The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1901-05-16
ENGLISH TAX ON C)I i
Passed BY the House Of Comm
BY . Majority Of l0S, /
LABOR NAY OPPOSE PARL1Av,,|
The Miners Fedsratis. Likely Z, n.
clare . General Strike, VIII.
Would Bring the Workers 1, Nj,
Conflict with the Law MAKING n.

~
Would Bring the Worker. 1. Dir.
Conflict with the Law MAKING n.
London. May THE house o, ~,
mons last night adopted tho coal :.
by vote Of 333 to 227. Conseous,,J
the tax Of shilling q ton on s,no
coal WAS adopted by q majority o, m
These figures. apparently. do not rem
cent the feeling Of the members O, N
house, but the government mad. M
issue strictly q party one and secu,
the record attendance for this pa,I,
ment and by vigorous efforts poI.
within score Of the normal majors,
The principal figures during the A.,
Of the discussion Of the coal tax Wa,
chiefly within the Liberal ranks a,
Edward Gray, Mr.. H. H. AsQuith N
William Abraham LiberaD and "
Charles Fenwick all assailed the y,
eloquently, the last two speaking via
no little pathos and a broad acceu,
behalf Of the miners, in whose sa,ir
Of life they worked before coming
Westminster.
Perhaps the most interesting featr,
was the speech Of Hon. Fredera
Lambton, brother Of the Earl OF Du,
ham, who, standing amid the Cr
servative members, denounced \.
government as "a pack Of rio,Dp
hounds after a eve lamb" by which,
referred to the coal industry. He /.
clared that the chancellor OF the q.
chequer had represented the colliers
liars and forgers and maintained I'M
they were as honorable set OF ma
as ever sat on the government benchs'
Sir Michael Hicks-Beach attemp,s
to explain, but Mr.. Lambton paid lirl
heed. The sleepy peers who had con,
in to hear the final stages Of the deb,,
blinked vigorously as they heard d,
right Of miners to strike proclaimed
an aristocrat, who declared that N
miners were "as good as many ma
who has won the Victoria Cross"
Another supporter of the gover
ment, Mr.. John Wilson, bitterly 0.
jected to the tax. bringing up the quo
tion Of American competition and co.
tending that the duty would give 4
United States a chance to cut M
British coal.
This started the ball rolling, and ID
some time the house gave itself up d
q discussion of the relative merits d
"Pocohontas" and "Smokeless Welsh
with frequent references to Ameriai
growing merchant marine and the u
vantages Of coal.
Mr.. Balfour, in rambling style, sun
med up the debate, basing his arn
ment upon the proposition that such
great and ever increasing industry y
the export Of coal could not be sch
ously affected by tho imposition oil
tax Of q shilling . ton. He dismisi
% . highly improbable theory vi
American coal would ever be able b
compete with English.
During Mr.. Balfour's summing y
one Of his own adherents remarta
audibly: 1T is q wretchsd speech, ID
Of course Balfeur does not know Whit
he is talking about"
In the division which followed then
was much cross voting. Mr.. job
Morley voted with the governmsnl
Several Liberals abstained from vs
ing. while almost all the ConseEt
tives representing coal counties !oIla
the opposition.
What the Miners Federation will d
now remains to be seen. Judging from
the speeches Of the labor members Dur
ing the last stages of the debate a'
federation is quite likely to declaT.
general strike, thus precipitatins !
struggle between organized labor aa'
parliament. Such a collision, as vii
said frequently during the discusslA
might prove ruinous to the Goa! d.
dustry and highly injurious to @
>oyntrv