ARGENTINE STRIKE

Evening Star, Issue 16662, 19 February 1918, Page 1

ARGENTINE STRIKE

SIGNS OF GERMAN INTRIGUE. MONEY AND PAMPHLETS. An account of the strike in Argentina last October has been furnished to tha London 'Times' by its Buenos Ayres correspondent. The article, which was published last month, states that the strika came to an end at midnight on October 17, after a duration of 21 days. Rightly or wrongly, there has existed, and still exists, in the minds of 99 out of every 100 men outside the ranks of the strikers themselves, tho correspondent declares, the conviction that German intrigue, Gorman .money, and German designs have been'at the root of this strike. It has been everything _ else you like—industrial, political, socialistic, but at the very root, unless every indication is at fault, lay German intrigue. The coincidence between thq declaration by both Houses of the Argentine Congress in favor of a rupture of relations with Germany and the outbreak of the general strike on the railways is too marked, especially when the analogy of similar strikes at critical moments in Spain—after Count Romanones' declaration—m the LTnited States, and in Russia m taken into account. Nothing has been proved ; probably nothing wili.be p.pved, ui,\.ss the ■Government have information which has not been published; but facts remain, and deductions are logical and inevitable. Take, for instance, the fact that a cheque for a considerable amount was paid over the counter of one of the German banks in new, unused Argentine paper currency on a certain Saturday during the strike; add the fact that en the following day all the strikers were found to bo paying for their purchases of the week in new notes, and only one logical inference can he drawn, AMPLE " STRIKE PAY." There have been 120,000 railway employees on strike for 21 working days, exclusive of subsidiary spasmodic strikes, such as the drivers of the taxicabs, the bakers, the dockworkers, and others. Putting the average daily wage at the very low figure of three dollars, over seven and ii-hnlf million dollars of wages were presumably lost during the strike. But the men and their families have had, to all appearances, ample funds throughout the strike, and are in most cases bettw off to-day then they were three weeks ago. The writer saw a crossing-keeper, whose salary is 38dol a. month, and who has a wife and four children to maintain, in possession of two notes of lOOdol each. A local butcher, whose, capital is l,ooodol, has been supplying the strikers with meat to the extent of IO.OOOdoI a week. The, strike has not come at the end of a long cycle of prosperous years, making possible tho accumulation of large reserves for strike pay. Times have been bad in railway circles in Argentina since the crisis of 191314, and since the closing down of construction work with the outbreak of war in Europe. Another featuro of tho strike period was a notable recrudescence of anti-British and pro-neutrality propaganda. These vaporing* need not be taken too seriously, for they have had little, effect upon the innate good sense of tho Argentine nation. But is is significant that someone, in a desperate position presumably, has found it worth while to spend a good deal of money on this class of propaganda. It is a now feature of life in Buenos Ayres to find tho main streets literally ankledeep in leaflets scattered profusely by "Argentine" citizens parading in carriages ; and paper is an expensive and scarce article in Buenos Ayres just now. ALL COMMUNICATION STOPPED. Apart from the political and international aspects of the last three weeks, cue is struck by the fact that th© etrika left comparatively such a faint mark upon the ordinary daily life of the capital. No one would have ventured to predict that a city of a million and a-half inhabitanta could be out off fi\,m ali communication with, the interior, excent by motor-car—-subject to tho caprice cf the strikers—and lie t feel the effects to a greater extent than lias the case. The taxicab drivers struck simultaneously, probably from fear of damage to their property. Private drivers were terrorised into noii driving, even before petrol ran short, so that respectable British merchants drove their own ears from home to oihee with a revolver at hand on the seat in front. And the final result is that both parties have gained concessions, for which the innocent public will pay, as is the case in most strikes. The companies have gained the right to increase their tariffs, and the men have gained increases of salaries and certain improvements in the conditions of their labor. The damage has been mischievous rather than organised; but it will be some days before all can be repaired and normal workings resumed. It will be many days before Argentina's credit can recover from the set-back which has been administered ; mam- days before the country will forget and forgive the 'attitude of the Government, which has been frankly unintelligible to all, Axgentinos and foreigners alike.