IF THE STRIKE COMES.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1371, 23 February 1912, Page 5

IF THE STRIKE COMES.

DEVASTATING EFFECTS ON TRADE. STORY Or THE DISPUTE. Mr. Smillic, ouo oC (lie most trusted mid distinguished uf minors' leaders in (ireat Britain declared recently that he had told Mr. Churchill (Home Secretary) that if tho owueis did not coucedn the men's demands "probably every colliery in Great Britain would cease, work; within u fortnight the railways would in nil probability linvo to shut down for want of coal; gas works would be closed; mills and factories cease work, and tho 21 miles of Dreadnought would be' scran iron"—all this wilhin a few weeks of the declaration of a strike. It is a lurid, but a possible, picture. ~,,., Will the worst happen? asks tho 'Daily News." The man in tho street comforts himself with tho notion that a strike so calamitous to every man, woman, and child would not be tolerated by the. nation. But ho forgets that tho fact that a strike would lie 60 calamitous has given the miner the strongest weapon in tho industrial battlefield. In order, however, to answer the question as to whether tlicro will be a coal war, it is necessary to review the situation briefly.

Two Years of Agitation. In discussing the crisis a writer in "Tho Times" said recently:—"ln the first place, how does the demand for a minimum wage come to be'in the forefront of tho miners' programme? There has long been a good deal of vague talk about a minimum wage for miners, and it has had much the same value as the resolutions annually passed by the Trade Union Congress in favour of (he nationalisation of land, railways, ami minerals. The miners tried for many years to obtain an eight hours day by Act of Parliament, and at last succeeded; they have not sought to secure a minimum wage by legislation. "These two questions, as it happens, are intimately connected. . . . The minimum wage agitation has sprung up quite suddenly. It did not become part of the definitely accepted policy of the Miners' Federation until the autumn of 1909, when a resolution approving of the principle was adopted at the annual conference, on the initiative of the Yorkshire delegates. Even then—little more than two years ago—the resolution was only regarded by the leaders of the federation as an expression of 'pious opinion,' and the delegales were allowed a year for reflection on the nature and prospects of tho new demand. At the Edinburgh Conference of 1910 the feeling in favour of the Yorkshire resolution was so pronounced that it was clear that its adoption for the second time meant its incorporation in the fighting policy of the federation. The difficulty of finding a satisfactory solution of the 'abnormal places' controversy and a. series of strikes in South Wales on that question paved t.ho way in the following twelve months for tho sinking of everything else in favour of the minimum wage agitation at tho Southport Conference of four months ago. Since the opening of that meeting tho agitation has moved with surprising rapidity, when one takes into account tho cautious conservatism willr which public opinion has long credited the miners' leaders in Parliament and outsido it. Within four months of a drastic revision of rules which gave tho federation for the first time the power to declare a national stoppage for aggressive as well as for defensive purposes, the ) crisis has been reached.

A Predisposition to Strike. Tho English miners gave a decisive vote two or three years ago in favour of a strike from which they seeminglv stood to gain nothing. "The truth is, ' continues "The Times" writer, "that the miner is usually ready •to 'down tools' when his leader'tells him to, and, notwithstanding recent indiscipline in South Wales, he still, as a rule, follows his leader implicitly. The nature of the miner's calling has much to do witli his predisposition to strike. Talk to any miner in a British or any other coalfield, and you will find deep down in him a feeling of resentment against society for requiring hiin to lead such an abnormal working life. "The average miner is not a reflective person, and knows few of the technical arguments in favour of a minimum wage; in Yorkshire, the pioneer district of the movement, meetings arc being arranged for what is practically his instruction in the subject. Hill lm 'has a «iib-con;:.clniis Wing that society might In hvat iiini Welter Mi.vi it dor? in return fsr lii> tinpri'iiimiiii 'tpdcrfcjuud dorinu- tiMi "f i his waking hours, In the spirit of Jiiß-

line's private soldier, ho feels aggrieved at what he regards as (ho two faces winch society presents to him-the one which beams on him as a pit-hero, and he oilier which frowns on him as a Socialist revolutionary. It is in this stale ol mind that he will* go to Iho striko ballot, and that is whv his leaders knowing his tem-perament-for it was once lhoirs r oxpcct him to reply to their questions in Uie aflirmntive. Previous Strikes. "The relations between eoalowners and men have been, generally speaking, so good during the la-l fifteen years that the series of miners' strikes on a large scale which took place at an earlier period are apt to be overlooked by those who are surprised af the extreme measures which are i»iw threatened. There was a live davs" stoppage of IWI.OOII miners in IS>iJ. Th'ore were mwlj 1011,0(11) Durham colliers idle in 18(12. That was quickly followed liv the Hi weeks' strike of 200,1100 miners in the Midlands, and by the stoppage of nearly 11111,000 Scotsmen in 18! W. Tho dates -187:' l, I81I1!-;), and 1011-P->—uggest that miners' unrest i„ cyclical, if comes to a head once every 20 years. "There are Iwo other general considerations to ho borne in mind in approaching the question of the miners' unrest. Hie non-unionists among the miners are an insignificant minority of (he whole body, nnd the GOO.Otil) men represented by the federation are virtually the entire mining community of Great Britain. Secondly, whatever may be Hie misgivings ot a lew of the cooler heads among the leaders, the policy of a national stoppage on the minimum wage question is accepted as the unanimous recommendation of them all.

The Industrial Council. Is the nation'helpless la prevent (his hugo calamity? asks (lie "Daily News, and it replies:—Mi-. Lloyd-George made the Board of Trade a powerful instrument for industrial peace, ami indicated how, without compulsory arbitration, disputes even of the most intricate nature could he settled. 'L'hi! Government have built up new machinery for this purpose, and it is generally forgotten that as late as October of last year Mr. Churchill announced his '•Industrial Council of lending employers and Labour officials to avert strikes." Sir George Askwith is Chief Commissioner, and 'among (he representatives on tho Council are Mr. I". L. Davis, chairman of tho .South Wales Conciliation Board; Sir T. liatcliffe Ellis, secretary of the Lancashire and Cheshire Coalowiiors' Association; Mr. Thomas Hurt, M.P., general secretary of the Northumberland Miners' Mutual' Confident Association, and Mr. T. Ashtoii, secretary of tho Minors' Federation of Great Britain—all prominent leaders in the national coalfield. It is true that the only dispute the Industrial Council has so far tackled—that of the shipping deadlock at Newport—had to he settled by other means. But (he Council has boon'called into existence to prevent the very thing that now threatens tho nation.' Will it be paid that the Council is absolutely powerless and cannot justify its existence?