Homo is not that of a combination of workers without regard to their calling or occupation, but an international federation ,of the whole of those engaged in ono industry. The stupendous nature of this conllict between capital ami labour and tho length to which it might have' gone may be more fully realised if ono grasps the tact that already there is an organisation in existence called the International Transport Workers' Federation, with a mem borship of two and a. half million. The council of this federation is located in Hamburg, and tho titles of tlio affiliated unions are. written iu so many different languages that it is impossible for me'to give them. Suffice it to .say that the federation practically covers the whole civilised world, as it includes unions in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Belgium, . Holland, America, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. .The federation isialso in constant comj munication with tho transport workers in \ other countries, including Australia and ; ourselves here in New Zealand." i Mr. M'Lartn bore, testimony to the i generalship and organising genius of Iler- ■ mann Jochadc, the secretary of tho ■ lederation, and testified In the fullness and thoroughness with which reports and correspondence are circulated from headquarters throughout the different countries. At the end of 1909. the federation called upon all transport workers' organisations throughout the world for reports on tho social, economic, aixl politicnl movements in their re-s~-eet!ve countries, and those reports were obtained from j the United States, Canada. South Amc- ; riea, Soutli Africa, Australia, and ' Now i Zealand, as well as all the European j countries. 'I'b? federaticu comprises railj waymen, transport labourers, tramway ; men, dockers, ,'eamen, inland sailors and ! raftsmen, carters, engineers, firemen ami ; others. There ar.? also . a number of ; women workers among tlie affiliated bodies. Air. M'Larcn receives every fortnight a typewritten report from the head office ot Hamburg, a correspondence sheet every month! and a report on the work of all brancnes and the policy of the federation every month. Air. Af'Laren went on to say that this great ir.ternational organisation had been behind and moving the big strike in. the Old Country. Its policy was not ono of war for tho sake of war. It did not rush into conllict without very serious consideration, because its leaders fell their tremendous responsibility. The federation's power had been brourht to bear in many lands toward-- securing, through legislative nod administrative reforms, better conditions for the transport workers. At the annual conferences of the federation, the desire for legislative reforms was empha'ivd, ai!<l_mnslitutienal methods were insisted on. There was nothing anarchistic about it. From communications ho had received, Air, Jt'Taren had formed the opinion that tho workers would gain much from tlio present- struggle, and that it was rot likelv to develop into a genera] European industrial war. The strikes in England were, simultaneous with strikes in Germany, and all were under the guidance of tlie. same international organisation.