THE AMERICAN CRISIS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 167, 17 July 1922, Page 4

THE AMERICAN CRISIS.

We .annul recall any puratle) lo the throat i>l President Uardin<r tn meet llic uri*i.« i-auM'd by tin- coal and rail-1 way strike- hy talcing isvur mine* an<! | railway* ar.l conscribiuj,' citizen- to operate Uiein. In Kugland enal and railway -;iiko- arc allowed in run lliuir i eollive. ami a lung com"="" "t lia.< beiiii ill I times, tli ■ liovernment coniinin;j iU-vIV to kptj>ii!« order nnil utteiuptiufc to nettle the dispute by negotiation. There j arc. however, elements i.i li.i 1 Ahum ic;iii j situation iliat make it materially difI ferent from tliat produced in Britain I by such ii S'-avc iiii.iTicrcnci, witli public ' utilities. Tlie TnitPil Stall-- i- a ranch ! larger nnintry than llriiain. anil more : than twice the population Imw i> I"' ( mpplicd over r far wider aron. Ihivinsr j i tin 1 last railway >trikc in Knulund. very I I sucj-es»fnl u-c was niadv of motor i ! traili-.-. .but in >pitc of the tjrest<T dfvclupnicnt of motor rrai-lKui in tho j t'uitod State*, it wouhl bo iiii>rf dlfllcult ito substitute it there nuickly fur railway transport than it would '■■'■ in the | MiuilW. more fimipact. ami Ijctter roadod country. In America, too, relu- ; tions hplweoii capita! and labour arp ! more Witter than in linglatid, which, j togi'Uier with the fact that there i<! i> larac foreign element in American ; LaTjmir, liiakrs the risk of outrage and' civil war considerably greater. During; the lani coal strike in Britain AnmrSwin visitor* were amazed when n con! owner I who entertained thorn tr.uk them lo a: sports lupoting liei'i by the stril;cr.*, jit . whic'n the mino iictorl a< j stcv.iirek and judjren. Such a seine,, ! they snifl. could tiot bo «i.:ic--cil in a j j strike in America. Xowlvre i- capital j Isn ruthless as in America, and nowhere in the Engliali-'peaking world lire there uueh possibilities of » really bloody clash between c»|>ital ami la hour. It is significant thai public opinion in j America, which i= strongly attached !|l | capitalism as a system, and i- iunr» in-! I tolerant of remedicp for its ill- than Jis any part nf 'he British l-.ii.pir.-.' sliould strongly condemn tlir way in; which the coal owners handled the di-i-! pute that developed into a national strike. Moreover the Department <>! ! Ullbotir put tile blame for the failure of j the Government to avert the strike, on I the shoulders of a s.<-tion of tin: owners. who refused to meet the miners in conference about wage*, a refusal which the i Secretary of Labour termed a breach of faith and a repudiation ot signed oblitriitions. These considerations, of, course, do not excuse the subsequent conduct <:f some of the mine.-.-, who arc reported to have behaved with appalling ferocity to men who dared to work, but they are ncee=sary to tho understanding of the situation. The Government's problem is now wider than the merits of these two disputes. Ii must protect a community threatened with dire dislocation of trade, possible starvation, and, outrage, and it i- a measure of the | gravity of the situation that the Tro ■:■ dent should threaten to apply industrial conscription.