London, Feb. 2.
Industrial circles here are extreme-Jy exerisecd by he action of Middlesbrough and London dockers in refusing to load a cargo of pig-iron into the Japanese steamer Haruna Maru.
It will be recalled that Southampton and Liverpool dock workers similarly refused to handle Japanese cargo recently, contrary to the advice of their unions, whose official attitude is that the Government should be urged to refrain from selling war materials and lending money to Japan.
"The question whether the action of the dockers violates the Trade Disputes Act of 1927, which makes strikes illegal except in a trade dispute, is being anxiously canvassed.
The "News-Chronicle" says the matter will be raised in Parliament.
Dockers maintain that they are in mo way striking in the' ordinary sense. They assert that they are only spontaneously demonstrating a conseiemtious refusal to assist Japan in eny way in her war against China.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.