TRADE DISPUTES BILL

Northern Advocate, 7 April 1927, Page 4

TRADE DISPUTES BILL

j The general strike which was declared in Britain last year inflicted a grievous injury upon the community las a whole. Fortunately, responsible j trade unionists realised at an early | stage the folly of the strike, which was accordingly called off. This prevented prolongation of the trouble, with consequent greater injury to the,’ : country, but it did not alter the fact [that a crime against the community | had been committed. The worst feature of subsequent developments was j a declaration by some Labour leaders 1 that the general strike had been only •in the nature of an experiment—a I “try-out” as it were —and that next time it would be “the real .thing.” Such a threat, whether it voiced the mind of Labour as a whole, or was 1 merely the vapouring of disgruntled extremists, could not be allowed to paS's Unheeded. The Government had resting upon it the duty of evolving legislation for amending and defim ] ing the late with reference to indus- j tidal disputes. Legislation of this nat- ! lire was promised in the King’s] Speech. It was brought down this! week, and, as our cable messages have indicated, it has aroused a storm of protest by Labour’s representatives,, ranging from the moderate Mr Ramsay MacDonald to the fiery Mr Cook. While 'jreeognising the necessity for some measure which would curb the activities of extremists, it must be admitted that the provisions of the, Government’s Bill give some ground for opposition, because, if adopted in their entirety, they would deprive the

workers of practically every weapon of defence. Strikes of any kind are the essence of folly, injuring strikers to a, greater extent than any other section of the community, and general strikes are criminal offences committed against the State and people, but, at the same time, there is every reason why the utmost consultation and co-operation between the Government and Labour representatives should have been encouraged prior to the formulation of a Bill such as that which has just been submitted to the House of Commons.