The New York herald., 1921-04-10

certain anyway that intimidation would
be stopped,
As one OF tine union leaders AT Unity
House. the Triple Alliance headquar-
ters. said tonight. his voice tinscd
with pride:
"British labor ART Rcd Guards YETI
The miners found the nation uaited
a gainst them an6 Welded. The Govern
inent, too. showed ability 10 compromise
on the terms Of the conference. opt
there is much praise for Mr., Licyd
George in all quarters here to-niSa'
that he stuck to his guns on the cues
tioa or protecting the nations heritage
the mines-first of all. There has neen
great damage done to this heritage
already. bus. there is some reason 70
bspeve that reports oe the damase
have been exaggerated
.phece Will be much idleness o. ac-
count of the falling off OF praducu"h
and the miners probably VIII not Ses -
good a settlement as they might nave
gotten last Week
Agreement Basis Is Sought.
the moderates. headed by Thomas
had striyen valiantly throughout the day
10 find a basis for an agreement. %
freouent became the trips between down.
ing Street and Unity House. which Is the
hEadouarters Of the Triple Alliance, tnat
Mr.. Thomas's faithful factotum gave up
The search for taxicabs and hired TWO
cars by the day
Word came from the Headquarters Oh
the TRIBE Alliance that neither the RANK
and file OF the railway men nor tlie rams
and file of the transport fedcratioh
relished the task that has been SET then'
Many branches of the railway men or
eanization telegraphed TO Mr. thomas
that thew 10 not favor Il strike a. this
time. while many OF the transport work
ers unions, including those OF fireaeh
and sean1en, told Harry Gosling their
leader. that they did not want TO strihe
before a ballot had been taken on the
question. Mr.. Thomas plainly wei
coined this stand. He has been against
a strike all through. These protests.
from his own partisans gave MN lust
the excuse he needed to urge concii.a.'oR
with the miners, where he couid not
have done this If he were speaking
purely from national viewpoint with
ont being accused of favoring the 'iov-
ernment and the viewpoint of the owners
The preservation OF the mines, the
nations industrial backbone and beer,
was the centre about which to-day's
talks reyolved The Government re-
n,ained firm in its attitude that this
safety must come first. The day opened
with an offer from Premier Lloyd
George that, the safety of the mines
being the first consideration, the miners
were either to pump them themselves
undar the old wages and condition of
enployment or to permit the volun-
teers to pump them without molesta-
ton.
Kings Appeal Success.
The crowd is playing a large part IN
the drama 1t is the armed forces OF
the crown" with which the Government
expects to fight the strike. The tre-
n1endous success of the Kings appeal
for volunteers to-day has encouraged
the Government to go on with this
course.
1t has been announced that no defi
mite steps have yet been taken to ration
food The railways individually have
circularized the statement among their
employees that they have not the slight
est intention of reducing railway wages
to the prewar level. which was the
miners big appeal to their brother
unionists. namely, that the attack on
the wages of the miners was but the
prelude of a concerted effort to reduce
all labor to the prewar conditions.
unemployed whom labor had counted on
to help won't be with the miners, but
with the Government. Scores OF thou
sands of these men. from ex-officers to
men in the humblest walks of life, are
reporting at headquarters for volunteer
service.
The fact is that unemployment Is al
ready such a serious factor in the situa-
ton that the general workers do not
Inc 4I,.t xt,fIl aad ~ u tu
burden.
Millions In Tonnage Held Up.
1t is estimated that more than 5.000,-
900 deadweight tons of British ship
ping is now idle, more than half this
amount being directly due to the coal
shortage The regular ocean services al
ready have been curtaied. The Conti-
mental service has not yet been cut. but
il was announced tonight that IL the
Triple Alliance strike happens next
arrange to run its own mail boats from
Calais to London Bridge direct.
Throughout the country reports that
the potters and brick and steel works
are closing are giving hotheads in the
labor movement further reason to think.
And these facts. coupled with the re-
ports of permanent injury TO many pits
through tiood ana ire, arec0unted on 10
effect a settlement quicker than any
process OF starving out the miners.
The miners are beginning TO realize
that even II they win the strike the
damage done by floods to the pits will
mean that scores Of thousands of their
members will be left idle after settle
nlcnt he's beer reached until huge new
shafts are sunk and new machinery Is
erected.
II is here that the fear OF American
competition also is playing an important
part. The "Colliery Investment Trust"
again has Z quarter page advertisement
N ue Times this morning stating that
1t is ready to supply Kentucky coal to
any por, in the world the quality and
terms rivalling the best offers the Brit
ish ever made. II is reported that many
important enterprises are asking Brit
ish colliers now whether they can guar
antce 4 sufficient supply after the strike
has been settled An oquivocal answer
has been returned in most cases and
Anyers are reported to be making def
iaite Inquiries or american firms.
FRANCE HAS PLENTY