New-York tribune., 1911-09-11
SOLIDARITY IN LABOR
The Simultaneous Sympathetic
Strikes and How They Work.
INTERVENTION COUNTED ON
System Excellent in That 1t Com-
pels Government, in Public In
terest, to Take a Hand.
London. August ~.

London, August ".
The strikes now in various stages oi
xettlement have not been outbreaks OIL
revolutionary socialism. The motive mas
heen the enlargement of the ordinary re-
sources Of trades unionism through
simultaneous. sympathetic action OF
allied bodies of workers. This is raoi-
callv different from French conspiracy
against government as hindrance 10
the progress of working people BRUSH
strikers under the new conoltiohs VI
ipterdependent action Of federation OF
trades unions have confidently counted
upon the Intervention Of government
rather than dispensed with it altogether
When the general railway strike was
suddenly proclaimed on twenty-iour
hours notice the leaders must nave
known that the indefinite suspension OF
traffic throughout the kingdom would
involve the interruption of food supphes'
the starvation of working people, riotlns
and bloodshed. They expected the inter
vention of the government in the IN
terest of the nation, and they were not
ojsappointed Civil war and anarchy
were suppressed and industrial peace
was restored.
After. obtaining settlement more
satisfactory than seemed possible at the
outset the Labor leaders have violently
attacked ministers in Parliament ana
will probably renew their rancorous
criticism at the approaching Trades
Union Congress at Newcastle. The
Prime Minister has been denounced Tor
declining to compel the railway man
ayers TO surrender on the vital question
OF recognition. and yet nothing could be
clearer than the necessity for impartial
action in appointing a commission when
could investigate grievances and bring
masters and men together at its own
discretion. Mr.. Churchill and Lord Hal
dane have been condemned for their
"diabolical energy" in maintaining order
ry the employment of sarge masses OF
troops> but what influence I'm eftecting
general settlement could a government
have possessed which was so feeble and
Door spirited as 10 allow general strike
10 become an anarchic revolution? Mr..
LLOYD George as a patient resourceful
conciliator might have hoped TO escape
aspersons and yet he has been branded
as false friend who was bent upon be-
trayins the interests of labor and deliv-
cring capitalists from disastrous plight.
These in tempered structures from
Hardie, Mr.. Macdonald and other Labor
leaders indicate compromise in which
neither masters nor men have got every
thing that they wanted
How could II he otherwise when min
listers have no power TO enforce either
arbitration or conciliation? They were
forced to act decisively for the protec
ton of the general body Of consumers.
Disorder was suppressed with all the re-
sources Of the Home and War offices. If
this helped the railway managers it also
delivered trades unionists from the re-
Troach of being revolutionists. While
public order was maintained by vigorous
use of the military forces, tremendous
pressure was brought 10 bear upon the
4 railway directors TO grant recognition TO
the representatives Of organized labor
Peace was finally made through the ap-
pointment OF a commission which was
likely TO decide. through the casting vote
of the chairman that the conciliation
boards would not be operative unless the
men could have free access 10 the mas
ters; and this is the vital object for
which the trades unions have been con-
tending at present, as they were four
years ago. when a general strike was
narrowly averted by the dexterity of Mr..
Lloyd George. SO large A concession
would not have been practicablerif pub
lie interests had not been adequately
protected by military force.
Now that the railway crisis has pass !
1t is evident that ministers have come
out of 1t with increased prestige. J.
though they were dependent upon a
coalition with Labor members and Ma
tionalists. they took strong line for the
preservation of peace and for the pro-
visioning OF the country. and simulta-
neously exerted themselves to obtain
through commission the settlement Of
the railway mems grievances. Neither
could railway directors complain that
their interests We're unprotected; nor
could the trades unionists assert that
their cause did not receive sympathetic
treatment, and the general public has
had the satisfaction Of knowing that
lawlessness has been firmly suppressed,
the food supply maintained and the
general strike settled as speedily as pos
sible Ministers have been equal to
momentous emergency and they hare
stood together like loyal soldiers of the
state. Partisans were not unwilling 10
create dissensions between ministers re-
sponsible for the suppression of lawless-
ness and associates laboring for concilia-
ton, but they have not been encouraged
by the Chancellor, who has angrily re-
buked Mr.. Hardie for an intensely pro-
Nocative speech. A powerful. resource
ful and united ministry has earned the
gratitude of the country in one Of the
gravest industrial crises.
II is evident. however. that labor re-
volts have entered upon new and most
dangerous stage. The general railway
strike has been temporarily averted be-
cause the government has succeeded in
securing a commission which will settle
the burning question Of recognition and