ENGLISH PRESS VIEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19320, 6 May 1926, Page 9

ENGLISH PRESS VIEWS.

ONLY TWO WAYS OF ESCAPE. " PEOPLE WILL NOT SURRENDER." (Received 10.35 p.m.) A. and N.2.—Sun. ' LONDON. May 5. Several of the newspapers commented on the general aspect of the strike before they suspended publication owing to unionists ceasing work. The Manchester Guardian said: "There appear to be only two ways of escape—the withdrawal of either the general strike order or the Government's uJtimatum. Both were wrong. The general strike was wrong in attempting to coerce the Government contrary to the law of democratic government. The manner and the occasion which the Government used to enforce a sound principle could hardly have been more unfortunate. It was known that a general strike had been the trades unions' intention for months, but the Government overlooked this fact and issued no warning and no syllable of protest. Even after the trades unions' decision on Saturday the Government continued negotiations and transferred the issue to a constitutional question only when a single union prevented the appearance of the Daily Mail. To keep a principle in the background until the last moment and then use it as the handiest weapon of attack discredits the Government's good faith and' good sense." The Daily Mail stated: "Sooner than submit to illegal tyranny the Daily Mail would close down for six months." It was explained that the trades unionists, who prevented publication of the, paper, were a mere minority of skilled workers who were paid for printing and not for editing, for which they had no qualifications. "The fact that the Trades Union Congress is unaware that there have been three previous instances of interference indicates that that body is out of touch with events while presuming to issue orders to the nations. So ineffective were its prompt measures to prevent undisciplined acts that its followers stopped two other newspapers. The congress represents at the most 3,600,000 unionists. Many are law-abiding, honourable citizens, yet the congress is aiming at revolution. "We are not going to see Mr. J. A. Thomas and Mr. Ramsay Mac Donald imitating Lenin and Trotzky here. British people have broken many tyrants in the past and have always known how to defend their liberties. They will not surrender to threats and will meet and beat the strike."