The Daily News. TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1921. WITHDRAWAL OF MINERS’ ALLIES.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 April 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1921. WITHDRAWAL OF MINERS’ ALLIES.

The sensational development in relation to the British miners’ strike, in consequence of the withdrawal of the? railwaymen and transporters, demonstrates the weakness of the bond wherewith la'boi 1 unions were supposed to be linked together, and the effectiveness of a firm, stand by the Government and the nation against unreasonable and unconstitutional demands of a certain section. It is somewhat early to conjecture the outcome of this unexpected move, the outstanding result of which is that the miners must either continue the strike alone or take the far more wisefand sane course of coming to an agreement with the employers. If the facts whieh led up to this dramatic event, are carefully and impartially examined it will be seen that the miners were fighting chiefly for nationalisation of the industry and wages. It might be thought that the transporters, and especially the railwaymen,. would have entered whole-heartedly and determinedly into the struggle, and brought the whole forces of labor into making a united effort at domination. Had the dispute been confined to wages it is possible there would have existed solidarity, in the ranks of labor, but the federation \extremists sought to strike a blow in the cause of nationalisation, and it is obvious this might not suit the transporters, so that however alluring the idea of a comprehensive labor alliance may look on paper, there are manifestly many rocks on which the component parts are likely to split. According to a. Labor correspondent, the withdrawal is generally recognised as signifying the dissolution of the Triple Alliance in its present form, and the shaping of a new policy. It may be that its reconstruction will exhibit more menacing features than formerly, but this the future will reveal. The fact is that the unionists have constructed a machine intended to be used for coercive purposes, but owing to lack of intelligence and the diversity of constructors, instead of producing a reliable and effective working medium, they have merely developed a crazy hotch-potch in whieh industrial unionism, direct action, State socialism and syndicalism -are the incongruous quantities. Hence the failure of this machine in the miners’ crisis. It may be that Labor realises the abysmal folly of losing the substance of existence while trying to grasp the shadow of power, and

has at last learned that nationalisation shatters at a blow the strike weapon. Whatever the cause, the disruption of the Triple Alliance should open the eyes of unionists to the fact that the real enemies of Labor are to be often found in their own. ranks. It is significant that it was the railwaymen’s representative (Mr. Thomas) who informed the miners that the combined Labor movement had decided that the miners should accept the proposal of Mr. Hodges to confine the dispute to the question of wages. The wisdom of this decision cannot be questioned, but there is no -doubt Mr Hodges has already had to suffer for his courage, and may still have to do so. In all industrial disputes there is only one sane course to pursue—reasonableness. Mr. Lloyd George accurately described the adoption of coercive tactics as “an insensate method of attempting to compel judgment on the question of wages by paralysing the industries of the country and bringing suffering to millions of innocent people.” That the miners should feel bitterly aggrieved 'at the withdrawal of their allies is excusable, but they have no one to blame but themselves. Their threat to continue a hopeless struggle until compelled by starvation to listen to reason is sheer fatuity. Meanwhile, when the burdens on the taxpayers are already crushing, they have been put to an additional expense of fifty millions sterling for the precautionary measures taken by the Government —a thorough waste, for whieh the miners are to blame. In these days of financial stress, such a loss is a very serious price to pay for the folly of obstinate and misguided men so obsessed with their own importance as to be utterly callous of the injury caused to the rest of the community. It may confidently be assumed that no advantage will be taken either by the Government or the employers in consequence of the miners' isolated position, and that every effort will be made to effect a just settlement of wages. Thewithdrawal of the miners’ allies has cleared the ground for hegotiations, so that a speedy agreement should be reached. The disruption conveys a plain moral to the workers generally, and they would be wise to take it to heart.. The only way in which Labor federation can be a success is by construetiveness, and not destructiveness. It must be the work of true patriots, and not a conglomeration of misfitting parts that work against the interests of .the State, and also against one another. Meanwhile, Labor would be usefully and profitably employed by increasing production and employment, fostering conciliatory methods, and furthering the best interests of the working classes instead of making war on the nation.