New Britain herald., 1922-09-18
BRITISH AND ]. 5.
 MINERS TO UNITE
Will Aid One Another in Time of
 Labor Disputes

Atlantic City. Sept. 1s.--An alli.
 ance between the coal miners of
 Great Britain and the United States
 to aid each other in time of strike
 Is being planned, 1t was learned yes.
 terday whan William Green. secretar,
 treasurer of the United Mine Work
 CTS of America, announced that a
 conference to bring about such CO.,
 operation had been suggested by the
 Miners Federation of Great Britain
 and had been favorably received by
 the officers of the American union.
 Such an alliance, Mir. Green ex-
 pained, would prevent the exporta-
 ton of British coal to America to
 break strikes here. or from America
 to Great Britain when miners there
 were striking. He said that con-
 ference of representatives of the two
 miners unions would probably be arranged soon.
 the American Federation of Labor, which concluded its sessions yester- day. expressed hearty approval of the proposal last night and said it would probably hasten the end of coal strikes in both countries.
 Mir. Green who also is vice president of the American Federation of Labor, said the British Miners Union had sent check for s22,ono to the United Mine Workers to he<p to finance the recent nation wide strike. The suggestion of confer ence between the British and Amer ican miners, Mir Green said, had come from Frank Hodges, secretary of the British union, as a result of correspondence about British coal shipped to the United States during the recent coal strike. The Amer ican union first informed the British organization that Welsh coal was be- ing sent here to break the strike.
 We were agreeably surprised to re- ccive the British miners suggestion, saio Mir. Greene While the British union appeared powerless to halt coal shipments to America, Mir Hodges expressed the desire for an alliance that would prevent such situations in future
 The suggestion of conference will be submitted to our executive A be favorably acted upon.
 T do not believe the thousands of tons of British coal that came to this country during the last strike had any effect. but I took the matter up with the officials of the British Min CTS Federation and they appeared to want to cooperate.
 While we have no fear of British coal breaking any strike in America or American coal breaking any strl ,v in Great Britain, there should be some understanding. It is quite prob able that an allianc6e to safeguard the miners in both countries will be brought about"
 Transport Workers Involved.
 Whether transport and marine 1 workers of Great Britain and the United States will be represented in the proposed conference. Mir. Green did not know. but it was pointed out that the miners could not prevent ex- port of non-union coal to Great Brit l ain in time of strike unless they had the support of the marine and trans port workers to prevent the move ment of coal from non-union fields to 1 the seaboard.
 Should an alliance be made be- tween the British and American min CTS. labor leaders said today, it would be one of the most formidable labor combinations in the world. The United States Mine Workers. with 600,0O0 members, the largest labor union in America, and the British Miners Federation, comprising more than 100000 workers, are the two principal labor bodies in the world.
 During his recent visit to America to attend the convention of the Am erican Federation of Labor as fra ternal delegate from the British Trades Union Congress, Herbert Smith. acting president of the British Miners Union, in an interview at Cincinnati, said that closer co-opera- ton was needed to protect the mutual interests of these two great miner or ganizations. He said the British min ars' sympathies were with the Ameri can strikers, and that if necessary , would refuse to mine coal to be sent nere. He said, however, that Ameri- san miners should take the same at itude He pointed out that during I he British miners strike little over i l year ago hundreds of thousands of ', ons of American coal had been sent | 0 England. |,
 The miners of Great Britain are we'll organized and could shut off all $ exports if necessary, Mir. Smith eX olained. It is different in America, where there are non-union coal fields. q
 MT. Green said today that all but ( ,o, 500 of the 500, union miners of | he country, who have just ended their S i've months strike, had returned to r york. I
 Normal Output Near Record.
 While it will take some time to tell . he exact number of men who have eturned to work" said Mir Green, preliminary reports show that there Ire not more than 5o,000 men still ut Most of these are in the non . lnion fields of Pennsylvania and West :. Virginia. Theirs may be long strug. :. lie, but the organization will put its '" ntire resources back of their fight ,oal production should soon be nor U nal, both in the anthracite and bitu- U ainous mining regions" ', MT. Green estimated that 25,o0o ainers were on strike at Fayette . ounty, Pennsylvania, against the rnited States Steel corporation: 2,5oo . I Mingo county, West Virginia: B.