THE END NOT YET.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 72, 25 March 1912, Page 7

THE END NOT YET.

BRITISH COAL DISPUTE. TALK OF A GENERAL STRIKE. PROPOSED RETALIATION FOR MANN'S ARREST. MINIMUM WAGE FOR ALL WORKERS. By Telegraph.— Pi-ess -Association.— Copyright. (Received March 25, 8 a.m.) LONDON, 24th March. The Transport Workers' Federation and the Sailors and Firemen's Union are being urged to take part in a general strike in retaliation for Mr. Tom Mann's arrest. A mass meeting of Northumberland miners, held at Benton, condemned the Minimum Wage Bill. A meeting of- colliers at Shirebrook, Warsop, demanded that the surfacemen's grivances should be remedied, and also passed a' resolution against accenting the Bill.The Independent Labour Party has framed an official resolution to be put before the Easter conference at Merthyr, Carmarthenshire, Wales, favoming a minimum wage for all workers. HOPES OF EARLY SETTLEMENT DISPELLED. MINERS MUST RELY ON THEIR OWN STRENGTH. STEELMAKERS' PROTEST. SIX THOUSAND PERSONS AFTER COKE. (Received March 25, 8.20 a.m.) LONDON, 24th March. Mr. Keir Hardie, Labour M.P. for Merthyr Tydvil, interviewed, said the .miners were not on" the point of being starved into submission j they were good for another month. The alliance between the Front Benchers in tho House of Common.* against insorting in the Coal Mines Bill provision for the payment of 5s and 2s as the minimum wages for men and boys respectively has dispelled hopes of an early settlement, and convinced the men that they must rely on their own strength. ' \ Scotch steelmakers have protested against the establishment of a minimum wage* for coal workers, and) demand that the new legislation shall not come into operation until 1913, thus allowing «\." isting contract^ to be executed before the price of coal rises. Six thousand persons at Birmingham waited for five nours to buy 2d worth each of corporation coke. It is estimated that there are 2,500,000 out of work or on reduced wages through the strike. The South- Western Railway Company announces that it has sufficient coal to continue the present service for six ■weeks, having bought a large quantity, at £2 a ton. DEMAND REAFFIRMED. ANOTHER CONFERENCE. MR. RAMSAY MACDONALD'S HOPE. OWNERS LET 'DROP A HINT.* LONDON, 23rd March. The Miners' Federation, at a meeting, reaffirmed its demand for the inclusion in tho Bill of minimum rates of 5s and 2« per day. T~he Prime Minister states that the owners and the men will confer again oi* Monday. Mr. J. Ramsay 3TacDonald, Leader of the Labour Party, on being interviewed, said he hoped on Monday to find that the Bill was unnecessary. The owners hint that if the Bill is passed as it stands their will not reopen their mines until the boards fix the minimum. Possibly several will not reopen at all if they have to work at *, loss. The Surfacemen'a Federation has notified the Labour Party that unless they are included under the minimum rates they will block the resumption of work. The Westminster Gazette states that the Labour Party if deeply chagrined at the scope of the Minimum Wage Bill, as it had expected tho Government to yield > to the demand for the insertion of minimum rates. GREAT DESTITUTION IN LEEDS WOMEN AND CHILDREN CRYING FOR FOOD. YORKSHIRE AND LANCASHIRE MILLS CLOSING. LONDON, 23rd March. There is great destitution in Leeds, where women and children, are crying for food. The authorities are doing their utmost to alleviate the sufferings of the poor. Many more Yorkshire and Lancashire mills aj'e closing, and an additional 5000 workers are idle. In Lancashire some of the railways ar«» reducing, and others are stopping, Sunday trains. Men, women, and children at Manchester have been fighting for food. Lamentable stories of hunger and fir«1<66 homes come from the northern towns. Six hundred railway workers at Bantov, Wales, have received notice of ismissal. ' COAL MINES BILL. STATEMENT BY MR. ASQUITH. ANOTHER AMENDMENT REJECTED. SIR E. GREY'S~SUGGESTION. , LONDON, 23rd March. The Prime Minister stated in tho House of Commons that if actual minimum rates were inserted in the Coal Mines Bill there would be enormous ! difficult}' in persuading tho boards to entertain any other basis. The rejection of the rates did not imply that the amounts were unreasonable. Mr. Bonar Law, Leader of the Oppo sition, stated that the miners' schedule in some districts fixed the rate at 4s lid, realising that the companies could not afford ss. The fixing of a standard wage would increase the price of coal, and would close many mines. Mi*. Ramsay Mac Donald, Leader of the Labour Party, said it was difficult to induce the men to resume without stating the amount. Tim men must have something definite, although they \\»i-e willing to waive' their own full schedule.

Sir Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affaire, said ho thought the Labour Party would act wisely in accepting the measure on the understanding that they might have a conference between the owners and the men to settle tho question of tho minimum. The amendment movod by Mr. Enoch Edwards, Labour member for Hanley and eecretary of the North Staffordshire Miners' Association, to insert the federation's schedule was negatived, tho voting being :—: — For tho amendment ... 55 Against the amendment ... 357 Majority .against ... 302 An amendment was inserted safeguarding existing arrangements for the payment of wages at a higher minimum than might be fixed under the Act. The Prime Minister then announced that ho would adopt Sir Edward Grey's suggestion for a further conference on the minimum before the report etage on the Bill is taken, CHURCHES AND CHAPELS. AFTERNOON INSTEAD OF EVENING SERVICES. COAL SUPPLIES AT RIO EXHAUSTED. (Received March 25, 9 a.m.) LONDON, 24th March. The churches and chapels in many of the country districts are holding cervices in the afternoon instead of the evening, in order to save gas. RIO DE JANEIRO, 24th March. Merchants have notified the shipping companies that stocks of coal are exhausted.