Emergency Press > Emergency Press, Special Edition

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>N1
COMBINING THE ISSUES OF
TIDE G
'
�A. Q W HE
'
': ALD
THE DAILY RECO>' D
TIDE BUL.T,
.
4
.
ETIN
SPEC I AL
EDITION.
GL
.
,
'
-
� SG 1 ,' EVEN.IN� NEWS
THE EVE' ING TIMES
THE CITIZEN
WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 1926-
C
��E PEACE TV.Ri'G
1
VES
C. 1�inet �0 1Vleet "T.U.C.
Council
ONFUSED SITUATION. IN SHIP-YARDS
AND
ENGINEERING SHOPS
Lega� I�ec�s��n m�i General Strike
lmportan
`
developinents indicating that 'peace moves were in progress
)
with
s iew
to a settlerne i ; of th"e general Strike took
-
place in London last
itlg
"'
t. `-.
The General Council
of � the T.U.t: held two meetings in the evening
at
-
their' headquarters, and were``joined by the full executive of the Miners'
Federation, It wa.4 stated that the Council , were meeting to explore still
further
the situation, not'"`only for the purpose of opening the door for
tesamed negotiations; but . of keeping it open. -
Earl this
�mor'ning it
wa .
announced that. a meeting had boen arranged
between 'the` Cabine: and the T.U.C. CouLVil
The_ is remargable confusion with regadd to
the,
situation
in
the ship-
yards nd en-meel ing - shops,. The trade
uniu`u
officials in the different
districts
state •
;
that they
-
,have instructions from the General Cnun•-.l of the
:'rides Uniun Conp;ress
to
call their men out,-..and the General
Council
state
that thR, hive not issued such" instructions.
Mr_ Justice Asthury
,
yesterday, in granting an iniunetion against certain
F,rapch -.flicials of the
-
-Sailofs' and Firemen's Union, delivered an important
jgdgme.'it on,-.the_ legal position, of ,members of trade unions who are at pres-
ent on strike.
in
th.-- absence of any industraaj dispute in their own particular
industry. Ile dec fared `-that the general strike', was illegal, a.nd persons facilities,
f
_
taking' part in' it were not protected
by
the Trade
,
' Disputes Act of 1906. SHARP
SENTENCES.
OFFICIAL. NEWS.
Further Improvement in
Situation,
4540 TRAINS YESTERDAY
The following official communique was
issued by the Government last nighb :—
WHITEHALL.
The situation throughout the country
shows a further improvement. The distribu-
tion of food supplies gives no cause ,what-
ever for apprehension .
There have been a few reports of tem-
porary local shortages in particular com-
rriodities, but
-
on investigation it has been
found that in the majority of these the re
-
ports are inaccurate, and in the remaining
cases the necessary steps have been at once
taken to make the position secure. `Especi-
ally .large supplies of sugar were distributed.
yesterday.
The situation at the ports is entirely sat�is_
factory,. R, there is a growing confidence
among traders as to,. their ability to move
goods consigned to them. without the direct
assistance
',)f
the., Government:
The'distribution of petrol, is proceeding
more rapidly than at any previous, period
of the general strike: There has, been no
interruption of the power services, and
traffic on the railways is continuously in
cr�gasing. Apart ,.from the surprisingly good
service, on the London underground rail-
ways, over.4000
-
trains were run on the four
ttiaiti systems yesterday, and more than 4500
will be run to-day.
A great increase in the number of goods
trains is reported, and the railway com-
panies are concentrating on a further im-
provement in thic- class of traffic. -
Sevan. hundred omnibuses we're, working,
in- London
,
yesterday, and this- number will
be increased Ito-d-ay to .850. The public are
urged to avail themselves freely of the traffic
PEACE HOPES,
The Preliminary Moves.
KEEPING THE DOOR
a, �t9
There was an important development last
night concerning the earlier reports that
tentative peace moves were in progress. A
hurriedly summoned special meeting of the
General, Council of. the T.U.C, was held at
Eccleston Square, London, at six o'clock.
For this meeting
-
Mr J. H. Thomas returned
from the House of Commons.
It was officially stated that f the Council
were meeting with a view to 'exploring still
further the position. Mr' E. L. Poulton, a
rriember of the General Council, said :-" We
ar9 bound to` explore the position not only
for the purpose, if possible, of opening the
door for resumed negotiations, but of keep
door it open: We don't want to leave any
door closed if we feel that by exploring the
position we can keep it open."
The Oeneral.Council of the T.U.C, sat only
for an lour and then adjourned until eight
o'clock. Just before seven o'clock Mr
Ramsay MacDonald and Mr Arthur Hender-
son left for the House of Commons.
MINERS AT ECCLESTON SQUARE.
There was great excitement a. hecieston
Square when the news of a possible peace
move had spread rapidly;' -and in conse..
qquence a
•
considerable crowd col
i
eoted. The
(leneral Council reassemb�ec, soon after
eight o'clock, and they were Joined' by the
fall executive of the Miners' • Federation.
In the adjoining 'bui.din the . e$ccutive of
the Labour Party were also in session. It
was stated unoMcially that a definite change
iri the situation was .lot iikely to • •,. ke place
last night, and that whatever moves were
being - made were' essentially of • a prelim
inary character.`
MIDNIGHT . CONVERSATIONS.
The General _ Council was still sitting 'at
rdid$ight.' After they had
-
been' iw consul-
tation' ;with the miners''' executive for two
hours the' latter rifei th@ executive of, tiie
Labour'Party with
-
whom they were still in
confeence.at 11.15. They were aec?mpanied
by. =
Mr.
Ernest Bevrn
-
and
•Mr• Ramsay
MacDonald.
-
'
It' having :been - asserted in some quarters
that one of the chief reasons why , tue nego=
tiations ,between the Government' and the
T.UX. had not been resumed 'was > that the
T,U.C. ' had lost its control ano ascendancy.
We learn from. a reliable source that that
is emphatically not the case. Assuming that
negotiations had been •esumed the' T.U.C.
is at this moment in complete power, and if
fit
so
;'cUose could
;
oall.
j
gff
;
the. ,gengral
.strik�,
of
au
thority its continxi inoe. Effort's which
OPEN
had been made during the day to dispel
any atmosphere of mistrust nad been some-
what weakened by the pro— ailirg doubts
on that point.
:
'NEW DEVELOPMENT.
Cabinet to Meet T.U.C.
General Council.
1
1
LONDON, Wednesday, 1 a.m.
The Prime Minister, Sir Arthur ,Steel-
Maitlarid, Colonel Lane Fox, Mr Winston
Churchill, Lord Birkenhead, and Lord`'Bal-
four, with Sir Horace Wilson, Pernfaaent
Head of the Ministry of Labour,,,, were in
conference. throughout the evening at 10
Downing Street.
The special ' Cabinet meeting at the House
of Commons lasted more than one and a
half hours, 'anci Mr Baldwin
-
and his col-
leagues went to Downing Street im-
mediately- after its conclusion. We learn
that a meeting will take place during the
night or
.
to-day between representatives of
the Cabinet and .the T.U.C. General Council.
MINERS' LEADERS GO HOME.
The. "Miners' rvecutive left the T.U.C.
headquarters at 12.30 a.m., declaring they,
were going home for the night. Mr Cook
said :—" There is no change in file situa-
tion. The T.U.C. Gener ! Cnuneil are still
sitting."
Information reached the Prime Minister
at 1.15 a.m. that the Trades (Inon Congress
representatives would not arrive early in
the morning. We understand, however.
that a 'comet ;--fion 'v
-
as expected later'
with a view to a meeting being arranged
luring the day. Shortiv
,
after the rece.int
of the T.U.C. message. the e7dibers of the
Cabinet left No
.
,
,
.
. 10 Do~rvn g.�Street.
The T.U.C. General - Council rose at 1.35
a
.
m. his thorning after having-been in ses-
sion since 'shortly after,eight o'clock
,
last.
night. .. :«
It is understood the (leneiab Council and
the miners will continue, their disussions
at 10 a.m.­
-
THE
MINERS'
7
-POST.TION. :
Mr' Cook on ; Peace Terms. _
The Aliners'. -,Feaerati: rr�F,xecutiv:e` held
-number of meetings ye4*Ay-. •. Early .-m
the. morning -t13ey_ had a;
•
visit ' from Mr
Ramsay MacDonald. -.'Tl a executive were in
session at their hey;
,
73,,apters for an hour
last -evening, and their �)roeeeded it Eccles-
ton Square to hear reports •rom the T.U.C.
on the progress...of events to the country-
The executive-'will acain meet `at th'e T'^
,
ler-
a.tion headquarters in Russell Square at
10 o'clock this morning.
In an interview ydsterd.av Mr A. J. Cook
made the following statement :—" The
Miners' Federation Executive met this
(Continued fat Foot of Ne$t Column.)
Order and quiet reign throughout the
whole island, ,and practically no attempt's at
sabotage have been brought to the notice of
the authorities. Sharp sentences have been
imposed by the loci! magistrates on a num-
ber of persons who were arrested last week
for disorder and intimidation. „
The recruitment of special constables pro-
ceeds apace. The numbers enrolled . are
ai.-eady 200.000 in the provinces, and over
40,000 in London, in addition to a very satis-
factory intake as a resul
t
.. of the first day's
enlistment for the new Civil Constabulary
Reserve.
A s regards the strike .position generally, it
can be said that the number of individuals
returning to work is increasing, and in some
cases
co
nsiderable bodies of strikers have
applied for reinstatement.
On the otrer`hand, there is as yet little
sign of a c;eneral collapse of the strike, and
the Trade Union Committee is believed to
be making efforts to call out certain trades
still at work. It can be, however, definitely
stated that. there is a growing dissatisfaction
among the strikers with the policy
of
a
general strike and considerable uneasiness
as to its ultimate results'.
FLIGHT TO THE POLE.
Amundsenn
'
s Airship Starts.
Oslo, Tuesday.—A message from Kingsbay
Spitzbergen, states that the airship Norge
started fbr the North Pole at 10.10 this
morning.
It is officially announced that Captain
Amundsen will take possession on behalf of
the King of Norway of an pp land, that. may
be fount)
-durin
g
the expedition.—Reuter.
(Continued from Previous Column.)
morning and reviewed the position in the'
light of messages received. from all over the
coalfields appealing to the .xecutive to
stand firm against any compromise in' either
hours; wages, or a national agreement: On.
behalf of the executive I desire, to inform
the miners and, the .general public, that. we
are . as firm to-day as we were when the
miners decided unanimously., after the ques-.
tion had been referred to every district,
that there were , to' be. no reductions in
wages. : In -th ' v�ords of . the ,Presi,dent, ,Mr
Herbert Srrtiti:'� hve' nou`ght.ao gye '"'
Replying
to
a c ue�t
,
-
-
as
-
to whether
.there had been anvG rlegottatioris,;
.
Mr
'
-Cook
added :-":There =.have .jieen: no tfegsotiations•.
There are many Infideuces„t,,unoerstAnd�'at
work with= tl;J4hj*ct rof ding, `brill e;
birt wliatever`briti cis fo.ut,itrr'st be, 'on8
g
that wall: secure. the status quo 'ta f -least.. for
the miners."_.
,
. I _ w
.
, -:.,, .
Interviewed
:
earlio'r An the "day.,Mr Cook
. stated :-_ " Numbers' bf pe61e have been
approaching. the:xn4 ep'� offi.crals•with a vie
w
.
to getting
,
a settlement :of
,
•the,�deadl`_ k.
I =desire again, to :r'epeat; what :"I
;
,stated• at
my meeting at -,
N
e
w
;
.-Cross
- on': Sunday,=
namely, that peace•: is 'possible: at any
moment on tertiis• that will give_:'economtc
security to the ruiner ' Hip wages - at•, the
present moment ai'e .
:
-already • too- .low, :and
peace is possible; Whei7ever the Government
and ;the coalowne 4
ti
.are prepared
,
to 'ra-
t Cagnise that f*ot.'
ONE PENNY
10. -DAY'S STRIKE
EXTENSION;
Shipyard Complications.
ATTITUDE OF CLYDE MEN.
There are likely to be complications in
the extension of the strike this morning
to the shipyards and marine engineering
shops adl over the country. The trade
unions state that they have received the in-
structions from 'the General Council of the
Trades Union Congress, but, in at least one
case difficulties are' being, experienced in
putting these instructions into effect. The
Executive Council of the Boilermakers' and
Iron and Steel Shipbuilders' Society have
ir•forrrred their district officials that they
have no power under their rules for
inaugurating without, a . ballot
a
strike
such as that ,called . for by the . Trades , Hi
s
Lordship, giving his
-
decision, said a
Union Congress, an that, therefore, serious crisis had arisen in the country in ,
they cannot transmit the instructions regard to the dispute in the mining ..indus-
to their members. They. add, however, that try, and the General Council of ,the Trades
they leave the 'questioni of stopping work in
thi hands
of the
local officials and men in
the respective districts, and give them
liberty to act as they may think best.
It is understood that in some of the North-,
East Coast districts . the , men
are.
not in
favour of stopping work; but that on the
Clyde the officials have decided in favour
of calling out their members.' There is in
the' area ' a " Co-ordinatina Committee
re-
presenting
all the trades, and this committee
Jon which the boilermakers are -represented)
have issued a circular directing the mem=
bers of alb the societies to stop work.
The
he
of
fi
cials
in
Glasgow df
the Associated Blacksmiths' and Iron
Workers? Society have transmitted to their
members` all over Great Britain the
instruc-
tions
of the Trades Union Congress. In
-the
-
case
of the engineers and the
ship-
wrights."
the instructions have been issued
:from headquarters in London and Newcastl
e
.
respectively, and transmitted to the Clyde
members from
,
the respective local. offices.
National L' �+ Demanded at
Middlesbrough
.
A mass meeting representing 2000
members, of the A.E.U. at Hull last night
decided upon an immediate, strike. +'
With the exception of a few fitters and
plum
be
rs, the shipyard workers employed at
Smith's Dock, Middlesbrough; last night
declined to cease work although ordered to
do so by their exec_-'.i
,
es. About 2000 men
are employed at the shipyard, and at amass
meeting a resolutidn was passed declaring
tl:-t the methods of the T,U.C, were uncon-
stitutional. The . men added that they
would not come out on strike until a national
ballot was taken.
Tyne Men to Carry 7 On.
All the trades employed in the Tyne ship-
yards, have received instructions from the
Trades Union Congress to cease work. Sec-
tional meetings were held yesterday, and
some
trade
s
', decided
to cease work, but
others, including the _boilermakers and the.
shipwrights, .refused. The engineers' . at
Jarrow decided, without holding a meeting,
to obey the instructions to cease
-
work.
Meetings of .men in the principal ship-
yards and ` foundries in North and South
Shields have passed resolutions refusing
to comply with the strike call from their
respective unions.
TRADE UNIONS ANP
THE STRIKE.
a
_
Their Legal Position.
'BENEFITS:_ AND STRIKE
PAY.
Mr. Justice' Astbury, in the Chancery Divi-
sion, London, yesterday, again had before
him the motion by the National Sailors' and,
Firemen's Union of Great Britain and Ire-
land for an injunction against the secre-
baries
-
ands other officials of certain
branches
of the union to restrain them calling on
their members to strike or to leave their
employment ' without the authority of the
Executive Council and contrary to the rules
of the union.
INJUNCTION GRANTED.
ARSENAL WORKERS.
'
Told
-
by Their Union to Return:
The fo
ll
owing notice has been posted out-
si, the of
fi
ces of Ahe Workers' Union at
Woolwich headed Trades Union Congress
General Council, May �11
To the Chairman of the Electricity
r
A dvisgry Committee regarding Woolwich
Arsenal and
Enfield. "
" Tfie_ .borriniittee have resolved that, 'as
the men do'not come within the category
of the.
fi
rst order issued on. May 1; and .took
the step without .consultation with thew
onions, .any resumption must .rest with the
trades unions to which . they belong.—
(Signed), _Walter ,M: Citrine.
`.' In accordance with the_ibove,.instrue-
tions, all workers are:
.
.to,
'
resuine.
-work
&_
morrow morning 11Tay 12, (Signed) A-
Pilbi ow, `" local organiser Hof they' Vvorkers'
��
Union " . �_; w ;, :a;: .
THE
OFFICIAL
,
:
INST,RUC.TIONS
The stat
em
ent-
that ,the.shipbii )din "and.
en
g
ineering tracle_unronists Are p' par ng tai
come
=
out voluntarily
,
is
not
borne out by..`
4
the'"followuig;_telegiam which was sent out
on°
Sun
day
by
-
Mr Citrine, the`aeting'*secre-
tart' of
;
the Trades ,Union Congress General.
CouncrI
" necision re 41iPKuil
ding:
and engineer-
ing ` trades.—Engineering, and. shipbuilding
;trades `shall, `"unless otherwise 'ordered, re-
4fraia ;from starting work on Wednesday,
F
May
12:.-- 'This applies to. all
*-unions.
. This
border doe..
not.
apply to men engaged in
His
'
Maj;esty's. dockyards, Admiralty estab-
lishments, and-. Government eng#ie.eXin
establishments." a:
Union Congress had assumed control of the
dispute and had called on. their affiliated
unions to cease work if required by the
General Council. It was evident' from the
facts which had_. been stated that members
of the plaintiff union had been placed in a
position of doubt and danger, and it was
his duty to state their rights and those of
their union. The defendants had very fairly
admitted that . they' desired that -the mem-
bers of • their' union should be. told their
rights in the unfortunate circumstances
that had arisen w:
The so-called general strike called by the
Trades Union =Congress=Council was illegal,
and contrary: to law, and those persons in-
eiting or'taking part in =it, were :...xiot pro-
tected. by the- Trades -Disputes Act of 1906.
No trade , dispute` had -;- beerr alleged fi-.. or
shown %'exist' in any of the unions affected
except in the . miners' ease
'
'and -no trade
dispute -did' or,fcould exist.-"between the
Trades Union -Congress. on the .:one hand
and the Government and-the nation on .the
other. The orders of the. Trades Union Con-
gress =w re" therefore unlawful, and the de-
fendants were at law'- _cting illegally, in
obeyifig them, and could—be restrained by
their union
•
, f
ro
m' doirig so The plaintiffs' P
counsel had contended that if the members
of the plaintiff union .stiaying'in their. jobs
refused to strike they could 4not be deprived
of their union benefits, and 'the'defendants
had stated very properly that it was im-
portant to, them that the members should
know their rights' in this respect. The law
upon that matter was as follov(s :—
No member of the. plaintiff union or any
other trade union in this country can lose
his trade union benefits by refusing to
obey unlawful orders, 'and the orders of
the Trades Union' Council and the unions
who are acting in obedience thereto, in
bringing about the so-called general
strike, are unlawful orders, and the
plaintiff union is entitled to have this fact
made clear, and brought to the attention
of its members.
Trade
union funds in
-this country are held in a fiduciary capa-
city, and cannot legally lie used for or
depleted by paying stril e. pay to any mem-
ber who illegally ceases to work and
breaks his contract without justification
in pursuance
H
of orders which are unlaw-
ful, and . this fact also is one . that the
plaintiff union is entitled .and bound. to
make clear to its niemberin the difficult
position in which they have been placed.«
With regard to the second ground upon
which the. plaintiff
,
union sought to obtain
this injunction, the matter was beyond
question. The defendants, in addition to
acting in defiance of . the law, had . acted
contrary to the rules and order$, of their
own union, and were Also liable on this
ground at the suit of th it union to be re-
strained by injunction frcnn
eontinuing�o
do so. The result-was that-there niusf be
an injunction in, terms of the' notice of
motion.
Mr Reid, secretary of the Tower Hill
Branch, after consultation with the other
defendants, said they preferred to he re
strained by injunction rather than give an
undertaking.
His Lordship.—Then the injunction will
rpm until indempnt or further order.
IN IRELAND..
Belfast Dockers at Work.
''Although,"it'had''been`announced that the
dockers in'Northern Ireland would
.
: refuse tc
handle goods to or-from cross-channel ports.
work.
,
--Was
,
continued, ,s ,usual at ,Belfast
harbour es1 erday; and the . foodstuffs .
Y
:h cytigli't .: by,.rrthe.i Fleetw csd ; . and„
w
o to arrive` (�llasgoa
steata&s—the only-.t= were dis
charged., During-the work of unloading the'
meal field a .meeting, but ,they quickly re.
sunned on,.it being stated tha, there was nc
official instruction : to stop work.
The Londonderry dockers . yesterday re
fused to load a Burns-Laird liner with food
stuffs for' Glasgow. The dockers' represen-
tative, who called .the men out, stated that
the vessel would be loaded if ,the .auth-
orities obtained a T.U.C. permit. This was
not applied for.
Waterford dockers ceased work ,yesterday,
iefusing to handle foodstuffs and live stock
for Liverpool per s.s. Tuskar of-the
Clyde
Shipping Company.