The evening times., 1911-08-21

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English strikers stand on. We quote
herewith part of their formal de-
mands. as set forth in Liverpool:
abolition Of the conciliation board.
Recognition of the union. Reduc-
ton of. hours to 50 per week, with
9 1-2 hours first five days, and 1-2
on Saturdays. each days work to
stand by itself.
"No man to be stopped for slack
ness after twelve months service. "
"a guarantee day.
"No man to book on more than once
for days pay.
Five hours to constitute Sunday,
with minimum of one days pay.
ANY man working higher grade
shall be paid the highest rate of pay
for that grade.
Extra men in the employ of the
company for twelve months to be
granted three days, and the perma-
nent men six days holiday with pay.
Call foremen shall be in receipt of
35s per week minimum, and to be
paid overtime after 81 hours per
week.
Men receiving a guinea per week
shall have their wages increased to
24s.
"All men receiving 24s and over at
present shall receive a general in
crease Of 2s per week"
Thirty-five shillings for foremen is
about $3.50 week; guinea week
is almost exactly IS, and the increase
Of three shillings asked for makes
this sum about $562 week ;and the
| two shillings increase for those now
receiving 1852 would make $6.12
week. These are free trade wages,
the argument Of the English Golden
ties being that their system Of high
tariff on articles not produced in
England, combined with an income
or wages tax at war rates, makes the
cost of living so cheap that the Eng
lish workingman can live we'll on
ingman swallowed this doctrine at the
two parliamentary elections of 1910;
but after all it does not appear to
have agreed with his stomach, and
We are now seeing the results in the
daily news from England.
But aside from these economic con-
ditions, the political atmosphere that
has prevailed in England during the
last four years has had its due effect.
Lloyd George and Winston Churchill
have not preached the gospel of TAX
ing what you want, whenever and
wherever you see it, for nothing. Ben.
Tillett and Tom Mann are not great
statesmen, in attendance now and
then upon the king, and drawing
$25,00O a year for their public serv-
ices; but they and the other trades
union leaders associated with them
understand this gospel of taking what
you want, just as we'll as those who
have been preaching it. Mr.. Asquith
has just furnished an example of how
this gospel works out in practice, in
the case Of the house of lords, SIM
ply because, under the conditions by
which he has held Office since the
spring Of 1910, it became a question
whether he should 60 on as prime
minister or the ancient and useful
I house of lords should cease to pos
sess real functions as second cham
Der Of legislation. Mr.. Asquith de-
cided to take what he wanted, and
Ben Tillett and his friends saw how
the trick was done, and decided that
it would be useful in their own busi-
ness. Moreover, q lot of well-meaning
but impulsive gentlemen wearing high
silk hats and filled with love for man
kind, have lately been preaching all
through the English-speaking world
substantially that same doctrine. Get
all the old and trustworthy bits out
of the mouth of democracy, they have
said, and let the peoples will, as it
sways now in this direction and now
in that, have full swing. The English
workingman is not paid we'll, but he
reads the newspapers in these days.
He feels the intellectual currents that
are sweeping through the air, both
in his own home and abroad, and he
knows how to apply this almost uni
versal advice to take down the bar
riers and loosen all the restraints,
to the end that democracy may take
any short cut that seems agreeable
to 1t at the moment. Ben. Tillett
says that II unrestrained democracy
is good thing in the domain of Eng
lish government, unrestrained demo-
cracy must be a good thing in the
domain Of English business and COM
merce. 1t is all quite natural-as
some think, quite inevitable-and
probably it is better to have the new
gospel worked out, promptly and to
the extreme extent, so that at any
rate England may find out exactly
what the doctrine is, how it works,
and whether she likes it or not
20 eos~ ~ 81