BRITISH LAW LEADER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12707, 31 July 1919, Page 6

BRITISH LAW LEADER.

SENSATIONAL STATEMENTS VAST CHANCES NECESSARY. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright United Service. (Received' July 31, 12.35 p.m.) LONDON, July 26. Mr J. H.. Thomas, the Labour leader, in a striking interview, on his return from America, said: "We are drifting headlong to ruin. Everything I have seen in America, taken in conjunction with events here, convinces me- We shall Boon lose our commercial position unless our political methods are drastically changed. Open incitement to violence appears, to have become common, Sir ■Edward Carson on the one hand and the ■workers on the other. lam dead against thifc brute force- Such a statement may be unpopular with the Railwaymen's executive, but the situation is too serious for anything except the plainest truth." He described the system as rampant sectionalism, by which time and again sectional threats wero made to bring the country to its knees. These Russian tactics woiilS lead to disaster. Either the country would, lose the greater part of her overseas trade or the constitutional Government must be restored. _ "America," he continued, "is giganpreparing to capture our trade. The English sovereign steadily depreciates, and America will soon be in a position to hold the Empire io ransom unless Britain buckles to and produces vast quantities of manufactures at cheap prices." He entreated the Government to show courage and prevent chaos. The interview is interpreted in some quarters as an intimation that moderate Labourites will enter upon a campaign for the election of a Labout Government, transferring the issue to political areas.