Loyal Railwaymen One of the most gratifying pieces of news to come to hand, and such are sorely needed in these trying' times, Is. the report that the British railway workers have decided to call off the threatened national strike which was to have commenced very shortly. The workers ure demanding a basic wage of £2:10:0 a Week as compared with £2:5:0, which is at present paid. The companies have resisted the demand for some time claiming that the ad-shillings per man would create an burden upon their revenues, which they allege have suffered in recent years from the competition of motor transport, and it was apparent a short time back that the two parties were so far apart that a strike seemed almost inevitable. It is to be assumed that the workers have arrived at their decision to call the strike off because of the prevailing situa-Aion, and is to be taken as an expression of the determination of Labour to. support the! Government to the utmost in its handling of} present crisis. A general strike of the railwaymen at such a time as this would have been unthinkable and might have obliged the Government to take steps for the protection of the nation which in other circumstances might not have been tolerated. Fortunately the workers by their action have ensured that in the event of war British transport services will be run at maximum efficiency, and any anxiety that! might have been felt on that score has now been dissipated. It is to be hoped that the loyalty of' these men will in due course be: recognized, not perhaps, by giving them all that they demand, but by seeking some compromise whereby justice between the men and the companies may be done. That the former' Ihave some cause for complaint has been evident for some years past, but the companies have linet been in a position to do much, and in fact only a short while ago were actually agitating for "Pair play for the Railways" It appears that their plight is now to be enquired into,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.