The Bon Accord and Northern Pictorial, Special Strike Number

T
1
Never in our history has the nation
been -.onfr onlijed with an industrial crisis
such magnitude as that in which we viere
plunged on Monday night. It is having in
some ways a more disastrous reaction on the
life of the country than the Great War had.
That fearful cataclysm swept into limbo all
divisive factors. It made everything else
look rmcan and insignificant. cast over.
the whole of our national life "a Spel1 of
romancer and chivalry under which the people
found their soup, sensed their essential
unity, and through common sa.c r .6i f i.ce realised
their kinship, man with man, and class with
class. It made us one. This new ca,l..a.ini,ty
has. had a, d ire Ctl y ^ry es i o result. It has-
enthroned discord, set class against class,
struck a deadly blow at all the ideals of
national fellowship that are worth preserving,
and actually threatens the existence of the
State.
This is not the moment to apportion
blame; and we deprecate in the strongest
terms the attempt that is being made in some
quarters to identify the strike leaders and
their supp
,
©rters with the criminal designs
of foreign revolutionaries. This is possi��lse
only in the case of men of alien minds. Is
the mentality of amen. like Mr., Clynes , Mr. J.E
Thomas, Mr. Herbert Smith, and Mr. Ra=ay
McDonal.d an alien mrytal ty? The suggestian�
sue aafcrous
-
a­ ese MIM ._arP ._Zn0roAz
1
7:
1
i
3
" Yia
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acteristic products ,okf our own life
g
th
-
ey
belong to us, and we in a -ital: sense to tYam,
and it is a shameful and wicked thing: to sug-
gest that they would so far forget their,
birthright and the greatness of their respon-
sibilitiess not only to their own class, but
to the country that bore and bred them, that
they would stoop to play the game df inter-
national firebrands and unscrupulous Muscovy
Jews.
of
Neither must we, on the other hand, give
credit to the equally iniquitous idea that
the Government with its eyes open precipita-
ted the crash. It may have been dilatory i;
ite methods; it may have exaggerated the+
constitutional enormity of the TX.0 s's pre-
tensions, but if there i
n one
yon in the
country today whose sincerity and intellect-
ual honesty is beyond all questi.on,. it is Mr
,
Stanley Baldwin. He did not welcome this
crisis, and from what we know of him bpth &s
an Rnglish gentleman, arid' a Statesman, we
may be sure of this - Vhat .. hiss heart will be
stirred less by the thought of industrial
chaos than by the knowledge that, if a solut-
ion be not quickly found, millions of help-
lesspeople in the humblest ranks of life
will suffer, and their children with them,
'rithout hope of redress and in pathetic ignor-
ance of the root-causes of their distress.
Let use abandon recrimination, jealousy,
suspicion, and ill-will. If we must be "die-
hards-", let us be ."di.e-chards" on the side of
peace. This struggle mist not be allowed to
draaZ on in an atmosphere of growing antagon-
ism. For the longer it las
ts
the more bitter
will it become; and then - what? Revolution -
"chaos and black night".
Our first duty today - the supreme duty
of every man, whether Statesman or stevedore,
Capitalist or pennil-ess labourer, - is to
"seek peace and ensue it",.
THE S ITUAT ION
IN
ABERDEEN.
They citizens of Aberdeen have borne
thews i7ec with praiseivorthy calm in face of
the unprecedented crisis into which the
country has been plunged. This attitude in
not likely to be disturbed. The leaders of
the unions whose headquarters are in Belmont
Street, have consistently declared that no-
thing can be gained by disturbance or sab©t=
age, and the imen have shown a stolidly peace-
ful. disposition. The opinion may be express -
ed that they are still stunned by the sudden-
ness
and magnitude of the issue, and they
cannot be expected to realise the full extent
of the chaos and paralysis which have smitten
the isadustria,l, and social life of the nation.
The Lessons of this Terrible Week are an opus
book far all who have the good of Britain at
heart. L e t there be no recrimination , no
animosity. Let the end
come
when it may,
this must never occur again.
U .F CHURCH AND THE CRISIS
The Rev. D. C. Mitchell, M.,A.. , Convener
of the Public questions Committee of the
United Free Churcix Presbytery of Aberdeen
is to submit an important resolution bearing
Qn the Coal Dispute to the Presbytery on Non-
4ay :first. The general trend of the resolu-
tion is to support law and order
s
and to
maintain an attitude of good-will to all
parties, at the s
ame
t ime
H
to solicit the
Government to make every effort to resume
negotiations with a viciv to reaching an early
and satisfactory settlement.
THE TAALAIS DE DANSE .
-Pu A.' a -Xe a°tins convened by the
Chu,rehesa and La cents Committee was held in
the M:i 4c
-
Hall !�Aberdeen, on 'Wednesday even-
ing to protest
or
against the opening
o
f the
palais De Dance on. Sundays. The Very .Rev*"
Principal Sir Ge6rge Adam Smith presided,
and two notions., one' a protest the ether a
demand were moved by the very Rev. Principal
D.S. Cairns, and Mai„ J. 1). Munro, Advocate.
Both speakers emphasised the danger of the
permit being ex.t6nde.d to other places of
entertainment in the City. This it was con-
sidered would create a seal menace to the
commun I ty�, and
d
eprive many of the citizens
of th.e
-
it day of rest. Each motion was put to
the meeting and carried unanimousl)r, .then
audience rising en masse. The speakers also
included the Ron. Mrs, Ma.cG il.christ, Mr.
Donald Mitchell, Krs . John Brown,, and Ex-
BRaill.ie 'food, and they were thanked on the
call of Rev. Provost Erskine Hill. The
benediction.
'
was oro
-
nounced by
the
Rev.
Professor Cowan.,
NOTHiI G
.
DO ING o
*Labour Day" was celebrated by a vast
cessation
of labour.
There
s
eem to be
something the matter with *the name
AN EMPTY VICTORY.
The Sunday golfers have won a great
victory at Peterhead;
bu.t
as the club-
house bar has only a six days' licence,
"Pro
-
Bona Pub_i ico" grants to know what those
fellows were .fighting for after all.
INWARDLY DIGESTED
The "Daily Mail" machine-room staff
refused to print the paper because
it had read the leading article. This dis-
pos
ee . of the popular
nation
that nobody
reads itadi.ng articles