Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-03-26
starvation IS FACED
by POOR OF ENGLAND
Minimum Wage Bill Headed
For RoCks-No Relief in
Sight
(Bv Associated Presa.N

LONDON. March 22.-Premier As
quith, in the house of commons this
afternoon refused to accept the miners
demands for an amendment to the
minimum wage bill providing a mini
mum of S1.25 and 80 cents as the daily
wage for men and boys respectively.
This leaves the British industrial
situation still in a stage Of crisis.
Enoch Edwards. labor member of par
lament and president of the miners
federation of Great Britain Immediately
announced that the premier's rejection
of the miners amendment closed the
door to an immediate settlement of the
strike.
Now that they have failed to obtain
what they demanded. the miners may
refuse to return to work and the gov
eminent Will be then faced with the
necessity of taking those other and
different measures" foreshadowed by
the premier yesterday, and which are
believed to mean adequate protection
for those men desiring to return to
work.
Despite the decisions of the unions
there is already, particularly in Scot
land, a steady trickling of the miners
back to the pits. Even with a general
resumption, however, the mines win
not be in working order again before
Easter and some of the smaller ones
which have been flooded will never be
reopened.
Some of the larger mine owners, too.
declare that it will be impossible 20
,work their pits were the minimum
irates of wages granted.
STARVATION, APPROACHES.
In the meantime, starvation menaces
the industrial population of the coun-
try. Funds of the trades unions are
running low. In some places this
weeks payment of out-of-work benefit
will be the last
At Burstem, in Staffordshire one
of the centers of the potteries district,
10000 meals have been served by the
vicar of the parish in the last IL days,
for which a small charge has been
made Now the people of the district
are unable to bear the burden of pay
ing even a penny for the meal and are
compelled to fall back on charity.
In Wales and Scotland and in the
industrial districts of England relief
measures have been started and soup
kitchens est lblished. There is scarcely
a mining village in Scotland where
the children are not being fed by the
III TIC A<ii5IiSAA
fields the people are better off as the
trades union funds are richer and Will
last much longer.
The work of relieving the distress is
getting beyond the means of the local
charities and demands are now being
made on the government to take 1T up.
1t is estimated that the miners thus
far have lost in wages $26,4OS,S5O, be-
sides the depletion of the union funds.
Factories and works of all kinds all
over the country continue to close
down. Railroads are reducing service
to the minimum. Food supplies from
abroad are threatened. The bacon fac
tories and creauieries of Denmark,
which depend entirely on England for
their coal. will soon have to discontinue
their shipments to this country.
News comes today that one OF the
South American governments is com
Wandering the stock of coal on hand IN
its ports for naval purposes which will
prevent the shipment of meat to Eng
land.
1t is officially declared today that
the Derbyshire pits will not be reopen
ed until the surface mems demands for
increased wages have been complied
with.
In political circles it is believed that
the return of Mr.. Balfour to the lead
ership of the Unionist party in the
house Of commons is more than tenn
porary one and that in all the big
debates he will take the actual, If not
titular, leadership of the opposition.