INDIAN RAILWAY STRIKE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 92, 11 January 1908, Page 12

INDIAN RAILWAY STRIKE.

•-The surrender of tiie' Asansol strikers is complete, chiefly owing to the intervention o f Alr. ; Balfour, .General Secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of n .-, ."he; men agree to the dismissal of Jimgleken; the, leader, of tlio strike, but have decided to ■ raise a fund for tlid' support of him and his friinily,, Englokcri has assented to this: rhdre is, rejoicing at Asansol; where a dance will bo given to celebrate'the event. , iho public and the newspapers are uiiariiin condemning, the refusal .. 6f Mr. Dring, agent of the Eilst Indian Railway; to nieet the. meri. Tlio dismissal of Engldkeri is thought to be responsible for the coiitinuanc6 of the strike; A coal famine obtains in Calcutta, and several mills aro' on tho point or closing. The strikers iiro firm iri the attitude tliey hare taken .up. They will accept a conciliation board if Engleken is ..reinstated; , ; ,It'.ls'.'believed .that tho directors are n ot.aware.of the real,: facts of the situation. The railway strike situation is worse again, and ;fower trains 'aro framing; Tlio nion at Howrali; the '.terriiiriiis of 'tho East Indian Railway, are determined that Engleken, ,thd' dismissed strike leader, shall be 'reinstated; The shipping .situation is, complicated by. ii strike of import jetty coolies; .. It is, reported, that, the Administration' is importing Parsees from Boriibay: ■ Mariy. theories, are prevalent as to' the origin of the strike. It is pointed out that the East Indian Railway mys higher salirioS than other liiieS. Letters arid cdirimunioatirins, to the palciitta Press,- however, show that the wives arid daughters of the subordinate driiployees of itlie East Ihdiaii Railway bitterly fesdrit tho Social gulf which lies between theni and the wives and daughters of the superior officers. I .' ' ' According to the representatives of the various liidiaii railway companies in England, the strike at present in existence is riot likely to develop seriously. .Tho secretary ' of the East Indian . Railway, the branch iriost affected, stated recoritly that matters seemed 'to bo lriiprovirig. All passenger, trains word funning as.usual; and many of the goods trains were,..at any rate, on tho 'way to their rcspeotive > destinations; It was impossible for hiniyto. express any opinion ori the.-merits or future effects of the strike, but, judging. from advices then received, he did riot anticipate any serious development. . The secretary of tlio Boriibay, Bai-oda; arid Central. India Railway said that, up to the present, the trouble had iiot affected his liiio in any way. There was certainly the question of a shortage of coal, the great proportion of fuel comirig through by means of the East .Indian and Great India Peninsular Companies. If tho striko developed they would, of courso, bo much hampered, but ho did not anticipate any such dilemma. The London representative of tlie BengalNagpur Railway said that, so far, .they had had but little trouble, save with their guards. The situation, so far as ho understood it, was hopeful, and, so long as the coal supply held out, they anticipated no further trouble. Similar statements wero fnadd by the secretaries'of the Bengal arid NorthWestern, and of tho Roliilkund aiid Kuriiaori Railways. ,

The Calcutta "Statesman publishes a letter on the subject of railwayman's grievances from a correspondent who says:— "Much dissatisfaction exists oh every railway in India, and it requires but little agitation to upset railway working, not by strikes, for this is against tho public, against whom tho railway subordinate has no grievance, but by other means which railway officials have yet to discover. Tho cause of this state of affairs is the absolute indifference of many officials to the welfare of their subordinates, thinking that tho subordinate must be kept down at all costs, irrespective as to whether he is in the right or not, and any appeal to higher authorities only enhances tho crime tho subordinate has committed in the oyos of his superior. It is this class of official that has brought about the present discontent and bad working on tho railways.

"If the Government, Railway Board, and Railway Companies desiro to bring about better working, then (1) let tho promotion of the officials depend firstly on merit, (2) let there-be sufficient attraction to draw a better and more educated class of men to the subordinate grade, (3) let thoro bo fair play, and cach man stand or fall on his merits. Treat your subordinate as a fellow man ;• learn to speak gently to tho dependent who lightens your daily toil —kind words insure rcspect and affection, while the angry rebuke provokes impertinonce nnd dislike—and thon only will the working of the railways improve. The key to good working is in tiie hands of tho subordinates, and no amount of schemes, commissions, etc., will bring about any bettor working without their hearty cooperation."