Evening star., 1926-11-21

SentS far and away the great
est disa ster which has befallen
l. Great Britain since the war
and must be reckoned the
most considerable industrial conflict
in history. It has cost Britain upward
Of $4,000, 100000 in shrinkage Of ex-
ports; It has reduced the national rev.
enue by over $4O0, ,000, 900 and its ef-
fects will Be felt through next year.
It has also materially added to the
| floating debt of the country.
! But the tragic thing about the strike
Is that 1t seemingly can end only In
the very worst conceivable fashion, be-
cause Of the starvation OF the miners,
| who are being driven to return TO
work, but only with the obvious de-
| termination to resume the battle at
| the earliest possible moment. In the
meantime, 1t is folly to suppose that
any sort of economic efficiency can
| be had from men who will work IN
| their present temper.
| Beyond all else one must see the
fact, which is that long before the
| coal strike the coal industry was
| sick" It was an industry which,
although one Of the prime clements,
| If not the most important In ma
| tienal life, had come to a pitch, where
tcomplete and drastic reorganization
was necessary. The total coal raised
In Britain represented loss OF money.
There were mines which produced
profitably. but taken as whole the
cost of each ton Of coal raised In
Britain exceeded the price received
for it.
Many Mines Improbable.
Moreover, it was plain to all. and
the facts had been set forth In many
commission reports. that a large num-
ber of mines were no longer to be
exploited at all, because of the eX'
cessiye cost and that for other mines
it was necessary that there should
be q drastic reorganization. COM
plete modernization of plant, consoll-
dations and combinations which might
reduce overhead.
Finally it was plain that with the
advent Of oil and water power, the
coal market was never to be restored
to pre.war prosperity or magnitude.
Britain was bound to face the fact
that henceforth coal exports would
decline, particularly in the important
and profitable direction OF bunker
coal. Thus at one moment the IN
dustry had to be made over and
far-reaching plan had to be made for
l ~
activity of many hundreds Of thou
sands of miners who could not longer
find work.
In the situation the coal miners
stood firmly upon the principle of ma,
tional ownership. which, while 1T
meant a very considerable reduction
Of overhead expenses, also meant
| that the Government would be forced
to operate both paying and losing
mines, and the taxpayer would be
| forced to find the money to meet the
inevitable deficit. On the other hand,
| the mine owners took the stand upon
| the principle that the solution was
| the reduction of wages and the IN
/ crease in hours Of labor. The battle
would have been joined last year had
| not the Baldwin cabinet, at the final
moment, come forward with project
| to pay a subsidy-that Is, to cover the
F.! losses in the trade for period OF time
during which the whole subject was
/ to be Investigated and plans for reor.
ganization made. The notorious coal
subsidy, which prevented a strike last
| year. did, however, cost the country
over 100000, 900, and at the end of
the period-that Is, on May of this
| year-no plan had been found.
| Uc0eTA StEIkc CUlIOhS
The strike postponed last year was
! then inevitable. because the Baldwin
| government refused to continue the
subsidy, the mine owners refuesd to
! continue the wage and hour scale. and
| the miners took a stand upon the
principle Of mot penny off the wage
and not a minute on the time of
! labor" But the whole battle was ex-
tended by the sudden rallying Of all
| organized labor to the side Of the GOAL
| miners and the precipitation Of the
general strike Of last May.
| This general strike failed because,
although a very great sympathy for
the whole national life was intolerable.
| In less than two weeks this phase
| was over and the Baldwinlgovernment
| and particularly Stanley Baldwin him.
self, had acquired prestige and power
| by the efficient manner in which the
| whole affair had been handled. But
| it remained to translate the victory
| into some effective settlement Of the
main issue, which was the coal ques-
! ton. for although the general strike
was off the coal battle continued.
! The whole affair has been so badly
handled that the prime minister has
been deprived of the last bit of popu-
larity and political strength, and the
| Tory party has suffered shock,
which it may take very long to re.
cover from. And the reason is very
simple. AS the battle has developed
| Stanley Baldwin and his party asso-
| ciates have more and more permitted
themselves to be put in the position
! of the allies of the mine owners, and
in the last stages the mine owners
| themselves have openly flouted the
rather feeble attempts Of the govern.
ment to persuade the owners to go to
| conference.
Change I'm Party Status.
| Thus, for the first time in it's history,
! the Tory party has allowed itself to
be put in the position of the party of
capital, Of big business, and has be.
como the party opposed to organized
labor. Hitherto the Conservatives
have rather represented the old order
the country and agricultural aris.
tocracy-with a tradition Of SYM
pathy for the workers. and 1t has been
| the Liberal party, with it's Manchester
traditions, which has been identified
with the capitalist and with big bust
ness. But the Liberal party is dead
and disappearing, and the capitalists,
the right wing Of Liberalism, have not
gone over to the Tories, but have been
able in a measure to assist in the
transformation of that party.
Politically the result has been tragic.
| The government has not been able to
escape the position Of being the de-
| fender of one party to national dis
pute, and that party which, all things
considered, has not earned or deserved
national approval, for it is essential
to perceive that on the whole British
public opinion Is more and more tend
| ing to hold the mine owners response
BILE for the later and more devastating
| ,1bo cos oF the conflict