The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-09-18
CHEER RESIGNATION
OF HAMILTON FYFE AS EDITOR
OF THE LONDON DAILY HERALD

to the railroad workers can be seen
by his refusal to answer the vital part
of the letter. Here is an excerpt from
the railworker's query, which should
receive attention from trade unionists
everywhere who are helping to break
the miners strike by shipping scab
coal
1--WE are given to understand that
the miners in other countries would
not send any coal to England, but
these miners are sending it. The
transport takes it to the docks, it is
loaded on the ships by the lockers,
brought across by the seamen, un-
loaded on this side by the English
lockers and then we railwaymen cart
it away to destinations and we are
blamed for handling coal after it has
passed thru the hands of men belong
ing to other unions"
Faker's Old War Horse.
Fyfe begins his reply to the letter
by opening a broadside on the Minor
ity Movement Conference and of
course on the Communists. This is
the old gag when caught politically
disrobed before the workers. The ex-
Daily Mail scribe rang the changes
on the "dictation from Moscow" stuff
that was breaking up the labor move
ment." The T. U. G.. called off the
strike because the miners refused to
accept the Samuel memorandum!
A. ]. Cook, secretary of the Miners
Federation opened fire on the Herald
editorial in scathing indictment and
before the smoke of battle cleared
Fyfe was on his way. Here is what
Cook has to say:
Cook Was Surprised.
81 am surprised that Labor's paper
should join in the chorus of the cap
italist press to attack the miners and
their leaders with an editorial that is
absolutely contrary to the truth.
"The article says that the general
council Of the Trades Union Congress
ended the strike because it believed
that the Samuel memorandum offered
the best chance of settling the coal
dispute which the miners were likely
to get, and that if the miners repre-
sentatives had agreed to accept that
memorandum no man would have got
less than sos. week.
my reply is: ~ That the Samuel
memorandum was never accepted by
the government or the colliery own
ers, and, therefore, work could not be
resumed on it; (2) we never had a
guarantee OF Sos. week.
"AIl we were ever offered was
that wages should not be reduced to
less than rs. Cd. day and all wages
below that were still to remain the
same. No weekly guarantee has ever
been given at all.
ut is silly and absurd Mr.. Cook
proceeded" to suggest that we could
instruct our men to return TO work
without the owners, who own the pits
and employ the men, allowing them to
do So Being locked out, we could only
secure a resumption of work on terms
upon which the owners would agree
% open their pits.
Council Was Anxious.
ut is quite evident that the editorial
in question is written to discredit the
miners and their leaders before the
British public.
"The truth is that the general coun-
ell of the Trades Union Congress was
so anxious to call off the strike that
is was prepared to accept something
in the form of settlement which did
not exist, and was prepared to trust
Mr.. Baldwin and the colliery owners
TO give II existence at some future
date.
"The miners executive was not so
prepared, and the fact that Mr. Bald
win has since repudiated the Samuel
memorandum proves that the miners
were right. Our duty was clear to the
million men who had given us man.
date"