AN ISLAND ON STRIKE

NZ Truth, Issue 692, 21 September 1918, Page 1

AN ISLAND ON STRIKE

Workers of Manxlanal " Down Tools"/ CHEAPER LOAF OR NO LABOR. Workers Win: Additional Demands to be Conceded. . Manx- cats have no tails, but the natives of Manxland m Wellington, from the chief bank inspector to Joe Carter s cousin, it is said, have been going round the city during 'the last few days, walking on their heels, as proud as a peacock with two tails. And the reason is that over m Manxland something has not only been attempted, but something has been done. It is true that : that something badly needed doing, and still needs doing m other places besides Manxland. The increased cost of living was what troubled the Manxpeople, as it is an ever present trouble m most civilised countries to-day; In July last, the hfeight of the summertripper season when the island was full of visitors, and crowded pleasure steamers coming and going daily, an attempt was made to increase ti\e price of the already 1 too dear 41b. loaf. That was THE LAST STRAW to the Manx Donk'. From one end to the other of the Isle of Man the wageearners "downed tools;" shops, stores and warehouses were given fifteen minutes; to close, the civil authorities refused, or. thought It wise not, to interfere, and even the school kids "downed books," and refused to attend school. It was a general strike m fact as weld as name. Only two trains were/ started by the Railway Company on the first morning of the strike, and they didn't return to the starting point. The people of Castletown waited their arrival and took engine-drivers; stokers, and guards off, drew the flres and blew off the steam m a siren-like scream of triumph. The Manx Electric Tramway Company 'met a liker" fate. Two cars started, but they were soon hung up. It was stated that the cars would be running again that afternoon, and a party of strikers proceeded to the tram- . way sheds "to see if there was any-, thing doing," or, probably, "needing doing," but when they got there they found that the company hj\d come to , the conclusion that discretion was the better, way to keep d_jvn expenses. A notice was posted up- stating, that the service had been suspended. Short shrift was made of the shopkeepers i who refused or delayed to close. In one factory where the workers had refused to "come out" they were literally carried out and dropped with a bump on the pavement. All the .sailors left .the 'pleasure steamers, and a wire was sent to Liverpool informing the shipowners and the seamen of the ;! strike, with the result that NO MORE BOATS LEFT for the island till the strike was won. Even the -staffs m the shipping offices joined the strikers, .and, although men were allowed to work at making gas m the gasworks, the office staff was compelled to come out. Reading between the lines, even the newspapers had to give an. impartial account of the various occurrences, or they would not- have come out! Unholy hands, were even laid on the High-Bailiff, of Douglas and Castletown, and prevented him from boarding the train run by "scabs," and even the Governor when , he' sought to get the pleasure steamers to sail, was told m firm but polite language what would happen If he persisted In his efforts m that direction. The steamers did not sail, and some three thousand trippers, .who were unable to get bread, and -who were due to start work m- their home towns m England and Scotland, wer_. unable to leave the, Island, Such a state of things, of course, couldn't last. After

three days' cessation of .labor th© powers capitulated and the strike v/as won. But the leaders GAVE THE GOVERNMENT TO UNDERSTAND that the strike was not "settled," but merely lifted. ' They . had come, out against the increzwse m the price of the loaf, their demand had been acceded to and the price of the loaf would not be raised. But they had made other demands. The House of Keys was a House of Capitalists, it was declared, and what was the good of Home Rule to the Isle of Man workers when the poor had to bear all the burdens. They had appealed to) the Imperial Government to extend to the island the provision of the Finance Acts, and to put into operation on the island those measures of social and industrial legislation enjoyed by the workers of Great Britain. But from the local rulers they demanded many immediate reforms. They demanded adult suffrage. Mr. Cannell, one of the strike leaders,, declared that they did not care what befel the House of Keys. There was no use m a dissolution on the present suffrage, m which only the well-off had votes. The speaker told the final meeting of strikers that the Strike Committee had unbounded admiration for his. Excellency the Governor, who, failing the House of Keys, immediately providing the reforms demanded, had expressed his determination to take a course which he (the speaker) could not at that stage explain or make public, but he j and the whole Strike Committee were convinced of the Governor's sincerity, which he contrasted with the insincerity of the MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF KEYS, the "supposed" representative of the people. . A particular feature of the strike was the fact that any drastic action found necessary, waa not delegated to Tom, Dick, or Harry, but was carried out by the leaders. For instance, Mr. : Oliver Hampton, one of the Strike ! leaders, who is also a. returned soldier, ! and secretary of the Returned Soldiers* Federation, boarded the locomotives and himself drew the fires and let off the steam. The Strike Committee did not disband, but remains m. existence as a Watch Committee until the "additional demands" have been granted. Any unnecessary delay, or attempt to side-step the agreement on the part of the authorities, will lead to a renewal of the strike. After that, is there any proletarian i plug who will refuse to admit that Manxland is indeed the Isle of Man, with the emphasis on MAN!