BELGIAN CABINET

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 140, 15 June 1936, Page 9

BELGIAN CABINET

VAN ZEELAND SUCCEEDS

RESULT OF APPEAL BY KING

STRIKE OUTLOOK

| i Received June 15, 10.30 a.m.) j BRUSSELS, June 14. j M. Van Zeeland, the former Prime I Minister, has formed a Cabinet consisting of six Socialists, three Liberals, and five Catholics. The strike situation was so grave ihat the King urgently summoned M. Van Zeeland to the palace and again asked him to try to form a Government. M. Van Zeeland promised to do his utmost and to have a Government by today which would "face the situation fearlessly." The King personally appealed to Catholic, Socialist, and Liberal leaders to support M. Van Zeeland. The new Cabinet includes the Socialist leader, M. Vandervelde, as Vice-President of the Council. The programme has been selected from the best of each party's programme at the recent election, and aims at simplification of legislation, finance for the completion of economic reconstruction, cleaning up politics, and control of munition works and monopolies such as electricity. It will consider the demand for a 40-hour week, especially in dangerous and unhealthy trades, but M. Van Zeeland urges that it should not generally be adopted until other industrial nations have internationally agreed on it. MINERS' GENERAL STRIKE. After a fruitless conference at which the coal owners rejected the miners' demand for a 10 per cent, increase in pay, the miners announced that a general strike will begin on June 15. At Antwerp the tug hands have joined the striking dockers, and refuse to assist cargo vessels to leave port. The strike fever is spreading, and the Government has mobilised a reserve corps of gendarmes to prevent the occupation of factories. Troops have taken over police duties at Antwerp, where 15,000 dockers and 2000 diamond cutters are on strike. The coal strike at Liege has spread to the large fields around Mons.