we need not apologize for reviewing all that has happened. The organizers of the general strike tried to do what has never been done before—to force the Govern- ment and the...

T HE unexpected general strike has had an unexpec- tingly swift ending and the nation is filled with re- joicing. We have had a lesson and we must profit by it. If we do, all...

John Simon's exposition—which we refer to later— of the illegality of the general strike, but still more by Mr. Justice Astbury's ruling on the same subject. This is to its...

Mr. J. H. Thomas and Mr. Pugh, who during the greater part of the negotiations were in the ascendant on the Industrial Committee of the Trades Union Con- gress, did not believe...

Commons on Wednesday afternoon. He said that the General Council of the T.U.C. had informed him that morning that it had decided to call off the strike. He and his colleagues...

Owing to the increase in the number of Postal Subscribers to the SPECTATOR it is necessary for notices of Changes of Address to be received by midday on Monday of each week....

was throughout amazingly good. There were outbursts of rioting by the strikers or independent hooligans ; but, taken throughout the country, the blemishes upon the record of...

Archbishop of Canterbury said that it was " simply shocking " that it should be possible at this time of day for 4 . an oligarchy, who were not representative of the people, to...

the simple citizen at the fist swoop of the amenities and amusements which he values most—his right to read the news in his daily paper, his ability to move about and see...

they had stopped negotiations not merely because the general strike was threatened, but because it had already taken the form of " overt acts " against the freedom of the Press....

breaking off or suspending the negotiations on Sunday, May and, were not as clear as they ought to have been. This is a matter of some moment, as we were entitled to expect that...

than anything ever experienced in this country ; but day by day the volunteer services were extended and became more efficient. The railway companies slowly but continually...

might have supposed that the trouble had not been caused by Direct Action at all, but by the sheer perversity of the Government ! One representative of the Party which had...

the T.U.C. at all. I am speaking for nobody. I have not consulted with my colleagues. 1 am speaking from, my own heart because 1 believe 1 know what all this will mean as the...

had given the House to understand that there was in existence a document written by the Prime Minister, to which the Industrial Council of the T.U.C. had agreed. " That," said...

proved by his speech the agony of mind into which the general strike had plunged him. He had spoken and written against the policy of a general strike for years, yet he found...

incidents in the debate of Wednesday, May 5th, and we may add here that the object of the debate was to sanction the regulations under the Emergency Powers Act of 1926 for a...

we shall explain. The British Gazette, on Friday, May 7th, published an article " by a Cabinet Minister " in which it was stated that in the House of Commons debate on...

the Daily Mail we said that it was a strike of compositors. We owe the compositors an apology. The strikers were actually the union known as the Natsopas—the National Society of...

John Simon gave an admirable explanation of the law about strikes. Nobody is better equipped with a combination of legal knowledge and the habit of lucid exposition to set the...

Thursday, May 6th, and was most encouraging to the Government. The figures were :- Major Braithwaite (Unionist) .. 12,089. Sir Harry Verney (Liberal) .. 10,537. Mr. H. C....

for North Battersea, was charged with making a seditious speech in Hyde Park at the May Day demonstration. As he refused to fmd sureties to be of good behaviour he was sentenced...

country the following promise of protection to all strikers who returned to work : " To all workers in all trades.—When the present strike is ended His Majesty's Government will...

principle of collective bargaining than such a general strike, for it in effect tells all employers that contracts are useless. These may be broken at any moment by order of the...

Oxford and Lord Grey of Fallodon. Lord Oxford pointed out that there could be no greater mis- understanding than to suppose that the resistance of the people to the general...

a result of the Prime Minister's remarks in the House of Commons last week, the Council of the Mining Association is considering the possibility of drafting a simplified...

several thousand pounds. Mr. E. L. Poulton stated that the T.U.C. had returned the cheque. This was certainly wise. As a previous experience shows, nothing infuriates the...

was seen in London than the motor lorries, guarded by armed Grenadiers and by armoured cars, which brought food from the docks to Hyde Park. The armoured cars were manned by...

after Parliament had voted £23,000,000 in aid of the mining industry and had received the Report of the able Royal Commission, what could it do but try to bring about a...

sanction to the Budget, which shows a nominal surplus balance of 16o million francs. So far, this has had no good effect upon the exchange. Parliament adjourned on April 29th...

had been drawn up in collaboration with leaders of the Christian Churches. The signatories expressed their conviction that a real settlement would be achieved only in " a spirit...

the war in Morocco have failed. The delegates refused all the conditions, including the demand that the French and Spanish prisoners should be returned. The armistice came to an...

nation. He said that he wanted to make it as clear as he could that the Government were not fighting to lower the miners' standard of living, or anybody else's standard. " That...

that the condition of the country after the strike, whatever the result might be, was bound to be worse than it had been before. He could not disguise the fact that he had never...

THE MEANING OF A GENERAL STRIKE T O see a general strike in operation is like watching an army of gallant and perfectly trained men marched to disaster by an incompetent...

current issue if received at the SPECTATOR Office BEFORE MIDDAY ON MONDAY OF EACH WEEK.

W E have written in the preceding article about the intolerably despotic character of a general strike, but there remains something to be said on the other side. We recognize...

us from or con- cerning Morocco is of French origin or inspiration, and consequently presents a picture which the French Government believe, or hope, may be true. Some personal...

is a tendency to de-centralization everywhere apparent—a tendency which is good in some ways, but does nevertheless set up a state of society in which it is easier to find...

to an American in London at such a time as this than the cheerful fortitude with which the Englishman faces adversity. Good sportsmanship is a traditional characteristic of the...

issues. Americans have complete confidence that the strike of the Nation against itself cannot prevail. The danger ahead is not of cataclysm but of disintegration. The increase...

AMERICAN OPINION ON THE STRIKE [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] (By Cable.) SIR,—More fateful than the fact of waging war is the way of making peace. Wars are bound to occur in...

the faintest idea why John Peel wore a white beaver hat or indeed if he really did so nor (dare I say it ?) do I greatly care. In my notice of the book under question I merely...

Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In your remarks on my letter which you published recently under the heading " The Nature of the British Debt to America," you say : " The...

THE ROYAL ACADEMY In any discussion upon Art, there arises, sooner or later, an allusion to the relation of art to life. There is no doubt that in some way art is related to the...

(" The Government Inspector " by Nicholas Gogol, Barnes Theatre.) WE go to Barnes, in these days, in order to find ourselves in Moscow. But there is not an indefinite supply of...

FROM OUT THE MIRK England, England, Call us forth From out the mirk of Word and Gain ; Reaffirm Thy Native Worth, Make again Thy Purpose plain. That has been Thy Will ere now,...

TURANDOT : PUCCINI'S LAST OPERA THE first representation of the eagerly awaited opera, Turandot, on Monday, April 26th, at the Scala in Milan, drew an immense audience. It was...

0 wad some Power . . . ' is a thrice-stale quote, but it seems to fit a work on English history by a distinguished French historian, M. Elie Halevy's History of the English...

Ltd. ma.) BOOKS of naval reminiscences are things apart, even as the sea services are things apart. They tell of a life quite foreign to the dweller in cities : of wars and...

is to restore the idea of the Church of the Spirit." There is no doubt of the need : the gestures of amity and a would-be comprehension of each others' ideals and policies made...

IT must not be supposed however that these small movements really reflect the City's view of the crisis. Not only did the City realise that we were faced with something akin to...

the Stock Exchange and determination to co-operate in resisting the challenge to Constitutional Government, summarises the general conditions in the City during the strike. If...