BRITISH COAL STRIKE

Taranaki Daily News, 16 November 1926, Page 7

BRITISH COAL STRIKE

YORKSHIRE LEADER’S VIEW THE STRUGGLE IS OVER GLOOMY OUTLOOK FOR MEN NO WORK FOR MANY IN PITS By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received Nov. 15, 7.20 p.m. London, Nov. 15. . Mr. Joseph Hall, financial secretary of the Miners’ Association of Yorkshire, speaking at Birdwell, said the struggle was over, and though the terms were distasteful, they were the best the miners’ leaders could obtain. They were the worst that any industrial movement had ever had forced upon it, but the alternative was the complete break-up of the Miners’ Federation. Mr. J. H. Thomas, speaking at a railwaymen’s demonstration at Blackpool, said: “Nobody wins any credit for handling the coal dispute. The Government, owners, and miners are equally blameable. A country with a debit of £6,000,000,000, and which is dependent for four days out of six upon foreigners for its food, cannot afford such conflicts.” Proceeding, Mr. Thomas said that now there was a moral obligation on all sections to try to save something from the wreck. “The first thing to be avoided is gloating over the miners’ defeat. There is a big responsibility upon the employers in the various districts. The men must be allowed to go back to work feeling that there is a genuine desire to play cricket and make the best of circumstances. HUGE COST OF THE STRIKE. HOME .SECRETARY’S VIEW. London, Nov. 14. Sir W. Joyneon-Hicks, Home Secretary, in a speech at Barnstaple, said the coal strike had cost the country £400,000,000. It was a strike against economic facts and the naked truth. The truth was that 250,000 miners would never find work in the pits. The Government fought for the country as a whole, whieh was greater than either the owners or the miners. It certainly did not intend to resign because revolutionaries demanded it. There was no need for an election for at least three years. London, Nov. 14. As a mark of appreciation of the loyalty of 10,000 miners, who resumed work on August 20, the Bolsover Colliery Company has given them ten weeks’ bonus, varying from 5s to 12s weekly, to enable them to enjoy the Christmas festivities.