The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-07-03

thrown into the struggle to defend the
miners, in what developed to be the
greatest general strike in human his
tory from the point of view of forces
arrayed, one against the other, tho it
ended in a debacle hardly without
parallel in the records of the labor
movement of any country.
At Downing street the executive
committee of the capitalist class,
which was solidly behind the coal
owners sat and acted with vigor.
They had no illusions about the chal-
lenge to the government involved in
the general strike, tho being quite
well aware that the leaders of the
General Council had no more ambition
to overthrow the government than had
the prince of Wales, who had returned
from a continental watering place to
do his duty at the home front as his
good friends on the capitalist press
told us. He few home in an airplane
and was not heard of any more until
after the strike was over, when the
papers announced that he had to go
grouse hunting in Scotland in order to
recuperate after his arduous toll dur
ing the crisis.
Eccleston Square was the seat of
the industrial government which did
not realize it was a government.
Neither did it want to. Here was
quartered the high command of the
labor forces, with Ernest Bevin, tn
"Dockers' K. c." general in command
The statue of Lord Nelson, in Ira.
falgar Square, looked down ON group
of buildings in which were housed as
worried a set of British officials as
ever presided over the destinies of the
empire. Not since the Spanish ar
NADIA threatened the tight little isle"
in the days of the Virgin Queen"
were there so many evil forebodings
floating thru the air of Whitehall
All the capitalist papers, with the
exception of the Daily Mail and few
others, were on the streets screeching
like deceived prostitutes. Yet they
knew what they were talking about
There was no division here. Most of
them had words of praise for ]. H.
Thomas.
Pictures showed Mr.. Thomas she'd
ding tears all over the town. He was
their man.
Motorcycles with message-bearers
dashed out of Whitehall to all parts
of the country. The government knew
it was at war, and it did not know
how long it would be able to depend
on the telegraph.
Similar sights could be witnessed at
Eccleston Square. Here is an excerpt
from an announcement that appeared
on May in the Daily Herald:
yloG"The T. u. C. appeals to all friends
and supporters who have motor cars
to place them and their own services
at the disposal of the Movement in
order to maintain complete chain of
communication between district and
district" This also looked as if the
T. U. c. knew it was at war.
There were plenty of motorcycles,
with engines running and riders in
the saddle, waiting at all trade union
headquarters. They also rushed madly
to all parts of England, Scotland and
Wales with dispatches. The govern
ment dared not interfere.
AS a matter of fact, the government
was as weak as a cat during the first
days of the strike. The legend "By
Permission of the T. U. c." carried
more weight in many parts of Eng
land than "On His Majesty's Service"
THE Welsh chambermaid in the no.
l. tel where I stayed was humming a
song as she worked. / suspected the
language was Welsh, and so it was.
Being curious, inquired what it was
an about, and she told me that the
song was in praise of the prince Of
Wales.
Her three brothers and father were
on strike and she was certain they
would fight to win.
"What do they do when they are on
striker" asked.