The Portland daily press., 1892-03-14
How the Great Strike Of British
Miners Came About.
1T HAS CAUSED A VERITABE PANIC
IN BUSINESS CIRCLES.

for Anarchists-Death of the Grand
Duke of Hesse-Other Foreign News.
LONDON, March 12.-The great coal
strike has begun and the most startling
rumors are in circulation in this city.
The fears of coal famine are wide
spread. The stocks of coal in the COM
mercial centres are not large, and col
liery owners have for some time past
declined to bind themselves to execute
orders Many orders have been refused
and the price of coal has risen by leaps
and bounds, until it has reached figure
which it has not seen since the memora-
BILE strike of Northumberland and Dur
ham miners Is years ago. Some factor
les will be compelled to cease work next
week for want of fuel. A number of
| others will have to close down if the
miners determine to carry their expert
ment into second week, and if it is
prolonged into third week the distur-
| bance of British manufactures will be
general, and an estimate can scarcely be
| formed of the great loss which must en-
sue. Many political economists declare
| that the movement will result in driving
large proportion of the work away
From England Into Foreign Hands.
In nearly all the large towns the poor
are among the greatest sufferers. Goals
to them have almost doubled in price,
and as the bleak cold days are still with
them they feel the pinch most severely.
The Miners Federation has led in the
strike movement. -Four years ago the
| Miners Federation announced itself to
| the world with membership of 36,000
| At the present moment it contains in
| round numbers 1S0 900 paying OF 'sfnan-
eial'' members alone. The joint proper
| ty of The associations composing the fed
Grafton is worth half million. The
| federation claims the exclusive honor of
| having forced the miners wages 40 per
| cent above the rates of 1888. The last
advance was made little more than a
| year ago.
The men in the mines outside of the
| Durham district claim that the present
| movement is not against a reduction of
| present wages, but to prevent the reduc-
I ton of wages at any time in the future.
| They are afraid that, from the way the
owners of collieries have been outbidding
each other for the custom, a general re-
| duction cannot be far off, and they have
| adopted this method of raising prices.
| There is no doubt that after two years
of unusual prosperity the coal trade Of
the United Kingdom
Has Suffered a Relapse
| to its former and more normal condition
of keen competition and low prices.
| This circumstance no doubt is mainly
owing to the considerable falling off that
has taken place in some of the principal
sources Of consumption and notably in
consumption for industrial purposes, due
to the serious contraction of demand in
the iron and steel engineering and other
industries.
| 1t was this situation which led to a con-
| ference of representatives of the Miners
| Federation at Manchester and the unani-
nous determination TO stop work on the
! 18th of March. The conference repre-
sented 175, 900 working miners belonging
to one of. the two great trades unions
! which divide between them the coal
trade The resolution became binding
| on all members of the federation of Great
| Britain and Ireland to which the dele
gates at Manchester belonged, some 2S0,-
! 900 men. From the moment that this
determination was announced almost a
| panic has reigned in the coal trade and in
every industry affected by the lack of a
coal supply.
| LONDON, March 13.-The miners of
Lincolnshire have Joined the strikers,
adding at least 100000 to the idle host.