PREMIER SAYS THREATS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED

Grey River Argus, 12 October 1948, Page 5

PREMIER SAYS THREATS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED

PARIS, Oct. 10 The strike wave was assuming the shape of an insurrection and the Government would take the necessary steps to stop agitation, said the Prime Minister of France (Dr Henri Queuille) in a broadcast. The Government would not tolerate such threats against the regime of the Republic, because the Constitution did not allow it, said Dr Queuille. It was inadmissible that the workers should be asked to oppose the generous aid given by the United States. It was also inadmissible that the right to strike should be used as a means of exerting pressure on French foreign policy. Dr Queuille said that the miners’ strike was costing France 160,000 tons of coal daily, and the stoppage at the coking plants would mean their virtual destruction, causing a loss of £11,500,000. “The strike weapon must not stab at the heart of the country, depriving it of the production essential to its existence,” said Dr Queuille. PROTEST STRIKE CALLED

Agency correspondents report that the Communist-led General Confederation of Labour has called a general protest strike in the Longwy area, in northern France, where troops and striking miners clashed last night. Strike ballots are being organised at railway centres throughout the country, with the possibility of a general railway strike. An infantry regiment has been rushed to the riot area in the Lorraine coalfields, where a striker was killed in a clash with police on Friday. Police with batons and tear-gas attacked demonstrators when they tried to approach the Nancy railway station. , The 24-hour strike by seamen ended this morning, but the General Confederation of Labour, in a blow at key sections of France’s economy, has called a 24-hour strike of port and. dock workers for Wednesday. The Paris taxi-drivers have remained off duty. _