GREAT STRIKE.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 October 1920, Page 5

GREAT STRIKE.

BRITISH MINERS IDLE. i ■{THOUSA2fDS UNEMPLOYED. SHIPPING HELD CP. PREMIER'S APPEAL TO NATION. ' j By Telegraph.—Pres» AMn.—CewrttM. London, Oct. 15. • Official: The miners cease work tomorrow. Received Oct. 17,11.5 p.m. London, Oct. If. There is great activity |in loading labor circle* with a view to finding a formula proving a way out. Delegate* We urging the railway transporter? to be quiescent until Parliament has tfokm. 3b J. H. Thomas, MJ\ (the railwaytoea's leader) moves the adjournment in tto Ifoose of Commons, and he will thrash out the situation in open debate Mr. Asquith, at Newcastle, said that M an old friend he appealed to the j patriotism of the miners to find a saner and more humane method than a disastrous strike.. Eighty thousand steel workers at (Sheffield, have received a week's notice ef discharge. Palmer's Jarrow blast fomtoes and steel works have stopped, and the bulk of the Leeds works are dated. Twenty thousand at Teeside are idle. Between three hundred and four hundred fchipft toe Wd up at South Wales, principally at Cardiff. All ships at Liverpool will be locked up, and within a Week tlie port will be at a AomSLZ. Cable Assn.

, THE PREMIER'S APPEAL. . MOON MOST RESIST FORCE, "WE'VE BEEN THEOO^'WOSSB." | iecsived Oct. 17, 5.5 p.m. London, Oct. 16. Sir. Lloyd George, in a message to the public recapitulates the Government's •Sorts for a settlement, firstly, its rsadiBess t» submit the miners' claim for iitenased wages to an impartial tribunal;, and secondly, the granting of tho increase if tite miners restore production to the level of the output in the early part of 1920. "The mioera are now attempting to gain their ends by force," says the Premier, "and the nation must and will resist such an attack. There can be no doobt about the issue. The Government will arrange for fair distribution of the milable coal, which is sufficient for publio services. All citizens must help to .lessen the inconvenience and sufferings (he strike causes. We've been through more difficult times."—Aus.-N.Z. Cable IM*a>

WILL IT SPREAD? TRANSPORTERS' ACTION. GANGER OF GREAT UNHEAVAL. Reoeived Oct. 17, 11.5 p.m. London, Oct. 16. The miners' official statement explains the conciliatory steps taken since July to> avoid a strike. The statement blames the Government for its unyielding attitude to reasonable demands, and declares the cost of living has advanced further than 31 per cent, since the miners' wages were increased seven months ago. Therefore, they are fully entitled to the 2s increase demanded. He miners refused to submit to an impartial tribunal, because they had lost faith in the Government, and there was no guarantee that the Government would not repudiate the tribunal's recommendations, as they did the Sankey award in 1919. Thousands of men of all classes, including motor car owners and business rats, are registering with the Transport Ministry, offering voluntary assistance to carry on the train and transport services in the event of the railwaymen and the transport workers joining the miners' Btrike. The railwaymen's executive has summoned a meeting of branches' delegates for Wednesday to decide whether to jftin the strikers. The executive urges . branches to consider the seriousness of the position if the miners are defeated. Mr. J. H. Thomas, M.P., addressing a meeting of railwaymen, warned them against precipitating a crisis by immediately striking unauthorisedly to support the miners. It was probable over two million workers will be affected.® He said that before another week the country might b e faced with the greatest social upheaval in its history. Mr. Thomas continued: "Mr Lloyd George's latest letter left the door to further negotiations open. No tribunal was more fitted to face the responsibility of a settlement than Parliament, which is re-assembling on Tuesday." Naval and mlitary leave has been stopped. The Coldstream Guards have been summoned to London. It is authoritatively stated, in reply to rumors, tiiat troops will not be sent to the mining areas except in grave emergency. Drastic orders have been issued respecting the regulation of coal fuel supplies. The sugar ration will be half a pound weekly and hoarding will be restricted to one week's supply of food. There are ample stocks of motor spirit and oil fuel to meet all transport requirements. The miners' executive in South Wales threaten* that unless the strike is •ettled by the 31st to agitate for the withdrawal of all men from the mines in Britain,, including pump hands, implyin* ft danger of flooding.—Aus.-N.Z. Oble A*n.