Evening star., 1916-01-07
ng with satisfaction. walked down the

|
floor of the house to present the bill
| formally to the chamber. His appear
ance. was the signal for rapturous
| ovation. members of all SIDES standing
and cheering, while the galleries could
| with difficulty be restrained from join
| ing in the enthusiasm.
| An analysis of the vote showed that
the government had held the great
| bulk of the liberal and conservative
vote The Irish nationalists had voted
against the bill. but the Irish union
| lists supported the measure, and the
IO'Brienites took no part in the divi-
sion.
liberal members. the most notable be-
| ing John Burns. the former cabinet
member. A number of labor members
also voted with the opposition.
, Labor Congress Important.
| The labor congress, which yesterday
| by a great vote refused to indorse
| compulsion. was, in many ways, the
most important body of the kind ever
| assembled. More than one thousand
delegates were present, representing
| 400 unions and 100000 workers.
| In addition to the formal vote against
the governments compulsiOn bill. the
congress rejected by four to one a
| motion pledging support to the Drinci-
pie of compulsion for single men, and
passed by two to one another motion
directing the labor party to oppose the
| bill in all its stages in the house of
commons.
The congress closed with an enthu-
siastic scene, the feature of which was
the singing of the socialist anthem
The Red Flag" by some of the dele
gates.
| The delegates met in the so-called
| Central Hall d large new building
! erected by the Wesleyan Methodist
| churches opposite Westminster Abbey
and d stones throw from the parlia-
| ment buildings, the denominations 8
| national headquarters.
Makes Fiery Anti" Speech.
| One of the early speakers James
Henry Thomas. assistant general sec
| retary of the Amalgamated Society of
Railway Servants. kindled his hearers
to fierce enthusiasm. His an out
| and out -compuIsion speech ap-
| pealing to the trade unions mot to
| sell their heritage of freedom
A speech by Arthur Henderson, presi-
| dent of the board of education, came as
+, sedative to the passionate feelings
| aroused by earlier speakers. He spoke
| ca lTnly anu loSIcdliy, ueIeHulnS not
| merely the resolution before the meet
| ing but also the compusion bill itself
But his effort was insufficient 10 turn
| the tide of opposition and il was a fore
gone conclusion when the vote finally
was reached that the resolution would
| fail.
With the exception of the Miners
| Federation, which refused to partici-
| pate owing to internal differences with
| the joint board, virtually every trade
union of Importance in the country was
represented in the congress. The num-
! ber of societies voting is given, from
one source, IS 400, made up follows:
Trade unions, 31l; trade councils and
local labor parties. SO: independent Ia
Dor party organizations, IL.
| Will Stay in Parliament.
| Arthur Henderson and his two
miner labor colleagues who resigned
from the coalition ministry will re-
ma in in the labor party and retain their
seats in parliament.
| Mr.. Henderson said, regarding a sug-
gestion concerning his resignation from
parliament made in his speech before
the labor congress, that he there stated
that he would resign his seat if he were
/ definitely bound by the vote of the
idelegSt tes to certain action in. the
| house. He has not been so bound and
there is no reason for him to resign
and seek reelection. he said, adding:
| Il am supporter of the bill and shall
| The compulsion bill is supported
! by about ten of the thirty-f1ve members
| of the labor party, which is likely to
show a divided vote at all it's stages,
despite recommendation of the la
Dor congress that the party oppose it.