decision of the meeting had been reported to him the Prime Minister invited Mr. Chamberlain to become Leader of the House of Commons, and he at once entered upon his duties. Upon his election Mr. Chamberlain made a suitable speech to the meeting at the Carlton Club. He said that he accepted the responsibility which they had imposed upon him, not lightly, but with a great sense of all that it implied, and he pledged his word that he would do his best to justify their choice. He admitted that it was a task of peculiar difficulty to succeed one who had so won the confidence and affection of the Commons as Mr. Bonar Law, and he had no thought that he could be to the Party or to the House what Mr. Bonar Law had been. He called not only for the support and forbearance of his followers, but also that they should stand together, not merely in support of their leaders but in support of one another.

Reference must here be made to the Law of Property Bill which passed its second reading in the House of Lords on March 17. Its main object was to attain to such simplicity as was obtainable in order to reduce costs and expenses which were at present incidental to dealings in land, to abolish all work in connexion with the transfer of land which was in itself not necessary, to expedite transactions, and to remove all those pitfalls and unnecessary technicalities which lay in the way of unwary purchasers.

A discussion arose in the House of Lords on March 21 on the reference in the King's Speech to the question of the reform of the Second Chamber, and Lord Selborne moved that the Government should be urged to introduce their measure for reform in time for it to be dealt with adequately by both Houses of Parliament during the current session. Lord Haldane took the view that the Second Chamber should act in the capacity of an advisory body and should be a small body. Lord Curzon expressed the hope that in the following session a Bill on the subject would be introduced. Lord Lansdowne then moved an amendment urging the Government to introduce, at the earliest possible moment, their measure for the reform of the Second Chamber, and the resolution as thus amended was adopted.

The Court of Inquiry instituted to report on the Mallow shooting published its findings on March 29. It transpired that a party, including three railwaymen since dead, and others who were wounded, had come under rebel fire to which the Royal Irish Constabulary had replied. One casualty at least was caused by rebel fire, and some of the casualties were unavoidably caused by the return fire of the Royal Irish Constabulary.

By far the most important events which took place during March, however, were those which led up to the great coal strike. On the first day of the month the industry became free, after several years of control, from restrictions on pit

head prices and inland distribution. The depression in trade, moreover, had occasioned a fall in the output of coal, as the result of which the whole of the wage advances secured by the miners in the strike settlement of November, 1920, were wiped out. The position at the end of 1920 and the beginning of 1921 was that while wages and total net costs per ton had increased, owners' royalties and the proceeds of commercial disposals had declined, so that during the month of January the total losses incurred by the owners were 4,889,3317. -the debit balance per ton disposable commercially being put at about 5s. 84d.

In this position the Government brought in their Coal Mines (Decontrol) Bill, the object of which was to bring the Government control of the coal industry to an end on March 31 instead of at the end of August as originally intended. The effect of this Bill was that all directions as to wages and profits would cease at the end of March. For the first seven quarters up to December 31, 1920, the owners were not to claim the 10 per cent. of the surplus profits to which they were entitled, but only their pre-war standard of profits. During the debate on the second reading in the House of Commons Sir C. Cory said that the coal-owners had agreed to accept the Bill and its arrangement solely on the ground of the present embarrassed state of finance. After several efforts had been made to postpone the date of decontrol the measure was ultimately carried and received the royal assent on March 24. A number of conferences took place early in March both on the owners' side and on the men's side. The Executive of the Miners' Federation submitted their wages scheme to a Delegate Conference on March 10, and were instructed to place it before the owners in the first instance, and afterwards, if necessary, before the Government. On the 11th both the owners and miners placed their respective views on the wage controversy before Sir Robert Horne, President of the Board of Trade. The necessity for a speedy agreement was impressed by the Government on both deputations, but otherwise the proceedings were not published. Proposals of the mine-owners were placed before the Miners' Federation on March 18. They were to the effect that the base rates now existing at each colliery, with the percentages or the equivaTents in any district where there had been a subsequent merging into new standards which were paid in July, 1914, should be regarded as the point below which wages should not be automatically reduced; that the owners' aggregate standard profits in each district, in correspondence with the above, should be taken as 17 per cent. of the aggregate amount of wages payable as above; that any surplus remaining of the proceeds of the sale of coal at the pit-head, after such wages and profits and all other costs had been taken into account, should be divisible in the proportion of 75 per cent. to the workmen

and 25 per cent. to the owners, the workmen's share being expressed as a percentage upon the standard rate of the district; finally, that if during any period of ascertainment the owners' standard profit was not realised, the amount of the deficiency should be carried forward as a prior charge against any surplus available for the payment of wages in excess of the basis of wages provided above.

After discussing these proposals at some length, the National Delegate Conference of the Miners' Federation decided to go back to their districts for a mandate. On March 24 they met again and rejected the owners' suggestions without further reference to their constituents. It appeared that the replies received from the districts had shown a very large majority against entering into any temporary agreement on a district basis. At the end of March the miners' leaders determined to take sudden action, and notices were despatched to the districts instructing the men to cease work at midnight on March 31 when Government control of the industry came to an end. The instruction was to be obeyed "regardless of occupation;" that is to say, it applied not only to the hewers. of coal and the pit-head workers, but also to the engine-men and pump-men whose work kept the mines free from flood. Accordingly all work came to an end in the coal mines on March 31. The consequences of this momentous step are described in our next chapter.

CHAPTER II.

THE COAL STRIKE.

THE decision of the Miners' Federation to stop work in the coal mines was efficiently carried out except on the part of associations of engine-men who, in defiance of the general instruction, remained at work for a short time to ensure the safety of the mines. Hitherto the Government had not intervened in the dispute to any further extent than that of giving friendly advice. The proposals of the owners may be summarised as a reversion to the standard rates current in each district before the war, with additional percentages varying in accordance with the ability of districts to pay, as ascertained monthly. The miners' demands, on the other hand, were for a standard wage equal throughout the nation, with a national pool of profits to enable less prosperous districts to pay this wage. They advocated further a National Coal Board to determine questions of wages and conditions.

As soon as the strike began a Royal Proclamation was issued declaring the existence of a "State of Emergency" under the Emergency Powers Act, 1920. The exportation of coal was immediately prohibited by the Mines Department of the Board. of Trade. The production of coal ceased, to all practical intent,

on April 1. A few small collieries were still working, and pumping was being carried on in most of the other pits with the aid of colliery officials and clerks, but in many pits the water soon began to gain on the pumps, while the improvised pumping staffs were in some cases met with threats from the miners. Those pump-men who had at first disregarded the instructions of the National Federation with the consent of their own district organisation, were a few days later withdrawn by order of that body. The position was then described by Sir Robert Horne as "one one of infinite anxiety." He repudiated the suggestion that the cause of the stoppage was an attempt upon the part of the coal-owners to institute too drastic reductions in wages. He pointed out that it was agreed on all hands that higher wages could not be paid than the industry could afford, and that there were no means in possession of the owners to prevent a drastic reduction of wages in many districts. The remedy proposed by the miners was a Government subsidy, but this remedy the Government refused to adopt. Sir Robert Horne pointed out that at a time when many of the great industries of the country were in desperate straits, an equal justification could be put forward for the subsidising of many other trades. Such a subsidy could only be raised out of taxation which would, in short, be the extraction from other industries at the most difficult period of their existence of money which they could not afford to pay, in order to pay uneconomic wages in an industry which, on the whole, was better off in the matter of employment than almost any other.

The subject was discussed in the House of Commons on several dates at the beginning of April. Mr. Clynes suggested that Government control should be continued for another month or two in order that time might be afforded for seeking an agreement. Mr. J. H. Thomas expressed the opinion that it was overwhelmingly probable that the dispute would spread to other industries. Mr. Lloyd George stated that the Government were very willing to assist in bringing the dispute to an end, but that they could not enter into any negotiations which included the maintenance of the industry out of the general taxation of the country, or which involved resumption of Government control. Meanwhile it was essential that the Miners' Federation should give assistance to prevent the flooding of the mines. On April 7 a Conference took place between the Government and the miners which, however, ended in a deadlock. Mr. Lloyd George insisted that the miners should start pumping as a preliminary to any further discussion of the subject, and this they refused to do. Later Mr. Lloyd George expressed the willingness of the Government to summon a Conference of both miners and owners to consider first the question of pumping, and to dispose of that question before any other was entered upon. The invitation to this Conference was immediately accepted by the coal-owners, but refused by

C

the miners. Mr. Lloyd George thereupon laid it down as the duty of the Government to prevent the mines being ruined by flooding. He announced the intention of the Government therefore to call for volunteers to save the mines, and if necessary to carry on the transport services, and to invite members of the Territorial Force and ex-service men and other patriotic citizens to enlist in a Defence Force, and also to call up the Services reserves. The miners, in declining the invitation to a Conference limited to the subject of the resumption of pumping in the mines, expressed their readiness to attend any Conference which was not restricted by conditions. At any such Conference they stated their intention of pressing for a National Wages Board and a National Profits Pool as the main problems to be solved.

The next development in the strike was a public announcement on behalf of the Triple Alliance, which included the railwaymen and the transport workers, that they would go on strike at midnight on April 12 unless negotiations had been opened within the four days intervening before that date. Before April 12 was reached, however, both the Government and the miners had receded somewhat from their uncompromising attitude, and a meeting was arranged between the owners and miners for April 11 to discuss all questions in dispute between the parties. Instructions were at the same time issued by the Miners' Federation that there was to be no interference with safety measures in the mines, and it appeared that these instructions were generally observed. Further, it was announced that the Government was prepared to grant monetary assistance for a limited period to help in bringing up the wage offer in the poorest areas. The Triple Alliance were not satisfied with this arrangement, for they proceeded immediately to issue a new threat in the form of a manifesto on April 11 announcing that unless an offer was made to the miners which their colleagues in the Triple Alliance considered them justified in accepting, a stoppage of railwaymen and transport workers would begin.

The Conference met on the morning of April 11, and the proceedings were opened by an address of Mr. Lloyd George to the coal-owners and miners together. He re-stated the attitude that the Government had taken up in relation to decontrol. He pointed out that the principle of maintaining any industry out of the taxes of the country was vicious and could not be continued, and that the question before them was, therefore, of what the industry itself could pay. He asked that the owners should first justify their case for reduction and that the miners having heard it should state their own case, not merely in opposition to the figures, but with plans and proposals for adjusting the whole position. He urged the necessity for setting up a smaller joint body in place of the present cumbrous body of sixty members, to examine the possibilities of the situation