"PLAYING WITH FIRE"

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 219, 10 June 1919, Page 5

"PLAYING WITH FIRE"

SOLDIERS AND STRIKES A SECRET CIRCULAR Australian-New Zealand Cable Association. London, May 29. lii tho House of Commons,'. .oil the Army Estimates. Mr. W. Adamsoii (Labour member for Fife) called attention to a secret circular issued by the War Office and published in a Labour newspaper, calling on commanding officers to report weekly as to whether the troops were likely to respond to orders.to preserve tho public peace and assist ii strike-breaking. Mr. Adamson said tho circular had produced intense.. .resentment among tho working classes. Ho doclared that the War Olfico was playing with fire.

Mr. Winston Churchill replied that tho document was purely a military one, and of no political significance. lie had not seen it till it was published. It was issued when strikes were prevalent and threatening fo disorganise tlio vital needs of the country, and when troops wero restless regarding demobilisation. Tho wording of tho circular was unfortunate, particularly the phrase referring to strike-breakiug. It did not mean employing soldiers as blacklegs, replacing strikers in industrial disputes. ' It' meant that th.e State must u6e all the its resources, including naval and military, to carry on the country's vital needs and prevent a general catastrophe. Tho ruplios of commanding officers to tho circular deprecated the employment of troops for strike-breaking. Tho circular had now lapsed, as circumstances; had changed. A copy of tho circular was stolen, and published by tho newspaper with the deliberate inteution of provoking mutiny and a general strike, which! was to smash up society.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.