The north Mississippi herald., 1921-04-22

LONDON, April 15.-Hopelessly
outmaneuvered on the eve of its
greatest battle, labor has lost its first
national fight with the government,
even before the first real gun was
fired.
By forcing Frank Hodges, leader
of the miners, to yield their foremost
demand for a wages pool, Premier
Lloyd George completely outgeneral-
ed the triple alliance, forcing a split,
which is likely permanently to smash
the alliance.
After the most spectacular conflict
within the inner ranks of labor re-
corded in its history, ]. H. Thomas
and Harry Gosling have called off the
railroad mems and transport men S
strike six hours before the notices
were to become effective. Thus the
government won a bloodless victory
over the protagonists of the general
strike.
Britain Amazed.
This entirely unexpected denoue-
ment, which is making Great Britain
gasp with arnaZement tonight, began
late last night when Frank Hodges,
appearing in behalf of the miners
federation before 200 members of
the House of Commons, admitted that
he was prepared to abandon the
hitherto inexorable demand for the
national wage pool.
This concession made peace appear
certain, and in the public mind it was
virtually achieved when at 2 o'clock
this morning Lord Gainford, on be-
half of the coal owners, formally an
nounced their readiness to forego all
profits from the sale of coal during
the period of depression in order to
amend the recent wage cuts.
At 10 O'Clock this morning there
began series of meetings between
the constituent federations of the al
lance, which resulted in the forces of
labor being thrown into complete
confusion.
The conferences were of the most
secret character, but even in the
street outside of Unity Hall the tor
rent of fierce imprecations and angry
denunciations came clearly to the ears
of amazed listeners.
The radical wing of tho miners
federation hotlys repudiated Hodges
fundamental concession and charged
him with betraying the cause. The
triple alliance council of six was also
vociferously resentful of Hodges
climb down, because it made the al.
lance look as though it was engaged
in ridiculous game of bluff in sup
porting claims which the miners did
not intend to adhere to.
A majority of the miners fedora
ton tried to retrieve the situation by
sending official notification to Pre-
mier Lloyd George that they still ad-
here to the national pool demand.
While the triple alliance continued
their heated debate, Premier Lloyd
George late this afternoon, before the
hushed House of Commons, made
the following announcement:
mo peace has been reached. The
government is prepared to meet the
national strike"
Triple Alliance Calls 1t OF.
Twenty-Five minutes late, at 4 o..
clock, ]. H. Thomas, pale and hatless
emerged from Unity House and sai6
to waiting reporters:
AnC 6tAAAC VI bAG I0l1IOaQ ulCL
and transport workers is cancelled.
He then abruptly retired behinc
the closed doors. When the House
of Commons rose a half hour later
Premier Lloyd George said he had not
been informed of these spectacular
happenings.
The triple alliance meeting broke
up too lated to enable Thomas to an
nounce the strike cancellation ir
Commons.
In a letter to Frank Hodges, .ths
leader of the miners, announcing
their withdrawal from the fight, the
triple alliance executives failed tC
give their reasons for the withdrawal
but it is known to be due to the fail
ure of the miners federation to sup
port Hodges in his concession for ths
resumption Of negotiations.
Hodge denies the repeated rumor.
that he has resigned. Now confront
ed with an isolated fight with the Goa
owners and the government, ne call
ed an immediate meeting of the dele
gates from all coal fields to decid,
upon the next steps.
Labor unions throughout the coun
try are tonight stupefied by the day,
A. A