§ Mr. PETOasked the Prime Minister whether he has received a memorial from the Employers' Parliamentary Council, signed by sixty-five associations of employers connected with various industries in the United Kingdom, calling his attention and the attention of His Majesty's Government to the evils which have arisen in consequence of The Trades Disputes Act, 1906, and to the present combination of labour unions for the purpose of promoting national strikes; and whether he will inform the House of the intentions of His Majesty's Government with regard to the matters urged by the memorialists, namely, that picketing should either be rigorously suppressed or the number of pickets should be limited to two, and such pickets should be required to wear a distinguishing badge and to attend only where a person carries on business; that unions, whether of workmen or masters, should be subjected to the ordinary law of the land, and made responsible, like all other classes of the community, for their actions; and that a federation of unions for the purpose of paralysing the country by means of a general strike or lock-out, throwing all industries and communications into disorder and stopping the food supplies of the nation, should be suppressed as an unlawful combination and immediately so proclaimed?
§ The PRIME MINISTER (Mr. Asquith)The memorial referred to and the question of the hon. Member raise a number of debatable points, as to which I can only say at present that the question whether, and, if so, in what respects, the present law affecting these matters requires amendment is receiving the attention of the Government.
§ Mr. BUTCHERMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether he will consider the propriety of appointing a Committee or a small Commission to inquire into this very important question?
§ The PRIME MINISTERNo, Sir.
§ Mr. HAROLD SMITHasked the Prime-Minister whether his attention has been called to the recommendation of the Railway Commission to the effect that members of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants should not be permitted to incite or coerce by threats, or by any form of intimidation, men who desire to give their labour; and whether he proposes to introduce legislation to carry into effect the recommendation of the Commission?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI have seen the passage in the Report to which the hon. Member refers. It does not mention the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, nor does it recommend legislation. What the Commissioners say is that, in their opinion, strikers should not be permitted to incite or coerce by threats, or by any form of intimidation, men who desire to give their labour. Coercion by threats and intimidation are offences which can be punished under the existing law, and, though I am aware of the difficulties which are sometimes encountered in prosecutions, I think the law can be, and ought to be, enforced.
§ Mr. HAROLD SMITHIf the existing law is adequate, why is it not put into operation?
§ The PRIME MINISTERIt is not the inadequacy of the law that constitutes the difficulty; it is the impossibility of procuring evidence.
§ Mr. J. WARDHas the attention of the right hon. Gentleman been drawn to the statement of the Recorder of Dublin, in sentencing a man to six months for intimidation, that the present law was amply sufficient for every purpose?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI have not seen that statement, but I believe the law to be sufficient.