Jasper County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 63, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 November 1920 — BRITISH COAL STRIKE SETTLED [ARTICLE]

BRITISH COAL STRIKE SETTLED

Settlement of labor Battle Is Contingent on Ballot of Miners. BILL ANSWER TO PLOTTERS — ■ T Emergency Powers Given by Commons Not Due to Coal Strike, but Are to Curb People Bent on Destruction. London, Oct. 29. —The strike of coal miners throughout Englund and Wales was settled, but the settlement Is contingent on a ballot of ’the miners. The government announced the ballot would be taken immediately. The terms which the executive body of the miners recommends to the men provide for an advance of 2 shillings a shift for persons eighteen years old, with a corresponding advance for younger miners. The miners pledge themselves to co-operate to the fullest extent to obtain an Increased output. It Is provided that the Increased wages shall remain operative until a permanent wage board Is established, which will be operative by the end of March. The additional cost pf the miners’ claims will come out of the excess revenues obtained from the export of coal. The output for last September is the peerage struck which will Influence the rise or fall of a sliding scale which Is to operate to the extent of a 6 pence reduction in wages If the output does not come up to the September figures or a rise of 6 pence if the output is Frank Hodges, a member of the mlners’ executive body, said: “We have got terms from the government which the executive are submitting to a ballot of the men for their judgment. The executive are recommending their adoption as a temporary measure until a national wages board is established.” Government Measure Passed. ” The government’s emergency hill.

which provides for all contingencies In the event the miners’ strike should Involve the railway and transport workers, was rushed through all its remaining stages and passed the third reading, which Is final. The vote was 238 to 58. The bill is not, the product of the coal strike or of other recent industrial crisis. It was framed months ago and Is the government’s answer to the plotters against the existing form of government in this country. It does not propose the suppression of the authority of parliament even in emergencies. It proposes merely that the government shall be empowered to act instantly In the event of a sudden move on the part of the revolutionary elements to gain their ends by taking possession of the nation’s means of life. । Some Bent on Destruction. “In Great Britain, as In other conntries, there are people bent upon destruction," said Edward Shortt, secretary of state for home affairs. “Their creed is one of savagery. They would not hesitate to starve women and children by the million if they fancied themselves thus able to bring civilisation to the ground. We are determined that such methods shall not succeed. Tills can be managed witbout at all setting up a dictatorships The powers of parliament will not be curtailed. Everything done under the emergency powers bill will be subject to revision and reversal by the house of commons and the house of lords. “It is Intolerable that the community should be placed 1n a position of begging for Its supplies of food and other essentials from trades unions or sectional bodies of any kind. England does not Intend to give np ita democratic government for a government by starvation.”