Evening star., 1926-10-31
COSTLY ENGLISH STRIKE
! LAID TO POLITICAL PLOT
Social Revolution Rather Than Industrial
Betterment of Miners Declared
Leaders Motive.

coal war been based on purely eco
nomic differences. If only those had
been at stake both sides could have
settled months ago. 1t was and still IS
struggle-not for wages-but for
political power. Cook and his fellow
Communists tried to force organized
labor to adopt Russian principles and
methods. They tried to force the
hands of the parliamentary Labor
party and bring men like Ramsay
Macdonald and Thomas over to
their sides by fear Of losing trade
union support.
During the general strike they
very nearly succeeded, because Ram
say Macdonald, who hated that
strike as a convinced constitutional
ist and Thomas, who hated it even
worse as a convinced imperialiSt, both
lay low, and did not find the courage
to diSSociate themselves completely
from this outrageous adventure. L
believe Ramsay Macdonald missed
his chance of real and powerful lead
crship at this time.
Goes OFF to Sahara.
If he had instan; y, and boldly de-
nounced the gene al strike and re-
fused TO lend an hand in its sup.
port. instead of uttering querulous
abuse at the go. ernment, which was
maintaining Law and order, he would
have swung Ger to his side all Of
that middle lass liberal opinion
which is syn: pathetic to labor, while
unswervingly hostile to revolution.
AS it is. Ramsay Macdonald betrayed
his weakness and lost his moral pres
tige. Now. diSgusted with his eX-
treme followers, he has gone off to
the Sahara Desert. leaving others to
clear up this mess.
On the labor side one man has vast
ly increased his reputation and is well
on his way to high office in any future
labor government. That is Frank
Hodges, who, as secretary of the
Miners international Federation, has
told the cold truth to leaders of the
miners time. and time again. He has
warned them OF their folly; exposed
their false arguments and ridiculed
their vanity. They want his blood, but
they have q young man educated at
Ruskin College. oxford, after his boy
hood in the coal pit, who has no fear
of Cook and his little gang of imita-
tion Lenins. One day, as I venture to
phophesy, he will be prime minister
of England. But before that can
happen. England must put her house
. in order if real disaster is to be
aVerted.
Wants Ideas of Ford.
Industrial organization in Great
Britain is hopelessly out of date. The
mind of organized labor is all wrong
and stuffed with fallacies. No prog
ress can be made until British labor
gets out OF its head the ridiculous no.
ton that by limiting output they are
giving more jobs to more men. They
utterly refuse to believe that by speed
ing up the output and so cheapening
costs there is more demand for goods
produced and more labor needed.
We want Henry Ford over in Eng
land. If L were the King I would
send a cordial invitation to Henry to
come and stay a month or two at
Windsor Castle. / would put a Daim-
Ter at his disposal instead of one of
his own tlivvers, and l would ask him
to look over the conditions of the
British industry and tell us how to
adapt his own methods and philosophy
of high wages and short hours to
British social conditions.
| believe Henry Ford would see
how. and | believe also he would be
pleased to do it as a friendly American
citizen of the world
1t needs n friendly industrial
prophet like that to put new ideas
into the heads of British workinemen
who think plenty of strikes are good
for work and wages, especially when
they are kept in food and 'baccy bv
benevolent boards of guardians, out
of public funds.
(Copyright 1921