BEFORE THE DECISION

Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 91, 18 April 1921, Page 7

BEFORE THE DECISION

AN ACRIMONIOUS WRANGLE

f YOU HAVE LEFI OUR PALS IN

THE'LOBCH!"

LONDON, 15th April. The details of the conference which led to the abandonment of the strike show that Mr. Thomas in the morning informed the miners that they shduld accept Mr. proposal. In the circumstances he did not feel like calling out the railwaymen. The majority of the executive of the transport workers were of the same opinion. The majority of tl» miners strongly opposed this. Mr. Hodges offered to resign, but later withdrew the offer. ;

The railwaymen and transport workers returned to their headquarters, and continued their conference alone. The discussion there developed into an acrimoni--ous wrangle before the fateful decision was taken. When the result of the vote was announced in favour of a cancellation of the strike an uncanny silence prevailed for almost a minute before an angry shout of "Traitors, you have left our pals in the lurch," arose from the extremists.

' Apparently it was the transport workers, with one or two of the railvvaymen, who carried the cancellation resolution, rather than a postponement. As one transport delegate said: "We. are sick of the whole damned business."

Mr. Hodges had been severely crossexamined regarding hie offer to the members of the .House of Commons, and was forced to apologise for apparently receding from his attitude of the previous night. Mr. Hodges came out of Unity House looking very dejected, and went to the miners' headquarters and joined his colleagues, while Mr. Thomas notified the waiting journalists that the strike was off.

Meantime the House of Commons had no idea of the fiasco being enacted elsewhere, until Mr. Lloyd George, Mr. Asquith, and Mr. Olynes had spoken. Mr. Lloyd George learned the news officially when the executives of the railwymen and transport workers wrote to him. He replied : "I am gratified to learn that your unions do not propose to resort to the insensate method of attempting to compel judgment on a question of wages by paralysing the industries of the country and bringing suffering to millions of innocent people, while the Government is urging a saner method of negotiation between the mineowners and miners regarding the amount of disputed wages." . . BETRAYED BY THE TRIPLE v ALLIANCE Interviewed afterwards, Mr. Cooke, the South Wales member of the Miners' Executive, said : "We have been betrayed by the Triple Alliance. We shall go on with the fight as" we are." Mr. Tom Richards, asked for a frank opinion of the railwaymen and transport workers, said : "It would be unprintable." Mr. Straker, the Northumberland secretary, declared : "I am speechless about it." Mr. Hodges has decided to Bumnion a conference of all the coalfield representatives forthwith. The feeling among the miners is that Mr. Hodges went beyond his brief in making tho offer he did. The strike continues. ,It is generally predicted that^the withdrawal of the railwaymen's and transport workers' support from the miners will result in. the breaking up of the .Triple Alliance, and also cause dissension in the Railwaymen's and Transport Workers' Unions, several branches of which are already protesting bitterly against the canoeila-

tion of the strike and the desertion of the miners.