May WHILE the general strike ab-' sorbs all attention, there is another issue which ought not to be, though one fears it will be, forgotten. Quite clearly the Trade Unions' declaration of war must be fought with all the strength and determination of which Great Britain is capable. Lord Buckmaster, a Liberal peer, by no means narrowly disposed to take a "class" view, said not a word too much when he described the strike as "one of the most wanton exercises of tyro nical power the country had been called on to meet in cei turies." To this end Labou steadily been organizing itself, that it may dictate to the rest of the country: and against it the country must and will fight.
But beneath this intolerable attack on national liberty, there remains always the question of the miner's position and contention. What is the real truth! labour these? From one source! we hear that his work, necessarily hard, dangerous and dis agreeable, is rendered far worse than it need be by poverty, bad living and indescribable " sur. roundings. On the other hand, some people aver that the averlage miner's wage is somewhere labour £5 a week, that he never [works more. than five, perhaps only four, days a week and that he always manages to keep his whippets or greyhounds. Today, also, a correspondent ladduces evidence and sta of output to show that the miner has lost all idea of doing decent day's work for his pay. 'Against all this, it is a fact we believe, that pit-head prices for coal increase by anything from fifty per cent. upwards at only a few miles from the shaft; and during the Coal Commission' inguiry, it was admitted, by a witness for the owners, that management salaries had, over the same period, risen out of all proportion to the increase in the men's wages; and when another witness said that the ing put a mem: ber of the Commission replied sarcastically that to his. knows ledge this been contemplated fo years without getting nearer realization, Yet one further thought, Capital, in the class sense, has received unmistakeable warnings since the war, and in many ways has shaped course accordingly. The tremendous power of tra unionism and the capricious intolerance with which it is too often used, has been seconded by kindlier feelings, and the whole spirit of the age tends to favour the best possible conditions for working-men and to uphold their contention for a fair share in the good things of life. It is, therefore, impos sible to believe that the mine owners have learnt nothing, that they are merely a set of tight fisted, hard-hearted skinflints, actuated only by the principle of extracting as much work for as little remuneration as possible, with no mind above the greedy desire to buy in the cheapest and sell in the dearest market.
Where is the truth? What are plain men, anxious only to justice and' merey, to think? 'Ansuredly the Executive of th 'Trade Unions do not help us to} find an answer. On the contrary, it would be difficult to imagine a greater disservice to the miners' cause than the Trade Unions have done by calling a general strike and by attempting in the House of Commons block every measure designed for the protection of the innocent public, It has often been remarked that the average jon is a peculiar animal. A born grumbler when things go well, he manages to steel himself against real troubles with a joke on hix lips, and where he' conceives himself in danger of being "put upon," he has the tenacity of a crab for his rights. With the intolerable nse of injustice which the general strike evokes, other more bitter feelings will come.
Presently the ship-builders and bootmakers will have to stop work as the potteries have had to do. for want of coal; where there is-no work, there are no wages; and of course the unemployment dole will cease, Then the workers, who und stand much more than their leaders give them credit for, will begin to ask, "why should we suffer all this wretchedness and, Drices for everything, for the pay more taxes and higher
benefit. of the miners?" And the cause for which the strike began becomes its enemy, and the rights wrongs of the] miners vanish in the dust of the greater struggle. But one] would fain know how far they are right and how far they wrong. ig announced that May is the special month out of all the your for anti-Christian activity, On Wednes-@ay there Wai pose of electing and it is reported that at this gathering 40 schools having anti Ghristian onions: were. represented. The chairman of the meeting, Lil Chiwo, gave an account of the work of the League since its inception" and asked all members to do their utmost to forward its aims.
Tue "Daily Express" says that sweeping proposals for the reform of the House of Lords have been|¥ presented to the Government by the Cabiney Committee, of which Vi count Gave is the head, If adopted, they will destroy the ancient. Upper Chatober, and will replace more democratic body." The recom mendations include that the House of Lords, at present numbering 142.4} Should be drastically reduced in size that there shall-be a nucleus, num bering 150, composed of peers of the blood royal, hereditary pee high rank, legal and. cecesiaetica peers; that these be. supplement by" slection by various electoral bodies from among present peers.
Chambers in the world rds 12 one of the weakest pointed of thet the Houee of
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.