The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1919. AN ANTI-NATIONAL STRIKE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 5, 1 October 1919, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1919. AN ANTI-NATIONAL STRIKE

If it covered all the ground and touched the really vital issues at stake, the detail case made out on behalf of the British raihvaymen on strike might entitle thera to a certain amount of sympathy. Mb. J. H. Thomas l;as pointed out that members of Ijiie A'ational Union of Itailwaymen are asked by the Government to'.accept rates of wages much lower than those paid to workers on colliery railways and in some other branches of • industry. _ The state of affairs to which he directs attention is admittedly anomalous, and in itself may seem to weaken Mr. Lloyd George's unsparing condemnation ( of the action by the raihvaymen. In the light thrown upon the strike situation by fairly full and detailed reports, it is possible, however, to appreciate the. grounds upon which the, British Prime Minister has said that he can recall no strike which was entered, into as lightly and with such entire disregard of public interest. There are very much greater and graver issues at stake than the difference in 1 wages v/liich is the immediate and ostensible ground of dispute. It must "be recognised in the first place that the _ action of the railwaymen—action in which they are doing their utmost to.paralyse the industries and supply services of the country, and bring want and confusion on the whole population could not be justified'on any other ground than that of the unendurable oppression of those by whom it is taken. While it is assorted on their behalf that they are underpaid, no one could possibly pretend that the railwaymen arc oppressed victims to whom' redress has been denied. As compared with pre-war conditions their hours of work have been, considerably reduccd, and their wages - -at all events in the lower grades—have been much more than 'doubled. Those broadly were the conditions which the Government desired to establish for the being, but in negotiation , with the representatives of the railwaymen it • offered further concessions. It suggested that war wages, which in the case of the lowest grade, nearly treble pre-war earnings, should remain in force until the cost of living had fallen definitely, though to a limited extent, and 'had remained at that lower level for three months. Whether the railwaymen were offered all that they are entitled to may be an open question. They were in any case offered such a substantial improvement on pre-war wages and working conditions as ought to have made them well content to use constitutional methods in seeking further concessions. This seems all the more a reasonable view since, as MR. Lloyd George has pointed out, the dispute is "about something (i.e., the revision of war wages) which cannot possibly come into operation until nfext year." The Government's final offer ensured that a period of several months at least would be available for negotiations before there could be any interference with the ruling war wages. J.t has been suggested on behalf of the strikers that the framing of this offer represented an- attempt to pin them down to the ultimate acceptance of unsatisfactory terms. But as the offer ran there could be no interference with tbc scale of wages with, which the men arc satisfied until the cost of living had first fallen: and it is oven more important that the railwaymen, or their leaders, might have agreed to the extension of existing as permitting continued negotiations, while refusing to commit themselves in any way in regard to the acceptance of amended terms at a later date. . , The precipitate declaration of the strike stands.out as a thing not. to he extenuated when it is considered that thp. railwaymen were working under the conditions they desii'o to establish, and were assured of ample ■time, and onnortunity for negotiation before"these conditions could be altered.' The. point upon which the merits of the dispute seem to centre is that in these conditions the raihvaymen declined, to. again quote Mb. Uoyd George, to grant even a respite of two or three days to their fellow-eonntrvmcn, and stopped practically with no warning a service "on which the life nf a whole people so much depends." It may be added that in such efforts as it has made to set limits to the wages of railwaymen the I British Government is evidently

actuated not by lack of consideration for these workers, but by due consideration for the interests ot workers and tho public generally. On his past record Mk. J. H. Thomas might have been expected to refuse to identify himself with any anti-national conspiracy such as this strike involves. No more pointed denunciation of the tactics be and his organisation are now pursuing could be desired than is contained in some observations he made on returning to England, little more than twii months ago, from a. visit to America. Open incitement to violence, he said, with reference to conditions in Britain, appeared to have bccoinc common, hut section of tie workers was dead against this brute force. "Such ■i statement," ho added, "may be unpopular with the Railwayman's Executive, but the. situation is too serious for anything except the plainest truths." _ Mr. Thomas described the situation as rampant sectionalism, and continued:

Time and again threats b> sections of the workers bring the country to its knees. Those Uussian luetics 'will lead to disaster. Either tbe country must lose tho 'greater part of its overseas trade or constitutional government must be restored. America is making giganl'ie preparations to capture our trade. Tho Knglish sovereign steadily depreciates and America will soon "be in a position to hold the Empire to ransom unless Britain buckles dowh and produces vast quantities of manufactures at cheap prices.

Finally, Mn. Thojjail, entreated the Government to show courage and prevent chaos'. It i-i sadly apparent that Mr. Thomas and those associated with him have failed to carry out the excellent advice he. gave on this occasion. It iti so much the more nerassary that the Government should, in his words, show courage and prevent chaos. This it seems determined to d_o, and its efforts to maintain essential services arc apparently meeting with success.