New-York tribune., 1912-04-07

On whom the miners are now
.sing war, and have met some OF them
me- the present Strike" began. Iney
many things which 1 think likely 10
$" :. less interesting in America than
Rut before come TO that l VIII
hei' ,yord on the difference between
say t., end American methods of deal
80 with these convulsions' and Will 90
me % the railway strike of last sum-
paw described at the time some OF
me' rscnal experiences. But the poll
ny :, the two governments are far
e'es ,rteresting than any private ad-
ventures. 1 ro,,,,..,.
,.. {, 1894 I explained briefly and 1
sans clearly in The Times but l be-
nOr urithout any effect. I pointed out
- 1894 we were within twenty-fou-
Inv. Of a complete paralysis of the
...,scontinental railway traffic, when
thing. and one thing only, prevent
,.r,Alv. President Cleveland S an
.,,rcenent that he would not allow the
,--,.od states mails to be obstructed.
.,rs,,ance Of that resolve injunctions
r,re obtained from the courts ana the
...,kers who dsobeyed them were sem
~ ,rison for contempt. Then against
-. nrotest Of the Governor OF ILLINOIS,
~. no,or,ous socialist Altgeld. Uniteo
-. .roons we're sent into the state
"a aispersed the Chicago mobs. For
49,. M, Olnev. then Attorney General
- ~. United States found the law.
v,..uv Dehs and his accomplices were
,,a;ctod arrested. tried. sentenced and
.ont 70 prison. Their attempt has never
been renewed
Now H. obstruct His Majesty's mails
=, in England a criminal offence and
,b.v were. in fact. ohstructed for many
ssys during the railway and transport
,rorksrs strike. What was done ny the
covernment? With reference 10 the
walls nothing. The Government never
announced that they would not allow
tho mails to be obstructed. II they had.
and had followed up that announcement
NJ resclute action. as President Cleve-
q.
ended. They did use the troops to gar
r4son the London railway stations. ana
they did negotiate, putting, as usual
nore pressure on the railway authorl-
ass than on the strikers. who have more
votes.
But London saw a singular spectacle.
7, SAW the Postmaster General obtain
ing from Mr. Ben Tillett, the leader OF
the striking transport in Lon
don. permission TO convey His MaJestys
mails through the streets Of the
capital. If II was not the Postmas-
fer General in person, il was the Comp
,roller or some other high official who
got the permit. 1t was in writing. on
official paper: &c. r." (Georgius Rex
stamped in the corner. A facsimile OF
This interesting document was published
in The Morning Post" Of which the
authenticity was never denied. Ques-
TONED in the House Of Commons, tbs
Postmaster General defended the act OF
his subordinate as "a natural thing to
do in the circumstances.
20 back TO that as the source, or one
source of the irresolution OF the Gov
eminent in dealing with the present
crisis The strike has been months In
preparation. 1t is months since the
miners took ballot, and, by majority
Of three-fourths, resolved 10 send in their
notices al the end Of February. The
Government had ample warning. They
knew what the closing Of all the coal pits
in England. Wales and Scotland would
mean. They knew il was an attempt 10
coerce the owners. the public and the
Government by the terrors Of industrial
paralysis, of starvation. Of distress,
which innocent millions would have TO
endure They knew il was conspiracy,
and that there is a law against conspir-
acy.
They knew they could put the law in
motion. They knew what Australia had
done, the most democratic community,
perhaps, on the face of the globe. Aus
tTalia made arbitration compulsory, en-
forced submission TO II. and sequestrated
IN whole or in part. by taxation and
Otherwise the trade union funds which
alone made strikes possible. They had
that precedent They gave no heed to
Il They knew that 10000 miners had
voted against handing in strike notices.
There was every probability that they
o. some Of them would gladly resume
work II assured Of protection against the
trade unions, and II the owners were
assured OF protection for the pits. II
lew pits had been opened in this way
ana coal began again to come to the
surface more would soon follow. and the
heck Of the strike would have been
broken For a general strike is only
elective If ii is general. II is the abso-
iute privation Of coal. not the shortness
0 supplies. which makes IT formidable
But the Governmer. did not take this
STEP
fhey had other remedies at hand. To
use them two courses were open TO them
iney could by agreement with the OPP
POSITION on whose cooperation they
couio count, pass an Act Of Parliament
"nnin iorty-eight hours, putting into
'heir hanos such powers as they deemed
necessary " they could act at once
on 'heir own responsibility and trust 10
al ACT OF Indemnity afterward, which
w rariament that ever existed would
leiuse TO Government which had saved
we country. What they had to do was
make up their minds that war on the
community had been declared, and to
"eet II by war measures. They have
a'ser looked at it in that way. From
'ne beginning TO this moment they have