§ The PRIME MINISTER (Mr. Lloyd George)I think the House before it rises would like to hear what is the position with regard to the coal-mining dispute. I shall have to make certain announcements of a very important character before I sit down. I am afraid my statement is of a very cheerless character, and I deeply deplore it.
Before the House rose last night, I intimated that I proposed to ask the coal-owners and the Miners' Federation to attend a joint conference, at which the first subject of discussion should be the pumping and preservation of the mines, it being understood that, until that question was disposed of, no other matter should be taken up. This morning I acted in accordance with that intention, and addressed to the Miners' Federation the following letter:
Dear Mr. Hodges,—In the course of the discussion in the House of Commons last night certain suggestions were made by Leaders of the Labour party which have led me to make to you a further proposal for a meeting with the coalowners in order to make a start towards a solution of the present dispute. A suggestion was made to the effect that a conference might be summoned by the Government which would deal in the first instance with the question of pumping and the preservation of the mines, and that that matter should be disposed of before any other question was entered upon. The Government have considered this suggestion, and I am now to invite your Federation to send representatives at 12 o'clock noon to-day for a conference to be held at the Board of Trade upon those terms.A similar letter was addressed to the Coalowners' Association. I have received in reply from the coalowners an acceptance of the invitation, on the understanding mentioned. The following letter came from the Miners' Federation:We thank you for your letter of this morning, and hasten to inform you we have fully considered your proposal for a meeting with the coalowners this morning at 12 694 o'clock to deal in the first instance with the question of the pumping and preservation of the mines, and that that matter should be disposed of before any other question was entered upon. We have already stated to you in clear terms that we are willing and ready to meet the Owners and the Government at any time and place convenient to all parties, and are willing to meet as soon as we hear from you that the Conference is to be held entirely free from any preliminary conditions as to what is or what is not to be discussed. We desire to be free to fully discuss every aspect of the present situation with a view to arriving at a speedy and honourable conclusion.The answer of the Miners' Federation obviously did not meet the point I had put, namely, that the question of saving the mines should first be discussed. I accordingly addressed to Mr. Hodges the following letter:Dear Mr. Hodges,—I have to acknowledge recéipt of your letter of this morning. You state that you desire to be free to discuss fully every aspect of the present situation with a view to arriving at a speedy and honourable conclusion. This is also the wish of the Government. We have never suggested that any limitations should be imposed upon discussion, but as regards the order in which matters are to be discussed national interest in the preservation of the mines is paramount, and it must take first place. While the mines are hourly being flooded and ruined, and one of the most valuable of national assets being destroyed, it is impossible to expect other questions to be debated. Accordingly, the question of the safety of the mines must first be discussed and disposed of before other matters are taken up. I therefore invite you to a conference in this sense, and will be glad if representatives of your Federation will attend at the Board of Trade this afternoon at three o'clock for this purpose.I received the following reply:I have to inform you that your further letter has been considered by my Committee. We know your clearly stated condition, that the question of the 'safety of the mines must first be discussed and disposed of before other matters are taken up.' We think the condition stands in the way of a resumption of negotiations. As previously stated, we are willing to meet the Owners and the Government in conference at once, if we are 695 allowed to meet unconditionally. We hope the Government will raise no obstacle to ensure this end.I replied:I have received your letter, and note with the greatest regret the decision at which your Committee has arrived. In view of the grave consequences involved, it is difficult to understand how any discussion designed to promote a settlement could usefully proceed unless we were all agreed that the first task should be to secure the preservation and safety of the mines, without which there must be widespread and continued unemployment and distress, not only for those whose occupation is in the mines, but for the whole industrial population. So far from placing any obstacle in the way of negotiation, the action of the Government has been dictated solely by a desire to remove the main obstacle that stood in the way of fruitful negotiation. The mines are vital to the life of the community; their destruction is as fatal to the nation as would have been defeat in war, and to secure their preservation must be the paramount duty of Government.The conference, therefore, has not been held. The mineowners were present, but the miners' representatives did not attend, and consequently the meeting adjourned without any discussion.From these communications, and from the statements deliberately made at the meeting with me yesterday, it is plain that the Executive Committee of the Miners' Federation are resolved to let the mines go to destruction, in the belief that they will thus intimidate the nation into a surrender to their demands. The desperate character of this policy is visible in the disastrous effects which it will have on the livelihood of the miners themselves. Whole villages which derive their entire support from the mining industry will become derelict, and thousands of families will be deprived of the means of existence; and, from the point of view of the nation as a whole, the results are not less calamitous. Coal is the foundation of industry, and to wreck the coal mines, or to allow them to be ruined by flooding, is to strike at the life of the whole body of citizens.
696 It is accordingly the duty of the Government, as the trustee of the nation, to prevent this catastrophe, more especially as it is becoming increasingly clear that in some places, at any rate, large organised bodies of miners are, by threats of violence, preventing this necessary work being done by the mine officials and others willing to help. Protection and adequate protection, must be given to those who are engaged in preserving other course is open to us.
The nation is, for the first time in its history, confronted by an attempt to coerce it into capitulation, by the destruction of its resources; and this menace is apparently now to be supplemented, if newspaper accounts be accurate—and I sincerely trust they are not—by a concerted plan to suspend the transport services which are essential to the life of the country. Were that threat to materialise, the supply of food and other immediate necessaries of life will be denied to all classes of the population, unless volunteers come forward to carry on the minimum of transport work required to maintain the most essential national and municipal services.
The Government proposes to call for volunteers to help carrying on these services, and announcements will be made telling volunteers at what centres they should apply to be registered, and instructed as to the help they can best afford. These, too, will need adequate protection in the discharge of their patriotic duties, while it is no less essential that, in the face of such a wide-spread disturbance of the ordinary machinery of the life of the community, law and order should be effectively maintained.
The police force, even when strengthened by the enrolment of special constables—for which an appeal will be issued—will obviously be insufficient for this task, in view of the very large number of points that require protection, and of the organised character of the interference with the voluntary workers. They are entitled to look to the Government for protection and help from the Armed Forces of the Crown in their 697 difficult task. This protection the Government has decided to afford them, in whatever measure may be necessary.
It is, therefore, proposed to make a special appeal to patriotic citizens to enlist in an Emergency Force, recruited, not for the purpose of interfering in any wage dispute, but solely to support the police in the fulfilment of their duties to the community. Enlistment for this Force, which we propose to call the Defence Force, will be for 90 days, at the ordinary rates of pay and allowances. The Territorial Force will not be embodied, or asked to serve, but members of the Territorial Force and ex-service men generally will be specially invited to enlist.
Enlistment will commence to-morrow at the Territorial Drill Hall and Headquarters.
The Government have also come to the conclusion that it is necessary, with the same object in view, to strengthen the armed forces of the Crown now serving, and I have therefore advised His Majesty that a situation has arisen in which he is justified in sanctioning the issue of a Proclamation calling up the reserves of the Army and Navy and Air Force.
The cause of the present dispute is being represented in some quarters as a deliberate attack upon the wages of the worker. There is no justification of any kind for this suggestion. [An HON. MEMBER: "You know better!"] The Government have never pronounced any opinion, nor have we formed any, upon the rates of wages which have been offered to the miners by the coalowners; they have not even been discussed between the parties. When our services were offered in attempting to bring the parties together upon that matter, the reply of the miners was that it was of no use, unless the Government were prepared to subsidise the coal industry.
It was clearly acknowledged by the miners that, at the present time, the proceeds of the coal industry are not sufficient to yield the wages which the miners demand, and the only case presented to the Government by the miners is one for an immediate subsidy from the Exchequer. 698 To this proposition the Government have been unable to agree, for reasons which have already been fully stated, and are easily understood; and an attempt is now made to enforce a decision by direct action, which would have the effect of destroying essential assets of the community. We are fighting for the life of the community, and we will use every resource the community has at its disposal.