QUARTER OF A MILLION ON STRIKE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 1039, 21 August 1911, Page 5

QUARTER OF A MILLION ON STRIKE.

FEARS FOR CONDITION OF FROZEN MEAT.

TRAIN HELD UP BY STRIKERS.

LONDON, August 19. In the House of Commons, Mr Winston Churchill defended the maintenance of the food supplies, because the. poorest classes and the workers would be the greatest sufferers. All traffic has been stopped in the Liverpool streets. Members of the Cotton Exchange have offered to do porters' work. , A Red L;ross transport has teen organised, which is amply supplying the hospital requirements. Four thousand special constables .have been enrolled. FEARS FOR FROZEN MEAT. It is feared that half a million pounds' worth of provisions, which are in cold storage, will become tainted, owing to the insufficiency of the supply of coal for the refrigerators. ABNORMAL DEATH RATE. The death rate in the city has almost doubled in the last few days. REPORT ON LIVERPOOL. The Home Office has asked Messrs T. P. O'Connor and Kyffin-Taylor, members of the House of Commons, to report upon what measures are necessary to restore better relations between the various classes in Liverpool, and also as to the state of the food supplies. EXCITEMENT IN BIRMINGHAM. There was great excitement in Birmingham last night. The conveying of meat from the station led to encounters with the strikers. The police made many baton charges. INDUSTRIES SHUTTING DOWN. Many industries in Manchester are shutting down, owing to the lack of coal transport.. .■•„-. .* , Only a few days' food supplies are available. . ' . „ Soldj£rsare guarding all the elec-, trie-power stations, in London.* | " STRIKE PAY. The Amalgamated Railwaymen's Association has authorised strike pay ; at the rate of 10s per week. The Executive states that 220,000 ] men are now on strike. It is predicted that Monday will see nearly every service stopped. UNION FUNDS. The Union funds total £197,556. The pVovident funds, which are not applicable to strikers, amount to £243,625. " LABOUR MEMBERS' VIEW. ' Mr J. H. Thomas, MP. for Derby, who is Assistant-Secretary of the Railway Servants' Association, speaking at Euston, said that if the Companies were to meet the men face to ' face they could settle the difficulties in five minutes, The Companies had ' refused the men's only alternative but to light. He regretted that the public and trade of the nation were suffering; but the responsibility rested with the Companies. There would be no settlement which victimised or •boycotted anyone. Mr Ramsay Macdonald, Leader of the Labour Party, and other Labour-, itcs, aro urging the men's Executive to accept Mr Asquith's proposals. SPECIAL PRAYERS. The Primate (Dr. Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury) is preparing a special prayer to be used in -tie. Churches for the ending of the labour crisis. The Home Office reports that about two-thirds of the railwaymen are remaining at their posts. THE REAL ISSUE. The Times declares that the real issue is the admission of Union leaders' to Conciliation Boards. The North: Eastern Railway Company for a long time permitted such an access, and that line has suffered more than the others through constant friction and the",present strike. RESULT OF A CONFERENCE. A conference between the <hipowners, National Transport Workers, and' Board of Trade, over which the Right Hon. John Burns presided, arranged an agreement providing that men employed in discharging overseas vessels must be engaged outside the dock premises. RAILWAY EXECUTIVE. The Railway Executive sat until midnight, but adjourned until next morning. MOVEMENT OF TROOPS. Fifty-eight thousand troops have, been placed at the disposal of the military commanders within the strike areas. TRAIN HELD UP. The Irish express train at Fish-

United Press Association —By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. Received Last Night, 5.5 o'clock.)

guard was barred by strikers. A party of troops returning from furlough, fixed bayonets and drove the strikers back, releasing the tram. POSITION'IN LIVERPOOL. Liverpool is quieter. A few isolated attacks have been made upon banks and hotels, but no serious outbreak has occurred during the last twenty-four hours. Pa nic - stricken holiday - makers, rushing homewards, increased the congestion on the restricted train services. TRAIN SERVICES. The trains were stoned near Bradford, and the points tampered with at Riverbridge, York, but the discovery was made in time to prevent harm resulting. EDINBURGH TO STRIKE. The railwaymen in Edinburgh have decided to strike forthwith. MEAT MARKET AFFECTED. Incorporated meat importers are unable to give reliable quotations owing to the strike. \