BIG RAILWAY STRIKE.

Taihape Daily Times, 27 September 1918, Page 5

BIG RAILWAY STRIKE.

MILITARY CONTROL RAILWAYS. LONDON, Sept 25. It is estimated that 120,000 miners 60,000 munition workers and 40,000 steel workers are idle in Wales alone. The strike' continues to extend. _ The north of London railways are entirely 'Closed, and other suburban lines are badly hampered. Therb is a complete stoppage of traffic from Tilbury docks. Troops are taking charge of South Wales. The first four contingents of 600 who arrived at Newport were ! cheered, A mass meeting of railwaymen at i Cardiff unanimously decided to return to "work immediately. Mr. Thomas, addressing a meeting of strikers at Cardiff, said; “You have shattered all our prestige and all my influence. I will see this through, then cease to be your genI eral secretary.” | GOVERNMENT ACCEPTS STRIKI ERS’ CHALLENGE, WILL DISCHARGE ITS DUTIES REGARDLESS OP CONSEQUENCES 1 MR THOMAS A DISILLUSIONED MAN. RESIGNS AS LABOUR LEADER. MEN RESUMING WORK. Received 11.10 a.m. LONDON, Sept 26. Mr. Thomas, at Cardiff, said: “The Cabinet told me they accepted the men’s challenge, and not a comma of the agreement would be altered. Even if the whole Union came out the Cabinet said they were going to discharge their duties as a Government, regardless of consequences or circumstances. If I were Premier I would have done the same thing. Food was rotting in the docks.” Mr. Thomas’s reference to the war position aroused loud cheers. Mr, Thomas concluded: “Then those cheers show you believe in the war. The men "have been led into a trap, and now realise it. • They are ashamed to walk the streets.”

The strikers are returning'' to the South Wales and Great Western systems generally. Some London strikers have returned, and it is expected the resumption, will be general to-day. Mr. Thomas has tendered his resignation, and says dejectedly he has lost power as a leader, and feels no longer able to guarantee the men’s honour. But Mr Thomas Is very ill and may not persist in his resignation. He states he has been officially assured there will be no victimization. DEALING WITH STRIKES. SUGGESTED GOVERNMENT ACTION. , Received 8.40 a.m. 1( , LONDON, September 26. A statement from a reliable source regarding the strike of Clyde shipwrights and other shipyard trades, which spread to Barrow and the East Coast of Scotland, points out that the action of the men who demand £5 per week is disavowed by their executives. Moreover, the strike is a repudiation of the undertaking by shipyard trade unions that there would be no stoppages in work, contained in the scheme to secure the utmost protection framed by them and their employers last April. As ship production is the most vital national necessity the Government must act promptly. The law provides three methods: Enlistment in the army of strikers of military age; prosecution of the ringleaders under the Defence of the Realm Act; and the fining of strikers by the Munitions Tribunal. The decision of the Government will probably be announced shortly.