The Washington times., 1919-09-11

~ i
has descended for the time being over
F-,he labor and Industrial crisis which
feas faced England and which brought
into the glare Of daily publicity the
plans Of the Reds" for revolution in
Britain.
But England has not seen the end
of this crisis. It's head viii be raised
aEain without doubt some weeks
hence, breaking perhaps in a new
guise and certainly over some new
issue.
1t is very difficult to adopt a sane
end middle course in weighing ana
analyzing the situation, which has
brought many conservative English
men into the open, warning OF the
danger of ''red revolutions" The sit
uatfon is one of extremes, OF many
icomplications and of as many points
OF view as there are factions in Eng
land. And there are more factions IN
England than one would care to count
throughout a long and quiet summer
day.
The war knit the country together.
The end OF the war has shaken the
Factions apart. and each is hghtnG
its own battles.
Only n MUfher.
The ayzet blanket" which was su-
and Industrial situation largely oy
keen manipulation in Downing street
. and the adjacent Whitehall dlstrlcI
IS only q temporary mufler. The
form which Il took was progressive
move toward industrial reconstruc-
ton perhaps but it didn't reach the
causes Of the unrest: it acted merely
as a gong providing rest between
rounds.
This is about what happened:
Prices vyere-and are-high; there
were charges of profiteering, there
was much unemployment. there were
.innumerabIe wage disputes, there was
dissatisfaction with Intervention IN
Russia and the continuance Of con-
-scription. and there was the threat
of a coal, railway and shipping ue-up !
through strike for political ends by
the Triple Alliance.
The government started a profiteer-
ing probe and followed il with the
rush passage OF a bill to set up local
tribunals. to deal radically with prof I
iteers. winston Churchill announced |
that the issues for which the Triple |
Alliance proposed to strike were dead, |
as the government had already done |
or was doing all the things demanded, |
the chief demands being withdrawal
from Russia and abolition OF con- |
Bcription.
Takes BOIder Course.
Having forced a dissatisfied public |
70 wait and see" before becoming |
violent over the high-price situation |
aby institUting prOfiteering tribunals, |
and having removed the ground from |
beneath the Triple Alliances proposed |
ballot on the countrywide strike by /
proving TO the general public they in |
tended TO strike for dead isues, the |
zboider course
In typical Lloyd George fashion, |
zthe government, through the usually |
deeply silent Scotland Yard, launched /
sau attack on the extremists" or /
rBolshevilzs" Of the labor world. /
For several days, bit by bit, Scotland /
hEard revealed information regarding i
the hidden hand" told of the mes
ssengers they sent who were turned /
back, OF money which reached this l
country, and of the red" pamphlets 4
gfound in England. This was followed /
uby two or three spectacular raids on
3iextremist' headquarters and publi-
cation Of documents.
DamPen Hot Spirits.
There was much in these revels-
lions that. was immaterial. or that /
wasn't pertinent to the issue Of the
hour, but the net result despite at
tacks on this method of industrial
warfare made by the opposition
press, was to dampen the spirits Of
the agitators-
These, in a few words are the /
results Of the three government /
moves:
The public must wait and give the
government q trial at dealing with /
the problem Of prices The Triple /
ALLIANCE has had to withdraw its po-
litical direct action ballot and pause /
to reorganize its campaign, basing IL |
on the question Of naturalization Of !
mines and railways. And for the /
third point, the extremists have been /
round1y discredited and the fear OF
being ranked with the 'BolshevilIs"
put into the hearts Of the really in
teIliEent, but nevertheless radical
-scrappers among the recognized labor
leaders.
BasicaIly, no real change has been
made: the government has merely OBJ
tained for the country a breathing
space
Prices sdu High.
Prices are still high; the with
drawal from Russia has not yet been
effected; the activities Of the EEK
tremists" continue: while some labor
disputes have been settled, almost /
daily important points of friction de-
Telop; and, most important OF all, the
government has not yet discovered q
svay to meet the urgent problem Of
taxation and the war debt
The problem Of reconstruction has